How strict are they on ages for teens club?

[peacefrogdog]

My daughter will be 11 for a July cruise on Allure. She is hoping to spend time with her cousins who are 12 and 13. It looks like the stated age range for one of the teens clubs is 12-14.

 

Do you think the cruise line will allow my daughter to enter the 12-14 club? She would be 3 months shy of her twelfth birthday. She has no interest in going to the Voyageurs club in which she would be the oldest child by far.

[hollon]

I'm thinking No, my kids are so close in age and I went and ask and they said NO.

[Xina143]

You don't know that she will be the 'oldest by far,' come on. And if they do it for you, they in turn must do it for everyone. I think you have two choices,

 

1) you can make a huge stink and see if they will let her. She in turn will see your attitude and then think making a stink is the way to go, and that could impact not only her cruise, but yours and everyone else's as well.

 

2) you can wait until you get on board and encourage her to make some friends, as honestly, is it that big a deal if her new friend is 6 months younger? and join in the fun. Then look over the schedule and plan some things the cousins can all do together.

[gerif]

You don't know that she will be the 'oldest by far,' come on. And if they do it for you, they in turn must do it for everyone. I think you have two choices,

 

1) you can make a huge stink and see if they will let her. She in turn will see your attitude and then think making a stink is the way to go, and that could impact not only her cruise, but yours and everyone else's as well.

 

2) you can wait until you get on board and encourage her to make some friends, as honestly, is it that big a deal if her new friend is 6 months younger? and join in the fun. Then look over the schedule and plan some things the cousins can all do together.

 

Good response. Also consider the fact that the older kids in the group will not be wanting her there. Sometimes the combine the two teen groups - do you really want your 11 year old hanging with boys who might be a week away from turning 18? Plenty of things your kids can do together outside the clubs.

[spookwife]

moving down is easier. moving up to the next level..do not count on it. if the clubs are full they absolutely will not allow it.

 

she can hang out with her cousins outside of the clubs.

[Harooni]

i think they have some kind of code on the sea pass to mark age of child or under a certain age . because my sons had some type of letter on his , im guessing to identy for clubs and solarium and curfew

[yolanda1]

My experience has been that they are very strict on this. If they stick to it with everyone, as they appear to, there's no reason why she would be the oldest child by far in the younger group. She could have a great time with new friends her own age.

[FirstTimeCruiser2002]

They are very strict on the ages for the clubs but there are numerous things that the kids could do together on the ship. My kids quit going to the clubs when they got older because of the lack of kids in the club. Of course we cruise off season :D

[Barnum42]

Of course we cruise off season :D

Lucky you. The British Government have hefty fines and even prison sentences if you dare to go at a time when the travel firms can't rip you off to the max.

[xxHadleyxx]

I have to agree that the best thing to do is help the kids figure out what they will enjoy doing together outside of the clubs.

Otherwise, if being all together in the teen club is really super important, I suggest you delay the family trip until they are all old enough.

[happymoes]

Stinks for us...cruising in 3 weeks and I have 17 year old that is graduating from hs but she would have to hang with 15-17 group. Also a 14 year old going into 10th that will have to be with the 12-14 group. I think our kids will prob not go to the clubs and just find friends on ship!

 

 

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[Wilda]

Have the kids attend the club the first night, especially if they are 12-17. They will get to meet kids in their age group and pal around for the week.

 

OP, I can understand your 11 year old wanting to hang with older cousins, and we had a similar concern. We gave our 11 year-old grandson the option to sign himself out of the 9-11 AO if he was bored. He had pretty strict instructions that if he did sign himself out that he had to connect with us. He ended up signing out on several nights, but there were a few nights they had activities he enjoyed. I think a lot of it had to to with how WE presented his options.

 

You know your 11-year old. In the teen club they are unsupervised if they leave the club, and they can leave the club at any time they please. If the clubs are combined (12-17) your child will be chillin' with a much older age group. Some 11 year-olds are very mature, and others are simply not ready for the responsibility of decision-making that comes with being on a ship of 6,000+ passengers. If you are traveling during a school vacation time the likelihood the clubs will be combined is minimal. Otherwise, it is possible. Enjoy your cruise:)

Edited May 11, 2014 by Wilda

[Langley Cruisers]

... you can make a huge stink and see if they will let her. She in turn will see your attitude and then think making a stink is the way to go, and that could impact not only her cruise, but yours and everyone else's as well...

 

Aww, well if OP elects to go this route, the daughter may think this is the best course of action for every situation that doesn't go her way. :(

 

OP, I understand about the situation, but the rules are in place for a reason. Can you imagine your daughter being the youngest girl in (as an example) the15 to 17 or 16 to 18 age group? There is a heckuva big difference between a 15 year old girl and a 17 or 18 year old boy. Yikes. :eek: ;) Right?

 

From what I've read here, there is no leeway on the ages. None. If they make an exception for one person, they would have to do so for everyone. But she'll have fun regardless. A cousin cruise sounds fabulous! :)

 

.

[nmmickeymom]

Good night Irene! The OP said nothing about pushing the issue, they were simply asking a question and seeing if it was a possibility. Setting a bad example, the horrors of younger children hanging out with older children, rules are rules. Good grief. I had some of the same questions based on the ages of the children in our group and read reports that sometimes in the off-season they combine groups because of low numbers. Not necessarily an absolute. I read Cruise Critic a lot but rarely post for just that reason.

[torcruise]

I'm taking my niece on our cruise she is 14 but will turn 15 on the cruise. On her birthday will they change her club and she will have to hang with all new people?

[gerif]

I'm taking my niece on our cruise she is 14 but will turn 15 on the cruise. On her birthday will they change her club and she will have to hang with all new people?

 

No, she will remain the age she was on the first day.

[Harooni]

No, she will remain the age she was on the first day.

its like the fountain of youth.

[theSHAH]

They check your seapass cards on entry and if you're not in the age group then no dice. On my last cruise on the Oasis several years back I was 19 and sailing with a large group of extended and immediate family. My older brother and older cousin were in their mid 20s so I couldn't hang out with them at their bars and clubs, my younger cousins were 14-17 so I couldn't hang out with them in the teen clubs, it was quite annoying.

[gerif]

They check your seapass cards on entry and if you're not in the age group then no dice. On my last cruise on the Oasis several years back I was 19 and sailing with a large group of extended and immediate family. My older brother and older cousin were in their mid 20s so I couldn't hang out with them at their bars and clubs, my younger cousins were 14-17 so I couldn't hang out with them in the teen clubs, it was quite annoying.

 

I don't understand. At 19, you could be in any of the venues your older relatives could be in, just couldn't have alcohol in your drinks. I really can't see the big issue since many drinks are available in virgin form. Believe it or not, some people over 21 don't consume alcohol for various reasons. I'm sure they manage to somehow have fun on a cruise.

[Jenjer]

We were on Allure last year my DD was 11. They let her age up.

 

We were cruising with our friends and their DD was 12. The girls wanted to be together. All 8 of us went to kids club first and spoke to the Manager. He sent us on to the teen club. They had a list of all the 11YO's we had to sign a release and they explained the rules about the extra freedom and bla bla.

 

I knew it was a long shot but I was nice about it and they were more than happy to accommodate us. The girls had fun.

 

I think the 18 and under rule they sick to very firm for legal reasons.

 

We found most activities were basely 14 and under and 15 and over.

[galavant3]

My son was able to move up to be with his friend. They had him stay with his own group for a couple of hours just to be sure he'd be ok.

 

Ask when you get on board. They were more than happy to accommodate us but not everyone has had the same experience.

 

It is only natural that friends traveling together will want to actually be together on the cruise.

[peacefrogdog]

Thanks for everyone's comments and sharing of your experiences. They were extremely helpful to give me a sense of what to expect.

 

With the exception of the post quoted below

 

You don't know that she will be the 'oldest by far,' come on. And if they do it for you, they in turn must do it for everyone. I think you have two choices,

 

1) you can make a huge stink and see if they will let her. She in turn will see your attitude and then think making a stink is the way to go, and that could impact not only her cruise, but yours and everyone else's as well.

 

2) you can wait until you get on board and encourage her to make some friends, as honestly, is it that big a deal if her new friend is 6 months younger? and join in the fun. Then look over the schedule and plan some things the cousins can all do together.

[Xina143]

I'm sorry I didn't post exactly what you wanted to hear, but I'll stand by my reply.

 

And the fact that you felt the need to be nasty and single me out because I didn't say what you wanted to hear says a lot.

 

Happy Cruising!

[sharse]

I would suggest, too, that what you might find happens is that the kids go to their clubs the first day, make a bunch of friends, and then those friends hang together the rest of the cruise, mostly outside the club, in which case of course the younger girl can hang with cousins and new friends. No prohibition on that! But it is nice to hear that some people have experienced 11 year olds to move up, because I will be in that exact situation on our next cruise. My very mature 11 year old will certainly want to move up to be with his (much less mature) 12 year old brother and the friends they make. :)

[Xina143]

LOL...that sounds like our first experience. My son is a bit older than his cousin, but far less mature. They did exactly as you mentioned. They went to their clubs and found their own friends. But they also found plenty of things to do together.

 

 

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