Cruise lines

[hopeishere]

We are looking at booking a cruise this summer. We saw the perfect route but then I did some research it was an older ship and had poor facilities for teens.

Has anyone done a fjord cruise? Would you recommend it for teens? . It looks as though it could be a little bit samey.

Or has anybody sailed with Norwegian cruise line or MSC? How would you rate them.

We’re looking for naice but not super expensive so while I would like to do Cunard or Silver Sea, I’m not sure the kids would like that or the budget would stretch to it!

I’ve been with Norwegian when DC were teens. Just check the route has a teen club. That was Caribbean. We went to Alaska with Princess. Dc liked that ship too and other teens were on board. I’d avoid the mega ships. You are herded around and trips off are eye wateringly expensive. I did a bit of DIY.

Norway is a bit for older people! I took my mum with P&O for her 90th birthday. Cruises give you expensive tour options but you can often do your own thing. Bergen for example is a good DIY port. Other ports might not offer much without a tour. They tend to be quite short and back for lunch. It’s really about scenery in Norway.

Thanks. We’ve done a med cruise previously and DIY-ed at every port! I thought it might be about the views in Norway. It’s trying to find the balance of a decent route and a decent ship!

What about Hurtigruten? The Norway coastal route. Not standard huge ships but friends with teens really liked it.

I've sailed with Norwegian many times, including taking the kids when they are teens. We love the relaxed atmosphere and the freestyle restaurants etc

I wouldn't automatically dismiss a smaller ship, but I do think for some teens the larger ships are better. It all depends on what your teens like to do. One of my kids was happy just playing with other kids on the sports court all week, but the other two preferred the facilities found on bigger ships, such as water slides, rope courses etc, and I think they would have been bored on a smaller ship. None of them went to the teen club, so that's not important to us, but it may be to your teens.

Older one won’t be interested in teen club but will want golf / flow rider type stuff. Younger one has special needs so not suitable for clubs unfortunately.

I would of suggested royal caribbean but the ship they are brings I don't think will be any good in the fjords plus they're version of a fjords cruise is not one.

It depends if you see the ship as the purpose of the holiday or what you can see or visit. For us the latter. DCs just enjoyed meeting other teens and we don’t like floating towns.

MSC may be a bit down-market for you if you are looking for "naice". But the value for money is decent overall (and the pizza, available about 20 hours per day, is very good).