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Teenagers

PassportReadyPassportReady
in General Discussion
Very interested in a river cruise with our 18 and 13 year olds but the family cruise dates do not work for our schedule. We have researched and understand this is very different than an ocean cruise. We are not expecting entertainment, a pool, teen programming etc. We are active and want to make the most of the excursions. Do families book cruises other than the very limited Bridges dates?

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    BritishBritish
    We have been on A few tours that had teenagers. you will be fine on a regular tour with these ages.
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    PassportReadyPassportReady
    Thank you, British! I appreciate your reply.
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    BritishBritish
    We are veterans of Tauck land tours and a small ship cruise of the Galapagos with Tauck. Regular cruises do not appeal to us, too many people on a floating hotel. We will take some river cruises, just not yet. To be able to take teenagers to other countries really enriches their lives and makes them open their minds to other ways of living and leading fulfilling lives. It makes them color blind and more understanding of all religions and cultures. We started taking our children to Europe from England when they were toddlers and then they went ski-ing in Europe with their high schools from there. Then to Japan and the US. Our daughter has been to Austalia twice and our son on to NewZealand. All before they were in their early twenties. All the travel served them well when we moved to the US when they were teenagers.
    There were teenagers on one of our Africa tours and a Costa Rica tour that I particularly remember. The adults treated them as adults and they were delightful. The one time we were on a tour when there was a teenager, it did not work out---- the parents and surly teenager arrived a day late, everyone tried to include them, they were elusive, failed to turn up to a couple of events without telling the tour guide in advance, so we were all kept waiting, they finally abandoned us. So clearly they were disappointed. You can't win them all.
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    Claudia SailsClaudia Sails
    Good that you have researched and understand there is a difference between river and ocean cruises. One of the differences is the limited dining venues. Tauck ships have a main dining room and a bistro. The bistro menus are fixed where the main dining room has a changing menu for lunch and dinner. On the newer Inspiration class ships the bistro (Arthurs) has its own kitchen and a larger menu. If your kids are pretty flexible in their food choices they'll be fine. If they aren't at all adventurous they might have trouble finding anything they want to eat. We've done the French Waterways and the Moselle/Rhine cruises and enjoyed them both. I can give you some menu examples if that would help.

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    RichardbRichardb
    We took our v13 year old on the Rockies trip and she thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I suppose the majority of travellers are at the "senior" end of the age range, most having been through parenting, but what we found was that everyone warmed so much to the youngster to bring an added dimension to the tour. Have no fear, your young people will not feel awkward.
    Richard
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