Circle C for 11 year old?

[PHreuD69]

My daughter will be six weeks away from her 12th birthday when we cruise. Has anyone ever asked, and been successful, for a child to be moved up in the kid's clubs?

 

She'd much rather be the youngest in an older group than the oldest in the younger group.

[familycruzr]

My daughter will be six weeks away from her 12th birthday when we cruise. Has anyone ever asked, and been successful, for a child to be moved up in the kid's clubs?

 

She'd much rather be the youngest in an older group than the oldest in the younger group.

 

I would check out the group before you even ask. There could be kids in there that are 6 weeks away from 15 and that is a huge age gap. You might be surprised because there could be several kids in her age group that are in the same situation and she might fit right in with them in Camp Carnival.

[SueG]

My daughter will be six weeks away from her 12th birthday when we cruise. Has anyone ever asked, and been successful, for a child to be moved up in the kid's clubs?

 

She'd much rather be the youngest in an older group than the oldest in the younger group.

 

There is very little supervision with the 12 and older crowd. I would keep her in the younger group. My child will be 12 on her next cruise and I have decided to bring along a friend for her so she has someone to walk around the ship with.

Keep in mind, I am not an over-protective parent. I have been letting my child sign herself out since she was nine. I just do not like the idea of the lack of supervision. My child was 9 weeks away from 12 on our last cruise. She was fine most of the time. Some of the time the activities were just too young for her and she would just walk out and come back to me.

[LHP]

Carnival does make exceptions to the age rules.....

 

however these are done on a case by case basis.

 

Most of the time, it is when a sibling or travelmate is in another age group.

 

Go to the Camp Carnival orientation and ask.

 

However, IF the answer is no please understand that they have a good reason. One age group may already be maxing out in numbers....

[Dengail]

I would be so happy if my 12 yr old was able to be with the younger crowd...they have actual scheduled activities. Circle C is more...just come hang out without supervision a lot of times. He loves the scheduled activities, not so much the hang out stuff. He doesn't care about dancing and karaoke, which is heavy on the schedule. He doesn't always make the best decisions at this age and I'm not looking forward to always being checking on him...but we will:) I guess it depends on the kid:)

[Karysa]

I wish I would have asked for our girls to be moved up 6 weeks before their 12th birthday. Their 14 year old sister was in the older group and I remember them watching her at the disco having a blast and wishing they could have joined her. The two groups got together at the pool one night and our 14 year old said that the 8 or 9 year old boys were so immature that she understood why her sisters were not into hanging out in the kids club much.

[mrpayroll]

I wish I would have asked for our girls to be moved up 6 weeks before their 12th birthday. Their 14 year old sister was in the older group and I remember them watching her at the disco having a blast and wishing they could have joined her. The two groups got together at the pool one night and our 14 year old said that the 8 or 9 year old boys were so immature that she understood why her sisters were not into hanging out in the kids club much.

 

That is because 8 and 9 yr old boys ARE still immature.....Can't compare 8 and 9 yr olds to 11 and 12 yr olds.

[White Cloud]

On our last cruise my son would turn 12 in 6 weeks also. I went to Circle C for check in and asked if it would be possible for him to move up. She thanked me several times for being honest with her and that the policy was that if they were to turn twelve within 3 months and there was room they would let him in. She said some parents lie about their childs age and since they have lists with the names and ages of every child on board, they wish people would just ask! Good luck, my son really needed to move up.

[arpie05]

My son is 14 so is in Circle C. I would say that he enjoyed the activities more in Camp Carnival before moving up. Yes at 12, it's more about the dancing and video games. If that's her thing - go for it. He misses all the activities that Camp Carnival offered. There is much less to do with Circle C.

 

Have you thought about the other kids in Circle C. For example my son is 230 lbs and shaves and is a Freshman in High School and is 5'10" and is over four months from being 15. As a mom, I would think you would feel safer if she was with kids closer to her own age. He was the oldest last month in Circle C but no major complaints except he was obviously older so he complained a little.

 

Kids mature at different rates. His best friend was 6'0 in 6th grade and was shaving and looked 18 at age 12. (His best friend is still that tall, just matured early) In the past year mine has gone from looking 12 to looking 16.

 

I do think that Carnival should separate the kids at a certain age instead by grade ranges. It makes more sense for High School age to be grouped together. Some kids are more experienced than other kids and HS really opens that door. Fortunately, my son complains that I am too strict (and he's an A student and a mathlete and debater) so he's not one of those running around the ship.

 

When you go to register her for Camp Carnival, they have all the kids birthdays - so find out what the age arranges are.

 

Hope you have fun!

[cathy_kearns]

It is a bummer about the age range of the groups, though I don't see economically how they could make them smaller. Just as 8 and 9 years could be a bit immature for an 11 year old, 11 year olds could be a bit immature for some almost 15 year olds. I know as my kids got toward the older end of the groups they would just drop out, as the groups tend to skew young, as there were many kids that asked to be moved up.

[birdy]

I have the same problem. We are cruising with cousins who are 13 & 14. DS is 14 and DD is 11 but 6 wks shy of 12. She did not enjoy Camp Carnival last year. Thanks for the advise to ask the director of Circle C. These 4 kids would be hanging out together so I don't feel as protective.

[PHreuD69]

Thanks for all your replies. We have cruised Carnival before, but never had a child this close to the cut-off. My son has greatly enjoyed Circle C in the past, and he will be in this group again on this cruise.

 

Based on your responses, looks like the best course of action is the orientation and ask for a switch then. If it's a "no", it's a "no", no biggie.

[swilliams07]

My daughter will be six weeks away from her 12th birthday when we cruise. Has anyone ever asked, and been successful, for a child to be moved up in the kid's clubs?

 

She'd much rather be the youngest in an older group than the oldest in the younger group.

 

PHreuD69, Please check back with your decision & let me know the outcome. I to will be in that situation on our next cruise with my newly turned 11 yr. She will be with in 3 week of turning 12 on our next cruise.:)