A Fun Family Voyage

Our ship hadn't quite left port when I handed my teenager a present: a lovely leather-bound notebook with lined pages and a variety of colorful pens. His mission was to keep a cruise journal, a tell-all, remember-the-moments account of his days (and nights) on the high seas.

Duh. If you were a kid on a cruise, would you write? Dream on. He was too busy, totally booked. We always teach him to set goals and he does. His cruise goals included the rock wall, miniature golf, teen-only nightclub, video arcade, fast-food joints, pools, hot tubs, basketball court, pizza 24-7, jogging track, "mocktail" bar, scratch deejay lessons, boogie boarding, Wii tennis, battle of the sexes contest, hip-hop, crowning of a prom king and queen, foosball tourney, disco night–and freedom.

See the gallery: A Fun Family Voyage

Our guy checked most of it off his list. And he'll second what we fast found out: Taking a teen on a cruise is a good idea. Pick a three- to four-day sail in the Caribbean for the best results. He's a free agent in a safe environment, and I can give my overactive mama radar a rest and enjoy some worry-free fun on our amazing Royal Caribbean International liner. We'll do it again. Here are a few memories along the way (somebody had to use that journal).

Together time. Smile for the camera as we board. Report to muster stations for the lifeboat drill. And he's off. We find a lovely spot for departure; he hits orientation at Fuel, the club for Generation Facebook. We hear later that there are more than 1,000 kids on board.

Dinner, late seating. He finds us, dressed appropriately (love it). Dessert comes and goes, so does he. Something about dancing, music, a party, and a new friend from Brazil. We stroll the deck, catch a show. Romantic.

Shore excursion, St. Maarten. We're suddenly desirable (maybe it's our plans to sail in a race featuring former America's Cup yachts, a pay-extra adventure our kid cites as a "major memory moment"). Back onboard: He heads for pizza, but shows up with friends for the seventies night, an everyone event where his parents embarrass him by dancing the way we used to (Y-M-C-Aaaaay!).

We elders anchor the mornings–elliptical trainers facing the fast-moving waves, coffee with a view, and finish-a-sentence chats. He rules the evenings–we'll never know if he entered the dating game (some things you don't share).

We use our iPhones (with the AT&T at Sea feature) to touch base.

We meet up for the early evening ice show, a cross between Cirque du Soleil and Ice Capades, and earn a nod of approval. It's cool–take a sweater.

Strangely enough–and I hope this happens to you–we saw him more by day three. Maybe he suspected we knew something that he didn't (we did–a specialty steak restaurant onboard; a nightclub show he protested but enjoyed; taxi rides around islands such as St. Thomas; new friends with a cute daughter his age; and so on).

From a parenting point of view, we seldom needed to direct traffic, correct attitude, or be intense during our days at sea. We were too busy enjoying our son.

The teen who got off that ship was the same one who got on–but calmer, more worldly, engaging, and in need of a week's worth of sleep. Back home, we overheard him recounting the tales (sometimes embellished) to landlubber buddies. Our teen, king of the waves. Thinking his parents are momentarily cool for taking him. Wow. We're on to something.