How strict is carnival with age limits

[winnyis]

planning on doing dream in April. My son will be 2 weeks shy of 12 years old when we board ship. Will Carnival let him move up to 12 year old group or make him stay in the 9-11 (which he would hate)?

 

I know DCL lets them move up if they are within a month of next level and was wondering if Carnival has a similar policy

 

Thanks

[6rugrats]

Appears not. All are threads that discuss this issue:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1049365

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1057561

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=988104&highlight=carnival+age+limits

[rolloman]

planning on doing dream in April. My son will be 2 weeks shy of 12 years old when we board ship. Will Carnival let him move up to 12 year old group or make him stay in the 9-11 (which he would hate)?

 

I know DCL lets them move up if they are within a month of next level and was wondering if Carnival has a similar policy

 

Thanks

 

Maybe you could spin it that its better to be the big fish in the little pond than the little fish in the big pond?

[6rugrats]

I never understand these posts, "my child will hate it if they can't move up and will be miserable all week" or "my DD will hate it if she can't be in the same group as her brother." Life is about adapting. My kids would be so happy to be taking a cruise, they could care less.

 

Sometimes I think parents should just kind of ignore their kids when they come up with this stuff as it usually blows over. My attitude is if you don't like it, you can stay home with grandma and her cats.

[dijid]

It never hurts to ask. My DD was 2 weeks shy of 6, and they let her move up. They let another child move up as well. On our cruise there were a lot more in the 2-5 age range than 6-8, so maybe that was a factor. But they did verify her birthday before alowing the move.

[Essiesmom]

If they allowed him to move up, would he be self conscious being the only child in the group wearing the muster station wrist band required for all children 11 and under...? EM

[seashell36]

I think a lot of the variances in this answer depend on the amount of children on the cruise and the way that the question is put to the counselor during sign up.

 

Our last cruise was less than 2 weeks before DD's 12th birthday - I didn't give in to the "I am going to be so bored in this group again" speech that she gave me. She had a lot of fun and made several friends that she still emails.