How strict are the teen clubs on age?

[tkportersat]

We were on the Conquest in March....they let my 14yr old daughter be in Club O2 with my son who is 16, the Director said since they were siblings they would allow it - I went along in case they needed my ok, but they didn't make me sign anything. Also my daughter will be 15 in May. I think they will make exceptions if the two are related, but I am sure like others have mentioned it depends on the ship and who is running the show.

 

To the OP: If anything tell them they are cousins or something, seems like being related helps more than stating they are "friends". Be kind and patient and the parent of the younger child should go along and affirm they are ok with them being in the older group. Good luck.

[melissamg30]

I guess we will have trouble too. We will be cruising with a 7,10,11,12 and 13 yr old. The 10&11 yr old will be together and the 12 & 13 yr old will be together but my 7 yr old won't be with his brother and he will be upset:(.

 

We we will be in the same situation for our cruise on the Liberty in October. We will be sailing with 7 kids (from 3 diffrent families..lol) ages..8,9,11,13,14,15,15. Everyone in the group will be paired up except for the 8 year old.....of course our daughter is the 8 year old will be alone :(. My son is the 9 year old in the group. Sooo, I think I'm gunna go with the "Be Oh' So Sweet" tactic. Do the camp counselors like big tips??? Hummmmmm!:cool:

[mrpayroll]

Why is it that everyone feels a RULE should be changed for them? I'm sure there are plenty of reasons why Carnival along with the other cruise lines have these rules. How strict is the rule for carrying weapons on board? How strict for liquor smuggled on board? They are called RULES. Please abide by them and teach your children something.

[Karysa]

How do they determine the kids age?If its with the fun pass thing you fill out it would be real easy to make a kid a year older.I doubt they make the kids show their ID,do they?

 

Wouldn't want this to be brought up in the future if somewhere down the road you just happen to find your teens fake ID so that they can get into nightclubs.;)

 

Karysa

[DTC]

Thanks for all of your suggestions. My son will be 14 in Dec, and we cruise in Feb, so he won't be close to 15 and he will be in 8th grade, not high school. Who knows, maybe the kids

won't even want to go into the club? I'm certainly not going to demand anything. We'ill just see what happens. We will be on vacation, that means no controversy and no stress, right!!!!

[thomarvin]

Neither of my kids are Dancing machines so are not going to want to go into the "clubs". But they would like to be in the same group for "guitar Hero" compititions and games and "activities".

 

Sometimes you have to use your judgement. They really are not rules. They are just guidelines for breaking up the group so that you don't have all the kids together at the same time. Alcohol isn't served to any of the groups so that is not the issue. The kids I feel bad for are the 18 to 21 year olds. they are too old for the kids clubs and not old enough for the adult clubs or casino. What do you do with them.?

[CruiserKatie]

We are taking two 14 year old boys....who think they are 17...and trust me..they need to be the the 15-17 year olds!

They are less than 3 months from turning 15...so I hope that rule is still enforce!

[socbay3]

They will let you move down in a group. My son did it last year on our cruise. He was 12 and our friend was 11. When we asked either way they told us they prefer my son to go down a group, Which was fine. Camp carnival was real nice. I did tell the boys not to expect it so when they said yes they were excited. No one really know till you get on board and ask. Good luck and have fun!

[lukegr]

Neither of my kids are Dancing machines so are not going to want to go into the "clubs". But they would like to be in the same group for "guitar Hero" compititions and games and "activities".

 

Sometimes you have to use your judgement. They really are not rules. They are just guidelines for breaking up the group so that you don't have all the kids together at the same time. Alcohol isn't served to any of the groups so that is not the issue. The kids I feel bad for are the 18 to 21 year olds. they are too old for the kids clubs and not old enough for the adult clubs or casino. What do you do with them.?

well.. 18 to 20 would be more like it. if you're 21 you can buy drinks and go to the clubs. and if you're 18 you can go to the casino, you just can't buy drinks.

 

but i agree, that age group didn't have a meet & greet the last time i cruised, and they wouldn't let anyone of that bracket in the club o2 meet & greet just to make friends.

[nvrhome]

Oh Cespo---I hope you didn't get Lonny in trouble!

[nvrhome]

If I was teen director I'd be a lot more lenient than those strict ones. I don't see how a 14 year old is that much different than a 15 year old.

Using that analogy then there's not much difference between a 17 & 18 year old, but we all know that 18 is legal & 17 is not

[nvrhome]

I guess we will have trouble too. We will be cruising with a 7,10,11,12 and 13 yr old. The 10&11 yr old will be together and the 12 & 13 yr old will be together but my 7 yr old won't be with his brother and he will be upset:(.

 

Your 7 year old will be making soooooo many new friends he won't even miss his siblings-he may even be happy noy having them around LOL!

[DPurcell58]

Very interesting. Thinking of switching to Carnival this summer and I have a 15 yr old w/special needs - high functioning autism. Now on RCCL they have always let him go down a group, since he's not as mature as kids his age (although as he gets older that gets harder cause he's bigger than most of the kids in his group). Wonder how Carnival would address this - from what I'm reading maybe they don't have a policy for special needs kids?

[lukegr]

Using that analogy then there's not much difference between a 17 & 18 year old, but we all know that 18 is legal & 17 is not

just because a law says so? it's still only one year...

[thomarvin]

DPurcell,

 

You should check out Autism on the Seas. They cruise alot with RC. We cruised with them last year. My son is 10 and non-verbal. Unfortunatly we are not able to cruise with them this year. Our schedules didn't match. We got alot of extras including a bridge tour. It was awesome. Mike, the TA who runs the group is working on getting me some VIP status with Carnival on my July cruise even though it is not an AOS cruise. Even simple things like VIP boarding for us would be great. I don't use the kids club though.

They are worth checking out at www.autismontheseas.com

[Pyro Tec]

its nothing that a Jackson or two can't fix! ;)

[tkportersat]

It is a "group", not a rule.......My daughter is in Highschool, she shouldn't be forced to be in a group of middle schoolers. I think they should divide the groups more by school level. If I had kids in Middle school/Junior high I wouldn't really want them in a group of HS age teens. Very different.

 

Why is it that everyone feels a RULE should be changed for them? I'm sure there are plenty of reasons why Carnival along with the other cruise lines have these rules. How strict is the rule for carrying weapons on board? How strict for liquor smuggled on board? They are called RULES. Please abide by them and teach your children something.

[cruise.freak]

It is a "group", not a rule.......My daughter is in Highschool, she shouldn't be forced to be in a group of middle schoolers. I think they should divide the groups more by school level. If I had kids in Middle school/Junior high I wouldn't really want them in a group of HS age teens. Very different.

I totally agree. My daughter will turn 15 on the Thursday of the cruise and will be starting her sophmore year in high school. It would be nice if they did catorgize it by junior high and high school because the maturity levels (including the attitudes) are so different at those ages. I am hoping they let her in the 15-17 year old group.

[crazymom3]

I am also worried that my daughter who is 7 will be alone. We are travelling with another couple who have a 5 year old and a 9 year old. My 5 year old and this other boy will be together. My son, also 9 will be in the 9-11 group with my friends daughter. My 7 year old wants to be with her friend, but i guess that won't be happening. Too bad now no kids in camp, and no adult time to enjoy. Last year wasn't an issue as they were all in the same age group 6-8. I loved the camp b/c it gave us a chance to just relax and time with friends, with no kids needing supervision! Maybe a huge tip will help!

[tkportersat]

My daughter didn't want to hang out with "little kids" :)

Good luck, I hope your daughter gets to be in the older group.

 

I totally agree. My daughter will turn 15 on the Thursday of the cruise and will be starting her sophmore year in high school. It would be nice if they did catorgize it by junior high and high school because the maturity levels (including the attitudes) are so different at those ages. I am hoping they let her in the 15-17 year old group.

[tkportersat]

I hope it all works. When they were younger I left them in the age group they were assigned, they always made new friends. Hopefully your daughter will at least give it a try and can spend time at Ports, dinner, pool with the others.

 

I am also worried that my daughter who is 7 will be alone. We are travelling with another couple who have a 5 year old and a 9 year old. My 5 year old and this other boy will be together. My son, also 9 will be in the 9-11 group with my friends daughter. My 7 year old wants to be with her friend, but i guess that won't be happening. Too bad now no kids in camp, and no adult time to enjoy. Last year wasn't an issue as they were all in the same age group 6-8. I loved the camp b/c it gave us a chance to just relax and time with friends, with no kids needing supervision! Maybe a huge tip will help!

[mommyloons2009]

I do struggle to understand the age groupings. My son has an early birthday so he is will be 12 when we go on our cruise in June. I know he is not ready to hang with the older kids especially those that are 14 in 9th grade. My daughter is 15th in 9th grade. I can't see my son hanging with my daughter's friends who are still only 14. I think they should change it to the year they were born. This could eliminate some of the concerns. It might not work for kids who weren't born the same year but it would sure work for friends that are in the same grade but one has an early birthday and another a late birthday.

 

My only saving grace to this is that another boy who will be 12 the day before we cruise will be with us.

 

Can requesting to stay with the younger kids because of ADHD and a Learning Disability work? Just wondering?

[tkportersat]

I hear ya :)

From everything I have read it seems to be on a case by case basis, determined by the Camp Director.

 

The way I approached it was to go to the Director in charge of my son's group (15-17) and told her that my daughter would be 15 in May and was in Highschool already, she wrote her name down and said ok and that was that. If you have any paperwork stating your child has a learning disability it probably wouldn't hurt in pleading your case if they give you a hard time.

 

I do struggle to understand the age groupings. My son has an early birthday so he is will be 12 when we go on our cruise in June. I know he is not ready to hang with the older kids especially those that are 14 in 9th grade. My daughter is 15th in 9th grade. I can't see my son hanging with my daughter's friends who are still only 14. I think they should change it to the year they were born. This could eliminate some of the concerns. It might not work for kids who weren't born the same year but it would sure work for friends that are in the same grade but one has an early birthday and another a late birthday.

 

My only saving grace to this is that another boy who will be 12 the day before we cruise will be with us.

 

Can requesting to stay with the younger kids because of ADHD and a Learning Disability work? Just wondering?

[cruisinCLT]

we were on the destiny in March and my niece is 13 and my cousin is 15 and they both went into the 15-17 year old club with no problem

[Reva_Dearchi]

I took my daughter and my neice when they were 12 and 14 and they were in the same group. Now my daughter is 14 and my neice is 16 and I assumed they would not be able to be together. My daughter will be going into her sophmore year of high school and 4 months shy of her 15th b-day when we cruise. Maybe they'll give her a pass since it'll be her Platinum Carnival Cruise. :) I have no problem asking nicely if she can be in the 15 - 17 group but if not, I don't think she'll mind as she makes friends really easily. She will likely be fine if she has to stay in her own age group. She might even prefer it! ;)