Caribbean cruise with a teen

[Tellmewhatyouknow]

We have never been on a cruise before but are now considering it.

Obviously, Royal Caribbean do Caribbean cruises but are there any others we should consider?

15-year-old Dd will be coming with us so we really want to pick a cruise with her in mind.

Any recommendations?

Tbh with a teenager I’d stick with either Royal Caribbean or Norwegian Cruise Lines. MSC are good from Miami but only if you upgrade to an Aurea Experience package. I love Royal Caribbean though, I’ve had amazing holidays on them!

Although I'm not a teen, I have been on a P&O med cruise with my just myself and my mum and found there was loads to do for most age groups. Pretty much do as much or as little as you like. Saw a fair few families with teenagers while we were there. Good luck!

My DD's aged 15 and 18 love Disney cruises

Thanks for the recommendations so far.

Barbara what was the appeal of the Disney cruise? Isn't it aimed at young children?

Yes and no. There's kids clubs for the little ones, but mine love the teenage club because they can do arty stuff rather than just sports. The shows are amazing. Older one goes to cookery demos, language lessons, yoga etc. Cinema running all day that they can just go to whenever they want. Big water slides and pools.

I like it for all of the above, plus the customer service which is out of this world. The rooms are large, even the smallest family rooms have a double bed and a separate area with bunks separated by a curtain, and two bathrooms, one with loo and wash basin and the other shower and wash basin. Everything (except one adult restaurant and alcohol) is included, so there's nothing extra to pay like there is on some ships, we can have as many soft drinks and ice creams as we want. Adult only pool, bar and coffee shop.

And - as a parent of one particular dd who would happily stay up all night - everything shuts by about 12/1am and everyone goes to bed. No noisy neighbours shouting at 3am, everything quiet till it starts again about 7am.

It's Disney and obviously there are characters around, but other than that it's not really in your face, it's quite subtle. You can get away from the mouse if you want to.

Oh, and deposits are fully refundable until 4 months before you go. So if you're not sure you can book, change your mind, and get a full refund which a lot of cruise lines won't do.

I second Disney cruise! Absolutely love them, it's not too in your face Disney either so don't worry about it not being age appropriate. An unprecedented amount of guests are actually child free and still sail with them as they're so great! The service is impeccable and there's always plenty going on for all ages

I will look at Disney.

Thanks

I would recommend allure or oasis with Royal Caribbean

Disney is much more expensive and has less for teens than the big royal Caribbean ships

Thanks BlueKitten. I've looked at Disney and I don't think it would be to dd's taste.

Definitely more inclined to go with Royal Caribbean. Is there much difference between the Allure and the Oasis?

I think it depends on the teens. My arty, gentle girls would absolutely hate ice skating, rock climbing or flo-rider on Royal Caribbean, but love drawing animation cells in the Disney kid's clubs, or watching the fantastic shows.

And check the costs with RC - we did actually price it up, and once you've added the extras that are included in Disney there's not actually much difference. Depends if you want the extras though!

There’s not much between the Oasis and Allure - they’re both huge and in the same class. Look at YouTube videos.

I would also consider Norwegian- they have some great, new ships sailing the Caribbean. I just wish they would come to Europe! I’ve been on the Getaway and it’s fab. Teens would love it. The deals on NCL are good.

The other popular choice for families in the Caribbean is Carnival. I’ve not been on the line myself- but it’s called the funship. They are very reasonably priced. Dream, Vista, Breeze, Horizon are the newest- check to see if they sail the Caribbean.

Also have a think about the fly cruise with P&O. You fly to the Caribbean rather than US, they handle all your luggage and transfers. Then you can sail back to Southampton. So much less stressful than flying to/from the US with its security and I hear it’s very cost effective. They’re not my favourite line, but the Caribbean itinerary is hard to beat.

RC seems so expensive. Their cruise is the same asP&O - but then you pay for flights on top ! We're going on Venturer for 2 nights to see what it's like for teen.

Some great advice.

We know that whoever we go with it will be an expensive holiday. That is why we want to make sure we make the right choice.

Thanks

Hmmm try Vacations to go, cruises in Caribbean are very cheap! Lots of options less than £500 pp on great ships- will be even less for third and fourth passengers. You will need flights, but often it’s not more expensive to take a Caribbean cruise than European cruise where the cruise fare is much higher

I’d second NCL as well -if booking from the U.K., almost everything is included - food, drinks, service charge , limited WiFi, shows. It makes it easy to budget, and can work out more cost effective. There are extra things to pay on board if you want - upgraded restaurants, video games, photos, shops etc. But the food at the included restaurants is good/great, and there’s no need to spend a single extra penny if you don’t want to.

We’ve been in the Geataway twice, and my teens loved it - slides, mini golf, giant chess, table tennis, sports courts, shows, trivia games etc. They never even got to the kids club!

It’s not as ‘high end’ as some cruise lines, but suits us perfectly.