Activity access for teens 14 and 18

[washiotter]

(Hey everyone! Apologies if this should be posted in the line-specific forum instead.)

 

My family will be taking our very first cruise next summer, on HAL Nieuw Statendam. My older teen will be two months past her 18th birthday and my younger one is 14. I have a couple of questions about how cruises work for teens.

 

(1) Are teens allowed in evening venues that serve alcohol, like the music clubs? 

(2) Are teen programs rigid about the upper age limit, or is my just-turned-18 likely to be able to go to the teen club to meet other young people? It's listed as ages 13-17.

 

(Note: I am aware that HAL doesn't attract many teens, especially for a nerdy cruise like the one we've chosen. I'm not worried - my kids are introverted and interested in things like world cultures, history, architecture, good food.)

[Essiesmom]

Teens are allowed in the bars, just not served.  If the line has comedians onboard that do late ‘adult’ shows, the under 18 will not be allowed.  Lines are generally pretty strict about the upper age limit in the clubs.  But teens form groups that hang out together, and outside of the club areas, if the activities are self arranged she could join, but if they are hosted she would not be allowed.  EM

[1025cruise]

Your 18 year old won't be allowed in the teen club. This will be due to liability/insurance reasons.

[washiotter]

Thanks, y’all!

[willoL]

@washiotter, my kids this summer were similar in age to what yours will be next year, and we sailed on Nieuw Statendam last month. 🙂

I'm a blogger and have finally started posting about that trip if you'd like to read what I wrote about travel with teens: http://reallywonderfulthings.me/2022/09/20/cruise-report-hal-nieuw-statendam-transatlantic-with-teens/

 

My husband doesn't do formal wear and prefers room service; same with my eldest. My youngest is the party animal of our family, and I like to dress up and enjoy a little evening entertainment when I travel. My high schooler joined me *many* times (trying most of the bars) during the evenings. We explored the ship's nightlife together. He tried every mocktail on the ship, I think, and no one looked twice when we listened to music shows together.

 

We were often the most dressed up "couple" in a venue and had a lot of fun doing something very different from our daily life.

 

My youngest checked out one teen event early in our trip, but saw only one other kid (leaving as he arrived at the welcome party.) He didn't really look for teens the rest of the trip (though there were some that I noticed around); we hung out as a family. It might've been nice if the 18 year old could have played video games with the younger sibling since no one was using Club HAL most of the time, but the liability thing makes sense. My kids have plenty of their own handheld video games they enjoy together.

 

Since the teens we did see weren't hanging out in Club HAL, I think your 18 year old will be able to find the other young people without any problem.

 

As an aside, if, like us, it's your "last family trip" before the eldest leaves for college... I hope you have as great a time as we did! It was a perfect final hurrah with my now-adult child.

 

We spent 24 days in the North Atlantic and it was lovely. The cruise environment lets teens have lots of freedom while even an anxious parent can feel pretty relaxed about their safety.

 

--willo

[washiotter]

@willoL wow, I'm so glad your path crossed with mine! This is incredibly helpful. I can envision my 14-year-old hitting the mocktail bars with me in the evening too. 😉

 

I enjoyed reading your blog post about your trip - thanks for sharing it.