Question about teens and also about one less adventuresome adult

[5lilfish]

I'm wondering, with 16 year old twins, if we're past the age for ABD to be a good choice for us? If so, does anyone have any recommendations? Question 2 (below) will be important when choosing too.

Also, my husband can't do some of the more adventuresome activities but the rest of us still enjoy these activities. Is it possible for one family member to just sit out on certain things?

Thanks,
Jess

 

[sayhello]

I'm wondering, with 16 year old twins, if we're past the age for ABD to be a good choice for us? If so, does anyone have any recommendations? Question 2 (below) will be important when choosing too.

Also, my husband can't do some of the more adventuresome activities but the rest of us still enjoy these activities. Is it possible for one family member to just sit out on certain things?

Thanks,
Jess

I don't have kids, so I can't really answer your first question except to say that there have been tweens, teens and young adults on all of the Family ABD's I've taken (as well as some younger kids) and they all seemed to really enjoy themselves. The Adventure Guides really work hard to engage everyone, and instill a sense of family in everyone on the tour.

As far as the second question, anyone can opt to sit out on any activities. There may or may not be other options available for your husband, depending on the activity, what else is available, is it a day trip from a particular location or a travel day from point A to point B, etc. He may just have to hang out until the activity is over, or there *may* be another option available, like a museum visit or a boat ride or a short walk or whatever. It just depends. But no-one is "forced" to participate and the rest of you are free to participate irregardless of whether your husband participates or not.

Sayhello

 

[jimmymc]

16 is a fantastic age to do an ABD if they are interested in the destination. There aren't really any ABDs I wouldn't recommend. Where have you gone as a family and how did you enjoy each place?

For your husband, you will always have the option to sit out things, just talk to the guides at breakfast or the night before and they might be able to arrange something for him, either a less taxing version of the activity or somewhere interesting to hang out.

 

[aggiedog]

You can call ABD and they can give you the age break down of the kids already signed up. I will say, as my kids got older, they got a little more choosy about who they wanted to hang out with on trips. We haven't done an ABD, but have done a couple Disney cruises, and the older ones did not care for many of the kids in the teen clubs. My oldest two are a bit introverted, science nerd, girl power sorts of kids. YMMV.

 

[5lilfish]

You can call ABD and they can give you the age break down of the kids already signed up. I will say, as my kids got older, they got a little more choosy about who they wanted to hang out with on trips. We haven't done an ABD, but have done a couple Disney cruises, and the older ones did not care for many of the kids in the teen clubs. My oldest two are a bit introverted, science nerd, girl power sorts of kids. YMMV.

Our teens are perfectly happy being with us. Being twins, they also are very happy to hang together, but I do think it would be nice to have some other teens on the trip. It’s good to know that we can find out the age dynamics on a trip. Thanks for the suggestion.

our teens are also past the teen club on DCL…and they were kid club junkies when younger. We still love cruising but we find the girls to be at a slightly awkward age for it. Part of the problem is they have 3 older siblings that are past 18 (they won’t be with us in ABD). So they are kind of too old to enjoy the clubs and not old enough to be with us in adult areas. That’s a big reason why I reached out asking if teens are ‘too old’ for ABD. I’m not too worried about them having friends (they have us and each other) but more concerned about activities not all being geared toward little kids.

Thanks again…
Jess

 

[jimmymc]

Our teens are perfectly happy being with us. Being twins, they also are very happy to hang together, but I do think it would be nice to have some other teens on the trip. It’s good to know that we can find out the age dynamics on a trip. Thanks for the suggestion.

our teens are also past the teen club on DCL…and they were kid club junkies when younger. We still love cruising but we find the girls to be at a slightly awkward age for it. Part of the problem is they have 3 older siblings that are past 18 (they won’t be with us in ABD). So they are kind of too old to enjoy the clubs and not old enough to be with us in adult areas. That’s a big reason why I reached out asking if teens are ‘too old’ for ABD. I’m not too worried about them having friends (they have us and each other) but more concerned about activities not all being geared toward little kids.

Thanks again…
Jess

ABD does have some split activities, like the adults will do a wine tasting while the kids make olive oil (one example from the Italy trip). At 16 they would be excluded from alcohol tastings, but have the choice for the other ones. Also this happens maybe once per trip, it's not common.

 

[pjacobi]

Sorry, wrong thread.