how strict are the age groups in kids club?

[farmersescape]

My daughter will be too old by one week to be with her sister and I am wondering if they would make an exception. RCL definitely would not on our last cruise.

[Anginette]

NCL definitely will not make an exception either. Sorry.

[che5904]

NCL's policy appears very strict on this so if you phone and ask they will 99% of the time tell you no.

 

When onboard it never hurts to ask, the most they can tell you is no and you are already prepared for that.

[sparks1093]

The only times I've heard of exceptions being made were when the number of kids onboard was very small, otherwise they are very strict.

[cynbar]

It makes sense when you think about it --- can you imagine the chaos if a long line of parents all have reasons to make an exception for their child? And then where do you draw the line? 1 week?? 2 weeks away from the cutoff?? no one would be happy. Plus, we have posts here from parents who think their child will be too mature for their age group. Who decides this?? I know it can be disappointing for a child, but much better to know in advance and prepare them. We have seen posts from returning cruisers who said their child was sure he/she wouldn't like the club due to the age groups or some other reason, but they were encouraged to try it and ended up loving it.

[camz]

That is a tough one but unfortunately, NCL tends to stand their ground with the age group scenario. I guess they have their reasons, however, it is tough on the little ones to be separated when they are so close in age. Even though they probably will assign the children to different groups, you should still try it out. NCL has a great Kid/Teen Club Program onboard. It would be a shame if the kids missed out on this program.

[che5904]

I've also read on CC that sometimes they combine age groups for some group activities. So if onboard they tell you no, they may not be separate all the time. Thats something you may want to investigate further with the councillors onboard.

 

Just prepare your little ones before the cruise that they may not always be together. Usually this is harder on the parents than it is the children. As most children who are different ages have to learn to be without the other one in places like school, sports activities etc.

[bbrme]

When we were on the Jewel in Dec 2009 they combined the 6 - 9 and 10 - 12 age groups since there werent many kids on board that week. I think there were some "free play" times when all the ages played together. What ages are your kids?

[nathand95]

They are very strict in their policies, BUT on the Epic a month ago we were able to sneak alot of people into the teen club. The counselors never really checked to see if we had stickers. I remember them checking only once on the 2nd day.