Thread: Sensation 6-1-08

My husband and I are cruising with our three girls (ages 12, 14, 16) on June 1, 2008. Anyone else cruising on this date with kids the same ages? My girls have never been on a cruise before and aren't excited about hanging out with each other the whole cruise... I've told them they will make lots of friends, but they aren't convinced... help me convince them!!! Thanks!

Sure wish I could help you. I know how teenagers can be. Hopefully someone will come along that has the answer for you.

They will have a ball!
I took my grandaughter on a 4 day druise - her first - a couple of years ago. She found lots of friends. There are always kids or all ages on those shorter summer cruises. And the cruise lines have teen programs, too. They'll love it.

Thanks guys! I have been bombarding them with pictures and have booked a dophin swim and snorkeling excursion, so they are pretty exxcited about those. I am just hoping there are kids on there with like interests so they will catch the cruise bug like I have!

I don't think they'll have a problem catching it.

I don't know where you'll be coming from, but if you are planning on flying, please DO consider flying in a day early - June 1 is only the 1st day of hurricane season, so it's early, but it IS during the season.

And if you'ld like to see what kinds of things there are to do and see in and around Port Canaveral prior to sailing, check out our Port Canaveral forum:

http://www.cruiselinefans.com/port-canaveral/

Yeah... we are actually flying in a day early and staying at the Radisson at the port. However, since graduation is that same day and my daughter's boyfriend of 2 years is graduating, we won't get to Florida until about 11:30 pm, so probably not enought time to do any exploring... hehe Thanks for the info though! What time do you suggest that we leave the hotel to board the ship? I would really like to be able to eat our free buffet breakfast and then go explore the area a little bit, but don't know what we will have time to do that's fairly close to our hotel. Any suggestions?

Unfortunately, there's not a lot within walking distance of your hotel.
If you want to spring for a taxi, you might enjoy the area around the Cocoa Beach Pier, which is 10 minutes or less away from the Radisson.
You'll have time for a short walk on the beach, and to enjoy a cup of coffee or soda on the pier, while watching the surf below. There will probably be some surfers to watch, too.

If you have kids who love surfing gear, you could take a taxi to Ron Jon's Surf shop, which is HUGE, and open 24 hours a day. It's about two blocks from the beach, so you could also combine that with a little walk in the edge fo the water if you are so inclined.

You will probably want to leave the hotel for the ship by noon. You could even leave a little earlier...

We usually leave our place anywhere between 11:30 and 12:30. Sometimes, we'll push it until 1 PM or so, if I am still have work to finish before leaving.

We are farther away from the pier than the Radisson by about 5-7 minutes.

I love the Radisson at the Port in PC. My kids love that hotel as well.

We have cruised RCI when my children were in the same age frames. We allowed the a lot of freedom but had to know where they were at for any given time. We did checks to make sure they were where they said they were. We had an extra compass and they both had a different color highlighter and they use this to pick their activities. This way we knew where they were. If they changed their minds they had to find us and tell us where they would be. They were very good with this freedom. It helped that the ship had a curfew for children.

We also had to all meet at the cabins and get ready for dinner and have dinner together every night. We spent time on each island together.

My kids had a great time.