Princess "Shockwaves" for mature 12 year old girl in AK

[sherryf]

We will be sailing to Alaska on the Golden Princess in August. My kids will be 12, 15 and 18 at the time. My oldest son will be too old for the kids programs on board, but I seem to recall that they often have mixers for 18-21 year olds on Princess, so perhaps he will find others his age to hang out with, and if he doesn't he's the type to find his own thing to do. My younger son, at 15, will be in the teen program, and either he'll find friends and have fun, or end up hanging out with his brother.

 

The one I'm concerned about is my 12 year old daughter. The Princess Shockwaves program is for ages 8 - 12. She's a rather mature 12 year old and is concerned about being stuck with "little kids". Here, 6th grade is middle school, and girls often really mature with the transition to middle school. She no longer enjoys a lot of the childish things that she did just a year ago. I know that Princess does not allow kids to move up to the next group, and I'm not really sure I'd want her to be with older teens anyway. I'm just not sure she's going to have fun with a bunch of 8 year olds. Anyone else been in this situation? Does Princess do a good job of keeping kids occupied and happy, despite the large span of ages/maturity levels in the Shockwaves program?

 

I know all of the kids will enjoy this cruise no matter what, since we will be able to spend time as a family, enjoy great food, see spectacular scenery, and do fun things in port. I just want them to also have fun and make friends with kids their own ages, so they don't have to spend all of their time with Mom and Step-dad.

[cb at sea]

Don't worry....there will be other 12 year olds...not everyone will be 8!!! She'll find a friend or two to hang with. And they will adjust activities for the age groups. Should she be the only 12 year old on the ship, then they may offer to move her to a more appropriate group.

[cruis247g]

We faced a similar situation whenwe sailed on Princess in April. My youngest is a mature 12 year old and in7th grade, which is middle school here, as well. Things were fine. Our sailing, at spring break, had hundreds of children so my son could select friends that were close to his age. Given that the next age group included much older teens (including his older teen brother), I was pleased to have him with a younger group. You can always check with Princess to see how many kids are on board, but we found our summer sailing to Alaska to have many kids. i think that the staff members are sensitive to this issue. Have a wonderful time!

[lmg1230]

I would say that as long as she finds a friend she will be ok. We sailed to Alaska on Princess when my oldest daughter was 10 and a half and she loved the kids club and all of the activities. Fast forward two years and we sailed on Princess in the Baltics when she was 12 (and only 2 months from her 13th birthday) and she had no interest in the activities offered. Fortunately she met another girl who was the exact same age and they hung out together in the kids club with a couple of other girls who were close to their age. They definitely felt that they were too old for the 8-12 group but they had fun together. And my daughter still says that Princess is her favourite cruiseline.

 

Lisa

[sherryf]

They definitely felt that they were too old for the 8-12 group but they had fun together. And my daughter still says that Princess is her favourite cruiseline.

 

It's good to hear that she had fun despite feeling too old for the group. I hope the same will happen with my daughter.

 

I may try calling Princess to ask how many kids will be on board. Does anyone know if they will give me breakdown of kids per age group?

 

I am also hoping that my Roll Call picks up. A bunch of people posted when they booked many months ago, but it's been dead for months. There are supposedly a couple of large family groups, and I hope to find out if there are t(w)eens in those groups that my kids might meet up with.

[notentirelynormal]

Yes, they will give you a breakdown of the ages.

[Keith1010]

I am sure your child will be fine. She will likely meet others her age.

 

Keith