14 Year Old Son in Dream

[nutshell]

We are planning a land and sea trip. My 14 year old son loves rides and is looking forward to Disney World. But he is not looking forward to the cruise and keeps grumbling that he'll be bored. Any suggestions on how to get him excited? What do 14 year old boys do on the Dream?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We are planning a land and sea trip. My 14 year old son loves rides and is looking forward to Disney World. But he is not looking forward to the cruise and keeps grumbling that he'll be bored. Any suggestions on how to get him excited? What do 14 year old boys do on the Dream?

There's always Vibe (the teen club). They have activities and others that he could do things with.

 

[lklgoodman]

Go to you tube and look at videos of the Aquaduck.

 

[samily]

At 14, he has the choice of hanging out at Edge (ages 11-14) or Vibe (ages 14-17). I would encourage him to go the first night for the ice breaking session where everyone gets to know one another and they talk about the activities they will do throughout the cruise. My oldest two kids’ favorite age to be on the ship was throughout the teenage years and they have made friends that they still talk to. The teens in Vibe make a zombie movie which is later shown in the movie theater for the families. My youngest is 12, so hasn’t gotten to Vibe yet but enjoys Edge.

Other than than the activities through the teen clubs, there is the pool, aquaduck, sports court, sports simulator, mini golf, detective agency, movie theater running first run movies, and lots of free food, soda and ice cream throughout the day and night lol. Plus there will be other activities scheduled each day like game shows, deck parties, trivia, etc. And don’t forget that you will be in port for a couple of days so can plan some fun active excursions while off the ship. On Castaway, there is a just for teens excursion that my older kids would do each time we were there. It has evolved over time so not sure exactly what it is now but in the past it has involved snorkeling, kayaking, biking and speed boating I think.

Good luck, that age can be tough introducing new things but most times they come around and have a great time!

 

[FigmentSpark]

My 14 year old refused to go to the Vibe and just went to a movie with his dad on the first night. But the second, after his complaining about being bored, I told him to take a walk with me and I took him to the Vibe. I said, just look inside and tell me what it's like. He came out 2 minutes later and said he made a friend and was staying. Now, this was the 7 day Fantasy, so we had a day to burn, but if your DS balks at going to the Vibe, use my tactic to get him there. Once in, he might like it. If not, try the Edge.

Other than that, my 12 year old loved going on the Aquaduck and the other stuff pp mentioned. There is something for everyone to do.

 

[dcassetta]

We are planning a land and sea trip. My 14 year old son loves rides and is looking forward to Disney World. But he is not looking forward to the cruise and keeps grumbling that he'll be bored. Any suggestions on how to get him excited? What do 14 year old boys do on the Dream?

You might consider joining a cruise meet group before you go, that might allow your son to make some connections with other kids before the cruise.

 

[mhconley]

My son was 12 on our last cruise and will be 14 on our upcoming B2B cruise. He was in the edge each night until midnight or later. He is really looking forward to this cruise. We spend our port stops on snorkeling/boating excursions which he loves. He likes getting together for dinner and had a blast dining alone while we were in Remy. I think your son may be pleasantly surprised how much there is to do and how much fun he’ll have.

Good luck,
Martin

 

[nutshell]

Thanks everyone! I'm sure he'll resist going to Edge or Vibe but once we get him there I bet he'll have a blast!

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

If you can get your son involved at the clubs he will probably have a good time. If not, he will probably complain that he is bored. One of our sons has been on the dream at age 14. He has never been big on the clubs even though we always make him go the first night (once he got to edge age). He declared boredom on dcl at about age 13. By 15 he was opting to stay home with a relative. We started trying other cruise lines and the boredom is gone. He loves cruising in general and still loves wdw. He asks to go to WDW all the time. It seems like the kids who end up liking DCL as teens are mostly involved with the clubs. Good luck.

 

[aggiedog]

I agree, if he finds his place in the club, he'll enjoy it. If not, and he needs external entertainment to keep him happy, he may not be. My older dds did not love Vibe, mostly didn't love the activities, and found the mix of kids in their cruises to be superficial and unenjoyable to be around (their words, not mine.) They did find a friend there, and hung out with her out of the club. They are both pretty self sufficient and can be happy on their own. Younger dd LOVED Edge, predominantly because they play a lot of video games and she's a big gamer.

At this age, they seem to easily decide whether to be happy or not.

 

[MaleficentRN]

I agree with above. My teen son was hardly around our last two cruises. He spent most of his time in the clubs, sometimes staying until close.

 

[cruiser21]

We are planning a land and sea trip. My 14 year old son loves rides and is looking forward to Disney World. But he is not looking forward to the cruise and keeps grumbling that he'll be bored. Any suggestions on how to get him excited? What do 14 year old boys do on the Dream?

Is your son social? I barely see my teens on a cruise. Unless he doesn't like hanging out with other kids playing video games, going to the movies, staying up to 1am , and eating lots of junk food I can't imagine a 14 year old boy not having a good time on a Disney cruise. If he likes doing those things he'll be asking to go on cruise next vacation and not hanging out with mom and dad and Disney World.

 

[cruiser21]

If you can get your son involved at the clubs he will probably have a good time. If not, he will probably complain that he is bored. One of our sons has been on the dream at age 14. He has never been big on the clubs even though we always make him go the first night (once he got to edge age). He declared boredom on dcl at about age 13. By 15 he was opting to stay home with a relative. We started trying other cruise lines and the boredom is gone. He loves cruising in general and still loves wdw. He asks to go to WDW all the time. It seems like the kids who end up liking DCL as teens are mostly involved with the clubs. Good luck.

I totally agree with this. My kids are totally into the clubs and no cruiseline has measured up to Disney in this department. They prefer the Carnival ships as far as food and the ship itself, but the clubs aren't nearly as good in their opinion. All I know is I don't see them on a Disney cruise, and that means they are having a good time.

 

[nutshell]

Is your son social? I barely see my teens on a cruise. Unless he doesn't like hanging out with other kids playing video games, going to the movies, staying up to 1am , and eating lots of junk food I can't imagine a 14 year old boy not having a good time on a Disney cruise. If he likes doing those things he'll be asking to go on cruise next vacation and not hanging out with mom and dad and Disney World.

He's slow to warm up to people, but once he does he's fine. He's already grumbling about Vibe, but I think he'll come around. Like you said, what 14 year old boy doesn't have a good time with movies, games, food, and late nights!!!???

 

[amym2]

We've never convinced our kids to spend time in the kids club on any of the cruises we've taken, but they still love to cruise. They're perfectly happy hanging around with us, and we enjoy the family activities. They both love trivia and games and enjoy the shows, and of course the food is a highlight. Honestly we appreciate that we can all have an electronics-free meal together! We talk more on cruises than we do at home.

We haven't been on a Disney cruise in years, and I've tried to convince them to try the clubs on our upcoming cruise, but DS is 16 and DD will be two weeks shy of 14, so they'd be in different clubs, right? While they argue at home, they do typically get along on vacation. They're old enough this time they can probably hang out together on the ship while DH and I do what we want to do. Definitely benefits to having teens!

 

[nutshell]

We've never convinced our kids to spend time in the kids club on any of the cruises we've taken, but they still love to cruise. They're perfectly happy hanging around with us, and we enjoy the family activities. They both love trivia and games and enjoy the shows, and of course the food is a highlight. Honestly we appreciate that we can all have an electronics-free meal together! We talk more on cruises than we do at home.

We haven't been on a Disney cruise in years, and I've tried to convince them to try the clubs on our upcoming cruise, but DS is 16 and DD will be two weeks shy of 14, so they'd be in different clubs, right? While they argue at home, they do typically get along on vacation. They're old enough this time they can probably hang out together on the ship while DH and I do what we want to do. Definitely benefits to having teens!

Yep! If he hangs with us the whole time that's fine!

I think the DD 14 can go to either club. 14 is the overlap age where they qualify for both!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Yep! If he hangs with us the whole time that's fine!

I think the DD 14 can go to either club. 14 is the overlap age where they qualify for both!

amym2's daughter will be two weeks shy of 14. So, technically, not allowed in Vibe. That said, it's possible she could be allowed, but can't be confirmed until onboard the ship directly with the CMs at Vibe whether there's space to "age up" a child.

 

[Anchors Away 2016]

My sons of about that age had a great time at the Vibe and the AquaDuck, excursions, fellow teens, etc., as others have said, but prior to the trip, the big enticement for them was the FOOD.

As many appetizers, entrees and desserts as they want. Soda, lemonade, ice tea, etc. (my one son loves cranberry juice). Breakfast buffet every morning, sit down or buffet lunch, oh and free room service! Not to mention the pizza, burgers, soft serve ice cream...


My always hungry, growing boys would have happily gone on the cruise just for the food.

 

[nutshell]

My sons of about that age had a great time at the Vibe and the AquaDuck, excursions, fellow teens, etc., as others have said, but prior to the trip, the big enticement for them was the FOOD.

As many appetizers, entrees and desserts as they want. Soda, lemonade, ice tea, etc. (my one son loves cranberry juice). Breakfast buffet every morning, sit down or buffet lunch, oh and free room service! Not to mention the pizza, burgers, soft serve ice cream...


My always hungry, growing boys would have happily gone on the cruise just for the food.

My son is definitely interested in the food!

 

[nutshell]

My son is coming around! Talking about games, movies, food, and late nights has him excited!