1st timer

[dacsmom]

Hi everyone. My 15 y/o son and I are going on our first cruise. :grin: Sailing on the Glory 12-31-05. Stopping at Key West, Belize and Costa Maya.

So many questions, so little time.

1. Does anyone know if club O2 has excursions just for teens. What I want to do is not the same as what he wants to do. (imagine that)

2. Want cave tubing in Belize. I am going to book it thru the ship. Long excursion and I am a worrier. All I would thing of is missing the ship. I read the ship excursions are crowded and not as good, but I feel better doing it thru the ship. Anyone have any experience?

[Mebert]

dacsmom,

Welcome and great to see you posting.

I've done several Carnival cruises and I have never seen a Camp Carnival shore excursion. I think they want you to be responsible for your own children. But you can check the cruise line to confirm.

[Suzila]

Welcome to our board!

Like Mebert says, there are no excursions for the kids, separately. Everything they do with them is onboard. You'll need to decide on which excursion you want to take together. At his age, I don't think they'll allow him to take one by himself....and you wouldn't want him to.

I'm not sure where you read that the ship excursions are not as good as taking one yourself, but I don't find that to be true. We like the excursions the ship handles better...like you said, we don't have to worry about getting back on time. They also have a tour director that tells you everything you need or want to know. If you're on your own, you're on your own. When you get back to the ship, you'll talk to the other passengers, and it's a good chance you'll miss something by not being on a tour-directed ship excursion. If you go out on your own, you have no recourse if something goes wrong. My advice would be, and especially if you're a 'worrier' like you said, stick with a ship excursion.

Have fun!

[dacsmom]

I think I sounded like I wanted to play ditch the kid. That was not my intention. On Carnivals web site, under kids and teens, they mention teens only shore excursions. I guess I want to know if they are safe to let him go, supervision and so on. This is our first cruise and I want to make sure he is safe. If I asked him to go shopping with me, he would (and hate every minute of it). I just want him to have a great time too.

[rogue]

Welcome to CruiseCrazies, dacsmom.

My wife and I did the cave tubing in Belize in April. We booked it through the ship. It was a pretty good excursion, but will be much better in December. April is the end of the dry season and the river is very low at points. This should be about the beginning of the dry season, so the river will be nice and high. As it turned out, the ship's excursion went to the exact same place as a privately booked excursion, so there was absolutely no difference. The worry of missing the ship is always enough for mee to book through the cruise line. It is a long excursion. Make sure that you get a bottle of water before you leave the ship. Enjoy. :cool: