Cruise recommendations

[Lynn in al]

For my daughter and I.  It will be her 13th birthday gift.  Not sure what kind we want so I'm looking for recommendations.  TIA

[TravelingChris]

I have been on a number of cruises and the lines were all different and when you go makes a difference if there will be other teens.  It really depends on your personality.  If she wants to do things like ice skating or wall climbing or other sports like that, you may want do one of the big Royal Caribbean Ships.  We did one of those for a 4 night from Cape Carneval and it was a nice trip but it was hard getting time to do the climbing wall.  If she is more of an introvert and unique, she may enjoy the ships that while they have kids and teens, tend to be more adult oriented like quiz games, cooking demonstrations, tea time, etc, etc.  and less of the more unusual sports. A big consideration is where you will depart from as to what ships and lines are available.  We have sailed Celebrity, MSC, Royal Caribbean, and Holland America.  Whatever kids we had always had a good time.  Just being at sea is very cool.  On our last cruise with only our youngest (a present for her 18th birthday), both she and dh saw flying fish, for example.  We have never sailed Carnival but our dd and her husband did last year,.  They were quite disappointed.  The cruise was delayed a day and the crowd was definitely more drunk and loud than she said she had ever seen on any of the ones she did with us.  

One site that may help you is Cruise Critics

[mschickie]

I have done both Royal Caribbean and Carnival.   You do tend to get a lot more of the party folks on a Carnival cruise compared to Royal Caribbean.  Another option that we have not done is a Disney Cruise.  I know several folks who have been on Disney and absolutely love it, even with teens.  The one thing is that Disney tends to cost more.

I would look first and where you want to go, when you want to go and where do you want to depart from.  We are going on a New England/Canadian cruise (Royal Caribbean) this summer.  We wanted to leave out of either NYC, NJ or Baltimore so that limited our choices.  The one itinerary I really wanted did not match up with our schedule but that is ok, hopefully it will for a future trip.

[mlktwins]

Disney Cruise - regardless of the ages :-) !!!!  It is expensive, but the ships are beautiful and the quality of food, cleanliness, etc. are really, really good!

[Bootsie]

I would start with why you are wanting to go on a cruise.  Is it to spend time on the ship?  Is it to go to a particular destination?  Is it to go to a number of different destinations without packing and unpacking?  How important is the cabin space on the cruise versus the public spaces?

We have been on both Carnival and Norweigan with teens.  We have been pleased with both.  I have found the time of year (whether school is in session) and the destination have been  bigger factors in determining how much of a party atmosphere is on the ship.  

 

[Lanny]

One thing I would try to do, before clicking to buy, is to CONFIRM with the Cruise Line that there is NO CONSTRUCTION  going on, on the ship you are interested in, when you are interested in cruising on it. There was an article on FoxNews.com last week about a disastrous cruise, where major Construction was going on, during the 16 day  cruise. I think that was on a Norwegian Cruise Lines ship but am not positive of the company. I don't think it was Carnival.

Also, I would try to look at the most recent U.S. Coast Guard sanitation inspection ratings, although those evaluations are done infrequently and so are not real-time data.

You might consider using a Cruise Only Travel Agent to get pointed to ships where you and your DD would be happier.  Disney Cruise Line ships are usually very well rated.  They are more expensive, but if you get what you pay for, it is worth it.