Teen daughter fears being lonely on March cruise to Hawaii

[Silent Penguin]

I'm asking on behalf of our teenage daughter, what are the chances that there will be other teenagers on the Hawaii-bound Ruby Princess at the end of March? I tried to help her realize that her school isn't the only one with a spring break, and we couldn't be the only parents taking a teenager with them on a cruise, but she doesn't believe me and thinks she'll be alone among "old" people or at the youngest, no one near her age. She's used to sailing on Disney ships on which she's made tons of friends in the kids' programs and which has hundreds of kids on them all year round.

 

Please reply if you have experience with a March cruise to Hawaii with teenagers in the past or will be taking your teenagers with you this March. Just knowing that other parents have done this will help her feel more enthusiastic about her prospects for companionship during our cruise. Not that she doesn't like hanging out with her parents....

[Working 2 Cruise]

You can call Princess and find out how many teens there will be.

 

She may have a point. Typically, spring break lasts only one week so there probably won't be many young people/families onboard.

[Silent Penguin]

You can call Princess and find out how many teens there will be.

 

She may have a point. Typically, spring break lasts only one week so there probably won't be many young people/families onboard.

 

Calling Princess is an interesting idea. If I do it, I'll let you know how that goes.

[Working 2 Cruise]

Calling Princess is an interesting idea. If I do it, I'll let you know how that goes.

 

Please do. I've done this cruise twice in March... Not many kids. Sone. It's a fabulous cruise though. There's the kids club, hula and ukulele classes.

 

Good luck!

[Melcoug]

Our school district here in SoCal is on a year-round schedule and we have 2 weeks off at the end of March for Spring Break, so it is possible that there might be other teens onboard. Working parents being able to take more than a week off from work may be a more limiting factor!

 

I agree that you can call Princess to find out how many others her age might be going. Sometimes it can be better if there are only a few. They will feel like they have to get to know each other an stick together rather than figuring out which group of teens they fit into.

[iluvcruzin]

Most of the longer cruises cater to an older crowd. Princess in general doesn't attract a lot of families. I don't think she will be bored as there are plenty of Hawaii-themed activities on board. There will be some teenagers but not what she is accustomed to.

 

I can see her being worried. The cruise is mostly sea days. But there will be plenty to keep her busy.

[jennybenny]

I think there will be less kids on a 14 day cruise then you will find on a 7 day cruise. However, I would imagine, a teenager would rather stay home then go "hang with their parents". So maybe that's the motivation behind the concern?

 

My kids are younger, 8 and 12 and they always have each other if they can't find friends, so it's different. However, sometimes one kid wants to hang in the kid club and the other does not and hangs out with us. They are boys, so not sure if that's a factor. They always find something to keep them occupied, their iPads, books, board games, attending activities during the day, pool, etc. We've done the 15 day to Hawaii as well and they had a blast.

 

Good luck, hope you all enjoy your family vacation.

[RMMariner]

We were on the same cruise out of Vancouver last year. We asked when the cruise started how many children were on board because we were thinking that it might have been nice to bring our kids. The number of children under 17 was less than 100.

 

We are in our 40s and found the average age of the crowd to be considerably older than us. Had a good time, but the demographic was definitely older. There were some teenagers on the cruise, and they seemed to find each other. We saw them once in a while hanging out in a group. They seemed to be having fun, but there were not many options for them.

Edited February 29, 2016 by RMMariner

[Silent Penguin]

, I would imagine, a teenager would rather stay home then go "hang with their parents". So maybe that's the motivation behind the concern?.

 

No, I can understand why you might think that, but in this case, she wants to go. In fact, our original booking was for just my husband and me. (We have a rotation -one cruise with the kids, the next without them.) This one was supposed to be a no-kid trip. Over the past couple months-even though she wouldn't bring it up herself- I could tell she was very anxious about us going without her. And, she wants to go to Hawaii. After getting my husband's consent, I ask her if she wanted to go. She was very relieved at the prospect.

 

She has two older brothers who live at home (21 and 18) who are trustworthy and responsible and able to look after her, but the older one works a lot and is rarely home and the other brother-the one she is closer to- is in China until June. We have don't have family nearby.

[Silent Penguin]

We were on the same cruise out of Vancouver last year. We asked when the cruise started how many children were on board because we were thinking that it might have been nice to bring our kids. The number of children under 17 was less than 100.

 

We are in our 40s and found the average age of the crowd to be considerably older than us. Had a good time, but the demographic was definitely older. There were some teenagers on the cruise, and they seemed to find each other. We saw them once in a while hanging out in a group. They seemed to be having fun, but there were not many options for them.

 

Thanks. This is useful. It confirms what I expected - a few teens, a lot of older people. LOL. By the way, this trip is to celebrate my 50th birthday. My dh reached that benchmark a couple years ago. I think it will be a novel experience for us to travel with an older crowd.

[notentirelynormal]

Most of the longer cruises cater to an older crowd. Princess in general doesn't attract a lot of families. I don't think she will be bored as there are plenty of Hawaii-themed activities on board. There will be some teenagers but not what she is accustomed to.

 

I can see her being worried. The cruise is mostly sea days. But there will be plenty to keep her busy.

 

This comment always cracks me up. We have been cruising Princess for a lot of years and during those years marketing to families has greatly increased. Flip to the other side and people on Princess are complaining about all the kids on board. Its a win/win lose/lose situation.

 

Princess has a great program for the under 18 group. They just don't have wall climbing etc. Not every child or family is looking for that experience. I figure if we are going on a family vacation we should spend it as a family. My kids and grandkids seem to agree.

 

The same goes with comments like "they don't want to be with you anyway". Just because YOUR children didn't want to spend time with you doesn't mean other people's children don't want to spend time with them. Many moons ago when my kids were little I gave them the option of doing kid stuff or hanging with us. They both loved hanging with us. They loved what they were exposed to.

 

Funny story: when my son was getting married I came home one day and every TV was on blast and opera was going on. I asked, "so when did you like listening to opera?". He turns to me and says "mom, you have been exposing me to opera my entire life, what do you expect?" A few months later they were off to Italy for their honeymoon.

 

Call Princess and they can tell you exactly how many kids are on this cruise.

 

We are taking our two grand kids on a cruise next month. This will be the 11 YO's 6th cruise and the 8 YO's 3rd cruise. While they will spend time in the kid center I can almost guarantee you they will be spending more quality time with us. For us, this is family time.

Edited February 29, 2016 by notentirelynormal

[poolreader]

I have been on this cruise twice and have always seen young people, including quite a few teenagers. This cruise also has a lot of activities she would probably enjoy, for example Hula and Ukulele classes that culminate in a show for the entire ship. There are lei making classes, classes on the flora, fauna and geological formation of Hawaii. There are even classes in how pronounce Hawaiian words. The movies under the stars are especially wonderful with the warm breezes you get a day or so out of home port.

 

It sounds like it will be during Easter, and I have been on Princess ships during that time, although those were Coastal Cruises, and there were a lot of activities. Between all of this and the normal shipboard things to do she should be fine even if she does not find a big group in her age group.

Edited February 29, 2016 by poolreader

[Silent Penguin]

Our school district here in SoCal is on a year-round schedule and we have 2 weeks off at the end of March for Spring Break, so it is possible that there might be other teens onboard. Working parents being able to take more than a week off from work may be a more limiting factor!

 

I agree that you can call Princess to find out how many others her age might be going. Sometimes it can be better if there are only a few. They will feel like they have to get to know each other an stick together rather than figuring out which group of teens they fit into.

 

Thanks. That's good to know about SoCal. I'll share that with her. I agree about the potential benefit of a smaller group of teens.

[notentirelynormal]

I guess it comes down to how we all raise our children differently. I reality, in all honestly, can't remember my kids ever asking about other kids. Now, in fairness, as the world turned we began cruising with more family and friends. Bottom line though was it seemed once we got on board, had shore excursions planned - my kids didn't care who else was sailing.

 

My grandkids have been surrounded by adults their entire life. For my grandson, it is normal to be put in that environment. He is good to go, no matter what. For my grand daughter, she is borderline autistic. She is a little different but also exposed to the same things as her brother. This cruise will be a test on how she handles herself. Our room is directly under the kid club. She only needs to take an elevator to our deck and find our cabin (and I've got magnets for the door).

 

I can guarantee you they will find enough on board to make them happy.

[DeeandNatalie]

OP, we are on the same cruise as you, and I had a few of my own concerns about our kids (age 10 and 6). I asked our TA to find out from Princess how many kids will be on board and they wouldn't give her the information.

 

If you call them, can you tell us on this thread what Princess says?

 

My kids were once the only children out of 4000 people on a Celebrity Transatlantic sailing. They had fun (as they had 4 Kids Staff members giving them their hearts' desire) but they really would have loved hanging out with some kids their age.

 

I know we'll all have fun, but I hope your daughter finds some people to hang out with x

[cruiser113]

I'm asking on behalf of our teenage daughter, what are the chances that there will be other teenagers on the Hawaii-bound Ruby Princess at the end of March? I tried to help her realize that her school isn't the only one with a spring break, and we couldn't be the only parents taking a teenager with them on a cruise, but she doesn't believe me and thinks she'll be alone among "old" people or at the youngest, no one near her age. She's used to sailing on Disney ships on which she's made tons of friends in the kids' programs and which has hundreds of kids on them all year round.

 

Please reply if you have experience with a March cruise to Hawaii with teenagers in the past or will be taking your teenagers with you this March. Just knowing that other parents have done this will help her feel more enthusiastic about her prospects for companionship during our cruise. Not that she doesn't like hanging out with her parents....

 

Have you thought about joining the roll call for this cruise? It may have a wealth of information that might be of help.

[pablo222]

The same goes with comments like "they don't want to be with you anyway". Just because YOUR children didn't want to spend time with you doesn't mean other people's children don't want to spend time with them.

 

The daughter is asking how many teens will be on board.

Seems likely she is interested in hanging out with them,

as opposed to simply conducting research.

[Cruiserkenn]

I have done this cruise three times, in the last three years. I remember teen girls sitting nearby, at the buffet, giggling and having fun. So there are some.

 

But for sure, there aren't lots of teens.

 

Talk with your daughter about the onboard activities. Hawaii is great, as are the Hawaii activities onboard.

 

Does your daughter like wildlife? The whales off Maui are astounding to see.

There are usually talks about the whales, as well.

 

Movies are usually good on the Hawaii cruises, too.

 

Count on the onboard activities, if the social scene doesn't pan out. Talk up the onboard activities.

 

Aloha:) :) :)

Edited February 29, 2016 by Cruisin'Rabbit

[Viesczy]

We were on the same cruise out of Vancouver last year. We asked when the cruise started how many children were on board because we were thinking that it might have been nice to bring our kids. The number of children under 17 was less than 100.

 

We are in our 40s and found the average age of the crowd to be considerably older than us. Had a good time, but the demographic was definitely older. There were some teenagers on the cruise, and they seemed to find each other. We saw them once in a while hanging out in a group. They seemed to be having fun, but there were not many options for them.

 

^above is truth.

 

Want to see an even more skewed age cruise? Try the month long Hawaii & South Pacific cruises from Princess or HAL.

 

While a GREAT time, we were among the youngest on board (41 & 45). The # of people under the age of 50 (counting some toddlers) was 23. Everyone else was easily 70.

 

It was still a great time and we'd do it again!

[SadieN]

We've sailed on cruises where there have been low kid numbers--

-12 on an HAL 3day April repo cruise (no teens),

-less than that on a CA Coastal in March (all under 8yo).

-Our October HI cruise on Carnival had about 30 kids onboard, about 4 teens.

-The 13day Carnival MR cruise last month had a handful of kids. There were a few that looked like teens.

 

Your daughter will be one of the few kids onboard.

[Roatanfans]

Call Princess directly- give them your booking number- when they see you are a passenger on the ship they are happy to give you a kid count (at least I've never had a problem getting one). Last time I checked there were about 25 kids on our April sailing to Hawaii (3 are mine) and that is over my son's spring break here in the bay area.

[Silent Penguin]

Have you thought about joining the roll call for this cruise? It may have a wealth of information that might be of help.

 

Thank you for the suggestion, but I already have.

[Silent Penguin]

OP, we are on the same cruise as you, and I had a few of my own concerns about our kids (age 10 and 6). I asked our TA to find out from Princess how many kids will be on board and they wouldn't give her the information.

 

If you call them, can you tell us on this thread what Princess says?

 

 

No luck on my first try. The agent claimed there was no way he could find that out.

[Cruise Raider]

We sailed on the Golden out of LA (14 nights) in March and out of SF on the Star (15 nights) in March -- both to Hawaii and back. I would say that on both cruises -- not one teenager onboard. The LAS one had about 3 kids (not babies) that were under 10 whereas the one from SF had a few toddlers and we also noticed some babies being wheeled around in strollers.

 

Longer cruises that occur during the school year, even those during spring break don't attract a bunch of teenage children. We even went on a 4 night cruise with my 20 year old nephews and think they were bored as nobody was their age onboard. They went to the young adult mingle and nobody else showed up. I think the only people their age were the entertainers and some of the crew.

 

You might have more luck with a Royal Caribbean cruise -- similar to Princess but we feel it is a bit more family oriented.

[Cruise Raider]

We sailed on the Golden out of LA (14 nights) in March and out of SF on the Star (15 nights) in March -- both to Hawaii and back. I would say that on both cruises -- not one teenager onboard. The LAS one had about 3 kids (not babies) that were under 10 whereas the one from SF had a few toddlers and we also noticed some babies being wheeled around in strollers.

 

Longer cruises that occur during the school year, even those during spring break don't attract a bunch of teenage children. We even went on a 4 night cruise with my 20 year old nephews and think they were bored as nobody was their age onboard. They went to the young adult mingle and nobody else showed up. I think the only people their age were the entertainers and some of the crew.

 

You might have more luck with a Royal Caribbean cruise -- similar to Princess but we feel it is a bit more family oriented.

PS -- maybe check the roll call and see if anyone is bringing their teenagers on that cruise. It may be of some help.