Disney Cruise for teens boring?

[washington6505]

We have never been on a cruise. Been to Disney world twice (We love Disney always stay on property). I am wanting to take them on one. I am torn between Royal Caribbean or Disney Cruise. I went on YouTube and it seemed Royal had zipplining on the boat, rock climbing, Ice skating etc. Why do you choose a Disney Cruise over all of that? Just curious Thanks
My kids are 14 and 11.

 

[neffernie]

My 14 year old demands nothing but disney now. She had so much in Vibe she says we are not allowed to do tbe other lines!

 

[com_op_2000]

When I took my DGS (Teen) a few years ago, he enjoyed himself so much that he refuses to even consider the other lines. He loved the Teen Clubs, the ability to relax in pleasurable suroundings, and of course CC.

 

[Gilland18]

It will depend in a large part on your teens. We cruised Alaska with extended family. My nephew, 18 at the time, loved every minute of it. My niece, 19 at the time, was bored and ran up an enormous internet bill. If they are excited to cruise DCL, all to the good. If they think they will be bored, they probably will.

 

[su_A_ve]

Basically - do they rather go to WDW, or prefer Universal or 6 flags? If they are not into Disney, they might have a pre conceived idea and not like it thinking it's not 'cool' or too 'kiddie'. In that case, then other options might be better like RCL.

If they enjoy WDW, and/or have an open mind, they'll surely have a blast. If they 14-17 they'll go to Vibe. 11-14 can go to Edge. Both clubs set up lots of activities to do on board, around the whole ship. They have a pool party, or take over the arcade (and it would be free during this time), etc. There's also teen only activities. The older ones even have their own private section in Castaway Cay.

At 11, they can still go to Oceaneer's club, which is a secured and supervised environment. It depends on the maturity level. Otherwise, Edge is the place. At 14, they are in the border line between Edge and Vibe. They can go to either one, but again, it depends on the maturity level. If they want to be together, then Edge would be the place to go. Note that there are some planned activities that are combined like Gender Wars - but Edge competes with Vibe for example.

If they feel 'forced' going into a Disney cruise, they'll feel bad initially. On longer cruises, this is usually not a problem as within a couple of days, they would adjust. If you are contemplating a 3n or 4n, then it could be an issue as they would not 'adjust' in time...

 

[jrbdad]

We sail 7/6 on our fourth Disney cruise in four years. We have DS17, DS15, and DD12.

They love DCL and all the activities. We did learn early - after a few bored stares and too much TV time to "require" they attend the "mixers" in their clubs. After that we barely saw them the rest of the cruise . They had a blast and made some terrific friends.

 

[Ksquilter72]

We cruised the Fantasy at the end of May. My 14 year old daughter LOVED Vibe. She made a group of friends, spent most of the cruise with them and several of them are still in contact a few weeks later. She adored the counselors, too. She's ready to go back. My wallet hasn't quite recovered yet.

 

[EPCOTatNight]

My DS(14) is an only child, and we are "over protective" parents. He doesn't do a lot without his mother or myself, but he is "free" to go on his own on the ship. The best part of it for him is the clubs. He's been in the lab, Edge, and Vibe, and spends much of his time there or with kids from there. He has friends all over the world that he still communicates with. For him, the ship is nice and all of that, but the interaction with other kids on a floating resort is what he loves.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[CruiseCrazy44]

My middle son was fourteen when we went on our first disney cruise in 2011. He had an amazing time! We hardly saw him, but for the required dinner time. He made lots of friends and was NEVER bored! Now, my oldest was seventeen and preparing to leave for the Army in a couple more months, so he found the teen club a little juvenile. But he still had a great time on the cruise. He watched movies in the theatre, rode the auqaduck, and played pick up games of basketball on the game deck. Your eleven yr old will have, I think, the choice between the oceanier lab and the tween club. One of the two should fit him perfectly and he will have a great time!

 

[Davistigers]

My kids are 14 and 11 and love DCL! We started DCL cruising when they were 7 and 4 in the Oceaneer Club. On the last cruise my DS was 12 and in Edge and loved it! We are going on our 4th DCL cruise next week and they are both so excited to move up to the next club level: DS (14) will be in Vibe and DD (11) will be in Edge. They love making new friends, trying new activities, and having their "own" place on the ship.

 

[Rogillio]

With the exception of 'sea days' a cruise is a floating hotel. Castaway Cay is the best beach I've ever been to in my life - and we've been all over the world. Key West, Cozumel, Gand Cayment, etc are the same regardless of what cruise line.

If your kids like Disney (WDW, Disney movies, Disney animated movies), they will love the Disney Cruise.

They have rock climbing in the mall here....kids wait for forever and then climp up once and back down. You don't see the line on the uTube video.

We did zip-lining in Belize (one of the ports of call on our HAL cruise) and we hiked thru a cave to get to the top of the zip line then zip lined out into the jungle. This was way cooler than zip linning from the smoke stack. Again, how long in the line? 4,000 people on board.....

 

[ThisIsBrenn]

I'm 18 and I've been on two DCL cruises where I could go to Vibe. I loved it there. Whenever my family wasn't doing anything, I was there hanging out. There's always something to do, and I was able to make friends both times. I'm actually sad that I've outgrown it now, I always had so much fun there.

If your teens comfortable with talking to and hanging out with new people, a DCL cruise should be perfectly fine

Although I have also done one RC cruise on the Explorer when I was 13 and I enjoyed all the extra activities on there too. But I'm partial to Disney.

 

[silence]

My kids are 15 and 10 now. Both LOVE our cruise vacations. We hardly see the 15 y/o the whole trip, he is too busy off with his new friends.

Our last cruise we had my DS, my nephew (14) and niece (14) and they all had a blast.

 

[expeditioneverestgrl]

Disney is an amazing cruise and I haven't even Been on it yet!! There are so many things to do on Disney!!

For 14+ year olds:
Aquaduck
Vibe club
Privacy
Hot tub in the vibe
Basketball in the vibe
Pools
And more

For 11-12 year oldS:
Oceaneer or edge club
Aquaduck
Pools
Yellow slide
And more!

Have fun on whichever cruise you may choose!

 

[Zeppelin]

Basically - do they rather go to WDW, or prefer Universal or 6 flags? If they are not into Disney, they might have a pre conceived idea and not like it thinking it's not 'cool' or too 'kiddie'. In that case, then other options might be better like RCL.

..

1000%....

my daughter is not a teen, but 10.5 YO....everything with her is Disney (which is fine by me) so i don't expect complaints during the teen years...

 

[Dizzyworld]

My kids started doing DCL at the ages of 5-DD and 6-DS. They have been one 11 DCL cruises and still love it. Still in touch with friends from around the world they made on the cruises. DD asked for a DCL cruise for her HS graduation and 18th birthday. We took her best friend since 1st grade. They had a great time and are still talking about the cruise. Even though my DD is now a Disney Adult, she would return to DCL in a moment.

 

[jajomo0118]

Little story to tell you about a teen who loves DCL.....

Our youngest DS last week made 100 bucks working with my Dad on a job and I said to him "What are you gonna do with it buddy" ..he replied " Save up for a Disney Cruise they make me happy"!

He is going to be 16 in a few weeks and guess what...he is getting a Disney Cruise...and I know he is going to be so ecstatic and its a gift the whole family gets to enjoy!

He is your normal football playing, xbox addicted, rambunctious teenage boy who happens to have a big ole soft spot for DCL.

 

[njdisneylovr]

Never saw my 17 year old and 15 year old sons the whole cruise except for dinner...don't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing...Oh yeah, we dragged them away from Vibe for the excursions

 

[Jenntx]

My nieces (14 & 17) went on their second DCL cruise on the Fantasy last Christmas. They had a fabulous time & made lots of friends they still keep in touch with thru social media. They LOVED all the activities available for teens. Their excitement about their two DCL cruises is the reason we are taking our first ever cruise on the Dream in December.

 

[Castillo Mom]

My sons were 14, 16 and 18 when they went on their first Disney cruise and they loved it. My son was able to participate in the teen club because he had just turned 18 prior to the cruise but I don't think they allow that now. Anyway, they had a great time. My sons are very responsible so they didn't have a curfew like at home, the only requirement was that they had to have dinner with us every night.

If your teens like Disney then they'll most likely enjoy the cruise.