DCL not good for teens?

[eye R.N.]

I can see both sides. And I'm betting with the attitude you have already gotten that you aren't going to be able to sell disney to your family.

That being said I have a son 17 who HATES disney in general. When asked if he wants to join me on the 14 repo next summer jumped on it in a heartbeat, knowing that it involves 6 sea days.

Moral. . . . you just never know when it comes to teens

 

[cjsmith]

I can see both sides. And I'm betting with the attitude you have already gotten that you aren't going to be able to sell disney to your family.

That being said I have a son 17 who HATES disney in general. When asked if he wants to join me on the 14 repo next summer jumped on it in a heartbeat, knowing that it involves 6 sea days.

Moral. . . . you just never know when it comes to teens

I'd so love to do the repo cruises, you're so lucky. Our kids are already back in school so it's not an option. Enjoy.

 

[allears]

I know that you've said that the Disney cruiseline is the family vaction choice for you all, but out of curiousity have you ever taken a different cruise line?

We haven't, though we've batted the idea around, none of us wants to try another line right now. We know that other lines do a great job, but we don't choose DCL so much for the cruise but for the DCL cruise experience, if that makes sense. They have been given the choice of a WDW trip with their favorite Aunt and cousins or a cruise, and have pick cruise hands down.

Again, that doesn't mean other lines don't do a great job and I believe everyone can find fun on most any vacation, if they so choose. We have simply found a vacation experience that all of us enjoy together and seperately. So we keep going back because we know we'll have our expectations and desires met and so far always exceeded. We're just very attached to "our" ship, which is our primary destination, don't much care where she sails to, as long as we're on the ship.

In fact, slightly off topic, in 05 my DW and I were rolling our refund from a hurricane cruise into another cruise. We had a choice to either sail Disney or we were considering sailing the Carnival Glory with our best friends who had already booked a cruise on. We went back and forth, the refund would have more than covered the Carnival cruise, but it came down to this, we thought about standing on the deck of the Glory and looking across the water at the Magic, and we knew we wouldn't be able to stand it, so we went with DCL just the two of us. Our friends had a very nice time, though they had been with us during the hurricane cruise and said it even bugged them to see the Magic docked at most of the ports.

So we're just pretty much DCL junkies, and not looking for a 12 step program.

 

[tecdavidt]

Food for thought, it could be your sister in law is not a Disney lover and doesn't want to be around "the mouse". We have had friends in the past state some pretty sour statements about the DCL cruiseline and they have never even cruised on Disney before. They had teens and they insist that Disney is for young children and did not give their teens a voice in the choice of what cruiseline they would go on. The attitude that my teens are above acting their actual age was strong.This couple expected their teens, 14, 15 and 16 to participate in the adult activities. As far as our family, our teens want to hang out with fellow teens, not us. Dinner is OK, excursions are OK but the rest of their free time they want their peers. I would also guess no matter what you tell her she will not listen. Her decision has been made.

Our children started on DCL then did we did one Carnival. That was a huge mistake. The teen boys complained their was nothing to do and our 8 yr. old daughter disliked the "baby sitting" style of Carnival after 10:00 pm plus we had to pay $10 an hour for the service she disliked. So it was backed to Disney. Our daughter is now 14 and was in the Stack her last cruise. To qoute her, "it was my best cruise ever!" This coming from a teen who has been on Disney since she was 7 for a yearly cruise and when she was 7 she cried when she found out we had to get off the ship.

Good Luck with your plans. Kathy

 

[6griswolds]

Just came back from the 3 day. My 2 teens ages 13 and 17 were very bored. They didn't care for the teen club and all they wanted to do was eat and watch tv. My ds did like the movie POTC and my dd liked Golden Mickeys. Other than that they liked Disney World more.

 

[jrose529]

We took DD two years ago when she was 16 and she had the time of her life! She made so many friends that she still keeps in touch with. They became so close that they've all gotten togher twice since then. I mentioned cruising on DCL during Spring Break and she was thrilled!! Her only dissapointment is that she can't visit the Stack since she would have just turned 18. I think your SIL's teens will love it, but it's not worth a family feud to force them. I had DD go on teen disney to meet other teens who would be sailing with us and she enjoyed that. Maybe your SIL kids can browse the teen boards.

Good luck!

 

[cjsmith]

I'm wondering if the 7 night has more teens on it and more to do for teens. It just seemed like on our Wonder cruise there were so few older teens which is why my 16 year old was so bored. They didn't even do most of the thing scheduled as there just weren't enough teens.

 

[cjsmith]

We took DD two years ago when she was 16 and she had the time of her life! She made so many friends that she still keeps in touch with. They became so close that they've all gotten togher twice since then. I mentioned cruising on DCL during Spring Break and she was thrilled!! Her only dissapointment is that she can't visit the Stack since she would have just turned 18. I think your SIL's teens will love it, but it's not worth a family feud to force them. I had DD go on teen disney to meet other teens who would be sailing with us and she enjoyed that. Maybe your SIL kids can browse the teen boards.

Good luck!

If she just turned 18 or is 18 and still in high school they will allow her to go to the stack. My daughter just turned 18 in June and when we cruised on July 23 they told her she had a choice, she was welcome in the teens club or could go to the adult venues but she had to pick one or another not both. On our first night she went to the teen club but there were mainly 13 and 14 year olds so she then met the 18 to 25 year olds at 10:30 and then decided to just hang out rather than go to the teen club for the rest of the cruise.

 

[jrose529]

I hope there are older teens on the 4 day! DD would be miserable. She loves to meet new friends. Maybe since it's our Spring Break, there will more teens.

I'm glad to know that DD will be able go to the Stack. She will still be in high school and would have turned 18 the month before.

 

[allears]

I'm wondering if the 7 night has more teens on it and more to do for teens. It just seemed like on our Wonder cruise there were so few older teens which is why my 16 year old was so bored. They didn't even do most of the thing scheduled as there just weren't enough teens.

This also seems to depend on the time of the year. The two years we went in Feb, there were lots of teens, a lot of states have mid-winter breaks. When we went in late Sept 04 there weren't as many and my DW and I noticed less in mid-January.

 

[bengals01]

My 16 Year Old Nephew Went With Us In December, He Said It Was The Best Vacation He Had Ever Been On

 

[carol31j]

Our 15-year old grandson was in the group and though at first, he was sulking about going on the Disney Cruise, he was the one who got the most engrossed in all of the activities Disney had to offer for teens. He spent hours at the Stack.

The teens are bound to enjoy it.

 

[tinkerbellmom1]

We took our first DCL vacation last November with our sons, 13 and 12 at the time. We all had the time of our lives! They did venture into the clubs (teen and lab) but we found most of our time was spent together at the pools, on deck 10, on the excursions, at the shows, dinners, etc. Our sons loved it! They met new friends, had new experiences, LOVED the food! Do what feels right for you and your family. We loved it so much we booked another cruise right there on the ship! Good luck!

 

[scrapperjill]

I didn't read all the posts listed here so I'm not sure if this issue has been mentioned before....And I don't have any experience on other cruise lines...BUT IMO DCL trys to provide a safe and fun enviroment for everyone (of all ages) on the ship (which I'm sure the other lines try also)....but I've read or heard to many stories related to other lines and the "behavor" of passangers. I don't know that I would want my teen to go and do her thing as freely on another line. Sure things can happen anywhere and at any time. But it seems like the mix and atmoshpire of a good number of other lines is "Party time"....Which isn't really the fun "Family" vacation I try to show my kids.

Anyhow I just thought I'd toss that out...as another PLUS for DCL.

IMO the cruise experience for anybody is what they make of it. In other words if you put out and effort you'll have fun...same as if you don't get out and try it may not be as fun...no matter what line your on. DCL has the Stack for teen with tons of activites (you should search for one of the navagators with listing of some of the cruise activites...and see if you can find the activity list for the Stack as well) not to mention movies, live showes, pools, the arcade, basketball and MUCH MUCH more to keep kids busy...