The Quinceañera is an important and long standing tradition in the countries south of the United States. It is a celebration that marks a girl’s first steps into womanhood at the tender age of fifteen. The term quinceañera literally means fifteen years old. The closest equivalent Anglo-American custom is the sweet sixteen, and to a young lady and her family a quinceañera is a far bigger deal.
An increasingly popular way of marking the occasion is to take a cruise. In some countries, mainly Argentina, a girl is given a choice between a party and trip. A quinceañera cruise combines the two. As the special girl makes her official debut to the world, she gets to see some of the most beautiful parts of it. The combination of the elegant spaces on a cruise ship and the varied stops throughout the Caribbean it makes are a good way to make a young lady feel like royalty.
Una Fiesta de Quince Años
It isn’t hard to imagine an English speaking parent or stepparent learning what quinceañera is and finding themselves lost in a sea of pink and white dresses, dollar signs, and a growing pain in the vicinity of their wallet. For their sake it’s worth discussing what exactly goes into quinceañera before going any farther.
The party proper has traditionally been a formal event with a mass at church. In the 21st century the traditional elements are left out save for one thing: a traditional waltz with her father. It is what really makes a quinceañera a quinceañera, and it will probably be what the girl in question will remember the most later on in her life. So if you’re a father looking forward to your daughter’s party then it would probably be a good idea to learn how to waltz. For her part the special girl is going to be more concerned with the things most teenagers are, the things that make a quinceañera into a party.
The fifteen-year-old girl in question is probably going to be more concerned with the guest list—both girls and guys—her dress and the other girls’, and above all else the surprise dance. Unlike the quinceañeras of old which were stately waltz-meal-waltz-ceremony-waltz again affairs today’s quinceañeras are defined by a choreographed routine that turns the event into a real life version of High School Musical. In fact, that movie, along with others, is recommended viewing material for young ladies looking for an inspired routine for their baile sorpresa, or surprise dance. There are choreographers that specialize in helping the young lady in question and her chosen guests pull off these complicated routines.
Quinceañeras on the High Seas
A cruise ship is far and away one of the best places to have a quinceañera. The venues are refined to elegant, and the sea outside of the windows is majestic. At the same time the girl is being presented to the world as an adult she gets to see it in a setting that’s far more luxurious and offers far more than a hotel or events center can. A cruise also takes a lot of the burden of planning off of the parents. There’s enough aboard to keep even the most demanding group of teens entertained.
Disney, Royal Caribbean, Carnival, and Norwegian all have amazing venues aboard their ships that are perfect for hosting a quinceañera. The best part is that use of the venue, the catering, and an event planner are generally complimentary with reserving passage for that many people. There is also normally a good discount given when you book staterooms for ten or more people.
The bad news is that passage for you, your special girl, family, and the traditional court of honor of either 14 people, or 14 couples. Isn’t going to be cheap even with discounts, and even if your party of teens is willing to sleep 4 to a stateroom. While much is complimentary the DJ usually isn’t. These are expenses that are coming on top of whatever you paid for the dress, and six months to a year of choreography to prepare the young lady in question for a single dance. Even so it does offer far more than you could ever get from a venue on the land.
The plain and simple truth is that your daughter is only going to turn fifteen once, and if you’re looking into cruising for her quinceañera then you have probably already decided that she deserves the best. That isn’t the worst thing in the world, and there are still opportunities where you can save some money.
Planning Your Girl’s Quinceañera
A quinceañera cruise is a large group cruise, and if you want to get the best rates you’ll need to book early. Not coincidentally the times of year that your fifteen-year-old has off to take a cruise are the same times of year that all the other fifteen-year-olds do too. This means that you’re looking at the peak season for cruises, and premium prices for staterooms as well. Booking far in advance offers the best, and likely only way to save on your staterooms. Another positive though is that booking far in advance also gives you the best opportunity to book the things that make family cruising easier like adjoining staterooms, or staterooms that open up on the same corridor. Overprotective fathers doing the booking may find some recompense in banishing their daughter’s boyfriend and the other young males in the party to interior staterooms directly beneath the main dining areas on the ship.
Another place you can save is on your landside hotel accommodations and transportation. If you live near the port and are driving in, parking offsite is often times cheaper than parking in the facilities the port provides. If you’re flying in, then you will need to arrive the day before. There are such things as flight delays, and in order to deal with any that may come up you will need to plan to arrive the day before. Finding comfortable accommodations for all of the people in your party can be a challenge, but with Go Port’s selection of hotel partners you shouldn’t have too much trouble.
Make sure the birthday girl is 100% accommodated before going to the cruise. Flight delays can cause quite a scare, many cruisers are booking hotel packages to make sure everything goes smoothly. Go Port offers packages with hotels near Port Canaveral. The packages offer a variety of transportation from the airport to Port Canaveral, a hotel stay, and cruise transfers or parking
It is recommended that you book early to make sure you can get your special girl exactly what she wants for her fabulous fifteenth.
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