First family cruise w/teens during Christmas break?

[wrg]

Would you recommend?  We will have a 17 and 19 year old by next year and are hoping to take a family vacation.  This will be their first cruise ever.  Thanks.

[rkacruiser]

A Caribbean cruise of whatever duration your budget will allow on Carnival or Royal Caribbean.  If your sons are "beach types", a Western Caribbean itinerary might best suit them.  

 

If you want a somewhat more upscale cruise, consider Princess.  Or, maybe Disney.  (Disney might be "too Mickey Mouse" for your sons, though).  

 

I recommend that you visit whatever cruise lines that you are considering and obtain information about their programs for your of the age of your sons.  

 

A holiday cruise will make a special memory for your family!  Have fun planning it!  

[wrg]

Thanks.  I forgot to mention that my teens are daughters 🙂

 

[Host Kat]

2 hours ago, wrg said:

Would you recommend?  We will have a 17 and 19 year old by next year and are hoping to take a family vacation.  This will be their first cruise ever.  Thanks.

 

@wrg

 

Howdy!  

 

Welcome back to the Cruise Critic message boards!  I see it has been awhile since you have posted on the boards. 

 

Thank you for your new thread on the Ask a Cruise Question forum. 👍  It is the forum for general questions regarding cruising. However, your new thread was off-topic there since your topic concerns a specific type of cruising.

 

To help you out I have moved your thread to our Family Cruises forum. That is where members cruising with kids can find the best family cruise advice. Browse through the thread titles on this new forum l👀king for threads of interest. You will probably find  your fellow Cruise Critic members have already posted questions and received answers that will be of interest to you. I suggest you Follow this thread so you will be notified of new posts. For more info please see How to: Follow Topics & Forums (Subscribed Threads/Forums Info). Also, be sure to check out our 2019 Cruisers' Choice Awards for Best Cruises for Families.

 

And don't forget, after your cruise be sure to submit your review for publication by Cruise Critic. Many cruisers will benefit from your experience! See How To: Submit a Member Review.

 

I hope this will be helpful and glad to have you back aboard Cruise Critic!  

 

Happy sails,

 

Host Kat  

[fatcat04]

The options are limitless. Caribbean is a great intro. Do at least a 7 day cruise. If your girls love the beach, do a cruise with a private island day for sure. You know what your girls like in the way of music and food and entertainment. Check out everyone and see if anything jumps out. Oh and get the laundry package whatever cruise you are on, mom deserves it. 

[mjkacmom]

My kids have been on 4 NCL cruises and had a great time, from ages 7 - 20. The teen club only goes up to 17, it’s more of a way to meet travelers the same age, although over Christmas there will be a ton of younger adults with family, I suspect. They can both go to bars and clubs, the 19 year old can drink wine and beer with a signed waiver on NCL, and go into the casino.

[Spunky946]

We love cruising over the holidays.  This year we are doing a 9 night over Christmas and New Years.  Can’t wait

[Travel R]

My daughters have been on a few cruises, and we going again next year (they will be 17 and 22 when we cruise) - and I think they are looking forward to it even more than myself and my DW.

 

My suggestion is to have them help select any excursions you may take during port days.

 

[atobols]

My children are a bit younger, they're 15 and 13 right now.  They love cruising over Christmas and New Years more than any other time of year.  We did a 15 night from San Francisco to Hawaii a couple years ago and we're doing a 10 might Mexican Riviera cruise this year.

 

I think anywhere warm is great.  We aren't a beach or shopping family so we tend to do other things.  This year we'll be snorkeling, zip-lining, scuba diving, whale watching, and and parasailing. I have everyone check out the various excursions and we come to a consensus about what everyone wants to do.  

 

As for the cruise itself, we tend to go our separate ways during the sea days.  The boys go off in their own directions with the friends they've made during the cruise.  My husband and I do our own thing.  There are some days the kids choose to do activities with us and other days we'll only see them when we meet up for lunch and dinner.