18yo & 15yo activities together??

[malonzo4]

We are doing the Ruby Eastern Caribbean Cruise in April and were wondering if our children will be able to go to the teen club together and teen night activities. On the website it says 13 to 17yo's. The 18yo turns 18 two weeks before the cruise. Just wondering if anyone else had this dilemma?

[Toto2Kansas]

Sorry, but they will not allow the 18 year old to join in the kids/teen club, they do not allow it. And I have never heard of them making exceptions for those 18 years of age and older. They must be 3-17 to participate.

[lsk]

We have five children and have never been told no when one of them wanted to join a different age group to be with a sibling. This applies to several cruise lines, including Princess.

[Toto2Kansas]

We have five children and have never been told no when one of them wanted to join a different age group to be with a sibling. This applies to several cruise lines, including Princess.

But were any of them over the age of 18?

[DrivesLikeMario]

No, they will NOT allow the 18 year old to participate in the teen program. There may be times when an 18 yr. old has slipped in unnoticed, but if they find out, they'll remove that person. We have 'kids' that age and they're pretty strict about the age limits.

[Tatka]

We have five children and have never been told no when one of them wanted to join a different age group to be with a sibling. This applies to several cruise lines, including Princess.

 

Princess doesn't allow 18 yo in teen clubs...

[Toto2Kansas]

We have five children and have never been told no when one of them wanted to join a different age group to be with a sibling. This applies to several cruise lines, including Princess.

 

I am going to guess you either didn't read the OP's entire question (including the kids ages), or you didn't read my reply in it's entirety. ;)

[KKMKEM]

Absolutely, will not allow it even if 18 year old is still in high school. They can't even play the video games.

[jaynak]

And just to repeat one more time - NO they will NOT allow your 18 year old to join the younger teens. Even if you PLEAD and say how nice your 18 year old is!! They have to draw the line somewhere... if they allow 18 year olds in, then what about 19 year olds? Then they'd have parents of 15 year olds complaining that 19 year olds were being allowed in!!

 

I speak from experience. Last year we had a group of teens - 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20 (really!!) with us. They are all inseperable and were devastated when they couldn't be together. However I understood perfectly. Much to our delight, Princess pulled thru BIG time and put together a program for 18-21 year olds (and allowed the younger kids to join with our permission). I don't know that they are always able to do this but our kids are good, happy, easy going, fun loving kids and I think Princess wanted to keep them that way - and they really went above and beyond for them. I'll always remember how great Princess was for us.

[Colo Cruiser]

They will not let an adult join the teen club activities.

[malonzo4]

Thank you for clearing that up. I don't have any problem with it at all actually, I just wanted to know what to expect. Yes my 18yo is a senior in high school and my 15yo a freshman.

 

Thanks again as always for your info !!!!!!

[mahimahi1414]

I had this dilemma on a Celebrity cruise a couple years ago when I was 18 and my brother and cousin were both under 18 so I'll just put in my two cents as someone whos had some experience with teen activities staff.

 

Like Princess, they had a "no adults allowed in the teen section" policy and did kick some 18+ year olds out who were being a nuisance (mostly trying to get underage girls to drink with them etc.). There were a couple of 18/19 year olds in my situation (at least one other in our group of friends) and the staff didn't really have an issue with it. I didn't advertise the fact I was 18 but they probably figured it out anyway and let it slide.

 

On RCL cruises I've been on they will actually check your seapass card when entering the teen section, but usually only at night. My last RCL cruise my brother said there were a number of 18 year olds who would go to the teen club and had no issues, but again those that were causing problems were asked to leave. When I would try to go in to get my brother they'd ask to see my seapass card and I'd just explain I'm looking for someone and I'll be right out. So I've always found its more of a discretion policy, especially during the day where it would just get annoying to check seapass cards for everyone who shows up to every activity. I've always found its much easier for an 18 year old to get into the teen club than a 17 year old to get into the adult club.

 

The comments about the parents complaining are correct though, 18 year olds are not supposed to be there so if a parent alerts the staff about someone, they'll be asked to leave and won't be allowed in.

 

In addition, by the second of third night, a lot of teens have found their little clique and don't even bother going to the teen place or there's groups that just meet like at the pool etc and never even set foot in there... so if they want to be together, they can meet people their age many other places and just hang out there.

 

There is a difference between a different age group and an adult in the teen area. It may be the case they'll let you request to switch age groups... but they will not let you request to have your 18 year old in the teen area. If they just show up they might be allowed in. Worst case scenario is they let your child know that they are not allowed in there.

 

Regarding the poster who talked about the 18-21 program... that sounds amazing. I've never seen anything like that on any of my cruises but I think its a great idea. Did you have to request that or is that a standard on Princess ships?