teens on baltic cruises

[momofteens]

HI , My 16 year old son is going to cruise on a Princess ship in the summer of 05 with his grandparents. For those of you that have done a similar itinerary I'm wondering if there are many (any)teens on these cruises. My 16 year old has been on 4 cruises but they've been to Bermuda and Carribean. Just wondering. Thanks

[kool kruiser]

Do tell your son not to worry. Although there will naturally be fewer than in the Caribbean he should nevertheless find some teens to be with when on-board. Why not ask Princess if they can confirm my impression from their passenger lists of the Grand 04 Baltic season.

 

My thoughts are based on my experience on the Grand in August.

[celem]

We were on the Constellation in July. There were about eitht teens on the ship. They hung out together and were usually in the video game room or in the the ping-pong area.

[mek]

Only a handful of teens on our early June Grand Princess cruise this year, but school was still in for some parts of the country when we started our trip.

[aqua]

My 17 year old daughter found few teens on the Constellation in June. Her bigger frustration was the restrictions on activities on those under 18. She wasn't allowed to use the aquatherapy pool, the gym, or the disco in the late evening. (They had guards posted with a list of teens! At least it forced her to go to bed early....I was happy.) The gym was a problem as she is an athlete. However, she still had a great time on the trip. She was just a little disappointed that she didn't make any new friends.

[kool kruiser]

Perhaps it would be helpful momofteens, if you could tell us your sailing date as this will be the most important factor as to how many teens are likely to be on board

[momofteens]

Thanks so much for responding to my question. The sailing date is July 11 out of England. We're from New York

[kool kruiser]

Sorry to disappoint but this is before much of Europe has broken up for school holidays. I presume that your son will be on the Golden Princess,which is a truly wonderful ship.Although there will be approx 2800 on board, I am a little concerned that there may be very few of your son's age grouping on board.

 

A trip at the end of July or in August would have many more teens on board. Can they switch dates, by any chance?

[nny92825100]

On the May 16, 2004 Jewel of the Seas, my 16 year old son found lots of companions. There were several children from India, Spain and the US. I think the new year around schools in the US has helped get more children on cruises all year. I would guess that there were maybe 20-25 teens in the 16-18 year old group. Only problem, which was huge according to my son, was only two girls! The guys mainly went and played pool in the Schooner bar. My son came home quite a bit richer.

 

Andrew did say that with that few number of teens, the teen club was always dead. They did go up to the Vortex and dance with the "old" twenty something ladies. All in all he had a great time and still keeps in touch via email with his new friends from India.

[momofteens]

Thanks for all the input. My son read the responses and is looking forward to meeting teens from other countries. Oddly, we hadn't even considered the fact that a European cruise would mean teens from all over the world. I would suspect that with less teens on board they will not be so clicky. He of course will be busy sightseeing ect... during the day. It was the after dinner time we were thinking about. It's just he and his grandfather (a young 67) going. they have been planning this trip for years.

[nny92825100]

I noticed since there was a small number of teens and that they were from all over, and heaven forbid, all with embarassing family members, they all seemed to get along. I did not notice any of the clicky thing going on that I noticed when there were mostly American teens on board (like the transatlantics).

 

I think your son will have a great time. Our son sure did.

[kool kruiser]

My youngsters have really enjoyed the multi-national profile in the teens club on our European cruises and still send emails etc to their new friends. I think that this a real positive experience and I feel sure that your son will enjoy the same beneficial experience