16 year old

[boom op]

Will my 16 year old son be able to take part in activities with his 14 year old brother? I just saw some pictures from someone that just came back from the Pride and there was a broucher for Teens but I believe the ages were 12-15.

Thanks
Pride 6th June

[green eyed lady]

boom op,
We are sailing in July on the Miracle and I know Camp Carnival ends at 15. My boys are 12, 15 and 16 so I'd also be interested in an answer. Hopefully someone who's already sailed will jump in!

Jen

[RhondaMo]

We were on the Inspiration in February and sailed with our 10 year old son and 16 year old daughter. When we attended the first night Camp Carnival orientation (mandatory for any children attending the camp during the week), to sign up our 10 year old, the teen counselors approached our daughter and asked if she would be joining them, our daughter explained that she was 16 and wasn't able to participate. The head counselor informed her that if she wanted to participate, to just complete the forms and show up at the events she was interested in. So our daughter did participate in some events and had a great time. So if you have a 16 year old and they are interested, just approach a counselor and explain, and I'm sure its not going to be a problem.

[casamer]

RhondaMo-
Did you find enough there was enough to do for your 16 year old? Did she have a good time? Is there a seperate disco for the teens?
Thanks!

Norway 5/2001
Carnival Paradise 3/21/2004

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Till We Sail Away !!

[tpear3]

I don't recall a mandatory meeting. At least I hope not. I thought I read the orientation was during the late dinner seating--which is our seating. Can someone verify?

NCL Sea - 10/00
CCL Inspiration - 11/01

12/19/04 Elation cruise
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[PINEVIEW01]

Yes, there was a manditory meeting. Unless things have changed. I missed it so my dughter was left out and a very unhappy camper.

Melody

Paradise, 9-5-04
Holiday, 4-10-04
Inspiration, 11-30-03
Inspiration, 1-26-03
Victory,3-31-02
Sensation, 11-28-98
Holiday, 3-19-94

[piggs]

The meeting may be mandatory for the younger ones but not for the 9-11 or 12-15 yo group. In fact my kids went there the 3rd day of the cruise and were given the papers to bring back to me to fill out. Then they took them back and did any events they wanted. I never even went up there. I can't imagine making a mandatory meeting during a dinner seating time!
So glad to hear they will let 16 y-olds participate. My 16 y-o will be on the cruise with cousins/siblings who are 14,13, and 12 and may want to do something with them, it's nice to know he has the option.
Lori

Conquest 8/03

Second Cruise June 27, 2004 Conquest here we come again!
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[kapcruiser]

I am also glad to hear this because my 16 yr old can be with his 13 yr. old brother.

Inspiration - August 2004

[BermudaBabii]

I will be 16 in a few days and my cousin is 13..glad to know i can hang with her on these little shin-digs hehe. thanks!
cant wait to sail (june 24th on the legend http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif )

«"´`".(¸."´(¸."* *".¸)`".¸)."´`"»
«"*´¨*".¸¸.*¤~* Kelli *~¤*.¸¸."*¨`*"»
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x.o.x.o._B×a×B×y×G×u×r×L_x.o.x.o
~Welcome to my world~

[RhondaMo]

The meeting is suppose to be mandatory, and they do schedule it at an inconvenient time, but they are also very flexible allowing children to sign up at other times, so don't worry. We actually arrived late for the meeting because our dinner seating ran into the meeting time, but it was no big deal. Casamer, my daughter didn't find a great deal of things to do, but a few that she did enjoy. They closed off the Disco for teens only until about 10pm when they opened it up for everyone. She really enjoyed that a great deal. Going to some of the teen activities allowed her a chance to meet others her age or about her age and made her less bored (and she didn't have to hang out with mom and dad the entire time). Tell your teens to at least give it a try, I'm sure they will find something.

[boom op]

It sounds like alot of people had the same question that I had maybe Carnival should change the age group?

[CruiseFever]

If they don't do anything else they need to go to the first meeting. That's where all the kids hook up and meet each other. It's the typical teen-awkward thing but by the end they've started moving into groups that will form and be friends for the rest of the cruise.

We ALWAYS see a few kids that didn't get in on this wandering around aimlessly, and being lonely. As you know, teens form cliques really fast.

My teens, now 18 and 16, know this all too well.

On one cruise there was this lady who was dragging her daughter around practically begging kids to hang out with her. I felt so sorry for that girl...but she wasn't at the first meeting.

Our kids have made friends on every cruise that they've kept in touch with ever since via email or Instant Messenger. Some we talk to from cruises 3 years ago almost every day.

To the original poster, IMHO, if your 14 yo is a mature 14yo chances are neither one of them will be all that interested in Camp Carnival. I know mine weren't at that age.

If that's the case, don't panic. Don't let people on these board scare you with stories of unsupervised teens getting drunk and running amok through the hallways at 3AM.

There are those who do that but there are also a LOT of nice, well-behaved teens that ARE able to have a grand time without such foolishness.

You'll see them at the initial meeting- few of the scoundrel teens will be there

Happy Cruising

Chris

www.LifeIsCruising.com (http://www.LifeIsCruising.com)

Next up:
Caribbean Princess 06/26/04
Star Princess 10/24/04
Diamond Princess 12/22/04
Carnival Miracle 03/13/05

[halos]

Chris,
My girls are the same age as your kids.
I was wondering if they should go to this teen meeting...will there be teens over the age of 15 there, or is that meeting for just the young teens??
We will be sailing with friends who have daughters the same age, so my girls won't be alone anyway, I just thought it would be nice if the 4 of them were able to meet other kids.

I believe in Miracles
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MIRACLE JUNE 19, 2004
Calm Seas, Good Friends

[CruiseFever]

Boy I sure would.

Each sailing is different of course as to the makeup of the different ages or number of young ladies and young men. I usually walk there with them then find something to do in the area within view of that area just to get an idea of the makeup of the group. One time, on the Victory, as we approached the area where they were meeting for the first time everybody in our group looked at each other and said "just keep walking!" .

The bunch of kids that had assembled just looked like a lot of trouble. Another family headed in the same direction overheard us, turned and struck up a conversation. We ended up spending more time with that family than we have on any other cruise.

So even though we didn't make it to that meeting we made friends that the kids hung out with for the whole cruise. In Jamaica, we took those people's kids with us ashore while their parents stayed on the ship as though they were our own kids.

I think while we adults hate to see the cruise end, for kids its even worse. Their time runs kinda like doggie years so a week is like a couple months to them. It makes saying good bye to friends they may never see again really hard. You'll see them at 4AM on the last night/morning hanging out at the Pizzaria which shut down for a couple hours before the next batch of passengers comes aboard, savoring every last minute of the experience.

Now THAT"S a rich vacation experience and some memories that they'll carry with them for a lifetime.

You can't put a price on that

Happy Cruising

Chris

www.LifeIsCruising.com (http://www.LifeIsCruising.com)

Next up:
Caribbean Princess 06/26/04
Star Princess 10/24/04
Diamond Princess 12/22/04
Carnival Miracle 03/13/05

[serene56]

That first meeting is VERY important to the teen world. I have often told parents to Make their kids go to that first meeting because kids at that age will say its lame. But this is where they meet up with kids their own age. Like Chris says kids of that age form cliques very fast and I, too have seen kids wander aimlessly around because they didnt go.

I also think that setting this meeting up at late seating sucks because its those people that are missing out. Especially for the older teens- why cant this meeting be closer to 10pm.

Going NOWHERE
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Miracle, February 13, 2005
Legend, October 22,2004
Voyager August 31,2003
Victory September 22,2002
Regal Empress,June 2001
Sensation,August 2000

[CruiseFever]

serene- I think we've played tag on this important aspect of teen cruising before- thanks for chiming in!

Happy Cruising

Chris

www.LifeIsCruising.com (http://www.LifeIsCruising.com)

Next up:
Caribbean Princess 06/26/04
Star Princess 10/24/04
Diamond Princess 12/22/04
Carnival Miracle 03/13/05

[BermudaBabii]

So...will I be able to go to these teen things? I am going to be 16 on this cruise and I want to hang with my cousin...

What is there for 16+ teens to do so they can meet eachother?!



(On my last cruise I went up to the teens and said hi and introduced myself I got 2 of the 3 teens I found to come do some teen activities and hang out and such. So, dont fret if your kids have no one to hang out with...there might be a kid like me going around just talking to random teens!!)

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«"*´¨*".¸¸.*¤~* Kelli *~¤*.¸¸."*¨`*"»
«"´`".(¸."´(¸."* *".¸)`".¸)."´`"»
x.o.x.o._B×a×B×y×G×u×r×L_x.o.x.o
~Welcome to my world~

[bajohnsons]

We are just back from the Triumph and have kids 14, 15, and 17. They met a ton of teens on the cruise just by being outgoing and going to the disco and participating in whatever they were interested in. Of note, the disco is closed after 11pm (I think that's the time) to teens under 16 years of age. My daughter was bummed (she's 15) but they were quite strict on this even though she turns 16 this month.

ECSTASY 1997
PARADISE 2000
PRIDE 2002
PARADISE 2003
TRIUMPH 2004

[BermudaBabii]

bajohnsons
what do they have for the 16+ teens?! I will be 16 this cruise along with my brother, his girlfriend, and 3 of my cousins.

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TILL I CRUISE (Legend)


http://img52.photobucket.com/albums/v158/relientkishott/Prom%20and%20such/5A.jpg

[bajohnsons]

My kids did the disco, some Karaoke, some of the early comedy shows, etc. We were on a Western Carib and the night we left Cozumel there was a big party on deck that they really enjoyed. Mostly they just hung out with all the new friends they met. You'll have a great time.

ECSTASY 1997
PARADISE 2000
PRIDE 2002
PARADISE 2003
TRIUMPH 2004