Tips to Cruising with Teenagers

The teenage years mark the transition between childhood and adulthood and depending on where on this spectrum your teens lie, your vacation experience can vary greatly. Cruising appeals to people travelling with teens for many reasons. It allows the young passenger the opportunity to enjoy the freedom of doing what you want, when you want, and the security of knowing that their parents or guardian is close by. After taking several vacations with our teenagers, here are a few tips to consider:

1. Choose a teen friendly cruise line. Royal Caribbean and NCL are good choices. On Royal Caribbean your teens will enjoy the teen programs and the ship’s many features such as ice skating, rock wall climbing, and surfing. NCL appeals to teens with their “freestyle cruising” allowing you to eat when you want at several different on-board restaurants. NCL has bowling, a rock climbing wall, and a waterslide to keep your teens smiling. Both lines have a high percentage of family travelers.
2. Compromise on excursions. Let your teens pick at least one shore excursion for everyone to enjoy and participate in. This will allow your teen to be involved in the planning of the cruise and gives them something to get excited about. It will also get you to experience something that you most likely would never have tried. Let’s just say I would not have tried an “aqua scooter” or inner tubing in Jamaica if not for our teens.
3. Consider using a small excursion operator. We used Port Promotions on our most recent cruise with NCL to the Mediterranean and they provided a driver and a minivan that held eight passengers while the cruise line ran the same excursions with busloads of people. There is a much better chance that the pace and the time spent at each attraction will be more appealing to your teens.
4. Don’t try to fill every day with tours. Allow your teens time to “hang out” and absorb their environment. Odds are it’s their first time in the port you are visiting. Your teens are taking-in all sorts of things that might not be interesting to you. They are looking at the way people dress, speak, drive, what they eat, the cell phones used, and cars that people own. So don’t be too insulted if they are tired of visiting museums or churches, to them there are so many things to see.
5. You will likely not be able to “plan” the memories of the trip. Your teens will most likely come home and talk about the crazy drivers in Naples, the yachts in Cannes, the shopping in Florence, or the cute guys/girls they saw. If you look however at the pictures they take, you will see the Coliseum in Rome, statutes from the Vatican Museum, the Tower of Pisa, the Amalfi coastline, the architecture of Gaudi in Barcelona, and the towel animals your stateroom attendant left behind each night.

July 12th Barcelona

After a smooth disembarkation, we took a taxi for the short ride to Las Ramblas and dropped our luggage off at our hotel – Le Petit Palace Opera Garden. The hotel is only a few meters from the Rambla de les Flors and the beautiful flower stands that mark the area. The cab ride costs 15 euro from the port to the hotel and could be walked if you are in no hurry. We then continued to walk north and arrived at the hop-on / hop-off bus terminal at Placa de Catalunya. A day pass is 21 euro per person and allows access to 3 different routes.


In the morning we took the blue route and stayed on the bus for close to two hours. After lunch we rode the red route which passes by many of the same Gaudi designed architecture as the blue line but also includes a stop at the Sagrada Familia, the Gaudi designed cathedral. Both routes offer an amazing array of design and architecture that never fails to impress. We would have loved to stay an extra day to explore further many of these jewels. We enjoyed tapas on Las Ramblas and then strolled down to the old port to watch street performers and do some last minute shopping. The evening and trip concluded with a gelati and a stroll back along Las Ramblas as we returned to the hotel for a final sleep before our return flight.

Taxi transfer to the airport was 35 euro.

July 11th Cannes

Our plans for the day were simple, walk the streets of Cannes and unwind from a very busy couple of days. We left the ship via tender and strolled through the port of Cannes marveling at the number and sheer size of the docked yachts. We marveled at the change of atmosphere that a single day had made. We were now strolling through the playground of the rich and famous. We browsed the shops that are one block north of the beach (Rue Antibes) in the morning, and girls found several bargains they could not resist. In the afternoon we back towards the ship via the famous Rue La Croisette where all of the famous designers have shops. We had lunch on the beach at a creperie where the girls enjoyed classical French fast food – a baguette and a crepe. We set sail for Barcelona at 3pm and prepared for our last night on the ship. The consensus was that Cagneys was the best restaurant so we decided to revisit for our final night.

July 10th Florence and Pisa

Same plan as Rome, we left the excursion in the hands of Port Promotions and had the same positive experience. Our driver / guide was Massimo and he had the same eight passengers as the previous day. By now we were a cohesive unit. We all agreed that we would want to spend as much time as possible in Florence, so we instructed Massimo to cut our leaning tower visit down to just 30 minutes. Because we travelled in a van, we were able to dive up to the parking lot of the tower. Bus coaches had to park 20 minutes away in a large lot. We were on the road to Florence before the buses had even arrived at Pisa. Our Florence visit started with a stop on a hilltop (Michael Angelo’s) to get an overview of the walled city. Once again our van was able to dive to the front door of all of the attractions where as coach tours must drop you off outside of the city walls. Massimo lives in the old city of Florence so he also showed us places, vistas, and neighborhoods that coach tours would not be able or even know to visit. We had lunch on our own and had two hours to shop in a central market or you could visit a church. Well our teenagers had seen enough churches (including the Vatican) so shopping was the plan. Everyone returned to the van with arms full of shopping bags. We were dropped off at the ship by 5pm and said a fond farewell to Massimo. Dinner was at Tequilas for some Tex Mex. The food and service was very good, the only complaint was that the restaurant is located in the central atrium and the noise level is high and there are frequently guests passing through the restaurant on their way to their staterooms. Cover was $15pp. We only had time to watch the Second City improve night and once again smiles all around.

July 9th Rome

How can you see Rome in 8 hours? We decided to use Port Promotions for our excursion. Their pricing was 20% less than NCL’s and offered a similar itinerary. We met the designated driver / host (Antonio)at our scheduled 8:00 am time. We were quickly loaded into an 8 passenger van with 4 other guests who had also booked with Port Promotions. What a fabulous way to see Rome pronto! While those who booked with the cruise line were hoarded onto busses, we had our own very intimate tour.



Our first stop was the coliseum, followed by a couple of secret stops that I promised Antonio I would not tell others about, we visited the Pantheon, a visit to Trevi fountain where we made our secret wishes, a drive by the Spanish Steps, and then we stopped for lunch where we were met by a local vineyard owner who had us sample his wines and olive oil while we enjoyed a very nice lunch. Our next stop was the Vatican where we spent 3 hours with Antonio acting as our guide (he does this almost daily so he is very knowledgeable). At 4pm it was time to return to the ship. All of us (except Antonio) had a little nap on the return drive which takes approximately 1 hour. The only regret we had was that there was just not enough time. In the evening we dined at the Asian restaurant and found the food was good but probably not worth the surcharge ($15pp). The entertainment was the Second City Comedy group. All four of us enjoyed the show and will return for the improve night later in the cruise. The comedians did a great job of tailoring the humor to the family crowd.

July 8th Naples

The cruise ship port is at the foot of the city providing easy access to this busy metropolitan area. With nothing pre-planned we decided to walk into town and explore. As we left the pier, we spotted the ubiquitous “hop-on / hop-off” double deck bus. The price for a family of four was 66 euros, much less expensive than the ships Naples excursions and much more appealing to our teens. The bus runs three different routes and by chance we started with the “B” route which takes you along the shoreline of Naples and up into the seaside hills. The tour lasted 1.5 hours and we had taken dozens of pictures. All four of us enjoyed the sunshine and the wonderful seaside vistas. We returned to the city centre and walked the main shopping district. A shopkeeper provided a suggestion for our wish, which was to have a “real” pizza. He directed us to Brandi Pizzeria, founded in 1889 and once again all four of us were delighted. We had a mouthwatering pizza (one pizza could feed two people) and listened to a musician serenade the three ladies. Each pizza cost $9.50 euro which we thought was good value considering the quality and the bonus entertainment. We then took the line “R” hop-on / hop-off tour. This circuit lasts only 45 minutes and provides limited entertainment. It would be a useful route if you wanted transportation between the main attractions in Naples. Our day concluded with a Gelato and a short walk back to the ship. Dinner was in the main dining room and we found the service to be equal to that in the specialty restaurants and the food was good with a broad selection. Once again the ship’s singers and dancers put on a solid performance of hits from the 70’s. The girls knew about half of the songs.

July 7th Malta

Our ship entered the harbor at 7:30 am and was a very impressive sail-in. The towering cliffs and fortress walls surrounding are stunning. We chose to walk into town, a 10 minute hike that is all uphill. Once we reached the city, we were impressed! The panoramic views were fantastic and the absence of cars on the main shopping street made browsing an acceptable pastime for even an old guy like me. We had a cold drink at an outdoor café that we enjoyed so much that we returned again for a sandwich at lunch. Prices were very reasonable, the four of us had a sandwich and drink for a total of 22 euros. The girls were fascinated with the different models of cars and since this was once a British colony, the fact that they were right hand drive. We were back at the ship for our 3pm sail to Naples. Dinner was at Tappanyaki – a Japanese restaurant where they cook at your table. We all agreed that the $25pp surcharge was better spent at Cagney's. The evening show consisted of a magician/comedian who provided good family entertainment for the one hour performance. The girls sat in the front row in the hopes that they would be called upon to volunteer. They had no luck at being called upon but did catch an idea as to how some of the tricks were done.

July 6th Day at Sea

The effects of the overnight transatlantic flight were evident as we all slept-in, enjoying the very comfortable NCL bed. This sailing has over 700 kids travelling boosting the passenger well over the 100% capacity of 2446. Many of the clients are “locals” being from Spain or Malta. Our girls seem to enjoy the fact that there are so many kids – making the freestlye atmosphere on the ship even more relaxed. So far all of the activities and entertainment have been family friendly, including the poolside contests. The lifeguard has his hands full enforcing the adults only area of the pool deck but somehow manages to keep everyone happy. Dinner was at Cagneys (The steak house with a $25pp cover)and was fabulous. The service was attentive and very accommodating to our teenage girls. No request was met with anything other than “no problem”. The evening show called Colors was entertaining for teens and us older parents. Hit songs from the 70’s through to today were interwoven through the one hour show and the four dancers helped to keep interest through songs that might not have been familiar to those who are younger.

NCL Gem July 5th Med Cruise

July 5th 2009 Embarkation – We arrived in Barcelona at noon and the four of us jumped in a taxi at the airport for the 25 minute ride to the Barcelona port. The transfer cost $35 euro for the four of us and would be a better option than waiting for a bus. A glass of Champaign was offered as we embarked and after our transatlantic flight all we really needed was a place to sleep. The two staterooms were ready by 2pm so the two girls had a nap while we went poolside on fell asleep in the two person loungers. We set sail at 7pm with a day at sea scheduled for Monday. A new option for us was a “teen” beverage passport book which provided 20 drinks – including smoothies and virgin options of Pina Coladas or their drink of the day for $34.50. The girls were excited to have the option of these premium drinks instead of the usual “Coke” card. Dinner was enjoyed at the Italian specialty restaurant for $10 per person. NCL had a supplemental wine list of local Italian wines that we took advantage of and our teenage girls started to use their dink coupons and enjoyed smoothies.