Magic Cruise with kids 9, 14, 18, 20

[rjones238933]

We are looking at booking a Cruise for Spring Break with the fam. Are my older two boys going to be bored out their minds? my worry is that they are going to be stuck doing things around us. My 14 year old is a girl, so i think she'll be fine. the 9 year old is a busy kid. hopefully they have a lot of activities to keep his interest.

 

[o&smom]

It depends. How outgoing are the older boys? Have they been on a Disney cruise before so that they know what to expect? We took our 20 year old son on three cruises last year in February, June/July and October. He had a great time on all of them. We cruised with some friends in February, so he enjoyed time with them. Our summer cruise had a huge group of kids in the 1820 society. I think around 60. He always had people to hang out and do things with. I think this would be similar for a spring break cruise. We were really worried about October and were hoping for just one more friend. He found a nice group of kids to spend 14 days with. We even got to know them and I was very sad to leave. I think odds are in your favor with it being spring break. Have a great time.

 

[rjones238933]

It depends. How outgoing are the older boys? Have they been on a Disney cruise before so that they know what to expect? We took our 20 year old son on three cruises last year in February, June/July and October. He had a great time on all of them. We cruised with some friends in February, so he enjoyed time with them. Our summer cruise had a huge group of kids in the 1820 society. I think around 60. He always had people to hang out and do things with. I think this would be similar for a spring break cruise. We were really worried about October and were hoping for just one more friend. He found a nice group of kids to spend 14 days with. We even got to know them and I was very sad to leave. I think odds are in your favor with it being spring break. Have a great time.

I hope so. this will be the first cruise for all my kids, my wife and I haven't been on a cruise in 24 years. (Honeymoon) so we are all going to be newbies. Both of the older boys are fairly quiet at first. glad they have either other. we are hoping that their will be a lot of kids their age on the boat.

 

[o&smom]

Make sure they look for the 1820 society meetup the first night and go. It is usually at Cove Cafe and they get free coffee. There should be at least one 1820 society event each day. Most were for ice cream or coffee. Maybe have them watch a few YouTube videos to familiarize themselves with the ship and various areas. They can also hang out in the Vibe or any of the other clubs during open house hours.

 

[auntlynne]

@Clarkson U travels with their sons, guessing they were cruising at the age of your sons. He might provide insight. But it all comes down to the personality of your kids.

My nieces did not need a gang of people their age to enjoy themselves, especially when they had each other.

My sister and I have different interaction styles. Introvert and extrovert. I don’t look for activities with an intention to meet people, but I have had fun experiences with my fellow cruisers. She opts we get a private table for dinner.

Temperaments can change over a lifetime. The way they react to a new social situation may be an opportunity to try new things, including human interaction. Without their usual friends, they could love it, hate, be neutral.

Do they have an enthusiasm about it? How are they for trying new situations?

 

[brentm77]

We are looking at booking a Cruise for Spring Break with the fam. Are my older two boys going to be bored out their minds? my worry is that they are going to be stuck doing things around us. My 14 year old is a girl, so i think she'll be fine. the 9 year old is a busy kid. hopefully they have a lot of activities to keep his interest.

Are the older boys social? If so, I recommend setting up a group chat ahead of time between them and others kids their age on the Facebook group for the particular cruise. My daughter had a group of about five guys and two girls on her last cruise that connected before the cruise and they spent nearly all their free time together on board. They had a blast and she says it was her best cruise yet. For social kids, it's the prefect age for that mix of independence and hanging out with others in a safe environment.

I found out last night that she is still in contact with one of her friends for three years ago too. If you get lucky, it can really be a good mix for them.

There are old enough where they can enjoy the adult only areas, and the entertainment can be pretty good at night. The gameshows are fun, with kids their age participating, and the live music can be good. It's not all Disney, all the time once you get into the adult areas.

 

[LAS2AMS]

Only you know your kids . There's a lot of close, atypical, Disney families on this forum. If that describes your family, then your kids will probably have a great time. But cruising isn't going to be the dream vacation of teenage guys-- I wrote the other day that if I received $1 for every teenage guy I see on a typical cruise, it'd pay for a drink package and maybe gratuities. I've seen lots of teenagers ride the elevators up and down for hours because they're so bored. Reality is, most guys who are 18 and 20 don't particularly desire an intimate, closed quarters, leisurely family vacation. But again, there are many close, Disney families and if that describes yours, the situation is much different. I enjoyed taking family vacations to Disney growing up, but when my mom made a reservation on the brand new Disney Magic in Fall 1998, I drew a line. In hindsight, something I regret, but I know I would've hated it.

 

[brentm77]

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[Clarkson U]

They do have some social 1820 society activities just for those who are 18-20 years old. My kids enjoyed it. They also enjoyed doing things together like swimming, water slide/ride, shuffle board, activities, etc.

Hard to be bored for them and they could have freedoms to do what they wanted.

 

[LAS2AMS]

They do have some social 1820 society activities just for those who are 18-20 years old. My kids enjoyed it. They also enjoyed doing things together like swimming, water slide/ride, shuffle board, activities, etc.

Hard to be bored for them and they could have freedoms to do what they wanted.

It's pretty easy for many teenagers to quickly get bored . Especially when the activities are limited requiring a wait. There's a reason why the teenage demo is heavily underrepresented on cruises.

 

[Clarkson U]

This is an interesting exchange. I don’t think there is a right or wrong answer.

My kids now 19 and 21 still want to sail DCL. They like the food, the service, the ambience and the fun of being on the cruise.

The kids often play with each other like cards or some other fun puzzle type stuff like in puzzle books. They also enjoy having family time together and seeing high quality broadway type shows.

They too enjoy down time disconnected from the world (we don’t buy internet packages on a ship), and seeing new things in different places. They love history and culture.

The answer to the question really depends on the kids themselves and how they keep themselves busy.

For us, they enjoy it so we keep going. Might be a different answer for a different family.