Which would you recommend for teens in Med for first cruise?

Hi, we have never cruised before but am thinking of a Med cruise for 2016 with husband and teens 16 (boy) and 13 (girl). Have done a little research and am thinking of either Royal Caribbean or MSC. The latter have have kids-go-free which sounds great for the budget, while the RC ships sound best for wow-ing the teens. Wondering which cruise line and which cabin option/'experience' you would recommend?

thanks

Jade

Hi, we have never cruised before but am thinking of a Med cruise for 2016 with husband and teens 16 (boy) and 13 (girl). Have done a little research and am thinking of either Royal Caribbean or MSC. The latter have have kids-go-free which sounds great for the budget, while the RC ships sound best for wow-ing the teens. Wondering which cruise line and which cabin option/'experience' you would recommend?

 

thanks

 

Jade

Any reason why you are discounting your namesake ship? Just asking...:D

Have only cruised with rci, celebrity and p and o so no experience of msc. My vote would be rci much more a high energy vibe and think it would suit your teens. (My teen was not into any of the sports and actually prefers celebrity).

One piece of advice i would offer if they want to meet other teens is to get them to go along to the meet and mingle in the teen club on the first night. This is when the friendships are formed, cabin telephone nos exchanged and they decide what activities and where/when/what time they are going to meet up again. On the first night they are all a little nervous so are all in the same boat (excuse the pun). You could also join the roll call on this site and see if there are other families with similar aged children - maybe possible to do a tour in port with them. If you hear from other families with teens the same age as your older one and you feel comfortable with this - possibly they could facebook each other and chat prior to cruise. Have done 10+ cruises with a teen and think it can be the perfect holiday to suit all of you.

Just a comment from across the pond (Canada Eh!)

Our family did a med cruise in 2012. We were on board RCI Mariner of the Seas.

We obviously had a fantastic time, but remember that the med is all about the ports. Your daytime hours are all mostly on land, so your ship is primarily a floating hotel for your dining, evening and sleeping.

IMHO i would book depending on your budget, but choose the ports that interest your family the most. Especially the embarkation port.

For example, we wanted to see Rome, so we spent 5 days in Rome prior to our cruise. You may like to experience Venice, or Barcelona, or ?

We opted for an inside cabin, so can cruise more often, and experience the world more. Cabin choice is very personal, and for us it depends very much on where the ship goes first, and how much time we get to experience there.

If I had teens (and I was a teen under a decade ago :D) the ship choice would be Royal for sure as far as things to do and generally every activity is in english etc.

However, MSC will offer you and your teens more of a Med 'experience' culturally as there will be a mix of Italian/Spanish/English speakersas well as a few others on board.

If your teens live life fast then RCL, if they are more studious/like culture then MSC. Saying that though, I would think both would be a great option for a cruise. Have you seen Carnival's recently released Med itineraries for next year? If price and fun are on your mind the Vista may be worth a look...its not as activity heavy as RCL but the ships have a good vibe.

As an above poster stated, its more about where you're going and what you're seeing then the ship itself. Yes, RIC has a lot more "wow" that most teens would enjoy, but if they were my kids and we were in, let's say, Rome......it would be "we're going to see Rome..... not climb up a rock climbing wall on the ship today" and there usually are not a lot of sea days on most Med cruises. My priorities for choosing would be itinerary, dates, price.

Check the times in port for the different ships. the Italian based lines cater to...Italians, and some other Europeans, and as a group they go for a getaway, and not the ports. Many do not even go ashore. So times in port may be shorter than on other lines.

As was mentioned by other posters, the Med. is all about the ports. choose the ones you want to visit, then find the ships that visits them. Try http://www.cruisetimetables.com and choose your destination ports from the second list, then the time you want to cruise. It will tell you who is calling there, and their itineraries. EM

thanks everyone for all the great advice, plenty of food for thought there, and lots more research to be done!

Jade

Pretty much agree with Velvetwater, although my experience is Costa, not MSC. Do your teens want to visit a bunch of old churches, or is that what you want them to do? Best involve them in the planning.

Don't worry overmuch about port times- cities like Rome, Athens, Istanbul- do you think two hours makes a real difference? You need more like two weeks. You must plan carefully to make good use of your time in any port.

Any reason why you are discounting your namesake ship? Just asking...:D

:D NCL Jade finishes her 7 years she had to do in the Med, and returns back across the Atlantic this autumn.

:D NCL Jade finishes her 7 years she had to do in the Med, and returns back across the Atlantic this autumn.

She is back in the Med in the summer.

Hi, we have never cruised before but am thinking of a Med cruise for 2016 with husband and teens 16 (boy) and 13 (girl). Have done a little research and am thinking of either Royal Caribbean or MSC. The latter have have kids-go-free which sounds great for the budget, while the RC ships sound best for wow-ing the teens. Wondering which cruise line and which cabin option/'experience' you would recommend?

 

thanks

 

Jade

The kids will not enjoy a med cruise even at those ages. Do yourself a favor and save the med cruise for you and DH, then look at Caribbean Cruises for the whole family.

I could not disagree more with the above post more. Our young teens absolutely loved our Med cruise last summer and it was worth the money to bring them. We spent a week in Spain and then cruised the Med on Royal, which was absolutely fantastic. The kids really loved the entertainment on the Liberty. As did we. I think my then 12 year old took more photos than me!

As someone else mention, we checked the port times to help choose our ship .... as well as a family-friendly atmosphere.

I have to respectfully disagree as well.

My niece (then 14) did a cruise two years ago to Northern Europe with my sister and loved it. She's been to almost every continent on vacation, including Australia.

This summer she will be going on Jade to Venice and Greek Isles. She can't wait!

I just wish I was going with her!

Every kid is different!

RCI Freedom Class (or above, I'd imagine) was the bee's knees in the Western Med for our then 12 & 10 y/o kids. In port, we tried to do things that interested them - beach on the French Riviera, Leaning Tower, Pompeii, etc. and not just force them to do only what DW & I wanted. It's OK, she & I will be back. And they totally loved the Liberty. Our first stateroom w/balcony, now it's never the same w/o one.

Prior to the trip, my wife & I had our kids do some research on the Roman Empire. This added perspective helped make our trip more interesting for them.

If you can, take public transportation on one of your stops, like the train in Italy. It's a great cultural experience for the kids.

Now 15 & 13, we're doing the Adriatic Sea this summer. Have a great trip!

She is back in the Med in the summer.

Now, that IS good news! ;)

Plus hundreds of thousands of children cruise around the Med from their local European ports....if they've had their fill of culture then it's a day at the beach or a water park. I've not heard of many being disappointed. :cool:

Did the Med on Liberty of the Seas with 2 teens under 16. They had a great time, enjoyed the ports and made many friends at the kids club keeping occupied throughout the cruise. I prefer Princess, but for the teens Royal was a great fit.

If I had teens (and I was a teen under a decade ago :D) the ship choice would be Royal for sure as far as things to do and generally every activity is in english etc.

 

However, MSC will offer you and your teens more of a Med 'experience' culturally as there will be a mix of Italian/Spanish/English speakersas well as a few others on board.

 

If your teens live life fast then RCL, if they are more studious/like culture then MSC. Saying that though, I would think both would be a great option for a cruise. Have you seen Carnival's recently released Med itineraries for next year? If price and fun are on your mind the Vista may be worth a look...its not as activity heavy as RCL but the ships have a good vibe.

Having cruised the Med with 2 teens who are definitely into study/culture I could not possibly recommend MSC. They found the MSC entertainment and activities to be crass, crude and generally unpleasant, although the ship and crew were wonderful. Thankfully the cruise was port intensive.

On the same trip we also took a Carnival cruise and it was fantastic, although it was probably a little more sedate than Carnival is usually due to their being very few kids on board.

And despite the other poster's opinion that teens don't enjoy Med cruises my girls would much rather sail the Med than somewhere boring like the Caribbean.

Having cruised the Med with 2 teens who are definitely into study/culture I could not possibly recommend MSC. They found the MSC entertainment and activities to be crass, crude and generally unpleasant, although the ship and crew were wonderful. Thankfully the cruise was port intensive.

 

I was focusing more on the cosmopolitan clientele and mix of cultures on board that Costa and MSC seem to have that would match the Med ports visited.

Not the biggest fan of most cruise entertainment (apart from RCI activities being an obvious selling point) so did not consider that in my response.

My Grandson's first trip to the Med was 3 years ago on RCI. We spent a few days in Rome pre and post cruise. He got to see all the places he only saw photos of and memorized dates for in school, which is never that interesting. He loved the ruins, the food, the people. We visited a couple of places in Rome, Greece and Turkey. Turkey turned out to be his absolute favorite. The following year, we went back to Rome as our "base" for a couple of days and again chose RCI. We visited Italy, France, and Spain. Nothing was planned as "cultural experiences" or "life lessons" but he still talks about our French guide ordering all these wonderful foods, our Italian guide showing him the route for the car races and showing off some of his driving skills, the people he met in Spain and the wonderful experiences he had in every single country we have visited through the years. He enjoyed meeting people from all the other countries. The ship was familiar to him, since he's been cruising with family since he was 3, and is Diamond with his own points. He loves the RCI ships best. This year he and a friend are going on a Caribbean cruise for some relaxation and beach time after a long cold winter and much studying in some challenging courses in college. I'm grateful to know that he's been given a love of travel and a respect for people from different countries and cultures that will be with him for a lifetime. I know that your children will enjoy any trip to the Med, but I'm another one that will recommend RCI.