Cruise for 19-yr.-old & family?

[wheaton24]

We're interested in an August 2008 cruise for 3 -- parents and a 19-year-old daughter. Is there a cruise line that's not all young kids, but has something for her age? We like high quality, but not dressy. 7-10 days would be ideal. It's not that important where we go. We live in NY.

[cb at sea]

Almost any line will work--Carnival, RCCI, and NCL will have the most young adults. She's too old to participate in the "kids" programs, so everything she does will be on the "adult" level.

Speak with a good cruise travel agent--they can point you in the right direction!

[lady_cruiser]

I have to agree. A good TA is worth their weight in gold. The good ones are trained to pick up on a persons wants and needs and then match those to a perfect cruise and/or land based vacation.

[GORDONCHICK]

More than likely, one of the newer, larger ships with lots of bells and whistles would be of more interest to a 19yo. There are ships with rock climbing walls, in-line skating tracks, ice skating, mini-golf, basketball, flowriders, etc, most of which would be fun for her age. Note that she would not be permitted in the clubs in the evenings (usually have age req. posted) or the casino (except to walk through). Some ships have a teen disco.

[serene56]

there are some cruises that leave out of NY.

 

Carnival Miracle and Caribbean Princess. Maybe you should start your search on either of these two ships.

[CruisnGram]

I don't know if this will influence your opinion at all, one way or the other, but NCL is the only cruise line who will allow 18 to 20 year olds to drink wine and beer while on board. They must be accompanyed by a parent who must sign a permission form for it to be allowed.

 

If you have a responsible 19 year old and would like them to be able to have a glass of wine with dinner, NCL is the only place that can be done legally. At her age, she will also be allowed in most of the nightclubs on NCL as the majority of them are 18 and up.

She's also allowed in the casino, either to observe or to play herself as again, the age is 18. Basically, NCL treats those 18 and up as adults and allow them to participate in the majority of onboard activities.

 

Regarding the "not dressy" aspect, NCL does not have formal nights. They have "dress up or not nights". You can dress formally if you would like to, but are not required. Their dress code for all evenings is dressy casual which includes jeans, even on dress up or not night. One main dining room restricts jeans each evening.

[#1TravelMom]

I have a 19 year old daughter also. We've been on 3 cruises in the past year. If you want to email me, I'd be glad to give you the specifics of each - what we liked and didn't like for ourselves and what she liked and didn't like for someone her age. I think choosing the right ship is going to be key. bogelbtk@aol.com