Teenagers (14 yo)

[angie.w]

Do most teenagers go to circle c or just hang out with their family? I can't decide if I should stay with my family or go to the icebreakers session thing.

[bury me at sea]

It seems most teenagers go to the first session, get a schedule of planned activities for the club, and move gradually into groups to hang out together.

 

How much time they spend with other teenagers and with their own families varies from family to family.

 

Hope you have a fun cruise.

[dbenlee]

When our son was that age, it depended on the activities and on the kind of other teens he met.  If he didn't "hit it off" with anyone, he spent more time with us,

[Munchy1313]

My niece 16 who is shy about meeting people went and meet girls on the first night at the get together party. The rest of the trip she hung out with them and they made plans to eat and hangout. 

 

My grandson 14 is not shy and always meet kids at the get to know each party the first night. He never wants to go to dinner or hang out with family cause they have events he wants to do.

 

Go have fun the first night and stay at least 2 hours at the meet and greet. That was the deal we had with my niece and she didn’t regret going.

[MommytoAsquared]

My 16 y/o prefers to hang with the family.  She says, "We are on vacation as a family so I am going to hang with my family."  I prefer it that way too.

[lennythenose]

My deal with my sons has always been they go on the first night and then it is up to them how much they want to go after than.  On almost every cruise I end up seeing very little of them except for dinner and port days.

[Willwork4cruises]

On our last cruise in May, we had three girls in Circle C. They went every night after dinner. Most nights they were anxious for us to finish up so they could check to see what was happening at the club. It is something they are already talking about for next years cruise.  

 

During the daytime, they were always with us.

 

[Elaine5715]

Most of the folks here are about 30 years past the teen club

[scpirate]

Neither one our hoodlums found other hoodlums to gang up with and played basketball and other stuff all day.we rarely saw them for any length of time except meal time.and in port.just depends on how much freedom your willing to give them.my wife is pretty liberal which I'm not but not my kids so I keep my mouth shut for the most part.

[TalkingTravel]

Hey angie.w, My 15 year old son's advice is that it's very important to go on the first night as that's when the teens tend to drop in and check things out. He said to hang around a bit if there is no one there at first as they will usually drift in during the evening. He tells me this night is when friendships start being formed so if you don't go on the first night it can be harder to make friends later, especially if quite a few teens turn up on the first night and you're not there. How much he enjoys the teen's club depends on who is on board. However, there has only been one cruise where he hasn't made at least one good friend to hang out with and even then he still had people to play video games etc with, just no really close mates on that cruise to eat dinner with etc. Every family is different, but we have a rule that he has to eat one family meal with us per day, usually lunch as he's not a breakfast kinda guy.  He mostly goes to dinner with friends he's made at the teen's club as he prefers the buffet for dinner and my husband and I like the main dining room. I hope the above info helps and you have a great cruise!

[NebraskaSatellite]

Our daughter and son (14 and 12 at the time) did Circle C on our first cruise this past summer.  Both enjoyed it very much.  I had them go the first night to do the icebreaker activities and they quickly found a group of friends that they still text with months later.  Mostly they used Circle C as a place to meet.  If you think you might want to hang out with other teens instead of being with family the whole cruise, definitely go to the ice breaker the first night - it will be much harder to break into the groups that get formed that first night.

 

During the cruise they hung out with their Circle C friends most of the day on sea days.  We ate dinner as a family each night about 6, they they met up with their friends again around 7:30.  On port days we did excursions as a family during the day, ate dinner together, then they met their friends again later.

[ProgRockCruiser]

13 hours ago, Elaine5715 said:

Most of the folks here are about 30 years past the teen club

 

And yet there have been so many potentially-helpful posts, nonetheless.

 

Huh, imagine that?  I guess there might actually be some folks, 30 or more years after they were 14 years old, that might have had kids of their own, who might or might not be 14 years old at some point in their lives.  Weird, eh?

[Elaine5715]

10 hours ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

 

And yet there have been so many potentially-helpful posts, nonetheless.

 

Huh, imagine that?  I guess there might actually be some folks, 30 or more years after they were 14 years old, that might have had kids of their own, who might or might not be 14 years old at some point in their lives.  Weird, eh?

Big difference in parents telling a teenager what their kids told them they did and what the kids actually did.  Like playing "video games" in the arcade which looked to me to be a game called "kissy face".

[cruisecraze96]

My oldest is 16 now and she agrees to go the first night since that is when you meet others and form groups.  Our rule is dinner with the family as well as other family things like see who can get Aunt Kathy through the sky course 🙂 she has made many friends over the years and are still friends online with several.  She like CCL the best so far, she was not a fan of the other programs as much. Next trip will be her first time in Club O2 so we will see if she still enjoys it.  

[Nic6318]

Hi Angie

 

Welcome to cruise critic.

 

I would suggest that you go and see what kind of schedule is planned. Maybe you meet some people you could get along with. If they have nothing planned that would interest you, and you can't see yourself spending time with others you meet, at least you have made an effort. There is no obligation, your family will be there to join in family stuff any time. I would imagine you have spoken with your parents about this. As long as you are safe and they know where you are, I am sure they just want you to have a fun time.

 

hope this helps

have a great cruise

[eljd]

17 hours ago, Elaine5715 said:

Big difference in parents telling a teenager what their kids told them they did and what the kids actually did.  Like playing "video games" in the arcade which looked to me to be a game called "kissy face".

Knowing what activities the camp offers (even if other kids are lying to their parents about what they're doing) is still helpful? She can choose for herself what she actually wants to do.

[stellarose]

my 14 and 16 year old did teen club. we only saw them at dinner. hub chat was our mode of communication.

[KmomChicago]

Hi, Angie. I agree with everyone else. Please go to the first evening's welcome program and just see how you like the vibe.  Good chance you'll find someone you want to hang around with.  If not, still take a look at the activity schedule and see if there's anything you want to come back for later in the cruise. 

 

Very easy to give it a try and decide it's not for you and you'd rather be with the family, but would be a shame to miss out if it turns out to be a good fit for you. Happy cruising!

[Martini Mom]

My teens have been on cruises where they spent the whole time with us and others where they loved the teen program and we barely saw them. I think it just depends on the ship, the kids cruising at that time, and what the kid feels like doing. We're fine with our kids doing either or.