Looking for teen club experiences please

[DanaArcher]

We still have a long way to go until our cruise on Oasis in March, but.... Mostly, I am a bit overprotective of my boys. Two of my triplets have disabilities and they tend on the “younger” side. They will have just turned 14 when we cruise. I am curious what others have experienced in terms of supervision of the club and overall safety. I know that they can come and go as they please. I also understand that the staff isn’t going to be like in the kids club. We had a bad experience on Carnival Magic. It was like feral children who were doing their best to destroy as much as they could.

[spookwife]

at that age there is pretty much zero 'supervision' or organized activities. the area is merely a hangout for the most part that might have a few video game systems lying around.

 

on the first night, there will be a scheduled get together and that is when the counselors and the kids who show up informally discuss what they would like to do all week.. things like a set time to play a game at the sports court, video game tournaments, etc. otherwise, teens that age tend to congregate in herds at the pool, arcade or one of the lounges during the day.

[Smiley525]

Is it even broken up by age? 12-14 15-17?

[orville99]

Is it even broken up by age? 12-14 15-17?

Yes. 12-14 will be in one group and 15-17 will be in another. There are scheduled activities (like ice skating, flow rider, etc.) throughout the week, and your boys will get their own cruise compass (daily planner) that is appropriate for their age. While the structure is looser at that age than it is in the younger groups, there still are counsellors and a structure in place. How much (or how little) your boys participate in the scheduled activities is up to you and them to decide.

[Ourusualbeach]

Is it even broken up by age? 12-14 15-17?

It depends on how many teens there are. We’ve been on cruises where the 2 groups were combined and all the activities were for all teens.

[stephL]

Is it even broken up by age? 12-14 15-17?

We also had the experience it was all combined. My son was 13 and way younger than most teens there so after the meet and greet(which he left early) he never went back. And he would always go to the kids club... so it was slightly disappointing for him. I think it depends on your sailing.

[dcgrumpy]

Is it even broken up by age? 12-14 15-17?

 

 

Like others have said it depends on how many kids there are.

 

Our last 2 cruise were both on Independence. The first time there weren't many kids because most of the country was back in school by then and the groups were combined. The next time was in February when many Northeast schools are on break they were separated.

 

There seemed to be more activity participation when they were combined. When they were separate a lot of times the kids didn't want to participate because they weren't with friends they made from the other age group. Our next cruise is in November on Allure and they're hoping the ages are combined.

[dcgrumpy]

We still have a long way to go until our cruise on Oasis in March, but.... Mostly, I am a bit overprotective of my boys. Two of my triplets have disabilities and they tend on the “younger” side. They will have just turned 14 when we cruise. I am curious what others have experienced in terms of supervision of the club and overall safety. I know that they can come and go as they please. I also understand that the staff isn’t going to be like in the kids club. We had a bad experience on Carnival Magic. It was like feral children who were doing their best to destroy as much as they could.

 

 

We're going on Carnival Magic in February. I hope we have a better experience. :o

[DanaArcher]

We're going on Carnival Magic in February. I hope we have a better experience. :o

 

I hope you do, too! My boys liked playing video games for free, but I was very uncomfortable.

[cruisemom67]

Like everything else, it completely depends on the staff at the time. My girls have been in 13 different kids clubs, 3 different brands. Most of the time they loved it. But at times, they would meet kids the first night and then hang out at the pool/slides/pizza with them, rather than going back to the kids club. Go with an open mind, have them try it the first night and go from there. Just don't miss the first night!

 

It's been a couple years since we were on Magic, but my girls had a GREAT time on it!