Cruise for 17 and 18 year olds

Can anyone tell me if there is a cruise line that allows teens, ages 17 and 18, to socialize after 11pm? It seems they are separated for activities and clubs. We have high school seniors who would like to vacation together. I heard a rumor of some cruise line that has a club for 17-19 year olds??

Thank you!

Can anyone tell me if there is a cruise line that allows teens, ages 17 and 18, to socialize after 11pm? It seems they are separated for activities and clubs. We have high school seniors who would like to vacation together. I heard a rumor of some cruise line that has a club for 17-19 year olds??

Thank you!

My teens never seemed to have a curfew anytime they were with us. Mostly HAL

Norwegian Spirit has the Maharini NightClub where I have seen many people your age (it's supposed to be for adults but they don't mind if people your age are there but are well behaved). In fact, I was about 26 yo when I cruised solo and I socialized quite a bit with a group of 17-22 yo in that lounge (the older people were mostly couple while this group was such a bunch of people who made friends for the cruise). We had fun.

To book, each staterooms needs all people to be over 21 or 1 person over 25 and the other can be underaged but the adult will be responsible of you.

My kids didn't have a curfew on carnival .The 14 yr old was in the club until 11:30 and could hang out afterwards on deck with their friends. my 16 and 22 was able to hang out as late as they liked with their friends, as long as the behaved.

With most cruiselines even late at night there are still places where everyone can hang out together. Usually the 17 year old can't get into places like the nightclub/disco or the casino, but they are welcome everywhere else on the ship.

As you weren't clear in your post, teens cannot cruise without parents. The minimum age for nearly all cruise lines is 21. So unless you're going with the teens, they won't be allowed to book a cruise alone.

Older teens generally find each other and hang out. Most kids that age don't like those pre-planned activities on the ship, so they just hang around together. The 18 year old can go to the disco after 11pm, but the 17 year old won't be allowed. But there are other venues where they can hang out.

My boys were 17 & 18 last year when we were on the Crown Princess. The 17 yo had no interest in the Kid's Club Programs and easily made friends with other teens. My 18 yo spent most of his time with his older cousin and did go to Skywalkers (disco).

Sailaway is a great time for them to meet almost every other teen on board.

RCL has a curfew of 1am for kids under 18. If they are participating in a ship sponsored actvity such as the teen disco, they can stay there until it closes. The oldest age group for RCL's programs is 15-17.

I guess I didn't make myself clear. I'm the mom. My daughter is 18 and her best friend is 17. What I'm reading on the ships is that the 18 year old can't go into the club/disco when it's for 14-17 year olds and the 17 year old can't go into the club after 11pm when the 18 year old can. Just trying to find the right ship where they can be together and still do the things they want to do.

Thank you for your responses.

I guess I didn't make myself clear. I'm the mom. My daughter is 18 and her best friend is 17. What I'm reading on the ships is that the 18 year old can't go into the club/disco when it's for 14-17 year olds and the 17 year old can't go into the club after 11pm when the 18 year old can. Just trying to find the right ship where they can be together and still do the things they want to do.

Thank you for your responses.

17 is a bit of a tough age for a cruise. From what I could tell, there were VERY few, if any, 17-yr-olds in the teen club - it was most mostly 14-15, with occasional 16-yr-olds. Once kids get to 16+, they generally are not interested in the "children's program" (and the teen club is, officially, part of the "children's program"). So they feel too old for the teen club, while not being old enough for the adult disco.

However, as pointed out in previous posts, most 16-18 yr olds tend to want to hang out with each other, and depending on the ship, there are usually plenty of places they can do that. The last time we took our teens on a cruise it was on RCI's Voyager, and the older teens seemed to congregate either in Johnny Rockets, or around the spas, as well as some other public areas of the ship.

If there is an official curfew, we sure didn't see anyone enforcing it. We saw teens hanging out into the wee hours.

My kids prefer RCI over any cruise line - it seems to draw the most teens, and depending on the ship, often has more activities and attractions for young people (Flow Rider, rock wall, etc.).

I guess I didn't make myself clear. I'm the mom. My daughter is 18 and her best friend is 17. What I'm reading on the ships is that the 18 year old can't go into the club/disco when it's for 14-17 year olds and the 17 year old can't go into the club after 11pm when the 18 year old can. Just trying to find the right ship where they can be together and still do the things they want to do.

Thank you for your responses.

I know you are the mom.:) From our experience on RCL's Mariner of the Seas, the 17 will not be allowed in the adult disco. This past June, there were 800 kids on our cruise, with almost 300 between the age of 15-17. Fuel, the teen disco was packed late night. They do not allow the 12-14 yr olds into Fuel late night after about 11, it is only for the 15-17 yr olds. They were allowing 18 yr olds, that had signed a waiver, into Fuel though the year before when we were on the same ship, all 18 yr olds were turned away.

18-20 is a tough age range. They can get into the casino and the adult disco but they can't drink.

We will have the same problem next time we cruise as my son has now turned 18. Hopefully, he will meet a lot of kids his own age hanging out on the basketball court as he has in the past.

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18-20 is a tough age range. They can get into the casino and the adult disco but they can't drink.

 

Actually, on NCL 18 to 20 year olds can drink beer and wine as long as the parent signs a permission form.

CG

Actually, on NCL 18 to 20 year olds can drink beer and wine as long as the parent signs a permission form.

 

CG

They can too on RCL but only on cruises originating from European or South American ports.

Actually, on NCL 18 to 20 year olds can drink beer and wine as long as the parent signs a permission form.

 

CG

I don't understand why a parent would choose to do this for minors on a ship ..or anywhere. And certainly not with someone else's child under your care. :eek:

I don't understand why a parent would choose to do this for minors on a ship ..or anywhere. And certainly not with someone else's child under your care. :eek:

The OP, who is the one bringing someone else's child, DID NOT state she had any intention of doing so. Just FTR.

We took my son and his friend on a Carnival cruise for graduation. We had the same age situation as the OP. The boys never lacked for social opportunities. They made friends and hung out with other kids their age. I know of only one time when the 17 year old was refused entry to the club after 11pm. Kids this age will make their own party if necessary, so I wouldn't worry too much...they will have a great time.

Can anyone tell me if there is a cruise line that allows teens, ages 17 and 18, to socialize after 11pm? It seems they are separated for activities and clubs. We have high school seniors who would like to vacation together. I heard a rumor of some cruise line that has a club for 17-19 year olds??

Thank you!

akh...Unfortunantly Carnival and RC have an age range for the various teen and adult clubs. Your daughter and her friend are in a bad spot at this time with the difference in ages. I took my daughter on a cruise in August (she had just turned 18 in July)..we asked to be seated at dinner with other familes with kids in the same age range so that she could meet others to socialize with. The kids at our table were 17...needless to say the 14-17 year olds can access the teen club..but my daughter was unable to get in..and the younger kids did not want to even try the adult disco as there was always a thick cloud of smoke in there...and they did usually kick out the younger crowd after 11pm anyways.

Yes there are many other public area places for the kids to hang out..but my daughter did feel a bit alone, and wound up spending her time with me and her uncle. We wound up avoiding the adult clubs due to the heavy smoke, and much older crowd...she was uncomfortable. She has stated that next time, she definitely wants to go with someone her own age. We are currently awaiting her best friend to turn 18 so that she can join us next cruise. If the girls will be happy not going into the dance areas and hangout spots..then I'm sure they can still enjoy the rest of the ship...but most of the kids on our cruise were all congreting around the teen club every night.

I don't understand why a parent would choose to do this for minors on a ship ..or anywhere. And certainly not with someone else's child under your care. :eek:

Because in most of the rest of the world 18 year olds can drink. Not everyone is an American.

I don't understand why a parent would choose to do this for minors on a ship ..or anywhere. And certainly not with someone else's child under your care. :eek:

Because in most of the rest of the world 18 year olds can drink. Not everyone is an American.

While I know this is off topic I feel that I must address this...

E and J.. That is the thinking that has us Americans so screwed up..

3GR8Sons has it down pat..

You see, here in the US, we are hung up on beer, wine and spirits being the dreaded "booze". In European Countries, these items are considered FOOD!!! Germany, it is nothing to have a beer or two with lunch being it is a bread. The U.K. is the same, grab a pint at the pub during lunch..

On the flip side, we here in the US are very tolerant of the drunk drivers. They get caught, they can wither buy their way out or get a slap on the wrist.. (Check your local paper for the conviction rates) Where as in Europe, you get busted for drunk driving, you are going under the jail..

I doubt the OP was indicating that she was going to offer the traveling kids booze.. Just trying to get ideas as to what the kids could do in the age range she has.. I wish her luck.. I might suggest that the OP call the cruise lines directly for their suggestions for her dilemma, then get it in writing...

Not a Sermon, just some thoughts....