Age specific activities for cruise-awkward age 20

[LrgPizza]

Hello fellow sailors,

I'm traveling next week with my 20 year old son on his spring break on Navigator of the Seas. I'm not very familiar with RCI ships.  I am wondering if there will be any meet n greets or singles activities on board for this age group that is too old for teen club but too young to drink?

[Biker19]

27 minutes ago, LrgPizza said:

I am wondering if there will be any meet n greets or singles activities on board for this age group that is too old for teen club but too young to drink?

Check the app for this week's sailing - it may list some activities for that age group.

[Tatka]

We are on Enchantment… and this cruise skewed toward older crowd (12 dayer, smaller ship), but daily program contains various events for 18-25 yo. 

 

[TheBucketLister]

10 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Check the app for this week's sailing - it may list some activities for that age group.

@LrgPizza In case you don’t know how to do that;, swipe left and tap Select a different cruise, then tap Browse our Ships, select the ship, then select the current sailing.  Then you can scroll through all the activities each day.

Edited March 22, 2023 by TheBucketLister

[SG65CB]

I was on Voyager a couple of weeks ago - sister ship to Navigator. Most nights they had an event listed as "18-20s Meet". Usually it was some type of game and took place in the Star Lounge, which is a multi-purpose room towards the front of the ship, on deck 5 above the theater. It was an evening event starting around 8:30 or 9:00. For example on the first night they had "18-20s Meet for Finish That Lyric, Star Lounge, 9:00 PM".

 

[LrgPizza]

37 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Check the app for this week's sailing - it may list some activities for that age group.

 

28 minutes ago, TheBucketLister said:

@LrgPizza In case you don’t know how to do that;, swipe left and tap Select a different cruise, then tap Browse our Ships, select the ship, then select the current sailing.  Then you can scroll through all the activities each day.

 

 

Outstanding!  I did not know you could do that in the app.  This is crazy helpful!

[nimbex1970]

join the meet and greet on this site for sailing and have your "kid" make an intro.  likely same age folks on there to "meet" up with prior to sail. 

 

[jbrinkm]

4 hours ago, Tatka said:

We are on Enchantment… and this cruise skewed toward older crowd (12 dayer, smaller ship), but daily program contains various events for 18-25 yo. 

 

I was surprised by how many "Hyperlink" activities there were in my upcoming Allure planner! I don't remember seeing any last year (also on Allure).

[Joseph2017China]

How do single adults meet other single adults on a ship?  

[moposh]

4 minutes ago, Joseph2017China said:

How do single adults meet other single adults on a ship?  

Same way anyone meets anyone else.

[neverbeenhere]

Upside down pineapple on stateroom door? I've heard it helps one meet others.

[Luv2teachandcruise]

So, I know this will sound like a first world problem, but...In June we took our first cruise post-covid and my sons were 16 and a recent 18. My 18 year old was MISERABLE! He will tell anyone who listens that he "grew up" on Royal Caribbean and how much he loves cruising, but he said he won't go again until he is over 21,  if ever. There was NOTHING...NADA, ZIP, ZILCH...for him to do.  Too old for the teen group (crazy), too young for drinking. All of the people at the "Singles mixers" were in their late 20s to their 40s. Not one thing was in the cruise planner for 18-20. I sent a LONG letter to Royal and,  of course heard nothing back. I know pre-covid I would see activities for"18-20", but I promise you nothing was happening on our ship. I was talking about it in the elevator one afternoon and another couple heard and said their 19 year old hated it as well.

 

So, I hope that I wasn't the only person to complain and Royal realized that by alienating this group, they could ultimately lose a big group of future passengers. I hope that they bring back the 18-20 activities!

 

As I said, my son grew up on Royal we are just a few points away from Diamond Plus and I hope that he will give Royal a chance again someday.  

[Biker19]

5 minutes ago, Luv2teachandcruise said:

I hope that they bring back the 18-20 activities!

As seen above, there are activities for that age group. Ships were still coming back to full capacity and "normal" operation last June - that's why probably you didn't have any. The availability of activities also depends on the ship - more likely on the bigger ones.

[Luv2teachandcruise]

1 hour ago, Biker19 said:

As seen above, there are activities for that age group. Ships were still coming back to full capacity and "normal" operation last June - that's why probably you didn't have any. The availability of activities also depends on the ship - more likely on the bigger ones.

We were on the Allure. I get the whole just coming back to full capacity, it just sucked to not have one thing for him to do.

 

[LrgPizza]

8 hours ago, jbrinkm said:

 

I was surprised by how many "Hyperlink" activities there were in my upcoming Allure planner! I don't remember seeing any last year (also on Allure).

So we need to keep an eye out for “Hyperlink”? Will do. 

[Coralc]

8 hours ago, jbrinkm said:

 

I was surprised by how many "Hyperlink" activities there were in my upcoming Allure planner! I don't remember seeing any last year (also on Allure).

We just spent 2 weeks on Serenade and there were Hyperlink activities for that age group every day. 

[LrgPizza]

3 hours ago, Luv2teachandcruise said:

So, I know this will sound like a first world problem, but...In June we took our first cruise post-covid and my sons were 16 and a recent 18. My 18 year old was MISERABLE! 

My son grew up on NCL, and he had an okay time last year at 19. But this is why I say it’s an awkward time, because activities were limited. Although over 18 can drink on NCL with parent permission, he had no interest. This will be his first time on RCI, so he isn’t sure what to expect. I think he will simply have fun exploring a totally different ship, eating pizza, and karaoke. 

[Jasukkie]

I don't see why a 20 year old can't participate in anything going on around the ship. They can have a non-alcoholic drink and do the same activities. It's one of the positives about cruising to me. No one cares if you are drinking or not.

[Joseph2017China]

12 hours ago, Luv2teachandcruise said:

So, I know this will sound like a first world problem, but...In June we took our first cruise post-covid and my sons were 16 and a recent 18. My 18 year old was MISERABLE! He will tell anyone who listens that he "grew up" on Royal Caribbean and how much he loves cruising, but he said he won't go again until he is over 21,  if ever. There was NOTHING...NADA, ZIP, ZILCH...for him to do.  Too old for the teen group (crazy), too young for drinking. All of the people at the "Singles mixers" were in their late 20s to their 40s. Not one thing was in the cruise planner for 18-20. I sent a LONG letter to Royal and,  of course heard nothing back. I know pre-covid I would see activities for"18-20", but I promise you nothing was happening on our ship. I was talking about it in the elevator one afternoon and another couple heard and said their 19 year old hated it as well.

 

So, I hope that I wasn't the only person to complain and Royal realized that by alienating this group, they could ultimately lose a big group of future passengers. I hope that they bring back the 18-20 activities!

 

As I said, my son grew up on Royal we are just a few points away from Diamond Plus and I hope that he will give Royal a chance again someday.  

To solve your problem, you can take you 18 year old on a European/Asian cruise, than he could drink!  Also, 18 is an adult, not a teenager.  The Cruise lines do not put ADULTS in the kids rooms that are not staff. 

 

No, most new adults seem to hate just about anything, when it comes to vacations unless they picked it.  But the good news, is you don't need to take them, if they don't really want to go.  

 

The cruise lines have been trying to have mixers for that age group, the in between for USA and the new adults in Europe.  But like all adult activities, whether people go or not, is also dependent on the cruise itself. It seems that people expect to babysit the fun for younger adults, when in fact, they have full access to the ship, and clubs, and casino, and activities except for drinking based on the local age.  It is up to them to find people to "hang out with" which is easy at areas like the pool, or sports decks, or around the bar (drinking a nice mocktail).  

[moposh]

12 hours ago, Luv2teachandcruise said:

So, I know this will sound like a first world problem, but...In June we took our first cruise post-covid and my sons were 16 and a recent 18. My 18 year old was MISERABLE! He will tell anyone who listens that he "grew up" on Royal Caribbean and how much he loves cruising, but he said he won't go again until he is over 21,  if ever. There was NOTHING...NADA, ZIP, ZILCH...for him to do.  Too old for the teen group (crazy), too young for drinking. All of the people at the "Singles mixers" were in their late 20s to their 40s. Not one thing was in the cruise planner for 18-20. I sent a LONG letter to Royal and,  of course heard nothing back. I know pre-covid I would see activities for"18-20", but I promise you nothing was happening on our ship. I was talking about it in the elevator one afternoon and another couple heard and said their 19 year old hated it as well.

 

So, I hope that I wasn't the only person to complain and Royal realized that by alienating this group, they could ultimately lose a big group of future passengers. I hope that they bring back the 18-20 activities!

 

As I said, my son grew up on Royal we are just a few points away from Diamond Plus and I hope that he will give Royal a chance again someday.  

I don't drink, but I still have fun on the cruise.

[sprint180]

• My kids loved cruising at that age.  Why do you have to drink to have fun.  Meet some people (on deck, at deck parties, at any event) and hang out.  Spend time with your family.  They have always had a blast.  

[cruiseguy1016]

8 hours ago, Coralc said:

We just spent 2 weeks on Serenade and there were Hyperlink activities for that age group every day. 

 

8 hours ago, LrgPizza said:

So we need to keep an eye out for “Hyperlink”? Will do. 

 

You can tell I'm not in that particular age group. I don't even know what a Hyperlink is. I've never heard of it.

[moposh]

2 minutes ago, cruiseguy1016 said:

 

 

You can tell I'm not in that particular age group. I don't even know what a Hyperlink is. I've never heard of it.

I don't know what Hyperlink is either.

[mjkacmom]

As a parent of 5 young adults, the problem on cruises with this age group is that there don’t seem to be a lot of them on cruises. The older teens meet others in the clubs, the majority of adults are traveling with spouses and friends. My 20 year old is on spring break in punta Cana right now and having a GREAT time because everyone is her age. No one is there with their parents, activities are geared towards her age group. We’ve always spent time with our kids on cruises, usually breakfast, excursions, dinner, karaoke… but the rest of the time they like to meet new people and hang out with them.

[Luv2teachandcruise]

59 minutes ago, moposh said:

I don't drink, but I still have fun on the cruise.

He has always had fun meeting people in the teen area. He has social anxiety and isn't one to go up to a group of people to introduce himself. It has nothing to do with drinking. He just said that when they had the mingles for singles, everyone was drinking and that was awkward for him. He enjoyed the casino and won a couple of raffles! But, he was lonely in the evening and I felt bad for him. That was my point.