Tween Program Issues

[GadaboutGranny]

My husband and I are planning on taking our grandchildren, a boy age 12, and a girl, age 14 on a Western Mediterranean Cruise in 2015. I have been researching ships and itineraries to find the best one for them. The Norwegian Epic seems to have eveything I am looking for, a great ship, a good itinerary and lots of family activities. The problem is that the age restrictions on the teen program will separate them and I don't think either will participate in the programs alone. The 12 year old will be 13 two weeks after the cruise ends but I have heard that Norwegian is very inflexible on age restrictions for the teen program. Has anyone else had this problem? Are there things they can do together, video games etc., that don't have the age restrictions attached? Our altenative is a RCCL cruise with a similar itinerary. RCCLs children's program separates the tweens , ages 12 to 14, from the teens. Would we be better off doing that instead? Help.

[djmess]

My husband and I are planning on taking our grandchildren, a boy age 12, and a girl, age 14 on a Western Mediterranean Cruise in 2015. I have been researching ships and itineraries to find the best one for them. The Norwegian Epic seems to have eveything I am looking for, a great ship, a good itinerary and lots of family activities. The problem is that the age restrictions on the teen program will separate them and I don't think either will participate in the programs alone. The 12 year old will be 13 two weeks after the cruise ends but I have heard that Norwegian is very inflexible on age restrictions for the teen program. Has anyone else had this problem? Are there things they can do together, video games etc., that don't have the age restrictions attached? Our altenative is a RCCL cruise with a similar itinerary. RCCLs children's program separates the tweens , ages 12 to 14, from the teens. Would we be better off doing that instead? Help.

 

If you want the kids to be able to do all program stuff together, then NCL is not a good choice. It's not that they are inflexible, it is the rule and regulation for their programs.

 

Now, the Epic has much to do, but really there will be next to no time that the kids will be together in the program. The splash academy and the Teen (Entorage) are in completely different locations.

 

Now, because there is so much to do on the Epic, the kids could do things together and with you, but not with the kids program

Edited November 12, 2013 by djmess

[Kimf]

I had the same issue this past summer on the Jewel with my 11 and 13 year old kids. :mad: They would not make an exception and my kids were not able to participate (and wouldn't on their own). The program for the <12 years was geared to younger kids (so too boring from my 11 yr old). With that said, I think they will find enough other things to do. We are going to try again on the Getaway in March and think that ship will have a lot more activities for the kids outside of the kids club - so I am less concerned about it this time.

 

Good luck with your decision!

 

Kim

[AllAmericanAmy]

Our experience with Princess, Royal Carribean and NCL is the same ....

 

NONE of them are flexible and will allow a child even days away from a different age group to join the preferred age group... for ANY reason.

[nets33]

I'd also like to comment that the Med cruise is usually port intensive and I assume that most times during the day they would be with you on excursions.

 

As others have said there are many things for kids to do on the ship - arcade, ping pong, pools. Depending on your comfort level to allow the kids some freedom with check-ins with you they will probably keep themselves very busy in the evenings.

[mjkacmom]

My two 10 year olds and 12 year old didn't participate in the kids club. It has been my experience that tween clubs are pretty lame. The teen club is nothing like the tween group - even though dd12 is almost 13, there is no way I wanted her in Entourage with ds15 and dd17! I'm a very permissive parent, and gave the 10/12 year olds a lot of freedom on the ship, but wouldn't want them hanging out with the teen crowd.

 

Maybe send the older one to the club alone the first night (my oldest went alone when she was 14, and she is NOT good with doing things like this alone, but we made her...), and then maybe she can meet some kids, and the 12 year old could hang with them on the ship? It can't hurt. Have the 12 year old go to his club the first night, and just try it. Maybe he will find another 12 year old who thinks it's lame, and they can hang out together.

[jdvmd]

I'd also like to comment that the Med cruise is usually port intensive and I assume that most times during the day they would be with you on excursions.

 

As others have said there are many things for kids to do on the ship - arcade, ping pong, pools. Depending on your comfort level to allow the kids some freedom with check-ins with you they will probably keep themselves very busy in the evenings.

I was going to say the same thing. A Med trip means early, early mornings and late VERY FULL days. I would go with the ship and itinerary that suits you best and not worry about the kids program.

[tdc2673]

We are leaving on the Jewel in less than 2 weeks. I have a 9 yo dd and a newly turned 13 yo ds. My 9 yo is very social and pretty mature for her age, I will be sending her to Splash. I wish they would let her move into the 10 - 12 group but my understanding is they will not, so we will just see how it goes. My ds is pretty shy but is a sports fanatic, so I have convinced him to try the Teen Club in order to make friends with others who want to play sports. He is a larger 13 yo and very mature, so I think he will be fine wandering alone with guidelines and check ins. My dd is tiny and tends to wander, so I would not be comfortable allowing just the two of them to walk around alone. With that said, I will tell you my experience on RCL has been age flexibility with the kids program. On two different ships they have allowed my children to stay together even though they were not in the same age range. Good luck with whatever you decide!

[tempura]

We are leaving on the Jewel in less than 2 weeks. I have a 9 yo dd and a newly turned 13 yo ds. My 9 yo is very social and pretty mature for her age, I will be sending her to Splash. I wish they would let her move into the 10 - 12 group but my understanding is they will not, so we will just see how it goes. My ds is pretty shy but is a sports fanatic, so I have convinced him to try the Teen Club in order to make friends with others who want to play sports. He is a larger 13 yo and very mature, so I think he will be fine wandering alone with guidelines and check ins. My dd is tiny and tends to wander, so I would not be comfortable allowing just the two of them to walk around alone. With that said, I will tell you my experience on RCL has been age flexibility with the kids program. On two different ships they have allowed my children to stay together even though they were not in the same age range. Good luck with whatever you decide!

 

Your son will have no problem finding others to play basketball with, if that's something he likes. The speed and regularity with which basketball tournaments are organized by pax on NCL is mystifying!

[kchiumento]

We are leaving on the Jewel in less than 2 weeks. I have a 9 yo dd and a newly turned 13 yo ds. My 9 yo is very social and pretty mature for her age, I will be sending her to Splash. I wish they would let her move into the 10 - 12 group but my understanding is they will not, so we will just see how it goes. My ds is pretty shy but is a sports fanatic, so I have convinced him to try the Teen Club in order to make friends with others who want to play sports. He is a larger 13 yo and very mature, so I think he will be fine wandering alone with guidelines and check ins. My dd is tiny and tends to wander, so I would not be comfortable allowing just the two of them to walk around alone. With that said, I will tell you my experience on RCL has been age flexibility with the kids program. On two different ships they have allowed my children to stay together even though they were not in the same age range. Good luck with whatever you decide!

 

We returned from the Jewel on 10/20 - you might not have an issue with your 9 yr old. The tween group was lumped in with the 6-9 group. This was great for my 6 yr old because he was able to go up there with brother and sister (10 and 12), but it was a bust for them. I just think the tween group gets left in the dark on NCL. They just lump them in with the little kids when there aren't enough kids on a sailing. I will be interested in hearing your experience when you get back.

[tdc2673]

Your son will have no problem finding others to play basketball with, if that's something he likes. The speed and regularity with which basketball tournaments are organized by pax on NCL is mystifying!

 

Thank you! That is great to know! He LOVES basketball. :)

 

kchiumento...We will be on the cruise Thanksgiving week. I am hoping there will be lots of kiddos that week, so more 9 yo in the group. I will post when I get back and let you know how it was. :)

[GadaboutGranny]

Thank you all for your comments. Those of you who commented that this cruise will be very port intensive have an excellent point. I am going to let the kids make the decision--after all this trip is for them. They are both quite shy and may not want to participate in the organized programs in any case.

[Tiggertastic]

My son loved the NCL teen clubs and said he preferred them to RCCL etc

 

However they are limited by liability insurance and clearance of staff to work with certain age groups - we tried this ourselves as 2 boys were 3 years older and they explained why it could not be done

 

They also said that the older group goes upto 17 and it was also unfair to ask 17 year olds to hang about with an 11 year old

 

I completely understood once explained

 

In the end, they all found lots of friends in their own age groups and the eldest 2 split up to hang around with others too

[MariTenor1]

Our experience with Princess, Royal Carribean and NCL is the same ....

 

NONE of them are flexible and will allow a child even days away from a different age group to join the preferred age group... for ANY reason.

 

I had my son moved up on Royal. They had him go to his age the first day and they watched him to see if he could handle it. There only stipulation once we moved him up was that he had to stay there. He couldn't fluctuate depending on the activity.

[cindivan]

I have been able to move up kids on RC at least 3-4 times, as long as they are within a few months of the age group to which they want to move. As the previous poster commented, once moved up they can not move back down. I have only had one time where the rep was any issue, but they just requested he do one night with the younger group and if he did not like it when could move up.

 

We have had kids moved up on the Navigator Med cruise just this past June.

 

 

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[mjkacmom]

Looks like RCL will move kids up, I've had experience with DCL moving kids up, BUT - NCL does not move kids up.

[mpcaruth]

I am disappointed to hear that NCL is inflexible. We will be cruising the Jewel this winter during the off-peak time. My daughter is 11 and my son will turn 13 on the day of debarkation. I cannot imagine my nearly 13 year old son, who has a mustache starting to grow, to be grouped with the 6-9 years!!! My 11 year old DD loves crafts and silly games, so she should be fine with the younger kids.

 

Carnival is more flexible. We have had success moving my daughter up. They allowed her to move up immediately, but if they saw she was not fitting in, they would drop her down a group.

[jdvmd]

I am disappointed to hear that NCL is inflexible. We will be cruising the Jewel this winter during the off-peak time. My daughter is 11 and my son will turn 13 on the day of debarkation. I cannot imagine my nearly 13 year old son, who has a mustache starting to grow, to be grouped with the 6-9 years!!! My 11 year old DD loves crafts and silly games, so she should be fine with the younger kids.

 

Carnival is more flexible. We have had success moving my daughter up. They allowed her to move up immediately, but if they saw she was not fitting in, they would drop her down a group.

He won't be with the 6-9 year olds. He will be with his sister.

Age Groups

Guppies: 6 mo. - 2 yrs.*

Turtles: 3 - 5 yrs.

Seals: 6 - 9 yrs.

Dolphins: 10 - 12 yrs.

[tempura]

I am disappointed to hear that NCL is inflexible. We will be cruising the Jewel this winter during the off-peak time. My daughter is 11 and my son will turn 13 on the day of debarkation. I cannot imagine my nearly 13 year old son, who has a mustache starting to grow, to be grouped with the 6-9 years!!! My 11 year old DD loves crafts and silly games, so she should be fine with the younger kids.

 

Carnival is more flexible. We have had success moving my daughter up. They allowed her to move up immediately, but if they saw she was not fitting in, they would drop her down a group.

 

Post on your Roll Call as well - if you meet someone who has kids around your son's age that will be in the teen club, he can always meet up with them (and the friends they make there) outside of the teen club for sports, video games, etc.

[mpcaruth]

He won't be with the 6-9 year olds. He will be with his sister.

Age Groups

Guppies: 6 mo. - 2 yrs.*

Turtles: 3 - 5 yrs.

Seals: 6 - 9 yrs.

Dolphins: 10 - 12 yrs.

I read in a previous post that they combine age groups, 6-9 and 10-12, during the off season when there are few

kids on the ship. We sail mid January.

[rvsullivan]

I read in a previous post that they combine age groups, 6-9 and 10-12, during the off season when there are few

kids on the ship. We sail mid January.

 

Maybe! It is never a given, depends on the numbers and could go either way. If you cruise off season things can change. At least there should be no surprises now.

[cindivan]

Maybe! It is never a given, depends on the numbers and could go either way. If you cruise off season things can change. At least there should be no surprises now.

 

They do sometimes combine age groups for some events when there are not a lot of kids on the ship. We cruise in October and they usually combine the two older age groups for activities like the disco! but not all the events.

 

 

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