Niquein99 Posted December 18, 2005 #1 Share Posted December 18, 2005 Hello all. My family and I are considering travelling on HAL's Zuiderdam or Celebrity's Millenium in December, 2006. We'll be sailing the week before Christmas, which is still considered a holiday sailing. I'd like to get your feedback and how you would rate the young teen program on HAL and Celebrity. My daughter will be 14 at that time, and we've sailed on Disney and RCCL's Jewel of the Seas previously. When we sailed on RCCL's Jewel, admittedly, my daughter went to the teen meeting the first night of the cruise, but she was overwhelmingly BORED with this group. She said the counselors basically had the kids 'hang out' and do their own mingling, which did not mesh well with my daughter. She does much better in organized activities than simply hanging around. So at my insistent, RCCL's counselors allowed my daughter to join the younger age group (she was 12 at the time, and the younger group was 9-11 year olds) and she had a blast with this group the rest of the cruise. I'm concerned this time around, with her turning 14 next year, they won't allow her to join the younger group and she'll have to stay with the teens this time. Does HAL and/or Celebrity keep the teens busy enough and get them involved in activities? I know the teens are free to come and go as they please, I just want to know how you would rate their teen programs, for those of you that have sailed on HAL and Celebrity with your teens. My daughter can be shy at first, but once she makes friends, she's fine after that. How did your teens enjoy the program? As parents, would you sail them again with your teens? I'm also travelling with my then 6-year old son, so any info on the younger kids program would be great too. I'm interested in the Zuiderdam and the Millenium due to their itinerary during that time of year, and I'd like to try a different cruise line. Any feedback would be most appreciated! Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisgrhoads Posted April 11, 2006 #2 Share Posted April 11, 2006 Have you gotten any feedback. I'm looking for info on teen programs on Celebrity's Zenith over the Christmas holidays... Thanks, Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce-r Posted April 12, 2006 #3 Share Posted April 12, 2006 Hello all. My family and I are considering travelling on HAL's Zuiderdam or Celebrity's Millenium in December, 2006. We'll be sailing the week before Christmas, which is still considered a holiday sailing. I can't help you with information about the kids programs as we haven't been on the Zuiderdam, yet, but if you do decided to go on the December 16 sailing, please join our roll call (see the link in my signature). I have a 15 y/o boy and an 11 y/o girl. There will be other children on our cruise too as they have already joined our roll call. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TennisLover Posted April 25, 2006 #4 Share Posted April 25, 2006 I don't have personal experience on these lines. But, my friend just got back from a Celebrity cruise with her 13 year old son. They were with a group of extended family. She just emailed me yesterday and said, "thank goodness he had a couple of kids from the family to hang out with, otherwise it would have been torture!!" This was on a Celebrity cruise to the Caribbean over spring break. I don't know which ship they were on, but I know they stopped in Nassau. Hope this provides a little insight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arubalisa Posted April 27, 2006 #5 Share Posted April 27, 2006 The Zenith is somewhat close in size to the Galaxy. We will be sailing on her [the Galaxy] for the second consecutive Christmas. There were plenty of kids aboard. Even when we sailed HAL (traditionally a more mature cruiseline) on a 10 night itinerary, there were a ton of kids aboard the Christmas sailing. I have already detailed some info on this thread http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=6380010&postcount=7 I have the daily events listing for all 12 nights of our cruise for the "cadets" ages 7 -9 and bits and pieces of other days for the other age groups. I am trying to get them online, I promise. They need to be scanned first and they are two sided...a "little" project...). For teens, besides the nightly and late night get togethers, there are morning- beginning with "coffee talk", afternoon and evening events...basketball, foosball, playstation, bingo, spoons, scavenger hunt, free arcade play, Liar's Club, trivia, "tacky tourist crafts", Name That Tune, boardgames, shuffleboard, dance class, Truth or Dare, "Casino Night" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gopackgo Posted May 3, 2006 #6 Share Posted May 3, 2006 Lisa, In your last post, you mentioned all the kid's activities. Were those on the Celebrity cruise or the HAL cruise? I also am wondering about kid's and teen's activities on HAL because I am looking at the Christmas cruise on the Zuiderdam for my extended family. Thanks for any help with this! Ginny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cathryn58 Posted May 3, 2006 #7 Share Posted May 3, 2006 I have two teen daughters. We were on Oosterdam at Christmas time in 2003. And on Zuiderdam, April 2005. Before the first HAL cruise I prepared the kids (we traveled with 5 teens 17-12) that there would be no slide and no clibing wall. But if they behaved as young gentlemen and women, they would have a GREAT time on and off the ship. They showed respect for fellow passengers regardless of age and I think they got it as well. There are some pretty interesting people on HAL ships! If some guy in his 80's is still scuba diving and cruising; he is a pretty interesting character to have a conversation or even lunch with! And several of the teens in our group "got" that. Although...there was a moment in Key West when they saw a ship with a slide that I almost heard an audible sigh... We found just the right mix. I wanted an upscale experience and I felt my daughters were up to it. I let my expectations be known. This wouldn't be a child-centered experience. That was what all of the vacations before this were for. Not a million kids only about 200 or so total. Many of the kids under 16 attended the teen/tween programs (especially the first night) to connect with the other teens. My girls enjoyed the programs. In the embarkation terminal, the kids program people sought out the kids to introduce themselves and gave the kids a CD holder that had the week's schedule in it. The schedule was very full! And the teen program didn't start at the crack of dawn like the children's program -- NO after 11, when the kids got UP. The first night there is a parent meeting. It is worth getting the kids into the program. Older Teens and tweens can come and go while the younger children have to be checked in and out. They had kareoke contests, candy bar bingo but more fun was the night when they had the pool all to themselves for a party. Another time they ate dinner together -- like a pizza party. There are soft drinks in the teen center... (free). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cathryn58 Posted May 3, 2006 #8 Share Posted May 3, 2006 By the way. We are on the Westeram sailing 12/17. The price we got through Costco for all four of us on a veranda room is incredible!! We are in A VB room and our rate is well under $3000 (including taxes etc) for the four of us. My daughter is 14 as well at that time. The cruise goes to GREAT ports including Turks & Caicos, Grand Cayman and THE GREATEST OF THEM ALL... HAlf Moon Cay!! Come on along!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arubalisa Posted May 4, 2006 #9 Share Posted May 4, 2006 We found just the right mix. I wanted an upscale experience and I felt my daughters were up to it. I let my expectations be known. This wouldn't be a child-centered experience. That was what all of the vacations before this were for. Not a million kids only about 200 or so total. Many of the kids under 16 attended the teen/tween programs (especially the first night) to connect with the other teens. My girls enjoyed the programs. In the embarkation terminal, the kids program people sought out the kids to introduce themselves and gave the kids a CD holder that had the week's schedule in it. The schedule was very full! And the teen program didn't start at the crack of dawn like the children's program -- NO after 11, when the kids got UP. The first night there is a parent meeting. It is worth getting the kids into the program. Older Teens and tweens can come and go while the younger children have to be checked in and out. They had kareoke contests, candy bar bingo but more fun was the night when they had the pool all to themselves for a party. Another time they ate dinner together -- like a pizza party. There are soft drinks in the teen center... (free). You describe things very well. My then 8 year old daughter and 15 year old niece found the exact same experience sailing on the Zaandam. Also now most/if not all the ships (all will have eventually except the Prinsendam) will have a Teen Oasis. Google for photos and you will see it is pretty amazing. Almost too nice for just our kids :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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