Family Cruise???

Question

My family is thinking about going on a cruise, but I am very picky so my parents are letting me do the research for it. I am going to be 15 when we go on the cruise. I started searching online, but it seemed overwhelming. What are some good cruises departing from California?

Family friendly with stuff for teens. (15 and 13) Preferably somethings targeted directly at the age group and not just "Kids". Any recommendations and tips are very greatly appreciated!

Answer 1

If you are choosing between California and Texas, then your choices are limited.

First of all, if you are looking for good teen programs, then you want to stick with Carnival or Royal Caribbean.  I am not familiar with Norwegian's teen program, and you seem to be looking for a ship with special facilities for teens.  I know that Carnival and Royal Caribbean have them.  I don't think that Norwegian has a separate teen facilities.  

Don't even consider Princess, Holland America or Celebrity.  They have youth programs but do not have separate teen facilities and the teen programs on these ships will not measure up to Carnival, Royal Caribbean or Norwegian.

On Carnival you want to make sure the ship you are interested in has Club O2.  On Royal Caribbean you are looking for Fuel (the disco) and the Living Room (a place for teens only to hang out - that means no one under the age of 13 and no one over the age of 17, including parents).

Next, you don't say when you are going.  From December to March Royal Caribbean has one of its big ships, the Voyager of the Seas, in Galveston.  The Voyager class ships have ice skating, inline skating, miniature golf and rock climbing.  

Between October and April Carnival has the Spirit in San Diego.  However, I don't know if Club O2 has been added to the Spirit yet (it may have been).

The other one week cruise with Royal Caribbean from California (no other cruises from Texas with Royal Caribbean) is on the Vision of the Seas.  The Vision does not have an ice rink or an inline skating rink.  However, it does have the rock wall (ALL ships have swimming pools).

Other one week Carnival offerings are the Pride in Los Angeles and the Conquest in Galveston.  I believe both have Club O2, with Pride just getting it installed recently.  While Carnival does not have a rock wall, it does have a water slide (none of the Royal Caribbean ships have a water slide that any teen would be interested in).

Those are my recommendations for a "picky" teen cruising out of Texas or California.  However, for the best experience, I would recommend ships that can be found in Florida.

The two newest Carnival ships, the Carnival Freedom and the Carnival Liberty both sail out of Florida.  Both have the Club O2 and something none of the other Carnival ships or Royal Caribbean ships have - a larger outdoor TV for watching sports or movies during the day or night.  Here is a picture of one ...

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/Z...

Here is a picture of the pool area on a Conquest class ship (this is from the Carnival Glory, but it will look the same on the Conquest, Valor, Freedom or Liberty) ...

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/Z...

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/Z...

And the aft pool with the top closed ...

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/Z...

and the top open ...

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/Z...

The water slide on the Conquest class ships (again, from the Glory) ...

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/Z...

The water slide on the Spirit class ships (Spirit and Pride) ...

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/Z...

And one of the pools (there are three) on the Spirit class ships ...

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/Z...

Also worth going to Florida for is the Royal Caribbean Navigator of the Seas, Mariner of the Seas (which will come to Los Angeles in February 2009), Freedom of the Seas, Liberty of the Seas and later in 2008, Independence of the Seas.  The Navigator is doing shorter four and five night cruises.  The rest are doing one week cruises.

These five ships have an expanded teen area.  The Navigator and Mariner have the same areas as the Voyager (just that the Voyager's teen area is not as big).  The Freedom of the Seas, the Liberty of the Seas and the Independence of the Seas have a Flowrider (surf simulator) instead of a inline skating track.  These three ships also have a miniature water park, but you will find it is a favorite area of the elementary school aged kids, which leaves more room in the pools for the teens and adults.  

The Voyager and Freedom class ships also offer ice skating, rock climbing, miniature golf and a central promenade which is good for shopping, people watching or just looking at.  

The Royal Promenade on the Navigator of the Seas ...

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/Z...

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/Z...

The ice skating rink on the Voyager and Freedom class ships ...

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/Z...

The Flowrider on the Freedom class ships ...

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/Z...

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/Z...

And the mini water park on the Freedom class ships (known as the H2O Zone) ...

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/Z...

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/Z...

I hope all of this helps.

Answer 2

When are you sailing?

Or better yet walk into a local travel agent, I'm sure they'll help!

Answer 3

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Answer 4

I went on the Carnival Glory this past year and although i'm an adult i noticed alot of activities for this age group. Each night they had a differen't segmented age group with their own "dance night' for lack of better words. If thats not your thing they have a big arcade, bingo, lots of shows, trivia, volleyball during the day, and of course swimming. Every day there was lots of activities for adults or teens. Ship is huge as well. Check out carnival and look at some past flyers online about the activities.

Answer 5

well that all depends on what you want to do on the cruise, i went on one when i was 15 and it was great, though you might not like the cruise activities that  i did on the cruise, it was a a cruise from Vancover Canada to Alaska, but you could get one like it departing from california as well.

good luck!

Answer 6

Hey I'm 15 also.

Try the Disney Cruises.

I know you might think disney is just for little kids, but the cruise is for everyone.

They have teen only places on the ship.  I'm trying to convince my parents to go again.

They have a cruise going out of LA that sails to Puerto Vallarta, Cabo, and  Mazatlán, Mexico.

It's really fun!!

go to www.disneycruise.com

Answer 7

Cruises are a lot of fun! I have been on two - one when I was 16 the other when I was 18, and there is plenty onboard to do for young people! Most cruiselines have a "Teen Club", with activities just for teens your age, parties, games, activities and much more! Cruising is some of the best ways to see places and do new things.

Some cruises leaving California are usually Mexican Cruises, which are really nice. Many leave from San Diego or Los Angeles for a Mexican cruise. San Francisco is another port in California but I think Mexican cruises more often leave out of San Diego or Los Angeles.

I have cruise on Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Lines before, both having wonderful youth programs, there is never a dull moment! I also know that Princess Cruise Lines has a youth program, as does Carnival. Carnival is known as the "party ship", although it is oriented for younger people it does not necessarily provide the best family experience, although Carnival would be a better family/young person's cruise line than Holland America, which does likely have childrens programs but many of the patrons are adults and/or senior citizens, which is NOT bad, but may suggest that their youth program may not be as great as some of the other cruiselines. Links below to the cruiseline websites, and it's really easy to search cruises. I will also post the links to the page that describes the youth programs.

You might also try "www.cruisecritic.com", it has cruise critiques from many people for many different cruiselines, ships and itineraries. Hope this helps!