My experience is limited to having taken my son — then about 18 — to Jamaica for a week one winter.
After discovering he’d indulged in what I called “the weed of wisdom," and praying, as they searched our luggage on our return to Pearson, that he hadn’t tried to smuggle any home with him, I concluded that perhaps one trip south with a teenager was enough.
But that was decades ago, before the travel industry started thinking about catering to adolescents.
Conversations with parents suggest they want to take their offspring somewhere safe where there’s enough to do to keep them out of their hair.
All-inclusive resorts are an obvious choice. Given a beach, pools and the freedom to eat and drink at almost any hour, kids aren’t likely to wander off the property.
But what about activities specifically for the 13-plus set? I asked a woman who was showing me around the Azul Sensatori, an all-inclusive that opened near Cancun last winter. (Visit www.karismahotels.com/resort/azul-sensatori-hotel-karisma).
“Teens are in the twilight zone,’’ she replied, suggesting that resort operators were still developing ways to serve them.
The Sensatori had three rooms exclusively for guests 13 to 17.
One was an arcade with video games and billiard and ping-pong tables.
Another was Breeze Teens Club, a lounge-cum-sports bar/disco that looked just like an adult one except only non-alcoholic drinks are sold. She said having the resident DJ offer sound-mixing lessons, and letting teens take turns playing DJ, was proving particularly popular.
The third room was an Internet cafe where a lad was sitting in front of what I took to be a small TV screen on which a soccer match was in progress.
“Who’s playing?’’ I asked, to be polite.
He patiently explained that he wasn’t watching a game, he was taking part in it. What I took for a small TV was an Xbox, one of those interactive gizmos I’d read about but couldn’t fathom.
I gave him a foolish grin and decided to leave the twilight zone for a more familiar landscape — a real bar where they served real booze and showed real sports on real TVs.
Some parents like cruise ships because they’re secure and offer programs for younger passengers. Some lines have ones for those 12 to 14, others for the 15-17 set.
One such program is offered by Carnival: Teen singles party, pool parties, golf lessons, “mocktail’’ party, Win, Lose or Draw and other games, deck parties, track events, karaoke nights.
Mail can be sent to Doug English, c/o The London Free Press, P.O. Box 2280, London, Ont. N6A 4G1; faxes to 519-672-1824.
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