While plenty of young adults will end up in Cancun, and high school seniors gravitate to party spots like Panama City, Florida, or to a Lake Havasu, Arizona, houseboat, more and more of these groups are looking at cruise vacations for the nonstop fun and value they provide. Parents traveling with their kids are doing the same thing, but it's made easier and more enjoyable now that most major cruise lines have ramped up and expanded their children's and teen's facilities.
Starting with policies, we learned that most cruise lines have rigid rules governing the age eligibility for sailing without a chaperone, for drinking alcohol and for gambling onboard. And, most ships' staffs are cracking down and making sure those policies are enforced.
Chaperones Required: Most cruise lines require that passengers be at least 21 years old to travel without a chaperone. But a couple, including Disney Cruise Line and Oceania, allow those 18 and older to travel alone. What defines being chaperoned, however, differs among them. Carnival Cruise Lines requires that unmarried passengers younger than 21 each have another passenger at least 25 years old booked in the same cabin. Other lines, including NCL, Princess, Celebrity, Royal Caribbean and Holland America, lower the age of that in-cabin chaperone to 21 but specifics vary even then. NCL allows that chaperone to stay in an adjacent cabin, and Holland America only requires one chaperone for every five passengers under 21. Some, but not all, make exceptions for married couples younger than 21. Cruise lines are more flexible when it comes to young adults younger than 21 who are traveling with parents. Most allow them to be in separate cabins if a parent is in an adjoining or adjacent stateroom, and Carnival will even allow those 18 and older to bunk anywhere on the same deck.
Alcohol: The legal drinking age on mot ships is twenty-one with the exception of some that depart from other countries whose drinking age is younger. Our best bet is to check with your travel agent if it is a concern for your trip. Ship staff inforce the rules.
Gambling: Most cruise lines, including Carnival, Holland America, NCL, Celebrity, and Royal Caribbean, allow gaming at the age of 18; Princess requires guests to be 21. Be aware that if you are traveling to Alaska, many ports there require you to be 21 to gamble, even ships with an 18 and older policy will enforce this. You need to carefully review your ship's policies; if you are under age and win a jackpot, you won't be paid.
The pleasures of cruising as a family are many, and cruise lines have come to recognize that, as well. Most of the major big-ship lines have been working hard at adding more space and programs for kids of all ages, but the big push for the past several years has been to accommodate teens. Whereas most ships have always had some programs for children through age 12 or so, the teen group had been, until then, largely overlooked. With the development of parent-free zones and clubs that serve "mocktails", places where teenagers can forget that they are actually traveling with their parents, the cruise lines have been able win over this most finicky age group.
Presented By:
Rawhide Travel & Tours Inc
6008 W Bell Rd # F105
Glendale, AZ 85308-3793
(602) 843-5100
No comments:
Post a Comment