A strange question - large ships

[Techno123]

Whilst my hubby and I like the smaller luxury ships (Seabourn was our first) my 'little' sister still has teenage children and is considering her first (the short Disney one not included) Med cruise. For those of you who worked your way through the bigger ships when your children were younger (or who still cruise them) which lines would you recommend for good service at a reasonable price that cater for 12 to 18 year olds. Thank you in advance for your advice.

[Got2Cruise]

7 hours ago, Techno123 said:

Whilst my hubby and I like the smaller luxury ships (Seabourn was our first) my 'little' sister still has teenage children and is considering her first (the short Disney one not included) Med cruise. For those of you who worked your way through the bigger ships when your children were younger (or who still cruise them) which lines would you recommend for good service at a reasonable price that cater for 12 to 18 year olds. Thank you in advance for your advice.

Royal Caribbean has all the bells and whistles for that age group. Celebrity is also very good but doesn’t have the flow rider and climbing wall type of things. But if you’re in Europe you might not care. 

[Gcto]

8 hours ago, Techno123 said:

Whilst my hubby and I like the smaller luxury ships (Seabourn was our first) my 'little' sister still has teenage children and is considering her first (the short Disney one not included) Med cruise. For those of you who worked your way through the bigger ships when your children were younger (or who still cruise them) which lines would you recommend for good service at a reasonable price that cater for 12 to 18 year olds. Thank you in advance for your advice.

I would second Celebrity. RCL's super ships have plenty of options, but we found that Celebrity offers enough for the youngen's while nice for the adults... but...those times are gone and done with...now we take care of us adults 🙂

 

[papaflamingo]

I'm a Royal Caribbean fan for young people.  Celebrity, for me, is more an older crowd.  Although the "bells and whistles" on Royal Caribbean are ship dependent.  The large ships, Oasis class or Quantum class, have the most activities.  If you go to the smaller classes they aren't that different from Celebrity, and, imho, Celebrity is a step up. 

[Cerinda]

Strange as this may sound, our kids really enjoyed their multiple port-intensive HAL cruises. They were already seasoned travelers, however, and had plenty of opportunities to visit land-based theme parks for their "bells and whistles" fun.  

[Pcardad]

37 minutes ago, Cerinda said:

Strange as this may sound, our kids really enjoyed their multiple port-intensive HAL cruises. They were already seasoned travelers, however, and had plenty of opportunities to visit land-based theme parks for their "bells and whistles" fun.  

I love HAL, but I also Like Navigator over Splendor so I am a little weird.

[Techno123]

Norwegian Pearl has the itinerary that she fancies and following on from your recommendations she quite likes the look of RC's Odyssey of The Seas which has part of the itinerary and is a bit shorter. 
 

thank you everyone for your suggestions 😁

I am off on Explorer with hubby's sibling and his wife who, like us, can now enjoy child free cruising 😂

Edited January 27, 2023 by Techno123

[Cerinda]

On 1/26/2023 at 4:31 PM, Pcardad said:

I love HAL, but I also Like Navigator over Splendor so I am a little weird.

Now that they’re grown and pay their own bills, they’ve started joining us on Regent! Navigator/PG fan here, too; Splendor transatlantic next up.

[Gpilon]

2 hours ago, Cerinda said:

Now that they’re grown and pay their own bills, they’ve started joining us on Regent! Navigator/PG fan here, too; Splendor transatlantic next up.

March 28 crossing? We’re on it.

[Thundery]

I would never recommend Regent for children there is nothing for them to do

we are Frequent regent cruisers but we took our g’kids on two trips last summer on Princess, they loved it and were busy all day. We not so much as we like the smaller ships but this was for them not us😎

[Techno123]

28 minutes ago, Thundery said:

I would never recommend Regent for children there is nothing for them to do

we are Frequent regent cruisers but we took our g’kids on two trips last summer on Princess, they loved it and were busy all day. We not so much as we like the smaller ships but this was for them not us😎

Regent is definitely not on the cards 😜 - will suggest she has a look at Princess too.

[ysolde]

I am taking my nephew (18) and 80-something mother on RCCL this summer.  They have all the fun activities for the teens, and the spa, the cool and relative tranquility of Central Park, and traditional Broadway shows for my mother.  It works.

[Techno123]

6 hours ago, ysolde said:

I am taking my nephew (18) and 80-something mother on RCCL this summer.  They have all the fun activities for the teens, and the spa, the cool and relative tranquility of Central Park, and traditional Broadway shows for my mother.  It works.

Sounds perfect.

[ysolde]

On 2/14/2023 at 2:16 AM, Techno123 said:

Sounds perfect.

I hope so.  When it's just my DH and me, we are leaning increasingly towards Regent (though we have booked a very late season crossing on NCL Viva in 2024 that is a really lovely itinerary (starts in Lisbon, includes Morocco and the Canaries, crosses the Atlantic and then goes to the Caribbean, all in late November, early December)).  We are curious about the new class of NCL ships, and would like to check it out when it is less likely to be crowded. 

 

I do get the appeal of the big ships when there are teens around, though.  Heaven help us all.