Where does my 12 yr old fit in?

[cabotpanther]

My son is 12 and is traveling with us on the Liberty of the Seas. He is at that in between age. What kids program is available for him? He is past face painting and such but not ready for teen dance parties.

[LeesSummitCruiser1]

My 11 year old daughter is the same. between 4 and 8 we had to drag her out of Adventure ocean 8 and 9 only selected events interested her. After 9 she refuses to go. Luckily that has not been a problem, usually after the first afternoon in the pool she has found a friend and they run together when we are on the ship. We have a note system we use and have yet to have any trouble with her.

[njm5378]

Due to numbers they may combine the 12-17 age group but there still should kids his age to hang out with. Our kids use the first day or two to meet people, then they seem to move away from the structured programs and just have fun at the pools or sports deck together. Tell him to give it a chance.

[SausPud]

Or leave him at home with a loaf of bread, gallon of milk and a xbox, he will be fine and you can enjoy your cruise.

[cabotpanther]

Oh good I will make it a point to hang at the pool the first day to get him to meet some kids.

Thanks guys!

[330searay]

Cabot when are you sailing? We are sailing August 8 and we have 15,12,7,and 16 x2 sailing with us! The first cruise we ever took the kids on was a 5 day aboard explorer. one of our sons was 12 then.They had a great time never bored. The liberty has much more to offer than explorer did at that time. He will be fine. If you are by chance doing the 8-8 we can get them together.

[deanna41]

when our grandson that age went he met friends at the pool and they met in the the age group at night and had a blast. Don't worry, snd the age groups work out to.

[cabotpanther]

Cabot when are you sailing? We are sailing August 8 and we have 15,12,7,and 16 x2 sailing with us! The first cruise we ever took the kids on was a 5 day aboard explorer. one of our sons was 12 then.They had a great time never bored. The liberty has much more to offer than explorer did at that time. He will be fine. If you are by chance doing the 8-8 we can get them together.

 

We are cruising Feb 21. :)

[tlatrice]

Oh good I will make it a point to hang at the pool the first day to get him to meet some kids.

Thanks guys!

 

Has your son been on a cruise before? Hanging by the pool is a great strategy. So is hanging at Café Promenade (or wherever the free pizza is on Liberty - Sorrentos?? :D)

 

On our first cruise, I was by the pool reading and my son came from AO and said "I'm bored." I showed him some kids in the hot tub and told him to go introduce himself. He was shy. I almost had to drag him over there, but he went and within 30 minutes they decided to go to lunch together. The pretty much hung out at the sports court, the pizza place or the buffet. He's still friends with one of the kids from that first cruise and ran into 2 girls from that cruise at a band function last semester. We moved this past July to a new school district.

 

He'll have a ball! :D

[cabotpanther]

This is his first cruise. He usually doesn't have a problem making friends so now I just hope there are kids his age on a feb cruise.

[cindivan]

If the age breakdown for activities are the same across ships, and I think they are, he would be included in the 12-14 age group. Because it's February and there probably won't be a ton of kids they will probably combine a few activities with the 15-18 age group. I have a 13, 17 and 18 yo and we sail frequently. They always say it's important to get to kids club the first night for the "get to know" gathering or whatever rather call it. They usually meet a group of kids that end up hanging together the rest of the cruise.

[tlatrice]

This is his first cruise. He usually doesn't have a problem making friends so now I just hope there are kids his age on a feb cruise.

 

I'm probably in the minority on this, but I LOVE to see kids on cruises. I love that they're being exposed to travel and different cultures. Hopefully this will create a lifelong appreciation for travel in your son. :D

[jewel825]

We were just on the Freedom earlier this month. My daughters are 11 and 13 and had a blast in the Teen Club. My younger daughter wasn't 12 yet (she will be 12 in August), but they still allowed her to be part of the teen group. The first night they all met up in the Living Room and met a few friends. Kind of awkward at first but it was easier for my kids since they had each other. There were some other groups that went up together also.

 

Each day they'd meet up and then go do something around the ship - rock climb, do the flow rider, go swimming, hang out in the arcade, etc…. and really go to know each other. By the third day they were all best friends meeting up for breakfast in the Windjammer and spent their days and nights together hanging around in a pack. They said it's the best spring break trip they've ever been on!

[cindivan]

I'm probably in the minority on this, but I LOVE to see kids on cruises. I love that they're being exposed to travel and different cultures. Hopefully this will create a lifelong appreciation for travel in your son. :D

 

 

We have cruised regularly for several years and I can say without question cruises have given all my kids greater confidence in social situations, with their peers and adults, learning how to treat those serving them with the respect they deserve, and having conversations with people of all ages they have just met.

[waterbug123]

Oh good I will make it a point to hang at the pool the first day to get him to meet some kids.

Thanks guys!

 

 

We used that strategy a few years ago when my son was middle school age (I forget exactly but I think in 6th grade maybe? So right around age 12) On boarding day we were by the pool, and he didn't want to hang with his brother who is 5 years younger and was happily entertaining himself in the water. My 12 yo just sat on the end of my chair looking bored.

There were a few boys who looked to be his age in the water and I encouraged him to get in but he wouldn't. So WE went and sat on the edge with our feet in, and THEN he somewhat reluctantly got in the water, but still stayed near us at the edge. Well of course within a few minutes one of the other boys ended up near him and accidentally bumped him or something. They said "hey" in that disinterested way boys do, but it was enough to get my son to venture away a little further out into the pool. I think the other boys had a nerf ball or something that they were tossing around so it was easy enough for my son to toss it back when it landed near him. Blinked our eyes and suddenly he was right in the midst of them, actively participating in whatever game it was they were playing. 20 or 30 minutes later it was "hey is it ok if I go with them to...." and we barely saw him the rest of the cruise. :)