Eurodam with teens 4/11/09

[mrsdtoo]

Wow, I am reading a lot about the older crowds on Eurodam and am worried. I have 2 teen boys and we are excited about our Easter week trip. However, I thought because it was a family week off, there would be a lot of kids/teens on this ship. It was a great deal and 4 islands instead of 3. Wondering if I made a mistake and should have gone on a different line? Any advice or encouragement??? Please? :confused:

[scottjeanne]

I have a 16 year old daughter that has been cruising with us for years. We just took a 17 day Australia/New Zealnd cruise in December/January. There was a group of teenagers that spent all their time together. The suggestion I would make is for the teenagers to get involved right away. If they hold back even for a day or two, groups are already formed and it is hard to break in. This is especially true on a 7 day cruise.

 

Have them go to the teen oasis the first evening. Or if they are assertive, they can go around the dining room the first dinner and invite all the teens to the pool at 10 that night. The teens really seem to enjoy themselves.

 

I found I had to lay some ground rules though. Curfew, shore expectations, required dinner with family every night etc. Other parents were more lenient than I am- they allowed their teens to go asore without them, to stay up all night etc. Being in a foregin, albeit extremely friendly and safe country, I would not allow her on shore with her friends without us.

 

Enjoy your cruise. You and your children will have a wonderful time.

[mchell810]

You are traveling when schools are out, so there should be other families with teens. Your teens will find buddies. Don't worry!

[mrsdtoo]

Thanks for the advice! Even though my boys are 14 & 17, I've already read some stuff on this website that has made us already set down the ground rules! They are great boys, though, so hopefully they will find others. I just didn't want the "party boats"... that's one reason we chose HAL.

[Ballwin Babe]

HAL is our favorite line, and we cruise with a 15 year old daughter. Don't feel alone with the ground rules...we too are the "strict parents" who require our daughter to check in with us every couple of hours. She is also not allowed to go into any cabins or hang out in the hallways/staircases on cabin decks. (How easy it would be to be pulled into a cabin by a predator).

 

She has curfews, yes...old fashioned curfews. We see no reason that a 15 year old should be wandering the deck of a ship (even a HAL ship) at 1 in the morning. If she has a late teen club event, we meet her at the event to walk her to our cabin.

 

I know that some of her deck buddies roll their eyes which makes her unhappy, but we don't relent. All that being said, she would NEVER choose to stay home if we have a cruise on the calendar! Enjoy!