Teenagers.....What's Your Preference?

[martyap]

Planning a family cruise with my two children and four grand kids (12, 14, 15, 15)....last family cruise was 6 years ago so I could use your advice. Baltimore and NY are our closest ports but going out of Florida is not a problem. Our 2010 trip was out of Baltimore on the Carnival Pride but the smaller, older ships would most likely have less to offer teens and Baltimore has lots of older smaller ships. Have never cruised out of NY so I know nothing about that.

 

One family has cruised a number of times on Allure/Oasis.....the other family has not cruised since 2010. RCCL would be my first choice but we would certainly consider other choices. We did the family Disney World trip in 2013 and we would also consider any other land based ideas.

 

Grandma (me) and Grandpa will be on the Allure in April....our first mega experience. I guess it might be advantageous to book any summer, 2018 cruise at that time (?)

 

Any advice from your experiences would be great

 

Thanks

Karen

 

 

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[swoopy2110]

This thread title is a lawsuit waiting to happen :D

[Freehike]

This thread title is a lawsuit waiting to happen :D

 

 

 

[emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]

 

 

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[martyap]

Really........nothing else to do?

The title goes with the words written below it......try reading more than a few words at one time.

[imlulu]

I would think carnival or RCL would be best choices for teens. They both provide lots of options depending on the kids' interests. We did Liberty a few years ago with a then 15 yr old and 20 yr old. It worked for a 4 day cruise. I do think ports are important with the older teen age group. When kids were young, we just went to beach. As they have gotten older, excursions are a much better option at least for my boys. For my upcoming cruise, my now 18 yr old wanted a large ship with many options during sea days. We also have active excursions booked in 2 ports.

 

Have fun planning!

Edited January 27, 2017 by imlulu

[martyap]

I would think carnival or RCL would be best choices for teens. They both provide lots of options depending on the kids' interests. We did Liberty a few years ago with a then 15 yr old and 20 yr old. It worked for a 4 day cruise. I do think ports are important with the older teen age group. When kids were young, we just went to beach. As they have gotten older, excursions are a much better option at least for my boys. For my upcoming cruise, my now 18 yr old wanted a large ship with many options during sea days. We also have active excursions booked in 2 ports.

 

Have fun planning!

Thanks....I will certainly consider the ports and what excursions are available.....appreciate the advice.

[Rewind]

Anthem is one of the newest ships, sails out of NY, and has lots to do onboard. Then it's the decision on the ports; you will get more sea days if you choose Caribbean or more port days if you choose New England. There are also some shorter cruises which go to Bermuda.

 

Allure is a great ship and has tons to do. I was on her for a Trans-Atlantic for 12 nights and it still seems like we didn't get to do everything. Keep in mind that Oasis class ships can be limited to what ports they visit due to their size - but there are still plenty of places they can stop now.

 

If the vacation is about the ship and you never get off, I would lean towards Oasis class. If it is about the destinations (and the ports are good on the sailings from NY), I would lean towards Anthem with the bonus of not having to fly.

[Jenjer]

Any of the mega ships are going to be the best for the teens.

 

The more activities the better the bigger the ship the more activities.

 

Check out Harmony it has water slides dry slides and flowrider.

 

My kids loved the sports plex on Quantum so we are doing Anthem next. This whole area of the ship was a teen hang out, meet up with friends and have stuff to do, they loved it.

 

The actual ports don't matter as much as the activities you choose to do in the ports.

[captaincupcake64]

This thread title is a lawsuit waiting to happen :D

 

I would consider Anthem OTS out of N.J. It's a newer much larger ship with all the bells and whistles to keep the younger ones entertained. Also it's driving distance from the Northeast.

And yes the OP title gave me a chuckle.

 

 

captaincupcake64 / Bob

[martyap]

And yes the OP title gave me a chuckle.

 

 

captaincupcake64 / Bob

 

Guess that's what happens when you post at 5am!

[Desert Cruizers]

My husband & I will be on the Oasis for April 15 & 22 of 2018. for us the ship will be our vacation and not so much the Ports since he isn't sure he wants to continue cruising, not because he doesn't enjoy it but the traveling is getting hard for him. Of course he has said this before and keeps following me unto Cruise ships.:)

[jewel825]

I would lean towards the Oasis/Allure/Harmony also! My daughters are 13 and 15 and we are going on the Harmony in April. In the past we have been on the Allure and Freedom and they prefer the Allure over the Freedom since there's a little bit more to do - even though the Freedom is big in my book! They just have so many activities on those bigger ships and they tend to draw in more families so more of an opportunity for your grandkids to meet other kids on the ship their age to hang out with.

 

We also do land Disney trip and my kids love that too! They like the variety though of switching between a cruise and Disney.

 

I'm sure your family will have a fantastic time no matter what you decide to do! Have fun!

[martyap]

Thanks for all your help.....I think the Anthem out of NY will be too costly even with saving air fare and hotels. The Allure/Oasis/Harmony will probably be good choices. The Freedom often has a different itinerary so I can check that out to compare.

[ewenix]

Really........nothing else to do?

The title goes with the words written below it......try reading more than a few words at one time.

 

This is a message board. The thread title should be descriptive of the subject so people know if they want to read the thread or not. Your response indicates they're expected to read the first post along with the thread title. That's a fail on your part. Also, good luck with responses if that is the attitude you're going to display when someone was clearly joking.

[killtheump]

This is a message board. The thread title should be descriptive of the subject so people know if they want to read the thread or not. Your response indicates they're expected to read the first post along with the thread title. That's a fail on your part. Also, good luck with responses if that is the attitude you're going to display when someone was clearly joking.

 

I was actually going to say that my preference would be that teenagers stay home, but I thought the OP may get upset with me.:D

[Freehike]

I was actually going to say that my preference would be that teenagers stay home, but I thought the OP may get upset with me.:D

 

 

 

I really wish CC had an upvote feature.

 

 

 

 

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[TC1957]

 

And yes the OP title gave me a chuckle.

 

 

captaincupcake64 / Bob

 

As it did me. As "empty nesters" I saw it and immediately thought "Not having any." :D

[tropiclvrs]

If you're really trying to make the teens happy, I also vote for Oasis class. So much to do and it would be really hard for them to not have a good time. As a huge fan of that class myself (my kids are 9 & 11), I think the parents will be really happy with that option as well.

 

Plus, a trip down to Florida for a day or two prior is always a great way to start off a cruise vacation.

[Tatka]

Our formerly teenage son cruised with Princess, HAL, Celebrity, NCL, Carnival, MSC (older), Royal. His favorite line as far as teen's clubs is Royal. Least favorite Carnival and HAL.

 

Ours are Celebrity and Princess, but we like Royal as well and loved Allure of the Seas.

[ljmandelbaum]

Thanks for all your help.....I think the Anthem out of NY will be too costly even with saving air fare and hotels. The Allure/Oasis/Harmony will probably be good choices. The Freedom often has a different itinerary so I can check that out to compare.

 

When are you looking to cruise?

 

We did an 8 night out of Baltimore last February with my daughters who were 10 at the time. We booked allure for this year till we started pricing the air fare. We switched it to Anthem. I think our price was slightly more, but my MIL who is traveling alone was slightly less.

[martyap]

I appreciate those who took the time to actually address the question. It really helped me. The only time I can really get the group together is late June to mid July and we were looking to 2018. We would be 10 people and I would book 5 cabins....some adjoining....all in close proximity. I wanted to book as soon as they opened or on our 4/2/17 cruise. I would guess the air to FLL would not be much of an issue at that time of year. When I plotted the Anthem for this July vs. Allure, Anthem was a nine day cruise and probably double the cost of the Allure 7 day. Thanks again.

 

I know there is a way to edit a post within a certain time frame but I was never able to find out if there was a way to edit the title.

[docd]

RCL is a good choice but any larger family ship would work. More people = more kids. Teenagers like to hang out together. As a group they'll have fun even doing nothing as a group. My observation is that this is far more important than the ship particulars. When you sail will also matter somewhat. Summer is perfect.

 

Of course that all depends on the child. My own teensge daughter would rather play shuffleboard with us than participate in the teen clubs.

 

So big ship, Freedom/Quantum/Oasis or similar from another line, in the summer. Any one will work.

 

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[Denise5374]

My family was on Freedom when the kids were 12 and 16, Oasis when they were 15 and 20...I think their favorite was Oasis. There is so much to do. But I don't think you can go wrong with either.