Adventure Ocean Question

[jmlipari]

We are going on the Freedom of the Seas on Feb.10. I have two boys 7 and 5 and a half. I see that the Adventure Ocean is broken down by ages 3-5 and 6-8. Do you think they will give me a problem with putting them both in the 6-8 age group? The younger one is very mature and they will want to be together.

 

Thanks in advance!

[knuckles]

We are going on the Freedom of the Seas on Feb.10. I have two boys 7 and 5 and a half. I see that the Adventure Ocean is broken down by ages 3-5 and 6-8. Do you think they will give me a problem with putting them both in the 6-8 age group? The younger one is very mature and they will want to be together.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

 

You will need to get approval in advance, when you sign them up, but I don't believe you will have any trouble. My girls are 2 1/2 years apart and have always been in the same group.

 

Knuckles

[AMommyof2]

I've read several posts about people putting their children together in AO. Just be sure you get approval first. It shouldn't be a problem for you. Unfortunately, my kids are 6 years apart in age, so no hope for me to get mine together.

[masonpips]

Given that you'll probably not have a large group of children on board, they will probably let you do a "trial" run w/moving your younger son up and if all goes well, allow him to stay there. I'm sure the 5.5 one will be fine w/the next age group.

 

My DS has changed groups mid-way through a cruise as his birthday fell mid-way through the cruise. They would have let him join either group at either time, but given that we were talking days from either age I understood that. We've always cruised in Oct mainly and again, not a lot of kids on board so it's been pretty easy to switch.

[Littlebrookfarm]

On AOS last spring we were able to arrange this for our younger son. He was almost 6 and they agreed to let him try it out BUT not before they made him 'try' one session with the 3-5 year old group. Luckily he was a good sport about it and was able to join the 6-8 year old group for the next time. When you board you can talk to the youth staff about it since they are right there when you get on to give you the kids muster station wrist bands (my kids don't like these!!).

 

Good luck - I'm sure they will love it. My kids beg to stay later every time we come to pick them up. :)

[Suzanne74]

My daughter was a few weeks shy of 6 when we went and I swore she was going to hate the 3-5yr olds. I politely asked one of the councelors the first night and they only ask that each child does one trial first. This gives the child and the councelor a feeling if they are going to be better off in the higher group. I thought it was a great idea. Well after the first session, they said she could move up but my daughter didn't want to. There were a few 5yr old girls she buddied up with and said the 6-8yr old group was too loud and crazy!:D

 

This time she is 6 and is now looking forward to being in an older group.

[jmlipari]

Thanks for all of your responses.:D That is a big relief, that they will likely let them be together.

[girlsrulekrj]

I had a different experience on Explorer. My nephew was 4 at that time and the counselors would not let him be in the next age group (6-8) with his sister and 2 cousins. We tried several times and he cried and cried but they stood firm. We ended up spending a lot of time as 4 adults with my young nephew. This was partly on our side too because he is shy and very attached to his mom so he wouldn't mix in with the other kids in his age group. We are going in March on Liberty so I hope we don't have the same experience. Of course the kids are all 2 years older now (the other 3 are 10 & 9) so they will be split groups again but perhaps my nephew will handle it better now or maybe the staff on the Liberty will be more flexible. I hope it will work out better.

[Nliedel]

They are far more likely to let them move down, than up. That said, my boys are now in different age groups and both prefer that. Sometimes they like a break, but with it being a new enviroment, I can also see why they would like to be together.

 

They are more likely to allow it with kids who are almost of the next age group, girlzrulekrj. Four to six is one of those big leaps.

[girlsrulekrj]

They are far more likely to let them move down, than up. That said, my boys are now in different age groups and both prefer that. Sometimes they like a break, but with it being a new enviroment, I can also see why they would like to be together.

 

They are more likely to allow it with kids who are almost of the next age group, girlzrulekrj. Four to six is one of those big leaps.

 

Thanks for your thoughts! My younger daughter is 9 which is the closest to my nephew. I'll bet she would stay down in the 6-8 group. I didn't think of it that way before - I was thinking of moving him up with the majority. My other daughter will be almost 11 and my niece just turned 10 so I'll bet they will want to be with the "bigger" kids. Yes, 4 to 6 is a big jump. He is in school full time now in first grade so he has transitioned from mom somewhat and matured. We'll see how it goes. I appreciate the other suggestions to check with the youth staff when we check in also.