Or it could be a dream come true.
Thanks to Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Disney, Princess and other lines, teens now claim space in "adult-free" zones. Depending on the ship, they can enjoy teen discos and coffee bars, sports activities and bungee trampolines. Royal Caribbean also offers rock-climbing, ice-skating and in-line skating.
The raddest nightclub is Fuel on Royal's Mariner and Navigator of the Seas, according to teen votes cast on Cruisemates.com, a Web site for cruisers. In second place is Optix on sister ship Adventure of the Seas, with third through seventh places claimed by discos on Carnival's Conquest, Miracle, Legend, Spirit and Paradise.
Carnival recently teamed with the Coca-Cola Co. to create Club O2, a teen program that will be operational fleetwide on the "Fun Ship" line's 21 vessels by year-end.
Teens can enjoy karaoke, nightly themed parties, late-night movies, video-game contests and sporting events.
Carnival also offers teens shore excursions: cave tubing in Belize, horseback riding in Cozumel and swimming with stingrays in Grand Cayman.
Over at Disney Cruise Line, The Stack on Magic and Aloft on Wonder provide havens for teens to meet and chill. Open all day and half the night, they're packed with such teen must-haves as comfy couches, a soda-and-smoothies bar, Internet access, plasma-screen TVs, board games and loaded MP3 players.
Disney's shipboard activities include Digi Hunt, a scavenger hunt in which teens armed with digital cameras decipher Morse code and international flag codes and compete in trivia contests.
Disney even reserves a beach on its private Castaway Cay island, exclusively for teens. Norwegian Cruise Line's Pride of America boasts a gyroscope, an open-air sphere (originally developed for NASA to train astronauts in weightlessness) and a bungee trampoline. Fleetwide, from June through August, teens on Norwegian sailings can participate in an annual Junior Star Seeker talent competition.
Celebrity Cruises tailors its youth programming to teens in two age groups, 13 to 15 and 16 to 17. Teens don't get short shrift on Holland America ships, either, where the Loft and Oasis are adult-free zones. The Loft is indoors with music, video games and dancing; Oasis is outdoors with hammocks, a refreshment area, a waterfall and music.
With all this activity at sea, here's a tip for teens: Don't forget to set aside some time for Mom and Dad. After all, they're paying for your cruise.
TRAVEL NEWS
National D-Day Museum, New Orleans
While the National D-Day Museum in New Orleans survived Hurricane Katrina without serious structural damage or flooding, it did sustain losses due to looting and vandalism. And many employees of America's official World War II museum have moved to other parts of the country.
The museum is back online at http://www.ddaymuseum.org but may not be open to the public for two months or more. "Like soldiers in a battle, our team is in the trenches," said Gordon Mueller, the museum president and CEO. "We are meeting the daily challenges before us, but never losing sight of our long-term goal to complete the museum's expansion to commemorate all campaigns and service branches of World War II."
Employees of the museum, which was in the initial stage of a $280 million expansion before Katrina, are working in Baton Rouge. As part of that expansion, work on Discovery Hall, the facility's new education center and exhibition space, will resume as soon as possible.
ON THE WEB
New York wineries
New York is home to more than 200 wineries. For lists of wineries around the state, go to http://www.iloveny.com and click on "Breweries/Wineries" under "Attractions," or call 800-225-5697.
For a clickable map of wineries by region, go to http://www.newyorkwines.org or call the New York Wine and Grape Foundation at 315-536-7442. The http://www.newyorkwines.org Web site also lists award-winning New York wines under "NY Gold." %% Wineries by region:
* Finger Lakes, http://www.fingerlakes.org/wine.htm, 800-548-4386.
* Chautauqua-Lake Erie Wine Trail, http://www.chautauquawinetrail.org/, 888-965-4800.
* Hudson River Valley Winery Map, http://www.TravelHudsonValley.org, 800-232-4782.
* Long Island wineries, http://www.licvb.com/ (search for "wineries"), 877-386-6654.
* Thousand Islands Wine Trail, http://www.comefarmwithus.com/wine.htm, 866-556-0721.
-- The Associated Press
WORLD CURRENCY
Your dollar buys . . .
Rates paid domestically for each dollar changed. These figures are intended only as a guide. Rates may be more favorable abroad. (As of Oct. 4)%%Have an idea for the Travel Almanac? Send your thoughts to acekola@sltrib.com.
Argentina (peso) .......... 2.89
Australia (dollar) .......... 1.31
Brazil (real) .......... 2.24
Canada (dollar) .......... 1.29
Chile (peso) .......... 528
Czech Rep. (koruna) .......... 24.8
Denmark (kroner) .......... 6.25
Egypt (pound) .......... 5.76
European (euro) .......... .84
(Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain)
Great Britain (pound) .......... .57
Hong Kong (dollar) .......... 7.76
Hungary (forint) .......... 210
India (rupee) .......... 44.1
Indonesia (rupiah) .......... 10,265
Israel (shekel) .......... 4.62
Japan (yen) .......... 114
Mexico (peso) .......... 10.7
New Zealand (dollar) .......... 1.45
Norway (krone) .......... 6.6
Philippines (peso) .......... 56
Poland (zloty) .......... 3.30
Russia (ruble) .......... 28.6
Singapore (dollar) .......... 1.69
South Africa (rand) .......... 6.46
South Korea (won) .......... 1,042
Sweden (krona) .......... 7.82
Switzerland (franc) .......... 1.30
Taiwan (dollar) .......... 33.3
Thailand (baht) .......... 41.1
Venezuela (bolivar) .......... 1,915
Sources: International Monetary Fund; European Central Bank; Federal Reserve Bank of New York; Yahoo!
