Things to do for families with a teen?

[okwMomOf4]

We booked the Bermuda cruise, but I am having second thoughts about whether we should go.

All my children are adults, except one who will be 17 then. Will there be many activities for us to do together as a family?

We went on a Disney Cruise a while back, but I cannot remember if there were family activities that were not kid-centered. Can a 17 year old go in the adult pool, do the cooking classes, tours, etc?

Should we just cancel our reservations and go when she is an adult?

 

[ACQUADUCK]

With adults areas/ activities, kicking in at 18, sorry no a 17 yo can't go to gym, the adult pool, Palo etc.

But there is a family pool, there are teenager activities, there is a cinema, typically they get friends and hang out together.

The teen club is good but best advice they should go on the first meeting to find friends.

My children now older were at some time 17 on a cruise, and enjoyed it, found friends, did their own things.

It's up to you how you plan your day and activities but as parents we did palo brunch and dinner, Remy, etc and my children did their own thing, maybe go to normal dinner on their own or joining new friends some they still now are in contact Post cruise.

Character greets are for family but some children do drop out if liking characters, there are daily activities for the family outside the adult areas at night, there is the shops, there is entertainment and the shows. Some ships have Midship detective agency.

Normally teenagers enjoy the freedom and enjoy the cruise, set boundaries but they will find their own things to do, the same as when in education on land.

 

[lklgoodman]

I don't have a teenager, but I looked at the personal navigator from our cruise this past March. Under the Fun for All Ages it has activities like trivia games, ship tours, the anyone can cook demo(she just wouldn't be able to drink the wine), family dance parties, karaoke, and family crafts. I personally wouldn't cancel the cruise, but you know your dd best. Are these things she would enjoy doing with you or would she pout the whole time because she can't do the adult activities?

 

[SDJEL]

I just got off the boat with 15 and 16 year old boys-and 10 year old girl. We did movies, shows, trivia and 2 daytime things with the magician/entertainers on the boat together. They also spent a ton of time in Vibe and made friends. We always ate together at dinner and often at breakfast. We all felt like we had plenty of time together as a family and plenty of time to each do our own thing.

 

[tink1970]

I just got off the boat with 15 and 16 year old boys-and 10 year old girl. We did movies, shows, trivia and 2 daytime things with the magician/entertainers on the boat together. They also spent a ton of time in Vibe and made friends. We always ate together at dinner and often at breakfast. We all felt like we had plenty of time together as a family and plenty of time to each do our own thing.

Sounds like a wonderful trip!

@okwMomOf4 -- I have been on several cruises with my DD from the time she was 6 to 16. She usually goes the first night to the kids/tween/teen club and finds a group and we don't see her except for dinner. On the off cruise where she didn't mesh with the other kids, we would: go to movies, play trivia, do crafts, one year we participated in decorating and racing rubber duckies, hit the Aqua Duck, go to the spa, watch the shows, etc. The times we've cruised together have been wonderful and I encourage you to go to Bermuda and enjoy

 

[okwMomOf4]

Thank you for the suggestions!

She's not one to pout or be difficult, but she will want to spend the time with her adult brother and sisters.

We love the shows at night. The cooking demo and tour sound great. Are there more activities like those? I remember some trivia game show but that was really for 3 pairs of young kids with their parent.

We've only ever been on the Disney Cruise. Does anyone know if there are other cruise lines that are better at allowing teens to stay with adults but have show/activities that are family friendly? (Is it okay to ask that here?)

 

[KashasMom]

My opinion - I don't think there is much to do for a 17 year old who wants to spend time with her adult siblings. We find so many activities on the RCI Oasis class ships. My 8 yr old has been a fan for 2 years! There are 3 family pools - one is a sport pool where they have volleyball games, etc. once or twice a day. (The ONE family pool on DCL is very, very small.) On RCI there is a rock climbing wall, a Flow Rider, and a zip line. Other sports are available as well. The shows are family friendly - usually a musical, another main theater show, ice skating shows, and aqua/diving shows. There are also cooking demos/classes, trivia, bingo, and more. One other thing I really like is that a 17 year old is welcome in the specialty dining venues (which were all very good). We also like the option of a dinner buffet for the days we're too tired to sit through the production of dinner in the MDR. I suggest Googling the daily activities paper of specific ships and itineraries that you might be interested in. That will give you a better idea of what you can do. (Also - some kids just don't like the clubs and/or may be shy so that is always a factor when people suggest sending your kid to the clubs.)

 

[Shanti]

We booked the Bermuda cruise, but I am having second thoughts about whether we should go.

All my children are adults, except one who will be 17 then. Will there be many activities for us to do together as a family?

We went on a Disney Cruise a while back, but I cannot remember if there were family activities that were not kid-centered. Can a 17 year old go in the adult pool, do the cooking classes, tours, etc?

Should we just cancel our reservations and go when she is an adult?

I recommend waiting to sail when she is 18 or sailing on a less adult/teen separationist line. DCL is not flexible at all in this regard, unfortunately.

 

[mmmears]

If your 17 year old really wants to spend all of her time with the family I'd suggest waiting a year. Then it won't be an issue. If she likes the teen clubs or if you like the family activities then I'd go ahead and sail now. My DD was over 18 on our last cruise and it was really nice since we hang out at the adult pool, dine at Palo, and go to adult only activities as a family. I'd take a peek at some of the latest Navigators posted online and see how you'd prefer to spend your days - that might be a good way to see if it'll work out ok or if you'd be wishing you'd waited a year.

 

[3monkeys4me]

Thank you for the suggestions!

She's not one to pout or be difficult, but she will want to spend the time with her adult brother and sisters.

We love the shows at night. The cooking demo and tour sound great. Are there more activities like those? I remember some trivia game show but that was really for 3 pairs of young kids with their parent.

We've only ever been on the Disney Cruise. Does anyone know if there are other cruise lines that are better at allowing teens to stay with adults but have show/activities that are family friendly? (Is it okay to ask that here?)

My kids are too young for it to matter still but I have heard that Royal Caribbean will allow 16 year olds in the solarium pool. I do know my teens were allowed to use the gym with a parent. I think the minimum age is 13.

I recommend waiting to sail when she is 18 or sailing on a less adult/teen separationist line. DCL is not flexible at all in this regard, unfortunately.

I think I would too, if you want to stick with DCL. I do think there is a lot to do on board for families to do together but it can be difficult with only one person under 18 and the rest of the group being adults if the adults are planning on using the adult areas, unless your teen is content to spend sometime on her own (or meeting new friends).

 

[Minnie368]

We recently sailed the western Caribbean with me, my husband, 18yo son, and 16 yo daughter. We had plenty to do together and it really was no issue. We did midship detective agency, trivia, shows, drawing classes, movie theater, mini golf, bingo, and more. Our port days were very active and when on the ship there was more than enough to do to fill our free time. Maybe because it was our first cruise we really didn’t care to try the specialty dining. Also we’re not public pool people so that wasn’t a factor. She didn’t go to the kids club at all. On port days of course the age was no issue. We’re already booked for next year when she’ll still only be 17 and really didn’t give it a second thought. I know there may be more activities on some of the other cruise lines but for us even though our kids aren’t little anymore we still love Disney and that makes it for us.

 

[Anchors Away 2016]

We recently sailed the western Caribbean with me, my husband, 18yo son, and 16 yo daughter. We had plenty to do together and it really was no issue. We did midship detective agency, trivia, shows, drawing classes, movie theater, mini golf, bingo, and more. Our port days were very active and when on the ship there was more than enough to do to fill our free time. Maybe because it was our first cruise we really didn’t care to try the specialty dining. Also we’re not public pool people so that wasn’t a factor. She didn’t go to the kids club at all. On port days of course the age was no issue. We’re already booked for next year when she’ll still only be 17 and really didn’t give it a second thought. I know there may be more activities on some of the other cruise lines but for us even though our kids aren’t little anymore we still love Disney and that makes it for us.

I second this. There are plenty of things you can all do as a family, and it might be fun for the 17 YO to do a few things with other teens as well. It doesn't sound like the rest of the family will be 24/7 in the bars or something, so I think you will find that most of the activities will be fine. I suppose if you plan to spend a ton of time at the adult pool she might feel left out. But you say she is pretty flexible. Watch out! She might have so much fun in the rest of the ship, you guys may have to go and find her so YOU don't feel left out. LOL.

My teen-aged sons enjoyed being with us, and they enjoyed being without us. Of course, in my case, they were both under 18, so I realize that your situation is different. I just wanted you to understand the the bulk of activities (even the bars prior to 9PM) are available to everyone in your family.

Have a great trip either way. I think it is great that you are willing to postpone your trip so that your youngest has a good time, I just don't think it will be necessary.

 

[gotomu212]

I think it will be hardest after dinner- that’s when adult activities seem to segment more. She won’t be able to go to the evening adult activities. There are other, albeit much more limited family activities, but I could see the difficulty of having one kid not able to join all the others from 9pm on.

 

[Anchors Away 2016]

I think it will be hardest after dinner- that’s when adult activities seem to segment more. She won’t be able to go to the evening adult activities. There are other, albeit much more limited family activities, but I could see the difficulty of having one kid not able to join all the others from 9pm on.

Exactly! Unless she meets some kids her age at Vibe and wants to hand with them, in which case, she might have more to do than the adults. The Vibe schedule is pretty active until about 1 AM.

 

[mmmears]

I want to add that I think you could all have a great trip even with one kid under 18. It's what you make of it. So if you can all go and have a blast you should definitely do it. I would. But if the age thing is going to be an issue for everyone then I'd wait. I've sailed DCL with a teen before and we just chose mostly family-friendly things to do.

 

[KashasMom]

I think it will be hardest after dinner- that’s when adult activities seem to segment more. She won’t be able to go to the evening adult activities. There are other, albeit much more limited family activities, but I could see the difficulty of having one kid not able to join all the others from 9pm on.

This is very true. We don't find much to do as a family after late seating dinner.

 

[hanscarlet]

How close are you to her 18th birthday? If moving it out a few months doesn't present a problem then I would move it. Like PPs have said, there are plenty of things she can still do but in my opinion, if she's the only non "adult" of the crew and enjoys hanging with you all then I'd move it so she could do so.

 

[Mitura]

My kids are 12 and 15. Last cruise I didn't see them all day and regularly got in at 1 am! I think the 17yo will have no problem staying busy.

 

[taaren]

It really varies by the teen ... I travel with nieces and nephews, and my nephew had a better time on the cruise when he was 17 than he did when he turned 18 because he had an easier time finding friends amongst the teens than the 18-20 crowd. We barely saw him the cruise when he was 17, though he did enjoy Palo with us the latter cruise. His sister however, who was 16 & 17 had a great time both of those cruises because mostly she wanted to do crafts and play shuffleboard with the relatives (who knew she loved her boring aunties and uncles so much?) and run around with the littles in our party.

In your case, if you want to take them to adult things, maybe wait. However if you just want to do family stuff and could enjoy Bingo/karaoke/shuffleboard/etc, then you'll have a great time with them. My party tends to like the all-ages stuff anyways so it works, but YMMV.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

We booked the Bermuda cruise, but I am having second thoughts about whether we should go.

All my children are adults, except one who will be 17 then. Will there be many activities for us to do together as a family?

We went on a Disney Cruise a while back, but I cannot remember if there were family activities that were not kid-centered. Can a 17 year old go in the adult pool, do the cooking classes, tours, etc?

Should we just cancel our reservations and go when she is an adult?

As a parent of two teens that never go to the clubs, I can honestly tell you we’ve never ran out of stuff to do on a Disney ship. We generally spend most of our time together doing trivia, cooking classes, crafts, pool, slides, etc. I really think you’ll be fine.

With that in mind, we do find there is a lot more to do after dinner that doesn’t revolve around drinking, on Carnival ships than Disney ships. Here’s a link to a thread here with tons of info on Carnival, https://www.disboards.com/threads/c...parison-thread.3540991/page-101#post-59232611 I did 2 reviews on the Carnival Vista which was introduced in 2016, her sister, Horizon, just set sail about a month ago and will doing her transatlantic soon, then spending the summer ported out of NYC, doing Bermuda and Caribbean cruises before heading to her home port of Miami. There is a TON of stuff for late teens/almost adults to do with their family on those ships.

Once again though, I think you’ll be totally fine with DCL and have a wonderful time, I only mentioned Carnival because you asked about the possibility of other lines. Enjoy your cruise.