Teens on DCL

[CP2013]

I have always wanted to take a Disney Cruise but now that my kids are older I don't know how much there is for them onboard. My kids are currently 16, 15 yr old twins, 13, and 11. I know they would enjoy the waterslides but is there much else for them?

 

[Peaseblossom36]

I have always wanted to take a Disney Cruise but now that my kids are older I don't know how much there is for them onboard. My kids are currently 16, 15 yr old twins, 13, and 11. I know they would enjoy the waterslides but is there much else for them?

There are teen clubs which I've heard good things about. One thing I've heard about that is making sure they attend the ice breakers that first day. I believe with those ages they would also have they 13 and 11 year olds together and the 16 year old and the twins together.

Depending on how much freedom you plan to give them they can go to movies, games, the cooking or drawing classes. Ice cream. I know at 16 I would have really enjoyed being able to do all those things and hang out by a pool or just sit and watch the ocean.

 

[obsesseddisneyfan]

My 11 year old twins have now been on 2 Disney Cruises. 1 when they were 7 and one when they were 11. They loved the club at 7 but said the Edge had even more to do. I of the twins is very out going and was having a blast. The other twin is a little more reserved. The reserved one would stay with us some of the day. But would still run for the Club when some of the activities were going on. They both said the Edge was better then the kids Clubs. With that said they both really enjoy Disney. If the older kids are over Disney they might not have as much fun. Hope that helps.

 

[CamColt]

My DSs have been sailing since they were 8 months and 3 yrs in 2000, until their most recent cruise in Feb at ages 25 and 28. I would say their favorite cruises were the tween/teen years. The Vibe was a huge hit with them, and they even made some friends they still keep in contact with.

 

[WorldCruiser]

My DSs have been sailing since they were 8 months and 3 yrs in 2000, until their most recent cruise in Feb at ages 25 and 28. I would say their favorite cruises were the tween/teen years. The Vibe was a huge hit with them, and they even made some friends they still keep in contact with.

I will second this. I have sailed since I was 13. The vibe was awesome. Had a lot of fun doing spring break cruises. But I would say my favorite cruises may have been 1820 society and being 21. You can’t go wrong with taking teens on DCL. Just make sure they go the first day.

 

[Debonna]

We first sailed last year when my teens were 17 and almost 14. They grew up going to Disney Parks, but they LOVED the cruise. We gave them the freedom to roam around, do the Midship Detective Agency games, get their own food, go to shows/movies, etc. My oldest (now 18) just graduated from high school, and he chose another cruise for his graduation trip. My younger child (15) who is a homebody and hates to go anywhere is SO EXCITED about our sailing in two weeks. They stayed together and didn't go to the teen clubs, so I can't speak to those. Both are somewhat introverted but enjoy each other's company. Hope that helps!

 

[LAS2AMS]

It depends on your kids’ personalities.

If they’re Disney fantasies and enjoy spending time with mom & dad, they’ll most likely enjoy it. If they’re not as into Disney and prefer to spend most of their time being active with their friends while minimizing time with mom & dad, they probably won’t. Teens are the only demographic on which the majority do not enjoy cursing.

Most of the people responding are probably Disney families, but there’s been testimonials from many families whose children did not enjoy it. My brothers’ tween girls wanted to spend the entire cruise FaceTiming their friends on their iPads and would even refuse to go to dinner. Major sore spot with him - they’re not huge Disney girls and he was hurt by the cost.

 

[princesscinderella]

My kids have been cruising since they were little with DCL and my middle one is 17 and will be aging out of the clubs and she has asked to go on as many disney cruises we can til she turns 18. It is my kids favorite way to vacation. I think the social skills they learn in a week on a cruise is so valuable. They make fast friends and they can’t really use their electronics unless you get the internet package. It teaches them time management because they like to roam the ship on their own so they have to get themselves to the various activities on time or come back to the room at curfew. I do agree with previous posters that the first night going to the clubs is the most important and we let our kids skip whatever is going on in the theater that night so they can make friends.

 

[happycamper47]

We took the whole family and the grands were 22, 19, 18, 17, 14, 12, 10 and 9. They all had a great time.

 

[anricat]

My daughter is about to be 17. We've taken one or two cruises a year on DCL since she was 5 and I would venture to say she actually likes it more now than she did back then! She loves the teen club and always has a great time and makes friends. We really only see her on port days for excursions and at dinner. Otherwise, she's in Vibe, generally. She doesn't spend much time at the pools/slides.

 

[DonaldDunk]

I have taken my nephew (14) on a few cruises in the past 2 years and he always has a crew he is hanging with by the 2nd day. To be fair, he is very outgoing and doesn’t know a stranger. He still has group chats with each group he has met on each cruise and they keep in touch. They are always checking on school breaks to see if any of them will be on the same cruises again. It’s cute.

 

[hardcorestitch]

I have always wanted to take a Disney Cruise but now that my kids are older I don't know how much there is for them onboard. My kids are currently 16, 15 yr old twins, 13, and 11. I know they would enjoy the waterslides but is there much else for them?

For starters, they have exclusive clubs just for both of them. Your 11 and 13 yr old will likely be headed to the tween club Edge. The 15 and 16 yr olds will likely be in Vibe. I’ve heard good things about the clubs. Nice ambiance in both, plenty of activities to hold them over.

 

[Alicatt]

My 14 and 16 year olds like Disney ok but they aren't really into the parks much. They're been a few times but we're going on our 5th DCL cruise and they always love it. They love the independence and the friends they make. There is plenty to do and fun things to eat. At home they are glued to their phones but last time they didn't even want wifi. My 16 year might want it this trip but my 14 yo already said no. They only want the navigation app.

 

[CamColt]

It depends on your kids’ personalities.

If they’re Disney fantasies and enjoy spending time with mom & dad, they’ll most likely enjoy it. If they’re not as into Disney and prefer to spend most of their time being active with their friends while minimizing time with mom & dad, they probably won’t. .

I had the opposite experience. My kids loved the cruise because they got freedom to not be with us constantly and they got to hang out with friends. I pretty much had to force them to go to dinner with us and to get off the ship when I had something planned in a port.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

How do the kids feel about the Disney theme? Are there activities they will enjoy beyond kids clubs and will they want to do kids club (more speaking to the older ones)? Will they like the main dining experiences, etc? Your 16 yr old and the two 15 yr olds certainly might have different wants than the 13 and 11 year old.

I think those questions and more are asked best to them than on a Disney focus site that will have way more bias into it. I don't say that in a bad way but you're going to get way more YES!!!! than you are more straight talk about it most especially as you have always wanted to take a Disney cruise.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Teens are the only demographic on which the majority do not enjoy cursing.

My first cruise (on Carnival but that's not an issue) was when I was 15 and I liked it (just not the ordeal it took to get on it) but I think part of it is also how do the parents approach it. With multiple age groups are the older expected to help take care of the younger (especially if you're talking about kids club where the ages overlap in traveling party), how much independence do they get, are the teens allowed to just do their own thing or are they expected to stay close to the parents or worse expected to take the younger kids around with them where ever they go.

I think a lot of that impacts how they enjoy it because there can be that fine line into wanting and being close to adult age but being treated like you're a kid and that can immediately make it not as enjoyable.

I think if the question was what cruise company to go with you might get different answers than would DCL be good. Royal Caribbean for example has a ton to offer for a wide range of ages, often at a reduced price compared to DCL. I also use that as an example as my father-in-law's wife loves Royal Caribbean and they just got off the Icon of the Seas and couldn't stop talking about how awesome it was. Meanwhile that's not what interests my husband and I who also just got off a cruise who much prefer small upscale cruises that do not have waterslides, carousels and the like. She also has primarily been doing 4 to 5 day cruises and just completed a 7-day one meanwhile my husband and I did a 7 day and just completed a 12 day one. She said she felt she'd get bored if it was 12 days meanwhile we'd love longer ones if we could swing it. I just use that example to mean age isn't the be it all. Being a teen doesn't necessarily mean you don't enjoy cruising but to your point it is a demographic kinda caught between things.

 

[mjkacmom]

How do the kids feel about the Disney theme? Are there activities they will enjoy beyond kids clubs and will they want to do kids club (more speaking to the older ones)? Will they like the main dining experiences, etc? Your 16 yr old and the two 15 yr olds certainly might have different wants than the 13 and 11 year old.

I think those questions and more are asked best to them than on a Disney focus site that will have way more bias into it. I don't say that in a bad way but you're going to get way more YES!!!! than you are more straight talk about it most especially as you have always wanted to take a Disney cruise.

I’ve had kids of all ages on cruises. Teens enjoyed them the most, meeting others in the teen clubs and hanging out with new friends. Next best age were non-tweens, they liked the clubs. All 5 of my kids disliked tween clubs, on 2 different lines, including DCL. I had a 19 and 20 year old on our last cruise, they made it work but missed the convenience of a dedicated area to meet up (most young adults are still traveling with parents on cruises, definitely not a college spring break vibe which they prefer).

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I’ve had kids of all ages on cruises. Teens enjoyed them the most, meeting others in the teen clubs and hanging out with new friends. Next best age were non-tweens, they liked the clubs. All 5 of my kids disliked tween clubs, on 2 different lines, including DCL. I had a 19 and 20 year old on our last cruise, they made it work but missed the convenience of a dedicated area to meet up (most young adults are still traveling with parents on cruises, definitely not a college spring break vibe which they prefer).

I'm sure a PP's comment is more apt to quote than mine regarding teens and cruises especially given my follow up comment which was the last on this thread until yours wherein I myself described having cruised as a teen (the same age as the OP's twins).

It's great your teens liked cruising but there's a difference between cruising and Disney Cruise Line which is still heavily focused on younger kids compared to other lines. It's typical for people to talk about aging out of DCL to go to other cruise lines. Whether that is the case for many families or not well that is incredibly difficult to get a good idea on a Disney-focused internet forum.

Specific to the OP's situation for DCL the two 15 yrs olds and 16 yr old would be in Vibe, the 11 and 13 yr old would be in Edge unless the 13 yr old aged up when the cruise occurred. If you compare that to Royal Caribbean for example the 16yr old, two 15 yr olds and the 13 yr old would be all in the same club together. Would the teens all want to be together or go off on their own are just parts of the question which I touched on in my follow up post. I singled out the 16 yr old and the two 15 yr olds from the OP's post because they are the closest to adult age and thus what they may want to do may be all different from each other. It doesn't mean the 11yr old and the 13 yr old would enjoy the clubs they would be in but rather the other ones stand a higher chance at wanting to be able to do their own thing due to maturity and age.

 

[lanejudy]

Most of the people responding are probably Disney families, but there’s been testimonials from many families whose children did not enjoy it. My brothers’ tween girls wanted to spend the entire cruise FaceTiming their friends on their iPads and would even refuse to go to dinner. Major sore spot with him - they’re not huge Disney girls and he was hurt by the cost.

Just curious -- did he set any expectations of what the girls would be doing onboard? If they spent the entire cruise FaceTiming friends it's because he allowed it; he even would have needed to purchase multiple Internet packages. That would not have been an issue for my DD because I never would have purchased the online plan for her to do that; I can't make a teen go to Vibe but I can definitely set expectations of what is or is not allowed on vacation and the Internet connection gets cut. How do the girls act on other family vacations? This just seems more of a family dynamic issue than a cruise or Disney issue.

 

[Dug720]

Just curious -- did he set any expectations of what the girls would be doing onboard? If they spent the entire cruise FaceTiming friends it's because he allowed it; he even would have needed to purchase multiple Internet packages. That would not have been an issue for my DD because I never would have purchased the online plan for her to do that; I can't make a teen go to Vibe but I can definitely set expectations of what is or is not allowed on vacation and the Internet connection gets cut. How do the girls act on other family vacations? This just seems more of a family dynamic issue than a cruise or Disney issue.

Absolutely! My question would be if he knew they weren't Disney girls, why did he even opt to sail on Disney in the first place?

But then yes - you set expectations for what is expected in terms of family time. And I'd be taking the internet costs out of their allowance - at least part of the cost. Sounds like the girls pretty much run the family.