carnival pride with 13 year old advice

[pearle1]

Hello all ~ My 13 year old daughter has been really wanting to go on a cruise, and I booked her first cruise for July 2014. It will just be a mom/daughter cruise.

I know she will have a good time, but I hope she will meet other girls her age so she can do things with them. I plan to take her to the initial orientation (as recommended on here), but I am looking for people that have experience on this ship and if their teens enjoyed circle c??(I have tried to search for a copy of circle c , but have not found one)

I thought of letting her bring a friend, but I am trying to keep within a budget (since this is an "extra" vacation)

Any opinions would be welcome! thanks :)

[icecone]

I JUST posted about this! Too funny. We were on the Pride the week of 1.26. We also considered taking a friend, but did not.

 

Definitely go the first night. My 14 year old son, had fun, but wasn't overly excited about what was offered. There were always kids around even though there were not a lot of kids on the cruise. All the kids that I came across were friendly and nice. I did not see hoards of kids running loose as some people have reported on here. I felt very comfortable allowing my son to go off on his own and come in at an agreed upon time (usually 12:30). We also had paper in the room where we could leave each other notes with time and where we were going if we didn't see each other. We usually discussed our plans throughout the day so we for the most part knew where everyone was. To each his own, every family knows the best way to handle their teen (or child) going on their own on the ship. This is just what WE did. (I REALLY don't want to cause a fight over this, but want to share my experience!)

 

I titled my post Circle C, Carnival Pride so please look for it. I listed the activities I remember. I can not find the activity listing we brought home.

 

Have a great trip!

[pearle1]

Icecone ~ Thanks so much for responding. Very helpful! I know, it is funny how we both posted about this in the approx time frame!!

Good advice about the arcade ~ I am glad also to know about the teen spa mani/pedi ~ will look into that as I know my daughter likes that.

I will go to the orientation night, and take it from there. I like your system on discussing the day, and leaving notes, etc.

I am also trying to decide (and I know I still have a lot of time) on if I should do the specialty dinner with her ~ did you do this??

Thanks again!!

[crusinfamof4]

Hello, our son is 14 and has been in Circle C since he turned 12, each cruise he likes it more and more. This last time was the best-we were on the Freedom-I make him go to orientation in Circle C and he makes friends. He is shy like me, so it's hard for him. But he always makes friends. He is super upset this next cruise, he will be in Club O2 and it's just not the same closeness as Circle C (our oldest is in Club O2). She will have a blast and will make friends. Both of our boys, regardless of club, each have friends they still talk to from the cruises.

Edited February 10, 2014 by crusinfamof4

[pearle1]

Crusinfamof4 ~ thanks so much for responding! My daughter is a little shy too, quiet at first, but fine once she is comfortable, and makes friends easily. That is why I am thinking of making sure we do the first orientation, as recommended on here, as the initial ice breaker.

I would think in July too that there would be a lot of kids.

This is just a mother/daughter trip ~ I am so trying to convince my husband and son that they would love a cruise ~ working on that!

But for now, it is just us going! and we are both sooo excited !! :)

Thanks again for the feedback

[Marsidote]

I was on the Pride a few weeks ago. My daughter was in the 8s group and loved it! I met a few people that had older kids in the programs 11 & 12 and they were always at Circle C. Seems to be a really great program that the kids enjoy!

[pearle1]

Marsidote ~ Thanks for the feedback!

When you were on the pride did you do the specialty dining?? (I heard it is great, but just wondered if it is more for adults than kids)

Also, did you do Nassau?? (or Grand Turk)

Just wondering about Nassau ~ leaning towards a beach day at Sheraton or Hilton

Thanks again

[icecone]

Icecone ~ Thanks so much for responding. Very helpful! I know, it is funny how we both posted about this in the approx time frame!!

Good advice about the arcade ~ I am glad also to know about the teen spa mani/pedi ~ will look into that as I know my daughter likes that.

I will go to the orientation night, and take it from there. I like your system on discussing the day, and leaving notes, etc.

I am also trying to decide (and I know I still have a lot of time) on if I should do the specialty dinner with her ~ did you do this??

Thanks again!!

 

 

Specialty dining - We did not do it on this cruise. When we have in the past, it was another line where under 18 were not allowed so I can't comment on kids here.

 

One thought about that - if you decide to do it, schedule for earlier vs later. We had 8:15 seating and DS14 left before desert each night and did not go one night because of the activities!

[Thommy_Boy]

I took my 11 almost 12 year old nephew on a B2B2B cruise. It was 3/4/3 day cruise. He had been on 2 previous cruises and had never used the Carnival kids camp.

 

On the first cruise I asked if he wanted to go. He said no. So I didn't take him. At the start of the 2nd I asked again. He said no again. Part of the way through the second cruise, some table mates who were around his age told him of a console gaming night. He asked me to sign him up. So I did. He had a great time at that and other events.

 

At the start of the third cruise I asked him if he wanted to sign up at the beginning. YES. Was the answer. We went to check out the room and the director asked if he would like to move up to the 12 yo group since he was so close. We said sure. He had a great time there also.

 

I hardly saw him through out the day. I would wake him up and we would go eat breakfast. He was then off to find his newly made friends. During the day I would see him once or twice passing through the lido area. We would meet for supper, then he was off again. See him at bedtime. Rinse and repeat.

 

As far as I could tell he had a blast. If he goes on a cruise again, he will be be going to the kids camp again.

 

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[LakeMomNY]

I went on a mother/daughter cruise with my teen this past summer. She was a little older than your daughter, 14 almost 15.

 

We went to the club orientation the first night, and she always had girls to hang out with. It seems that they generally met up at the club, but then went ad did their own thing. Which seemed to involve a lot of pizza, ice cream, and "hanging out."

 

There were definitely teens with access to both pot and alcohol. There were also definitely teens who "hooked up." (Based on my daughter's reports.) I tell you this so that you are aware, and not caught off guard. My daughter had no problem having a good time without getting pulled into those activities, but they were there and easy enough to find.

 

My daughter and I are both "food people." We are at the steakhouse and also did the Chef's Table. She LOVED both. She was not the youngest at the Chef's Table. There was another young girl whom I believe was 12.

 

Bringing a friend would certainly be nice for your daughter, but I don't think it is needed for a good time. That being said, depending in how close you are to the family I don't think it would be rude to invite a friend (directly through the parent, without mentioning to child first) with the understanding that your daughter would love for "Sally" to join her on the trip, but while you cannot swing the additional cost, you would be happy to have her come, and that the dates are xx/xx-xx/xx and the costs would be x,y,z.