Navigator of the Seas Teen/Tween Programming

[rnr4thatsme]

Hi all... Just returning from a the 6 day NOS cruise out of Fort Lauderdale and thought I'd give a bit of info on the teen/tween programming (or lack thereof) on this ship as it was something I had wanted to learn about but couldn't find a lot posting on... This cruise took place over Spring Break for our area, and there were many kids on board.

 

To start off, we sailed with a group of 12 including 2 - 16 year olds (one boy and one girl) and a 12 year old girl. I had chosen Royal Caribbean because of their reputation of providing excellent entertainment for those who had outgrown Disney theming. This was our first cruise. We usually do Mexico AI or Disneyworld. My 12 year especially is a big participant in the animation programming at the Mexico AI, she'll do Zumba, aqua aerobics or any other activity. By the end of our weeks there, all of the animation staff are her best friends.

 

On boarding, we checked out the club the first day and got the Teen Compass for the week. It looked very promising, and the 12 year old was very pumped that there were many activities that interested her. There was one for 15-17 year olds and one for 12-14 year olds. I had heard from others (and expected) that often the kids meet the first day and do their own thing after. So all three kids went to the Meet and Mingle/Icebreaker the first night.

 

Here is where it began to go downhill. The "Icebreaker" was just a room set up like a lounge where the kids showed their sea pass cards (I suppose to determine if they had drink packages or not). After that, the staff played music and basically ignored the kids who sat around and were left up to their own devices. There were no "icebreaker" games or anything to help draw out the kids. Perhaps we are just used to the animation staff in Mexico, who are very outgoing and enthusiastic and anyone who has the slightest interest in taking part is soon drawn out and encouraged to participate. The teen staff on NOS basically acted as if they were just waiting to be able to leave for the night.

 

My 16 year old son is extremely outgoing and could find friends on a deserted island. He immediately found a group and was off for the remainder of the cruise just "hanging out" here and there. My 16 year old niece, who is still outgoing but a little more reserved, found a few friends but they didn't really have concrete plans to meet again, so it kind of fizzled out. She spent a lot of the cruise hanging out with family on the pool deck.

 

My 12 year old daughter went to the tween group, and found there weren't as many girls as boys. The kids basically sat around for an hour and left. Again, the kids sat around, the staff stood behind the bar and played music, not really interacting with them. My daughter met a few girls, but at this age, I find it harder for them to organize themselves as most of the kids (rightfully so) don't have as much freedom to roam unattended as the 16 year olds do. So they would make plans without taking into consideration parents perhaps had other plans for them.

 

After that, my daughter would attend the club from time to time, but half the time, activities were cancelled as "nobody wanted to do them" - but no alternate activities were suggested or even active encouragement to participate was offered. The staff had the attitude of "Thank goodness we don't have to do THAT again" and never put much effort into drawing the kids in.

 

All the kids went to the "parties", which were basically a repeat of the meet and mingle night - staff playing music, sitting behind the bar and leaving the kids to sit around. The kids (mine and others') themselves even discussed how they wish the staff would arrange something so that they could interact a little, such as at camps they have been to, where the kids play games to get to know each other better.

 

My kids had wanted to go to the "farewell dinner", so I accompanied them to the Windjammer where it was being held, expecting to find an area set aside for them, or SOMETHING. NADA... There was no special area, not even an indication of where exactly the kids were supposed to attend. Eventually, my daughter saw a staff member seated with a few kids amongst the crowd of regular diners and figured out that was supposed to be the farewell dinner. We left.

 

Needless to say, none of the kids liked going to the teen club very much. If you are going on NOS with the expectation that the teen club staff there will be enthusiastic and committed to your kids enjoying themselves, you will be very disappointed.

 

Thank goodness the sport staff were better. My daughter and I had a lot of fun on the Flowrider and the rock climbing wall. Those staff were enthusiastic, helpful and fun.

 

All in all, we still had fun, but it wasn't what we expected or what Royal Caribbean purports to offer. Don't get me wrong, I love hanging out with my kids, but I wouldn't have minded if they could have had fun in the teen club for a few hours so I could go read in peace in the Solarium.

 

If anyone is interested, I could try to figure out how to post the compasses on here (sorry, not very tech savvy), but really, most of the activities mentioned on it either didn't happen or were really not worth attending.

 

I will also try to do a review of the whole cruise when I get some time!

[Clarea]

Appreciate the feedback, this will be useful to folks looking for info on the program.

[TigerCruzin]

On boarding, we checked out the club the first day and got the Teen Compass for the week. It looked very promising, and the 12 year old was very pumped that there were many activities that interested her. There was one for 15-17 year olds and one for 12-14 year olds. I had heard from others (and expected) that often the kids meet the first day and do their own thing after. So all three kids went to the Meet and Mingle/Icebreaker the first night.

 

.....

If anyone is interested, I could try to figure out how to post the compasses on here (sorry, not very tech savvy), but really, most of the activities mentioned on it either didn't happen or were really not worth attending.

 

I will also try to do a review of the whole cruise when I get some time!

 

If you still have the teen compass, I would be interested in taking a look. Especially interested in what time the first night Meet/Mingle was? Trying to plan first night MTD reservations and just don't want DD to miss it since I know its the best night to get connected with others.

[michyC]

That's a shame. They were fabulous on voyager in Australia in December 2015. Yes, I'd like to know the time for the first nights get together.

[rnr4thatsme]

I'm sorry! I think I finally recycled the compasses! I would have to say they were around 8:00 or 9:00 as we had early dining and it didn't interfere.