A cruise is a great place to start. My now-16-year-old son is a home boy who doesn't like to travel much. But dangle the promise of a cruise in front of him and he's the first one in line.

Why? Because a cruise is a place where tweens and teens can exercise their independence. There's food available always and every where (another important teen consideration) and they can just get in line to order whatever they want whenever they want it. It's amazing how many slices of pizza and cones of ice cream a teen can eat in a day.

From a parent's perspective, a ship is a relatively small, confined space and the worker:guest ratio is about 1:2. That means the kids can't get too far and there's always someone around paying attention to what the kids are doing.

If you're wondering which cruise or which Caribbean Islands, that depends on your family. What do you like to do? Is there an island you've always wanted to visit? If so, pick a cruise line that goes there.

However, if this trip is really all about the cruise, I recommend Disney. Even though your son is 15, he'll find plenty to love about the Disney cruise (mine did) and you won't be embarrassed to watch the stage shows with an adolescent, since most non-Disney ships gear their shows toward a much older crowd.