Kids 18 & 14 Cruise to Europe
 

Can anyone suggest a cruise line and ship to Europe for a family of 4? The kids ages are 18 and 14. We took a Disney cruise years ago and loved it. That same year we traveled on Holland America to Alaska and we hated it. The children's program was awful! I can't even begin to describe what a mistake it was. Luckily we traveled with our extended family so the kids made the best of it. I have heard that they are trying to make it more family friendly but I am afraid to give them another try.

We don't smoke so smoky ships would not be a good option for us. We are not big casino people either so we would need other entertainment.

We are open as to where to travel in Europe so all suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

For the 18 year old, the few years that have passed since you last cruised may make a big difference - some teen programs stop at age 17, some at age 18 - when our son sailed with us at age 19 he was in the middle ground of too old for teen programs and too young for adult activities. Most of the kids in teen program were 12-16 (NCL)

What about Royal Carribean with their rock climbing walls, ice skating, etc?

Carnival has a brand new ship sailing alternating Eastern and Western Med itineraries starting in March. We are taking our kids, ages 17 and 22 on it. We took them on Princess in the western Med when they were 13 and 18 and they loved it - Carnival didn't do Europe then or we would have probably chosen it.

We are now looking at Scandinavia. Any advice?

If you don;t like smoky, don't do Carnival.

Smoking is on every ship of every cruise line. But I'm not so sure Europe cruise is great for kids, unless they are really into history and sightseeing. I know my kids aren't and it would be just a waste of money and time to take them, unlike Caribbean cruise. Look at Voyager or Navigator, they have very good itineraries and great for families.

Have you checked out Princess? They have European itineraries now and a teen club on board. Depending on which ship, they have movies under the stars on a huge plasma screen tv on deck near the pool and playstation tournaments for teens on it. We cruised Princess recently and I was impressed with their kids program. They have totally revamped it.