Teenagers!!

[Tinkerbellll]

We have a 17 year-old son and 14 year-old daughter that will be cruising with us. While we know our 7 year-old son will have a blast, both my husband and I would love to hear stories about teenagers having the time of their lives. What did your teenagers love about DCL? We will be on the Wonder this Christmas...a new and exciting adventure for us!

 

[holie]

not exactly a teenager anymore, but I didn't quite fit into the adult category, either...but being a 21 year old on the wonder during the christmas season... I had an absolute blast! I didn't even have a lot to drink, either.

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

I'm a teenager and I loved pretty much everything.

 

[wdwwishes]

We just returned from our Alaska cruise on the Wonder. DDs are 12 and 15 so in your range and had a blast. 12 year old couldn't go into the Teen area but that was o.k. with them. They did just fine on their own.

 

[Tinkerbellll]

Thank you!

 

[dkmjgal]

We cruised last summer with our DD who was almost 15 at the time and our DS who was 11. They had a BLAST! The teen club is a really good time for the older teens and make sure to be there on the first night as they plan the activities for the week as a group. Our son had a great time...the counselors were awesome and he had a lot of freedom on the ship to go to the activities that he wanted to. We are doing our 5th cruise in 2 weeks and our kids absolutely LOVE cruising with Disney!

 

[bbn1122]

My DS turned 16 on the Magic last year, our first DCL. He absolutely loved the teen club. He made a lot of friends in 7 days.

This year we will be on the Dream for only 3 days, but he is looking forward to the Vibe, especially the outside area.

I will also have to DS in the Edge this cruise.

 

[castle4us]

We have sailed DCL 3 times before, 2004 on the Wonder, 2008 and 2009 on the Magic. In 2007 I had booked a cruise on another line and paid a deposit. Then DS saw a TV special on DCL on the Magic and begged to sail DCL. At the time we couldn't afford it, as it was more expensive than the cruise line we had picked. I asked both sons if they'd rather cruise in 07 on another line or wait until 08 when I could save up more money to sail on the Magic. They didn't even have to think about it. Both voted for 08 on the Magic and 07 was the first year we didn't vacation somewhere, but it was worth it to them. Both were in the teen club on the 09 vacation and it didn't disappoint. They love that you can choose what you want to do. Neither are big into sports but found plenty to do. Sometimes I would often run into them around the ship, playing some sort of organized hide and seek type game with groups of kids from the clubs. I was worried they'd play video games or something the whole time, but they didn't. Oldest DS still keeps in touch with kids on facebook.

For me it's worth a little extra money to know the kids clubs are such high quality. I thought it was pretty cool to pass a CM from the teen club on day 2 on a totally different part of the ship and have the CM say hi to both of my boys and use their names. We're sailing the Dream this year and can't wait. The kids clubs look so much bigger and neater.

 

[CalDisfans]

Tinkerbellll,
Wow, amazing, your kids are the SAME AGE AND GENDER as ours! AND, we went on the Wonder in late March!
Our teens LOVED the clubs! There were plenty of games, video playing, smoothie making, basketball, ping pong, swimming, food making, movies to go to, to keep them busy! It was hard to pry them out of the kids clubs!

 

[Tinkerbellll]

CalDisFans -

That is amazing! Don't you all want to go on another cruise this Christmas??!?!? Wouldn't that be a hoot?

Thank you so much for your great comments. I think my oldest will love it once he is onboard, but I figure if I can share stories with him about other kids his age having a great time, it may help.

 

[Tinkerbellll]

All of the comments have been so helpful.

If anyone has any MUST DO tips or fun things that you (or your kids) loved, please share. I will read every word.