Best for Teens - Carnival Dream or RC Oasis?

Beginning to look at cruises to celebrate our 17 yr old son's high school graduation next year. We've only cruised with Royal Caribbean but are now considering Carnival Dream since the New Orleans port (our personal preference over Galveston) is our closest and best driving option. The other option is RC Oasis with ports we've never been to. Any comparative experience with both of these ships, or with either one of them, when it comes to keeping teen boys happy and active? Thanks!

I've never been on either of these ships specifically, though I went on both of these lines as a teenager (Royal Caribbean when 13 and Carnival when 16). I enjoyed the RC ship much more. Apart from the "teens club" there wasn't very much to do on Carnival; everyone seemed to revolve around the pools and the bars. I'm going on the Oasis with a group of friends later this year, and picked that ship in part because I think the guys who are coming (ages 22 and 25) will enjoy having so many active options.

Either cruise line will do just fine! Unless you're on a 3-4 nighter, there is little difference. The shorter cruises will have MAJOR partying going on....Carnival might have a bit more "frat" house feel on a SHORT cruise...but that's because of price. Longer cruises will be more alike than different.

My niece has cruised Carnival (older Conquest-class ship), Celebrity (Solstice class), and RCI (Oasis class) between ages 10-17 and her preference is Oasis by far ... so many things to do on that ship. I'll grant you it's not a fair comparison with Carnival in this case as the ship was much older than Dream.

Oasis. It was great. Lots to do.

I've been on both. Oasis isn't only the better ship for teens. It's the better ship and better cruise line in general.

Go with the Oasis.

As you say -- new ports to see.

Thanks for your replies !! Can you be more specific about the activities or things your teens liked about Oasis?

Comparing the Dream to Oasis is like comparing a Volkswagen to a Porsche! Oasis is one of the largest cruise ships in the world and absolutely spectaclar with so much to do onboard, you can't do it all in a week and the overall experience is really fun for all ages - so much so, when my husband and I disembarked, we turned to each other and said, "Let's do that again!" and we did on Allure!

Here's some of the stuff for teens onboard Oasis:

Rock Climbing Wall

Zip line$

Flow Riders

Ice Skating

mini golf

basketball court

sports pool

3D Movie Theater

Arcade$

Merry Go Round (even adults go on this)

candy store$

Spectacular shows that appeal to the whole family such as:

high diving

ice skating

acrobatics

parades

For food teens love:

Wipe Out Cafe

Windjammer

Johnny Rockets ($)

Sorrento Pizza

Dog House

Cafe Promenade

In addition, there are:

Giovanni's Table$

Chops (steakhouse)$

Izumi (sushi)$

Sabor (Mexican)$

150 Central Park$

And RCCL has the Freestyle Coke Machines:

http://www.coca-colafreestyle.com/en/home/

There is also a great teen club - they meet up there and hangout throughout the cruise.

We cruise both lines, the RCI oasis and larger ships are too much for my liking. To me, it felt like being on a big floating mall all week. The rooms were also a big smaller when comparing them to the dream class with Carnival. It's really up to personal preference, although I think kids would enjoy the bigger ships because there is more to do.

Really appreciate the replies! I think my son is mainly interested in the water slides on Dream but doesn't look like there's too much else. We have been pleased with RC and have no complaints. Even on the smaller ship, he met up with others his age and said he had a great time, even though most of the times we would come across them, they were just sitting, talking and looking at their phones. That's teens for ya. ;)