Cruising with 16 year old

[cruisnmomof2]

I'll be cruising in November on the Sensation with my 16 year old daughter. Will she enjoy this or be completely bored? I'm concerned since she is too old for teen things & too young for adult things.

[halos]

My 16 year old was fine on our cruise. I think that my 19 year old apprecaited and enjoyed it more, but I do know that my 16 year old liked it enough to want to do it again. So, although I don't think that it's an optimal age..it is an in between age in all aspects, isn't it?? Anyway, depending on your daughter...if she gets easily bored, then maybe it won't be all that great..if she likes to relax and read..enjoy just being outdoors...eating :D and I guess there are arcades of sorts on most of these ships for kids that enjoy that type of thing...then she will be OK....I guess it also depends on how open she is to meeting other kids. If your daughter is open to go to the meet and greet for the teens, she may find someone to hang out with during the week. If she is too shy to do this, then it may not be as enjoyable....unless of course she is comfortable just hanging out by herself...which is good too.

I guess that didn't help you at all did it???

What kind of vacations has your child enjoyed thus far?? Is she hard to please..or is she easy going? There are a lot of factors that would determine how she'll like it. Everyone is different!!

[bethm214]

Quite a few years ago (1977), I was a 16 year old female cruiser myself....And I can tell you that I found PLENTY to keep me busy..not all stuff that my father would have been happy about had he known.....
Back when I was onboard there were NO other teens. I was the youngest cruiser by far and one of the only single women on board. I know things are very different now, but I would still say you should warn your daughter that she may be approached by some of the staff.
Let's say that i was very impressed by the staff and they were very impressed by me..or so i thought. In actuality, I believe that they just took advantage of me. I would highly recommend that you keep close tabs on her and be very specific about what time and where she should check in with you. And definitely have a curfew for her. Make sure she takes a watch with her onboard.
I was a straight A student goody, goody type and was totally swept up in the moment of all those men paying attention to me.
Make sure she knows to be careful!

I have taken my son on cruises when he was a teen and he loved them...even if it meant just lounging by the pool on board and petting dolphins and string rays while in port. He agrees with us that cruises are the BEST vacations! Be sure to take change for video games if she is into that sort of stuff.
I had my son keep track of anything he bought with his S&S card - and he was allowed to spend a certain amount each day. Actually, he never spent the max we allowed him to spend but he had the freedom to buy things if he wanted to. He felt responsible and handled it well. You may want to think out those kind of things and lay ground rules ahead of time.
Good luck! I think she will have a great time.

[serene56]

On the very first night there will be a teen meeting that is very important that she go to this meeting. This is where she will meet the kids onboard her age. She doesnt have to sign up for anything-- but just to see the kids that she will be hanging out with all week. Kids that age tend NOT to do the group activities but do hang out a lot together.

[sea-n-ski]

Encourage her to go to the roll call boards and look for a thread for your sailing or post her own! My kids have always met other teens on the roll call board beforehand...once on board, no problem breaking the ice! Hope you have a blast on your cruise!

Laura

[SoccerMom#3]

I agree about going to the teen meeting the first night. I practically had to drag my kids there but my son did meet some other kids his age that he hung out with all week. They didn't do any of the scheduled activites but did meet up in the arcade and then hang out together after that.