Are Vibe passes on Encore worth it if travelling with teenagers?

[NPowell]

We will be going on our 2nd NCL cruise in February.  Our first NCL cruise was on the escape and we had vibe passes and we loved it.  It completely changed our vacation for the better.  But that time it was just my husband and I.  This time we are travelling with a 15 year old and a 13 year old.  We have never cruised with kids or teens before, so wondering how much time realistically will the teens hang out at Entourage?  We would prefer to get vibe passes, but given the price of the passes, not sure how much we'll be able to use it with our teens on board.  Has anyone travelled with younger teens and still got vibe passes that were used during the cruise?  Thanks!

[wolft927]

So depending how independant the teens are would make a huge deciding factor. My traveled with a 16 and 17 year old who were very much head out do their own thing, so in that case Vibe passes would work. If they will want to be attached to your hip the entire trip then may want to skip Vibe 

[scooter6139]

Hard call, as you are traveling when school is in so most other kids won't be as plentiful as a Spring Break of Summer cruise would be. 

[JGmf]

Maybe the OP is going during President's Day break...

 

Buy the Vibe passes.  Assuming your kids are even marginally social, they will find friends through Entourage and you will likely hardly see them through the day.  (They don't necessarily hang out in the Entourage space, but they rove around the ship, go to the buffet together, etc.). That's my experience with my daughter at least. 

 

Just make sure you sign them up and have them attend on day/night one as they split into splinter groups thereafter.  Also helps that they have cell phone functionality at the kids text each other to make/confirm meeting places.

[mjkacmom]

When my kids were teens we saw them at breakfast, dinner, at ports, and some shows, maybe some karaoke before they met up with friends. We got spa passes on our last 2 cruises.

[BirdTravels]

1 hour ago, NPowell said:

We will be going on our 2nd NCL cruise in February.  Our first NCL cruise was on the escape and we had vibe passes and we loved it.  It completely changed our vacation for the better.  But that time it was just my husband and I.  This time we are travelling with a 15 year old and a 13 year old.  We have never cruised with kids or teens before, so wondering how much time realistically will the teens hang out at Entourage?  We would prefer to get vibe passes, but given the price of the passes, not sure how much we'll be able to use it with our teens on board.  Has anyone travelled with younger teens and still got vibe passes that were used during the cruise?  Thanks!

In our experience, our teens always made friends and hung out all over the ship...  and would prefer to be as far away from mom and dad as possible on a cruise. I think it would be really safe for you to buy your passes and enjoy time away from the kiddos. They can't go very far...

Edited July 5, 2023 by BirdTravels

[baflagg]

We have a group of 5 adults and 2 teens cruising on the Joy in August.  The adults all got the Vibe passes, we expect we'll pretty much see the teens for dinner.  Last year my daughter made a ton of friends in Entourage and we hardly saw her so we expect the same for this cruise, especially since she's bringing her best friend. 

[Pitzel]

Totally depends on your teens. On the Prima this past April, our 13 yo signed up for Entourage...and never went. He vastly preferred hanging out with us or hanging out in the room on his own if we were doing something that didn't interest him.

Some questions to help you figure out if this would work for you and your family:

• How long do you think you will spend in Vibe and during what times of the day? Will they have other things to do during those times? Note that Entourage may not be open all the time or have activities planned at all times during the day.
• Will your teens mind that you are in a space that they can't access (eg. will they feel left out)?
• Will they have a way to get ahold of you while you are there if they need something? Will you and your husband go at the same times or are you more likely to take turns so that the teens will always have access to an adult?
• How responsible are your teens? Would you have any concerns with them wandering around the ship without you? How have they behaved in similar situations, like wandering around an amusement park or large hotel on their own?
• Will they have spend privileges on their cards? Will they be responsible with their spending if you aren't around? A friend's teen racked up several hundred dollars in the arcade one afternoon on their first cruise because they had charging privileges and very little impulse control.

[mjkacmom]

14 hours ago, Pitzel said:

Totally depends on your teens. On the Prima this past April, our 13 yo signed up for Entourage...and never went. He vastly preferred hanging out with us or hanging out in the room on his own if we were doing something that didn't interest him.

Some questions to help you figure out if this would work for you and your family:

• How long do you think you will spend in Vibe and during what times of the day? Will they have other things to do during those times? Note that Entourage may not be open all the time or have activities planned at all times during the day.
• Will your teens mind that you are in a space that they can't access (eg. will they feel left out)?
• Will they have a way to get ahold of you while you are there if they need something? Will you and your husband go at the same times or are you more likely to take turns so that the teens will always have access to an adult?
• How responsible are your teens? Would you have any concerns with them wandering around the ship without you? How have they behaved in similar situations, like wandering around an amusement park or large hotel on their own?
• Will they have spend privileges on their cards? Will they be responsible with their spending if you aren't around? A friend's teen racked up several hundred dollars in the arcade one afternoon on their first cruise because they had charging privileges and very little impulse control.

My kids (at one point I had 5 teens) utilized teen clubs to form a posse, meet others the hang with for the week. They went to a handful of activities if others wanted to go. Charging privileges have been easy to handle, if you charge something without approval, you pay us back.