Breakaway Entourage Lounge for a newly 13 year old...

My family will be sailing on the Breakaway in Feb 2016. My daughter will have just turned 13 the week before we sail. I know that she will be expected to go to the Entourage Teen Lounge and this makes me a bit nervous. She is a sweet girl (and I love her) but she is very naive and innocent (not that it's a bad thing...she just not as "street smart" as I'd like her to be.) Anyway, the rest of the kids cruising with us will be in the 9-12 Splash Academy group. I know there is a 99% chance we will be denied letting her move down with her brother and friends, so I was wondering if anyone had a 13 year old in the teen club? What was it like for them? Was there a good ratio of ages? Did they enjoy it?

Maybe she'll mature a bit over the next year (not too much I hope), love the club and meet some kids her age. I added myself to the roll call, so hopefully some nervous parent (like myself with 13 year old) will be sailing as well.

I am curious as well, but almost for the opposite reason. My daughter will be 12.5 on our next cruise and has specifically requested to join the older group. She did not like hanging out with the kids in the kids club her age on the last cruise. My PCC said it wouldn't be a problem having her join the older kids, even though I think I read on the website that the ages are strictly enforced. I am also worried that the kids in the older group might be too mature for her. Any info on if they allow children who are in the borderline age group to transfer up or down based on their personal preferences?

My family will be sailing on the Breakaway in Feb 2016. My daughter will have just turned 13 the week before we sail. I know that she will be expected to go to the Entourage Teen Lounge and this makes me a bit nervous. She is a sweet girl (and I love her) but she is very naive and innocent (not that it's a bad thing...she just not as "street smart" as I'd like her to be.) Anyway, the rest of the kids cruising with us will be in the 9-12 Splash Academy group. I know there is a 99% chance we will be denied letting her move down with her brother and friends, so I was wondering if anyone had a 13 year old in the teen club? What was it like for them? Was there a good ratio of ages? Did they enjoy it?

 

Maybe she'll mature a bit over the next year (not too much I hope), love the club and meet some kids her age. I added myself to the roll call, so hopefully some nervous parent (like myself with 13 year old) will be sailing as well.

There is a 100% chance of them denying her entry into the younger age group.

She will love the teen group. There is plenty for them to do there.

I am curious as well, but almost for the opposite reason. My daughter will be 12.5 on our next cruise and has specifically requested to join the older group. She did not like hanging out with the kids in the kids club her age on the last cruise. My PCC said it wouldn't be a problem having her join the older kids, even though I think I read on the website that the ages are strictly enforced. I am also worried that the kids in the older group might be too mature for her. Any info on if they allow children who are in the borderline age group to transfer up or down based on their personal preferences?

I'm nearly 100% they will not allow her to move to the teen group. Because everyone has a passport on file, they know all the ages of the kids on board.

It might be a tough discussion with your daughter, but think about it this way: if you had an actual teen, they wouldn't think the teen lounge was cool if 12 year olds were in there.

I'm nearly 100% they will not allow her to move to the teen group. Because everyone has a passport on file, they know all the ages of the kids on board.

 

It might be a tough discussion with your daughter, but think about it this way: if you had an actual teen, they wouldn't think the teen lounge was cool if 12 year olds were in there.

I'm 100% sure, they tell the teens right off the bat that they will swipe their cards if they think they are not a teen, and to save themselves the embarrassment.

I'm 100% sure, they tell the teens right off the bat that they will swipe their cards if they think they are not a teen, and to save themselves the embarrassment.

Thanks for the info! I will start preparing her for the fact that she will be with the younger kids next year. It's so frustrating when your PCC is giving you the wrong information! :mad:

I am curious as well, but almost for the opposite reason. My daughter will be 12.5 on our next cruise and has specifically requested to join the older group. She did not like hanging out with the kids in the kids club her age on the last cruise. My PCC said it wouldn't be a problem having her join the older kids, even though I think I read on the website that the ages are strictly enforced. I am also worried that the kids in the older group might be too mature for her. Any info on if they allow children who are in the borderline age group to transfer up or down based on their personal preferences?

It is rare, if ever they allow kids to change age groups, especially move up. If there are only a few kids cruisng I have heard of them allowing a move down to be with siblings, but these are usually the much younger kids.

I think, when we reaalize all the hassle it causes to constantly allow kids to change age groups it is easy to understand why cruise lines do not allow this. Why your PCC said it probably would not be a problem, who knows.

My family will be sailing on the Breakaway in Feb 2016. My daughter will have just turned 13 the week before we sail. I know that she will be expected to go to the Entourage Teen Lounge and this makes me a bit nervous. She is a sweet girl (and I love her) but she is very naive and innocent (not that it's a bad thing...she just not as "street smart" as I'd like her to be.) Anyway, the rest of the kids cruising with us will be in the 9-12 Splash Academy group. I know there is a 99% chance we will be denied letting her move down with her brother and friends, so I was wondering if anyone had a 13 year old in the teen club? What was it like for them? Was there a good ratio of ages? Did they enjoy it?

 

 

Maybe she'll mature a bit over the next year (not too much I hope), love the club and meet some kids her age. I added myself to the roll call, so hopefully some nervous parent (like myself with 13 year old) will be sailing as well.

HI there,

I will be traveling with my 14 year old daughter. This will be her first cruise but she is very mature for her age and I think the teen lounge will be ok. I believe it is chaperoned too. If you would like to have our daughters meet, we can set up a meeting and greet for them. I was hoping she could meet some girls around her age!

My son turns 13 while we are on our cruise and they give them the option of going to either club but he has to pick one and stick to it for the entire cruise (we pretty much deal with it every year since we always cruise during Spring Break). He decided to stay down in the 10-12 group since some of the kids we are going with are still 12. My daughter has been in the teen club for 2 years now and she loves it. There is plenty to do and she met kids right away either time. She will like it and believe me, my daughter is shy too and she did just fine!

My daughter turned 13 in November and we're on the Breakaway in March. She's very shy around people she doesn't know so I don't know how she'll do in Entourage. I'm going to really encourage her to go the first night so she can meet other kids early in the cruise but I'm not holding my breath. I just keep trying to explain to her that others are looking for some friends to hang out with for the week just like her... who knows.

We usually cruise with Disney and I really like that they have a tween-specific club for 11 - 13 year olds. I just find that 13 - 17 years old is just too much of an age gap. I think that's partly why she's nervous about going. She loves the tween club on DCL.

I just really hope she meets some other kids on the Breakaway!

My family will be sailing on the Breakaway in Feb 2016. My daughter will have just turned 13 the week before we sail. I know that she will be expected to go to the Entourage Teen Lounge and this makes me a bit nervous. She is a sweet girl (and I love her) but she is very naive and innocent (not that it's a bad thing...she just not as "street smart" as I'd like her to be.) Anyway, the rest of the kids cruising with us will be in the 9-12 Splash Academy group. I know there is a 99% chance we will be denied letting her move down with her brother and friends, so I was wondering if anyone had a 13 year old in the teen club? What was it like for them? Was there a good ratio of ages? Did they enjoy it?

 

Maybe she'll mature a bit over the next year (not too much I hope), love the club and meet some kids her age. I added myself to the roll call, so hopefully some nervous parent (like myself with 13 year old) will be sailing as well.

My daughter who is 15 has been in Entourage as a 13 year old. Your daughter will be fine. My daughter's advice is to go on the first night, so that she can meet teens her age. Once these groups have formed, they hang out for the rest of the cruise. Yes you do see older teens and maybe not so older teens hooking up, but they tend to roam in their own pack. I was more concerned as my daughter has gotten older(she is tall for her age) but she is responsible and has hung out with the friends she made on that first night. There are other activities like karaoke that all teens participate.

My daughter has stayed out to the 1am curfew(most are at O'sheehans, eating wings every night.)

Others have already stated, her birthdate, dictates the club, no exceptions. It is funny seeing people state that the birthdate on file is wrong and try to argue.

My daughter is going to turn 13 the day after we set sail Can she go to the teen lounge the first night? Or does she have to wait till she is actually 13? What are people experiences with this? Thank you for your input!

Take her the very 1st time it's open, when everyone is "new"...she'll be fine! The programs are quite appropriate for each age group! This it a good opportunity for her to get her "street smarts"! Give her wings...and she will fly!

My daughter is going to turn 13 the day after we set sail Can she go to the teen lounge the first night? Or does she have to wait till she is actually 13? What are people experiences with this? Thank you for your input!

She can go the first day...since she has a birthday on the cruise they will allow her to pick which club (kids or teens) she wants to go to. But once she picks one she can't move back.

My daughter is hesitant to go after her experience on the NCL Breakaway. She went on the first night and vowed to never go back. She was used to the Disney clubs where they didn't have such big gaps in age... there's a big difference between your avg 13 year old and 17 year old.

She told me about some 'girls vs boys' game they played where you ask the other group embarrassing questions and stuff. An example was 'how can you tell whether a girl wears a tampon or a pad?'... the girls asked the boys this. My daughter had just turned 13 and was your typical easily embarrassed / mortified young teenage girl so activities like this just didn't appeal to her at all... can't say I blame her! Apparently the leaders didn't see a problem with questions like this as she said they just laughed about it.

She'll now be 15 when we sail on the Oasis and I would LOVE for her to go check thing out on the first night and meet some new friends but I think her experience on the Breakaway has ruined our chances.

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My daughter is hesitant to go after her experience on the NCL Breakaway. She went on the first night and vowed to never go back. She was used to the Disney clubs where they didn't have such big gaps in age... there's a big difference between your avg 13 year old and 17 year old.

 

She told me about some 'girls vs boys' game they played where you ask the other group embarrassing questions and stuff. An example was 'how can you tell whether a girl wears a tampon or a pad?'... the girls asked the boys this. My daughter had just turned 13 and was your typical easily embarrassed / mortified young teenage girl so activities like this just didn't appeal to her at all... can't say I blame her! Apparently the leaders didn't see a problem with questions like this as she said they just laughed about it.

 

She'll now be 15 when we sail on the Oasis and I would LOVE for her to go check thing out on the first night and meet some new friends but I think her experience on the Breakaway has ruined our chances.

 

 

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Dd14 and dd16 wouldn't have batted an eye at that. The purpose of going to the club the first night is to meet the kids you are going to hang with for the rest of the week. The 17 year olds don't want to hang around with 13 year olds anyway.

Dd14 and dd16 wouldn't have batted an eye at that. The purpose of going to the club the first night is to meet the kids you are going to hang with for the rest of the week. The 17 year olds don't want to hang around with 13 year olds anyway.

And that is exactly my point... a 'just turned' 13 year old girl isn't going to be into the same things in terms of entertainment, that a 17 year old would be. When you say the 17 year olds don't want to hang out with 13 year olds anyway, that too is what I'm pointing out. With Disney, they break up the teen years into 2 separate groups so the activities are more in line with their ages. Many13 year old girls would be intimidated with a bunch of 16-17 year olds. There were many other sensitive questions being asked during that activity... things my daughter would be ok with when it's her and her girlfriends that she's known forever but throw in 20 strangers, many of them 16 and 17 and well, it's just a tad uncomfortable. My daughter's not into talking about personal things with strangers... and thank God for that!

My son turned 13 before our last cruise on the Getaway. He had a great time in entourage. There were plenty of kids his age. As others posted, make sure she goes the first night to meet kids. Remember, with Entourage, she can come and go as she pleases, so if she doesn't like it, she can hang with you. I recommend getting the iconcierge app. We communicated with our son and knew where he was at all times.

In addition, we had some very basic rules:

• no going in anyone else's cabins
  
• he had to let us know if he was leaving entourage and where he was going
  
• gave him a curfew
  

Hope that's helpful.

I used to love going to entourage! It really is just to meet people that you'll hang out with for the rest of the cruise.

I'm still friends with some of the friends I made! (I'm 23 now)

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Just off the Escape with my newly minted 13 year old... she went to entourage for registration with us... then asked to go back right after dinner even though the "activities" hadn't started yet... we bought the texting thing thru the app... and put it on her iPod and my iPod so we could keep in touch... she was to text on arrival, text when moving venues, and text before she came back to the cabin. This worked great... as her crowd frequently would do one activity and then go to the buffet for snacks or ice cream... maybe joining for the next activity... or not.

All in all, she had a blast. We set a 10 pm curfew for port nights and 11 pm when it was a sea day the next day... she texted a couple times she would be late because the activity was running over. But we pretty much only saw her for breakfast, specialty dinners (she didn't want to miss out!) and port days... and while she was sleeping lol

I was a nervous nelly too... my sweet just turned 13 yr old grouped in with big kids... but they find their own... her crowd was mostly 14. We had 1300 kids on board, 500 of them teens... and entourage averaged 40 kids in there at a time. The ones that went seemed to have a blast and mine would do it all over again!