Places to meet, things to do for 19-20 year olds? NOT A DRINKING ISSUE THREAD

[kangaand2roos]

I've always wondered how they know your age on the ship. While on dry land I still get offered kids menus at restaurants but on the ship I am never carded when I order a drink. Interesting....

 

Your sail and sign has your age on it!

[Silent Penguin]

The age is not shown on the card but it is in the computer...my DH and DS have the same name, got their cards mixed up and they wouldn't sell my DH a drink...said he wasn't 21! :) good thing we figured it out before DS did LOL :)

 

LOL. My son (almost 19) and husband share the same name but are 30 years apart. That would be a riot if that happened to them since Dh was never carded when he was under 21.

[gail8]

My kids loved cruising on Carnival until they hit 18. Nothing to do and left with nowhere to go. Unfortunately unless they bring a friend it doesn't work for us. :(

[kathy884]

We're going to be doing a cruise over Spring Break (Valor out of San Juan) with DS who will be 18 (senior in high school). Does his being 18 mean he can't do O2 club activities or is it graduating from high school (club not meant for those who graduated) that is the real cut off?

 

lol: Not sure he'd want to go to O2, though. Last time he cruised (second cruise for him ever and first was when he was little) everyone who went to any O2 activity got that horrible noro virus. I heard the last cruise we went on called the noro virus cruise on this forum too.

 

Should I try to get him to attend the event for the 18-20 age group, even though it is poorly attended? He's a real trooper and enjoys hanging with us and other adult relatives who will be coming, but I know it would be more fun for him for sure if he met a few friends closer to his own age and did a little hanging out with them.

 

How might I find out if there are other young people on the cruise roll call? Should I just ask if anyone else has any 18-20s year olds going with them, ask about interests and maybe get room numbers, plan a mini meet and greet for any who respond who might be interested in that / call everyone who responded? // We're not frequent cruisers, have never been involved in a meet and greet before.

[elainemasey]

On our last cruise we set up our own Meet and Mingle with others sailing with teens in one of the lounges just after the life boat drill. In a matter of minutes they were off....

[pafam4]

There are a lot of things that 19-20 year olds can do. They can do everything adults can do except drink. There are a lot of adults that don't drink, and I don't think it lessens their cruise experience.

 

 

I agree. I don't understand the difference between the available activities for a 20 year old and a 21 year old....except for drinking. So everything else that a 21 year old can do and all the places a 21 year old can be (except Serenity), that 20 year old can do too.

 

OP, tell them to attend activities that they enjoy and they will probably meet others their age with similar interests. That's what my son did when he was 18 on the Victory and he met some nice people. But he is very outgoing. Also, my kids love cruising so much and know that we sacrifice so that we can cruise every couple of years, they appreciate the opportunity and would never turn down the chance to go. If they don't meet friends, we all enjoy each other's company and would still have a fabulous time!

 

I hope it works out for you....and yes, gambling is a go at 18!!

[kangaand2roos]

I am thinking the OP's question was more about meeting others of the same age rather than WHAT to do. It is a funny age. Not kids, but not quite adults. When I was that age (A LONG time ago) my family went on several Club Med vacations, and the others my age seemed to gravitate to one another. Not quite the same as a cruise, but similar in that everyone there was there for the same week, ate in the same restaurants, etc. I agree that they should do the things they like to do, and hopefully meeting others of like mind will follow naturally. That is how adults do it, but it's a hard transition from organized meet-ups to winging it. Think of this as a fairly safe way to hone a new skill, meeting new people!

 

Good luck, and if all else fails, at least they have one another!

[rocketship]

They sent kids back for photo id and would not let them enter at all. Sign and sail was not enough

 

I can second this. One of our buddies who is in his early thirties had to return to the cabin to get his state issued ID to prove that he was over 18. The best part about it, is that the security guards had already seen us in the club every night leading up to this night and we were on our 4th or 5th night. lol.

[ddloml]

In 2011 we took our DD (age 22) and DS (age 20) on a spring break cruise on the Elation. Fortunately there were a lot of college-aged cruisers with us, along with about 800 HS, middle school and younger kids too. The only times we saw our kids were at dinner, and when we went on shore together. They found enough to keep themselves entertained, and we received sincere thanks from them after the cruise was over. They told us we could pay for another cruise for them anytime!:)

 

We were also fortunate that Carnival paired our dining group with another family with two 20 year olds. Our DS and their 'boy' hit it off immediately. We spent nearly every night in the dining room watching the two of them eat every dessert on the menu! And, yes, Carnival is just waiting for the 18-20's to try the casino. I gave many 'lessons' at the craps table that cruise to kids who were wondering what I was doing (other than losing!). I hope I didn't corrupt too many of them.;) My son decided that after losing his $20 that craps wasn't for him, and I didn't see him again; evidently he won it back at roulette playing with DW.

[Chigirlcruzin]

Will not need anyother ID except their sail and sign card, there age is listed on there.

 

I was 35 on my last Carnival cruise. I was asked for photo ID going into the dance club. I was also asked for ID by the pool servers.

[boo214]

Actually, no. This is the first time were going with them in that age group. I never paid any attention to the capers/fun times for if they have anything set up for meeting for people in that age group. What I have been getting at is a fun times listing something along the lines of "young adults meet, 6-8 at the so and so lounge" kind of thing. I've never paid attention to that before since it did not apply to us.

 

That's basically what I'm asking about. But I'm gathering that the answer is no; they don't have anything like that. Seems easy enough to include something like that. If you build it, they will come.

 

In that case, my intention is to steer them towards the singles meet and to encourage them to engage in as many activities as possible, while keeping an eye out for similarly aged peeps. It would be nice though if a meet like I mentioned above was available.

 

Alas...

 

 

Sent from Misty's iPad using the Cruise Critic Forums app.

check to see if there is a roll call for your cruise. if so you can see if anyone else is traveling with kids your kids ages then you can set up your own meet n greet for the kids.