17yo male college student on HAL in mid-January. Cross Post.

[Voireon]

Cross Posted from the family boards, since I received no answers. Also, I have read a few of the "is HAL boring" threads, and this sort of relates to it, so sorry if I sound like a broken record.

 

Cliff notes at end, if needed.

 

First off, hello everyone. This is my first post here on this forum, so excuse me if this was the incorrect forum to ask this question...

 

Secondly, I have cruised many times before. When I was ten, my family took a four day disney cruise, as a splurge since my Grandparents' health (on father's side) was in poor condition (and still is, but thankfully they are still alive and able to walk). Unfortunately, a very distant relative died, but my grandfather is a Methodist Reverend, and he was asked to do the service. My family opted out of going to the funeral, since we had never met them, and had only taken insurance out on my grandparents. Well, we had a wonderful time, and decided to do it again next year, with the grandparents again. At this point, my father received a very considerable raise at work, and the cruise became my family's "staple" vacation. I have been on disney nine times, RCL 4 times, and Carnival once. Each time was during one of our school vacations, so there were at least 100~ kids under 18 on the ship (and on the Disney med trip there were 850, and 487 teens!), so I had a great time.

 

Moving onto the present...

 

My grandmother on my mother's side became a travel agent two years ago, and has gone on our last two cruises with us. She offered to take me alone on a cruise with her and my grandfather, without any of my three siblings or my mother or father, sort of as a gift and as a "we just want to see you more," or maybe just because they're being nice =). Of course I said yes, as I love hanging out with them, and infinite food + staying up all night 7 nights in a row having a good time with random kids, waking up at three p.m., and eating the entire ship's supply of food is always great (maybe I'll finally weigh something normal instead of 110 pounds after this, lol). Only now, I have come to the realization that the HAL cruise line doesn't have very many children/teens on their ships (although food seems to get good reviews), and I'm sailing the last week of my college's winter break, from Jan. 10th - Jan. 17th(?) and I would suspect that there will be 1 to zero kids my age on board. I graduated from highschool a year early, so I won't be turning 18 in time for the more "adult" activities (although, here on campus, there is certainly no lack of that, so not missing much).

 

Sorry to bore you, here's the question, lol. While hanging out with my grandparent's for a week is great, I don't want to be too bored out of my mind. Should I just plan on bringing a bunch of books/etc, or do kids 15-17 go on cruises this time of year? Any suggestions as to what to do?

 

And... maybe this question better answered elsewhere, but how is the HAL cruise line in general? I'm on the Oosterdam, going down the Western Mexican Boarder, and the cruise reviews on here range from "perfect" to "worst experience in my entire life." Any specific reason for that, or are some people just picky?

 

And sorry if this post is tl;dr...

 

Carson

 

 

Cliff notes:

- On HAL for first time, with only grandparents, instead of my usual family of 6 + grandparents

- Used to DCL/RCCL/Carnival

- Want to know if I need to "be prepared" with my own things to do (books, study, computer, etc).

[off2ctheworld]

Fun is where you find it, and attitude makes the difference. Since you've been on cruises, you know about the pools, saunas, casinos, shopping, dining, shows, port excursions, exercise areas, and music. Enjoy your grandparents and the people you will meet-probably very few kids your age will be onboard. Take part in the ship's activities. You can have a great time!

[CruiseShelly]

Aside from the obvious bring your own diversions for down times, keep in mind that no says you can only hang with people your own age (of which there will be very few that time of year I would think).

 

The rest of us would love to chat and include you in our activities. Do you think no one over the age of 20 has anything interesting to share with you or you with them? Strike up conversations with people you are sitting next to, see what excursions your dinner mates are going on the next day, help a lady with her tray in the buffet line -- she might be a supreme court justice for all you know until you sit and talk with her.

 

Here's a secret, shhhh don't tell anyone, we all are only 17 to 21 in our hearts and minds no matter how old the body looks! Feel free to jump right in there with us and be yourself!

[sapper1]

Here's a secret, shhhh don't tell anyone, we all are only 17 to 21 in our hearts and minds no matter how old the body looks! Feel free to jump right in there with us and be yourself!

 

Funny you should say that. When I was young I used to think that when you got older you were a different person. One of my biggest surprises when I did get older was that, aside from being a little wiser and more prudent, I am essentially the same person I was at twenty.

[CowPrincess]

I think that while definitely different from your other cruises, you will enjoy the cruise. Save up some $$$ to buy an internet package, so you can surf the web as wanted. Also, look into a couple of excursions in the ports -- they are an EXCELLENT opportunity to meet people.

 

You're correct to not expect to hang out till 2 or 3 am with similarly-aged people, but given your history of travel you'll have lots to talk about with more mature people. You present yourself as articulate, intelligent and civil, so I'm sure you'd be welcome at any dinner table.

 

Find out from your grandparents if you can sit at a large table -- also another great way of meeting people.

[hammybee]

I have cruised some of the other brands at this time of year, and it's slim pickins as it relates to school-aged children, especially older teens/college-aged, young adults. Most of them are back in school, after a serious holiday break.

 

There is no reason to think that HAL is going to be any different. Fast forward to Spring break time and it's another story.

 

Manage your expectations and plan on being the one and only 17 year old onboard the ship. It's going to be a very different experience than that which you had during other cruises, during prime time vacation time.

 

The entertainment/cruise director staff may be your best source for some relative peer group interaction. Offer to carry the BINGO cards or something, to break the ice. I suspect they will understand your unique position and befriend you. You never know, this might just be your best cruise yet, from a very different standpoint.

[fann1sh]

Hey, Carson. Glad to see you joined your roll call, which was going to be my suggestion. It sucks that thread isn't active. Maybe things will pick up closer to the time you sail.

[tomc]

Funny you should say that. When I was young I used to think that when you got older you were a different person.

Nah; I'm worse, if anything. This year, I brought a rubber cockroach with me and entertained the Lido crew with it. If you call scaring the daylights out of them "entertaining." Actually, they got quite a kick out of it. So did my cabin steward.

 

You'll find that a lot of us old goats (I'm 66) love to hear what life is like on the younger side of the scale. And I remember when I was there and loved to hear the older crowd tell me about their experiences.

 

What you might hear are all the exciting things that can happen to you as you make your way through life. Before my mother cashed in her chips, she had done just about everything legal and I think encouraged a lot of people to get up and go.

[Route6A]

Hi, Carson...... I think I can reassure you that the 7-day Mexican Riviera Cruise is great fun as it was so enjoyable that I have taken it three times. My son, who is in his 20's, has joined me twice, and he loves it, too. To give you an idea of his tastes...He enjoys the company of people of all ages, and has always liked to travel to interesting places. His first cruise was upon graduation from college when my husband and I took him to the Mediterranean on a Celebrity cruise. He was 21 then, and remarked after he had been on the Century for about ten minutes, " I like this so much already that I wish the cruise were longer." He continues to love cruising and is joining us this fall for another Mediterranean cruise on HAL.

 

Shipboard life on HAL on the Mexican Riviera cruise is fairly lively. Usually, a good number of families are included in the mix, even when school is in session. I guess they take a week off. My son loves to attend the Oosterdam Super Star Competition, which can be really a hoot. Sometimes, there are quite talented participants; other times, it's just folks who know they are a scream trying to do their best. Think American Idol. The Queen's Lounge is always pacaked for this fun evening event, so go early.

 

This cruise visits Cabo San Lucas, which is one of my favorite ports. On our first trip there, we took a bus tour which gave us a good overview of the area. Now, we usually walk to town for a nice lunch at a restaurant overlooking the picturesque port area. If offered, you might also enjoy a whale watch tour. We did.

 

On sea days, we like to spend time sitting in deck chairs reading, so take a book if you enjoy that. There is also a good sized library on the ship, and it is part of a wonderful area which includes the computer center, where you can keep in touch with the news by reading the New York Times online free of charge. ( You might like to take your laptop along as I do. There is a charge for connecting to the Internet.) Within the library/computer area, youwill find a nice coffee bar too, something like a small Starbucks.

 

The Lido pool area is very nice on the Oosterdam. We like to visit the Mexican food buffet near the starboard side of the pool and have lunch at one of the tables near the windows which surround this pool area. Great views. You might see some whales as you have your lunch..

 

I think you will find that you will be very busy spending 7 days on the Oosterdam. We always find that we wish we had a few more days to enjoy her.

 

If you have any other questions, Carson, ask away. I hope you enjoy your cruise with your grands.

[Essiesmom]

There is no excuse for being bored. A cruise ship is a floating United Nations...Pick a place that is not too busy, stop a crew member and ask where they are from, and tellyou about it. See how many different countries you can collect. Look for all the odd nooks and crannies of the ship and take pictures of them. What are you studying in college? Look for experiences that might come in useful in a writing class...or for telling at a frat party...EM

[Roboat]

I think one problem is that you will be adored by everyone on the ship. It's clear you are a bright and considerate young person.

 

Your post is so well-written it's embarrassing. Perhaps you can bring a laptop and use the solitude to do some writing for pleasure, maybe a short story, or a vignette.

 

Sometimes having nothing to do is an unexpected gift.

[babyher]

Nah; I'm worse, if anything. This year, I brought a rubber cockroach with me and entertained the Lido crew with it. If you call scaring the daylights out of them "entertaining." Actually, they got quite a kick out of it. So did my cabin steward.

 

You'll find that a lot of us old goats (I'm 66) love to hear what life is like on the younger side of the scale. And I remember when I was there and loved to hear the older crowd tell me about their experiences.

 

What you might hear are all the exciting things that can happen to you as you make your way through life. Before my mother cashed in her chips, she had done just about everything legal and I think encouraged a lot of people to get up and go.

 

 

 

*LOL*

 

I was/am the same way . When I was a kid I thought the adults were doing all this great stuff I had to wait many more years to do :)

 

Now at 45 , I love sitting and talking with the teens and 20 somethings and hearing about whats going on with them.