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Teens afloat: cruise lines know that keeping teenagers happy onboard makes good sense.

Article Excerpt
The cruising teenagers of today will be the 20-something passengers of tomorrow, and cruise lines are starting to cater more to this hard-to-please age group. Too old for arts & crafts and too young for the 18 and over diversions, kids aged 13 to 17 can now enjoy more facilities and programs designed especially for them. From sports-lovers to computer junkies, and from sun bunnies to bookworms, even the fussiest teens can be satisfied on many of today's cruise ships.

Gone are the days when there was only a video arcade to keep teens busy, because in the last decade family cruising has completely transformed itself. With more than one million passengers under the age of 18 sailing onboard cruise ships every year, families are one of the fastest-growing segments in the cruise industry. Although Disney Cruise Line raised the bar in 1998 when it introduced the Disney Magic, a ship devoted to families, it is now one of many cruise lines that focus on the multi-generational market.

For example, last summer on Golden Princess itineraries in Western Europe, there were "approximately 200 teenagers on each cruise," according to Paul Soo, a teen coordinator with Princess Cruises. Even in back-to-school September, there were teens onboard the Golden Princess. Dana, a New York teenager with eight cruises already under her belt, explains that her favorite activity during her cruise was the golf simulator. Another teen, Alex, traveling with his grandparents on his first cruise, expressed his interest in the video-game night.

Soo explains, "It's up to the teen coordinator to design a program that works." He...