Advice from cruisers with older kids please!
Background: We (Me and 2 kids) usually go to DLP every 2 years or so since my eldest was 5. We love Disney, we are not affluent and we work extra jobs to afford our Disney holidays every few years. I have a DD18 and a DD15. Love Disney bounding, and more recently enjoying Disney dining experiences and the whole aesthetics and design of the parks, as well as parades rides and shows. Not so much the meet and greets as they are both slightly on the autism spectrum (social distancing has suited them SO perfectly this past year). Our fave hotels are Newport Bay and Sequoia Lodge - we don't go every year so we can do a nicer hotel and the dining plan. Hopefully that gives you a bit of insight into our 'vibe' before answering my question below:
Will the cruise appeal to an 18 year old and 15 year old? What is there for us to do as a family as DD15 cannot be in the adult areas and DD18 cannot be in the teen areas, the family pool is understandably full of younger kids and the adult pool where my DD15 would feel much more comfortable will be off limits to her? DD15 would def not be comfortable on her own in Vibe and the point is it's a family holiday! If anyone has experience of cruising with this kind of age group it would be so helpful to hear from you and understand a bit more about what might suit us. (For example 2 nights might be better than 3 for us if options to do things together are limited?)
I would love to book onto the Magic as a surprise and to make up for the postponed holiday (now in Feb 2022), but if it's not for us - another DLP booking might be in the offing! Thanks in advance.
The Disney Magic is a great starter boat for cruising. It has the beauty of details that Disney puts into its properties. Just seeing it from the outside, with its classic ocean liner colors and double red funnels sets the tone. The new ships have some advantages and are beautiful, too, but the Magic started it all.
My niece, who cruised the most with me, began at age 14. We did back-to-back Transatlantic & Med cruises (total 25 days), age 17. She honeymooned on the Wonder in Alaska at age 25.
She is not the type to enjoy hanging out with normal teens. Her personal choice. She and I did pretty much the same things. Lots of trivia, any tours offered, exploring the ship. For her, it was a place she could freely move around and be independent.
(On the first Transatlantic in 2010, they had figured out that they needed more daily activities to keep us occupied; years later, on a Panama Canal cruise, they had really upped their game. For example, One day, they had hide-and-seek with the officers. ). A lot of it depends on the Cruise Director.
I’m fairly certain she went to a cooking demonstration without me. She and her sisters are the type to watch the Great British Baking Show.
Breakfast, trivia, explore, lunch, go to the movies, trivia, dinner, a stage show, watch something on TV. Basically - vacation.
I have never found a cruise line pool I thought was worth the effort. Too small to actually swim. Often too cold when you get out (although I did get in on an Alaskan cruise).
It’s definitely different than the parks. Not nearly the constant stimulus or rushing around.
The previous posters gave great information of activities.
I find three nights to be too short; we did a 3-night for our first cruise, then a 4-night five months later. That extra day allowed us to relax. Now, we had a day at Castaway, so the 2 days at sea might be enough for an introductory cruise. There’s something about unpacking your bags and then repacking them the next night. “Didn’t we just get here?”
