Cruising with an 18 year old

[Kroosin]

We had originally planned to travel on the Liberty in the Med. with two 18 year old guys but now it's down to just one. Will he be allowed to go to the teen clubs? I'm asking because Carnival posts the age cut off as 17 and sometimes other organizations I know of have had to be very strict about this for legal reasons. Also will there be enough to do on ship for a kid of that age who doesn't know anybody but Mom and Dad? Thanks.

[LHP]

To be perfectly honest, that post 17 to pre 21 age range is an area of struggle for Carnival. I think it will really depend on his ability to "meet new people" and make his own fun. I don't know how "firm" they are on the 17 year old club.

 

Carnival does "Camp Carnival" so well and "Adult" activities so well that the 18 - 20 can get lost in the shuffle. And the fact that it is a Med cruise probably isn't going to help. (probably an older crowd)

 

The good news is that he can get in the disco until they close (minimum age of 18).

 

Hopefully he will find some college folks to hang with. Also, go to the Roll Call section and see if you can find some folks his age ahead of time.

[klfrodo]

The teen club is geared towards the 14 - 17 year olds. Most likely the answer is no.

My kids are 19 and 20 now. As soon as they turned 18, the last thing they wanted to be associated with was young teenagers. Of course they had their life long friends who maybe weren't 18 yet, but for the most part they didn't.

 

As 18 Y/O, they had no problem finding things and friends around the ship. As adults now (at 18) they wanted to do other things that they couldn't before. They could now go to the casino. They could now get into the adult nightclubs on the ship. They could now go to the adult comedy show.

 

Missing out on the teeny bopper disco won't bum him out.:D

[Hootsie]

We had two 18 year olds on our cruise two weeks ago (my daughter and her friend). No, they can't go in the teen disco, they have someone outside checking ID's. But, there is plenty to do and there will be a other kids in the same boat (so to speak). Karaoke is a fun thing for them and they are allowed in the adult discos.

 

Too bad he can't bring a friend tho. That is the way to go.

[Scoutcat]

Actually, the Club O2 stuff is for 15 to 17 year olds for the most part. I suspect that how strictly they monitor the age depends on several things. On our cruise on the Valor last December, the ship was full--and 1000 of the were kids 15 and under. The Club O2 staff was monitoring the ages of the kids admitted to the activites pretty closely from what I heard back from my 16 year old twins. No one over 17 got in, and they checked for the underage kids periodically, especially if someone looked or acted out of place.

 

I don't know that an 18 year old would find the Club O2 stuff all that interesting, though. Maybe it was just the person in charge on the Valor, but my kids thought that the whole thing was pretty juvenile, and ended up mostly spending time with us or with some of the kids their age that they ran into in the gym, pool, etc.

 

"Scout" aka Carol

Dayton, OH

[daveandjules]

We just returned from the Carnival Miracle and we took our 18 year old son and his 12 year old brother. At first our older son complained of being bored, then he met a group of teens and college kids his age in the disco on the second night. Our son is quiet and we had to encourage him to go out and meet other teens. Of course once he did this he was in the disco until at least 2 am every night, even when we were getting off the ship early for an excursion! He had a blast on the trip and on the last day did not want to leave! We made sure we spent extra time with him in the beginning, going to the gym, shows, meeting up for meals. Our 12 year old did not attend camp carnival but met a group in the arcade and hung out with them a lot too. I did have to remind them to check in with us regularly and it was mandatory that we had dinner together! I think with encouragement they will meet other teens and at 18 they can gamble too (although ours never did, did not want to "waste" his money):p Both of our boys were not fond of Camp Carnival, even at 17 he did not enjoy it!

[momof4boys]

I agree that this is one area that needs to be adressed!

 

If you go with friends who are the same age, it is fine. We found that most older teens/youn adults (18-20) were already with friends and weren't that interested in "meeting new people." Yes, they went to the disco, but stayed in their private groups.

 

I don't have the answer either. I am happy that this July we have friends going in that same age bracket--18-20

[boaterette]

We just cruised this month with my 18 year old and she was bored. Her younger sister usually goes also but couldnt this time. This age is really hard if they are shy. She tried the casino and was bored after 20 minutes.Next April her sister will be 18 and they will both be able to do things together. Maybe you can find another friend to go with him?

[I Luv Crusin]

We had originally planned to travel on the Liberty in the Med. with two 18 year old guys but now it's down to just one. Will he be allowed to go to the teen clubs? I'm asking because Carnival posts the age cut off as 17 and sometimes other organizations I know of have had to be very strict about this for legal reasons. Also will there be enough to do on ship for a kid of that age who doesn't know anybody but Mom and Dad? Thanks.

 

Which departure are you on? I'm taking my 18 yo daughter on the 5/19 departure.:rolleyes:

 

Go to the roll call for your departure and ask there. There may be other 18 year olds on your sailing.