Teens of different ages

[wweazel]

I am booking a quick 3 night January cruise to Cococay and just realized that RCCL separates 12 - 14 yo teens from 15-17yo. While I completely understand this, it will be devastating to my shy 15 yo, since her younger 13yo brother is the social director. Does anyone know what activities/clubs they can join together? I understand that all of the water slides and pools etc. are available to everyone, but are the arcades and hangouts and gaming areas restricted by those age groups?
thanks!

 

[HopperFan]

I am booking a quick 3 night January cruise to Cococay and just realized that RCCL separates 12 - 14 yo teens from 15-17yo. While I completely understand this, it will be devastating to my shy 15 yo, since her younger 13yo brother is the social director. Does anyone know what activities/clubs they can join together? I understand that all of the water slides and pools etc. are available to everyone, but are the arcades and hangouts and gaming areas restricted by those age groups?
thanks!

You mean where the kids can hang out together but adults are not allowed?

 

[wweazel]

yes, I've always cruised without them, so I never had a need to go to those places

 

[bbel]

Most of the time the teens are all together but will be spilt into ages when cruises are super busy for some activities - like teen only flow rider or the dance parties at the very end of the night.

 

[Jkaczano]

We’ve sailed RC 3 times since the restart (Oasis, Independence, and RC Wonder). Unlike Disney, there is only 1 hangout room for ALL teens and most activities which are done all over the ship included both groups. I don’t think you will have a problem

 

[TiggerTrigger]

I've been having a similar dilemma. I have a 13 yr old and a 15 yr old. They don't want to be separated, but they also are sort of bristling at the idea of any organized activities. They don't want to hang out with the adults all the time, but also worried that any group stuff would be cheesy and forced. We've never cruised before, so I have 0 perspective.

 

[Jkaczano]

I've been having a similar dilemma. I have a 13 yr old and a 15 yr old. They don't want to be separated, but they also are sort of bristling at the idea of any organized activities. They don't want to hang out with the adults all the time, but also worried that any group stuff would be cheesy and forced. We've never cruised before, so I have 0 perspective.

Royal Caribbean is different than Disney in that the staff members do not act as babysitters. There is no “Mickey language please” like is said in Edge on the Disney ships. There are nightly activities In Social 298 like meet and greets and scavenger hunts and there may be teen flowrider, water slide, and climbing wall hours. Everything is on a drop in basis and teens go to what they are interested in. Even without the teen club, there is PLENTY for teens to do - miniature golf, flowrider, rock climbing, water slides, zip lining, laser tag, and ice skating (depending on ship). My kids are 14 and 15 and I NEVER hear that they are bored. Make sure to pick up the daily teen compass (called “the social feed” on Oasis). It will give times and locations of all activities.

 

[wweazel]

Royal Caribbean is different than Disney in that the staff members do not act as babysitters. There is no “Mickey language please” like is said in Edge on the Disney ships. There are nightly activities In Social 298 like meet and greets and scavenger hunts and there may be teen flowrider, water slide, and climbing wall hours. Everything is on a drop in basis and teens go to what they are interested in. Even without the teen club, there is PLENTY for teens to do - miniature golf, flowrider, rock climbing, water slides, zip lining, laser tag, and ice skating (depending on ship). My kids are 14 and 15 and I NEVER hear that they are bored. Make sure to pick up the daily teen compass (called “the social feed” on Oasis). It will give times and locations of all activities.

thanks! this is very helpful!

 

[mjkacmom]

I've been having a similar dilemma. I have a 13 yr old and a 15 yr old. They don't want to be separated, but they also are sort of bristling at the idea of any organized activities. They don't want to hang out with the adults all the time, but also worried that any group stuff would be cheesy and forced. We've never cruised before, so I have 0 perspective.

Definitely make them go the first night, that’s where and when friendships begin. All five of my kids loved hanging out with others, the teen club was more of a meeting place. On our last cruise my oldest were 19 and 20 and missed the ease of meeting others (although they managed).

 

[SeeDisney]

Does anyone know If RC has an organized 18/20 olds gatherings so they can meet and hang each other? Im planning a cruise on wonder or harmoney of the seas lines.

 

[MrsPete]

I am booking a quick 3 night January cruise to Cococay and just realized that RCCL separates 12 - 14 yo teens from 15-17yo. While I completely understand this, it will be devastating to my shy 15 yo, since her younger 13yo brother is the social director. Does anyone know what activities/clubs they can join together? I understand that all of the water slides and pools etc. are available to everyone, but are the arcades and hangouts and gaming areas restricted by those age groups?
thanks!

I can't answer your specific question, but I can say several other things:

- Log onto Cruise Critic. They have a section where you can "connect" with other people who will be on your specific cruise. Ask who else is bringing teens. Likely you'll find that other parents have teens who'd like to make friends ahead of time. Since you don't know these people, I'd definitely suggest that you (AND the other parents) set up a group text message that includes the adults -- at least a first. No risks with your kids' safety.
- I made rules such as "no one else in our cabins /you're not in anyone else's cabins", and I was very pleased to see that all the other parents had the same rules.
- Definitely push your teens to attend the first night teen activities. The teen counselors are used to situations like yours, and they will have lots of "getting to know you" activities on the first night -- but if your kids miss that night, they may find that the other kids have "partnered up", and it'll be harder to fit in.
- When we last cruised with our daughters and nieces, our two youngest were the shy girls. They came back from that first night beaming ear-to-ear about their new BFFs, and -- yep -- they did pal around the whole week. On Day 2 I was a bit embarrassed to see the bunch of them running through the public areas participating in a scavenger hunt, but they had the time of their lives.
- Don't break RCCL's rules. My niece, the youngest in our group, was too young to attend a one-hour teen dance party in one of the discos, but she BEGGED me to allow her to go. I relented, saying she had to stay with her sister and older cousins, and I would take my book and drink a drink just outside the dance party for one hour. She and the other kids were in the party for maybe 10 minutes, and I'd just settled in with my book when my niece came out BOO-HOO CRYING -- I jumped up, thinking she'd been injured. Nope, she'd just been caught where she shouldn't have been, and she had been humiliated at being caught /had been banned from the dance club. When I reminded her it was the last night of the cruise, and the banishment meant nothing, her pain did not decrease -- I should have followed the rules.
- I bought the soda package for all the girls. I didn't want them ever to be in a position where they felt obligated to drink something that'd been out of their sight for even a moment.

 

[wweazel]

I can't answer your specific question, but I can say several other things:

- Log onto Cruise Critic. They have a section where you can "connect" with other people who will be on your specific cruise. Ask who else is bringing teens. Likely you'll find that other parents have teens who'd like to make friends ahead of time. Since you don't know these people, I'd definitely suggest that you (AND the other parents) set up a group text message that includes the adults -- at least a first. No risks with your kids' safety.
- I made rules such as "no one else in our cabins /you're not in anyone else's cabins", and I was very pleased to see that all the other parents had the same rules.
- Definitely push your teens to attend the first night teen activities. The teen counselors are used to situations like yours, and they will have lots of "getting to know you" activities on the first night -- but if your kids miss that night, they may find that the other kids have "partnered up", and it'll be harder to fit in.
- When we last cruised with our daughters and nieces, our two youngest were the shy girls. They came back from that first night beaming ear-to-ear about their new BFFs, and -- yep -- they did pal around the whole week. On Day 2 I was a bit embarrassed to see the bunch of them running through the public areas participating in a scavenger hunt, but they had the time of their lives.
- Don't break RCCL's rules. My niece, the youngest in our group, was too young to attend a one-hour teen dance party in one of the discos, but she BEGGED me to allow her to go. I relented, saying she had to stay with her sister and older cousins, and I would take my book and drink a drink just outside the dance party for one hour. She and the other kids were in the party for maybe 10 minutes, and I'd just settled in with my book when my niece came out BOO-HOO CRYING -- I jumped up, thinking she'd been injured. Nope, she'd just been caught where she shouldn't have been, and she had been humiliated at being caught /had been banned from the dance club. When I reminded her it was the last night of the cruise, and the banishment meant nothing, her pain did not decrease -- I should have followed the rules.
- I bought the soda package for all the girls. I didn't want them ever to be in a position where they felt obligated to drink something that'd been out of their sight for even a moment.

That actually does answer several of my questions, thanks! Especially appreciate the unattended drink reminder - not just for girls. I know that rule, and always follow it, but it had not occurred to me that its time to teach my kids. sigh.

 

[MrsPete]

That actually does answer several of my questions, thanks! Especially appreciate the unattended drink reminder - not just for girls. I know that rule, and always follow it, but it had not occurred to me that its time to teach my kids. sigh.

I only had girls /nieces, but you're not wrong: bad people don't exclusively target girls. Definitely talk to him about it.

Other rules we set for our girls:
- They could not go into anyone else's stateroom, nor could they bring anyone into ours.
- We gave them a curfew much earlier than the ship's curfew.
- We did not allow them to charge things to their room cards -- another reason to make their drinks free.
- This was not likely to happen, but we made it abundantly clear that we would leave the ship /return to the ship as a family. We did once observe a dripping wet teenaged boy who'd jumped overboard while the ship was docked (jumped between the ship and the dock -- so dangerous). At the gangplank, the staff didn't show him as "off the ship", and he had no ID on him. I don't know what became of him.
- We allowed them to eat breakfast or lunch with new friends, but we told them that our expectation was that we'd eat dinner together every night.