Cruising with 19 & 20 yr olds - what cruise line is best?

[trip]

We want to plan a family cruise but will have a 19 & 20 yr old in the group. I would love to hear about activities available for them and what cruise line would be best for them.

 

[bigsky]

This is just my opinion. But we've only cruised on Carnival. Next month we get to try out Disney! (with our kids)
I know many people bash Carnival, but we've always had a good time.
They have some beautiful ships out now!! We went on the Pride last September. You can't beat the prices! We had a verandah for less than 1,000 pp. We did get upgraded and upgrades are more frequent with them than Disney from what I hear.


But for the money, you can't beat them. You can also ck out www.cruisemates.com and they have more info. on all the different lines. You can ask people ?'s specifically about Carnival. Since we've always cruised without our kids, I'm not sure what they have for the older kids. As the new ships come out, I've heard they have more and more for the kids. But that age, I'm not sure. I'm guessing they'd be doing the same as what they have planned for the adults. They always have fun stuff going on.

Any questions, feel free to email or pm me.

Laura

 

[Cruisin]

It depends on the 19 & 20 year olds. Are they Disney fans or not?
I will admit there may not be a lot for them to do on the Disney Ship. They can go to the 18 and over areas of the ship and would probably enjoy the activities that they have for adults only. They might think 50's, 70's etc. nights are pretty lame though. Maybe you need to research what there is to do on the Disney ships with them and decide from there.
I don't really have a lot of experience with other cruise lines so I can't help you there.

 

[ducklite]

I've been thinking about this as well.

There really isn't much for the 18-20 group on DCL. They can't drink and I think most of the shows and music in the adult clubs aren't going to be terribly appealing to many of them. They can use the fitness room, but I don't know many who want to just work out all day. While the young ladies would enjoy some spa visits and afternoon tea, most guys in that age range wouldn't.

We've been looking at RCCL, the rock climbing wall and inline skating track are particularly appealing to my son. I'd book them tomorrow, but I'm not sure RCCL is the best fit for DH and I.

So for now we're still in a holding pattern trying to figure out what to do. Glad to see we're not the only family with young adult males who are concerned about the lack of activities for that age group.

Anne

 

[Tulirose]

Ditto here. While on our recent cruise, we rebooked for next year but this time booking our teenson to go too as he did in 2000 and 2001 but not this recent cruise. However, next year he will be 20. We talked it over upon our return home and I called today and cancelled the booking.

A family vacation with all of us is what we want but he needs to be able to do things on his own too with people his age. Yes, they have singles and people traveling alone meets, but let's face it, there could be people his grandparent's age going to those thing too. Now, my son would not be adverse to meeting people of different age groups, however, I feel Disney lacks in helping this age group meet each other and have things for them to do. Again, let's face it, the adult areas have mostly couples - who are parents - enjoying those areas. The single young adult could easily feel out of place unless he is traveling with extended family and friends.

So, long story short, we are looking for a family vacation next year that is something other than a Disney Cruise.

 

[ducklite]

Tulirose--

I know exactly what you mean. On the last cruise DS would get up at the crack of noon, shower, dress and be off to CG. He'd join us for dinner, and then we wouldn't see him again until the next morning. OK, we saw him a little more than that, but not much!

It's pretty much the same at WDW, he's up at the crack of noon, showers, dresses and is off to a park. Sometimes there he doesn't even join us for dinner! Then it's off to DQ. He generally will spend a couple hours with us riding thrill rides with DH, eating lunch or dinner, or swimming, but otherwise he's pretty much on his own.

But we'd like to vacation someplace together than WDW where he can have that same type of freedom--cruising is a perfect choice if we can find the right one.

We're in a bit of a bind because DS has some hidden disabilities, and will not be ready to live independently for quite some time to come--if ever. So unlike a lot of parents of children his age, he's not able to go running off to vacation with a bunch of friends. Vacation ideas for a couple 40 something parents and an active young adult son aren't so easy to find.

Let me know if you come up with any other ideas for a family vacation, I'd be interested in hearing them.

Anne