Which ship for an active teen?

[Leeannpal]

Hi! I am new to cruising and have a question about my daughter who will be 17 on the cruise. There will also be two 50 something adults on the cruise. We would like to cruise in the Caribbean but don't have must do places to see. What Norwegian ship would be good for a teen? We've looked at several, but I would love to hear actual experiences. too. 

 

[Georgia_Peaches]

If you have an active teen then I would suggest the Away class (Breakaway, Getaway, ) or even the Epic.  We took our teens/young adults on both Breakaway and Epic and they really enjoyed the water slides.  Epic has a "Royal Flush" slide that is lots of fun.  There was plenty to do for teens and after the first day, we hardly saw our kids because of all the new friends they made on the ship.

 

[Nola26]

If she likes sports avoid the Bliss and others with a rave track. While those are cool and fun for a day or two the appeal wears off.

[tallnthensome]

The Escape would be my choice. Like Nola26 said above, the Bliss has the race track and laser tag and while both fun they both cost money each time  ...... The Escape has a sports court, ropes course, water park, etc. It really depends on what you mean by "active teen" and their likes. 

[gatorchinsky]

Definitely the Escape.  We have a very active teen boy and he loves the Escape.  The ropes course, basketball court, mini golf, water slides, etc were all what he loved.  We went on the Bliss last November and while it is a beautiful ship and we had a good time it just wasn’t our teen’s favorite.  We actually had the Encore booked but when we returned from our Bliss cruise he asked if we could cancel and go back to the Escape.  This will be our 3rd time on the Escape.

[Kfamilycruise]

I have two teen boys who second Escape, Getaway, Breakaway and Epic (in that order).

[dexddd]

Posted to your question on MSC board but for NCL I'd say Escape.

 

And as I said in that post, read NCL terms carefully when you look at 'free' things.

[Vyhanek]

I don't think your 17 year old will be bored on any NCL ship but I know that is a very common misconception.    People don't believe that the ship actually stops at different islands where you get off, do excursions and enjoy the day.    

 

But if this really is a fear, you can book a cruise that is port intensive.   As in, minimal days at sea.    Lots of Caribbean cruises will work for you.   Look for a cruise that has only 1 or 2 sea days.  

 

The Escape would be a great first cruise.    But I just got off the Gem to Bermuda.   It was really a lot of fun.   They really did a great job with entertainment, the food was really delicious and after many cruises on the larger NCL ships, I've come to appreciate the ships where there are less crowds.   Where you can find a lounge chair and where the theater holds basically as many people who want to watch the show.   It was refreshing coming back to a smaller ship where there was more space and more public areas that are outside and with ocean views.    

Edited July 20, 2019 by Vyhanek