In between age cruiser 17-20, please help!

[ejkj84]

I am in charge of researching cruise information for our next family cruise, and was wondering which ship would be best for my family and I. I am 20 and my brother is 17. My parents will also be going also. The three we are considering now are:
Carnival Conquest
Princess Caribbean
HAL Zuiderdam
We also looked in to RCCL, the big ships, but they seem to be over our price range. My main concern is meeting up with people my age. I was wondering if any of these ships and anything special to offer that inbetween age of 18-20. I am shy at first, as in I cant just walk up to people I dont know, but usually make friends easly once introduced.
Also with drinking, it is not that big of concern, I dont want to drink alot. But what would they do if say my parents bought me a drink or two? Also let me know if there are any things I cant do besides drink and gamble on each ship.
Any information would be greatly appreciate, expecially from people in this age range. Also any links to posts where this has been talk about before would be great, I could not find much.
I have been on two cruises before. One on celebrity when I was 17, they did not have a very organized or interesting programs for people my age. I will not settle for sitting around playing uno for 3 hours on my vacation! Luckly my brother and I entered about every triva competition and won about 3 times. I loved the looks on the adults faces when a 17 and 14 year old won agame about stuff they should have known.

[DFD1]

From the information in your question, my own opinion is that you would enjoy Carnival more than HAL. The atmosphere on the Carnival cruises I have taken is much more upbeat with a more pronounced sense of excitement than on HAL.

Days are relatively quiet around the pool and on deck on most HAL cruises, whereas there is always a contest or organized activity of some sort going on with Carnival.

They aren't called the Fun Ships for nothing.

Hal, on the other hand, unsually attracts a more sedate, some say refined crowd. There is a calmer, some say dull, atmosphere onboard HAL ships both day and night.

If I were a teenager, which I have not been in many years, knowing what I know now about HAL and Carnival, and I wanted to kick up my heels for a few days on a cruise, I would not chose HAL.

As for the drinking, that's a personal matter with you and your family, but I expect a drink would be easier for you to get on board ship than in your local pub or bar.

Hope you have fun. Stay safe and stay away from the railings if you're drinking. There have been at least half a dozen passengers lost overboard this year, most from drinking.