Cruise with 19 yr old and younger teens???

[TxOwl]

We're looking a Disney Cruise with our 3 DDs. Elder DD will be 19 and a college sophmore. Younger DDs will be 15. I've just realized that age restrictions on the ship may keep the girls apart and leave elder DD feeling left out and bored. The girls are very close and would normally hang together despite the age difference. Any experience with this? Are there plenty of areas and activities on the ships that are not age restricted?

 

[flick]

DCL has activites planned each day for Adults, Familes and children (the clubs). You will see what to do listed under each heading (as above) in the Navigator.

 

[Sereina]

My family and I wondered the same thing, since we to hang out and do things together as well. There were lots and lots of activities in the family category of the Daily Navigator that we did together and we loved it! Actually, sisters and I never went to the Edge or Vibe, we just enjoyed all of the other stuff.

 

[kcashner]

The girls will be able to do together anything that is listed as a family activity. If they choose, the 19 year old can also do adult activities while the 15s can participate in the teen programming.

There are lots of family activities...and they are fun!

 

[TxOwl]

Thanks! These comments help alot. Anybody else have a different experience?

 

[TangledUp]

On our last cruise my sisters and I experienced the same thing, but in reverse where the oldest 3 were in college and the youngest was only a teenager. Our situation is probably a little bit better than yours since its the college aged kids that tend to fall through the cracks a little, but I can offer the following advice.

Like previous posters have said, during the day there are plenty of "family" activities with no age restriction. These include hanging at the pool, bingo, the random games they have throughout the day, movies, etc. The four of us found plenty to do together that wasn't age segregated and we had a great time. Port days are no big deal since you'll probably be spending time together as a family or doing some sort of excursion. At Castaway Cay there is the adult beach that the younger two girls can't go to, but I think the family beach is more fun anyway.

At night it gets a little trickier since the activities tend to be a little more separated by age group, but even then there are things they can do together. Depending on their personalities they may want to check out the teen club and the college club just to meet and hang out with people their age. This could be especially helpful for the oldest girl as she might want to see some of the adult shows (some of which are fantastic) or participate in some of the adult only activities but not see them with her parents or by herself. Unfortunately, the college club can hit or miss, but its worth a shot since you never know who's going to be on the cruise. Both of my experiences with it have been great.

Overall, I don't think anyone is going to feel left out. There is so much happening on a cruise that it's impossible to see and do everything, plus you make your own fun. I think they are going to have a great time.

 

[PixieMom712]

Do note that the 19 year old will NOT be able to go into the teen club with the 15 year old. Disney has become more strict with the age rules lately. However, like everyone else said they should be able to do plenty of things together outside of the clubs. Let us know how it goes!

 

[westjones]

Just sailed with three 18 year olds who are still in high school and they didn't go to the college program after the first night (because not many showed up), so they ended up making friends with some of the high school students outside of the Vibe and hung out.

It seemed rather limited as to the things they could do together. At night the younger ones aren't allowed in the adult areas and the older ones are not allowed in the teen area. So that leaves the pool area and the movies I guess.

So anything that says "family" all are welcomed. But there will be activities they can't all go to together.

For my girls the teen area was really fun during the years they were allowed to go. So the younger girls may want to go give it a try. My girls will always have great memories from those cruises.

And from what I have read, sometimes the college group will be more active and it can be fun depending on who show up. So she would just have to go and see what she thinks. I will say that my girls told me that CMs for the college group were great and they really liked them. Just not a lot of college kids to hang out with.

 

[kcashner]

So anything that says "family" all are welcomed. But there will be activities they can't all go to together.



And from what I have read, sometimes the college group will be more active and it can be fun depending on who show up. So she would just have to go and see what she thinks. I will say that my girls told me that CMs for the college group were great and they really liked them. Just not a lot of college kids to hang out with.

To be clear, anything listed as "family" is for all ages and they can all go together. The restricted activities will be labeled as "adults" or "Vibe."

The college group is extremely variable depending on the group. We have been on a couple cruises where DD felt it was a good group, but other times she was the only one who showed up. Unfortunately, the change from "college" to "18-21" had really changed the character of the group. There is a huge maturity gap between the 18 year old high school senior and an 18 or 19 year old who has been living away from home at college. Since the 18 year old in high school can no longer participate in the teen activities, the older college students usually don't STAY with the 18-21 group if they go at all. True, this reflects just my DD's experience, but it is 4 cruises at age 19-20.

 

[mdvlprof]

DD had the same experience. But even if 18-21 group is non-existant, she seems to always have fun.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

On our last cruise, DS was 18 and just starting college. We "made" him attend the (at the time called) College Club meet the first night. There were about 9 or 10 others there. Most of them were 19 or 20. The group continued to meet many times during the cruise. They sort of split themselves into 2 smaller groups of 4-6 to do different things.

I would say, it's real important for those in this age group to attend that first meeting onboard. That's when they meet the CM who will be facilitating the group and make plans for things to do as a group while onboard.

They also do more informal get togethers. We didn't see DS much during the day. And after the show at night, the college group met up and (usually) attended the adult show in Wavebands before moving on to ping pong, a movie, or just "hanging out".

 

[westjones]

They also do more informal get togethers. We didn't see DS much during the day. And after the show at night, the college group met up and (usually) attended the adult show in Wavebands before moving on to ping pong, a movie, or just "hanging out".

I think they must try different things, because I had read on here that the college group met around 10:00 each evening and then went to the adult programming together. But on our cruise they only did that the first night and after that they met around 5:30 and our dinner was at 5:45 so my girls couldn't even go if they had wanted to (but they didn't want to after the first night).

But I think this would be a good idea for them to meet around 10:00 every night when everyone is done with the show and dinner. Maybe they will do that on your upcoming cruise. Perhaps ours was testing new times. It didn't really work to meet at 5:30. At least not for the first dining people.

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

There are plenty of things that your 19 your old could do with your 15 year olds. Your 15 year olds will love the teen hang out. Thank goodness I would just turn 17 on my upcoming cruise.