Glory or Miracle - Which is best ship for teens and kids

[Steve in Mexico]

I am planning a voyage for next year. My wife and I have been on several cruises and this year want to take the whole family - 3 boys ages 16, 14, and 10. Can anyone share cruise experiences with kids similar in age? Did they have a great time or not, and why. Also, this will be our first Carnival cruise. Looks like from what I can tell from Google searching that teens tend to rate Carnival pretty high as far as having a good time... Thanks..

[missyal]

My boys, 15 & 17, have been on 4 Carnival cruises. They will be the first to tell you they don't care whcih ship they are on, they are all fun! Teens tend to make their own fun and quickly find others onboard. They do have teen activities and time in the disco. Mostly they like to gather in groups to chat, play games, hang out by the pool, etc. Your kids will have fun for sure, and that gives you more couple time;) .

 

Missyal

[woodman]

I'm sure your teens will enjoy any cruise ship. There is always plenty for them to do. I will comment on the Miracle and Glory. We sailed the Miracle last Nov and the Glory last month. The Glory wins hands down. I found the Miracle crowded with a strange lay for a Carnival ship. One real downer was our return to Tamp. The barge was tied up unloading and this prevented the Miracle from getting to the Tampa port. We disembarked some distance from the port and were bused along with our luggage back to the Port. You can imagine the confusion with all the people wanting to get onto their cruise ship and all of us trying to get our luggage and on our way home. What a mess and what were they thinking? The Glory on the other hand is larger with more people but we never felt crowded. Our second time on the Glory and one of our best cruises.

[DGNewton]

Another factor is when you book. We kids you age, make sure that the schools are closed on break or for the summer. We are taking our 3rd cruise as of late with our kids, now 19, 17 & 17 (all boys) this July. We have been on the Elation, Conquest and wil travel on the Glory. As soon as we step on the ship they seem to scatter on their own. We allow them to run on hteir onw but wnat to know their plans. They are requried to attend the sit down dinner and option to attend the shows, after that, good luck finding them as they wil belnd in with the young crownd and have a blast.

 

No need to worry!

[HeidiHo]

We did the miracle with our teens in March and they had a blast BUT... if I were planning another cruise with them, I would choose a Conquest Class ship like the glory just because of the fact they have a dedicated area for Club 02 (teen club for ages 15-17). On the Miracle, the teens had to share the regular disco and were restricted to about 1 1/2 hours in there every night. My kids complained that there were too many younger teens (12-13 y/o's) in there during teen hours (mine were 15 & 17). My 17 year old was also bummed he couldn't get into the disco during the adult hours.

 

Like I said, my kids still had a great time and so did we so I don't think the Miracle would be a mistake, I just think the teens (especially your 16 y/o) might like the Glory better.

[walkswife]

I was on the Miracle with Heidi .... I had six teens in my group..... one 15 yr old girl, one 15 yr old boy, two 17 yr old girls, one 18 yr old girl and one 19 yr old girl..... our biggest problem was the teen time and non-teen time in the disco, all of them could never be in there together. The four youngest couldn't get in when the two oldest were in and visa versa.... other than that they had a great time... attended the 70' and 80's party (in costumes they dug out of their suitcases, which is a scary thought in itself)... going to shows.... excursions... listening to the calypso band.... playing shuffleboard and ping pong.....I would book early dinner and actually choose the ship according to ports and how important the dance club is to your boys..... I don't think you can go wrong on either ship:D