Carnival Freedom Kids Clubs .. Age groups

[tvan76]

My 5 girls ages 13, 11, 10, 9 and 8 will be attending the Kids Clubs throughout our cruise on the Carnival Freedom in February .. According to the website my 13 yr old will not be in the same group as her sisters .. She does not want to be by herself .. Is there anyway they will make an exception and allow the 11 (almost 12 yr old) to go with her?

[mjkacmom]

I've never sailed on Carnival, but I doubt it. Most ships are very strict for insurance reasons, and will not cover liability for those who are not supposed to be there (NCL will only let you in the older group on your birthday, not a day before). If they aren't as strict, maybe you oldest can move down, but I can't imagine any cruiseline allowing an 11 year old (even if almost 12) into the teen club.

[Kerry's Girls]

If they allowed 11 year olds in the teen club, the other teens wouldn't want to go (and I wouldn't want my 11 year old with the teens). If the staff let yours, they would have to let anyone else with an 11 year old who asked. As posted above, they will at times let kids age down, but it depends on lots of factors (space, etc.), and the on board staff gets to decide. If it were me, I'd take the 13 year old the first night and let her see how great it is to be part of the older group rather than with the "kids" before even making the request.

 

Best,

Mia

Edited January 8, 2014 by Kerry's Girls

[#1TravelMom]

I am CERTAIN they will not allow the 11 year old in the teen group. You may have a remote chance of convincing them to allow your teen to drop down to the younger group. I'm sure she thinks she doesn't want to be in a group by herself. I promise - if she goes to meet and greet the first night, she will make friends and she will want to hang with them all week. Last cruise my nephew was convinced he was going to be miserable - exact same scenario as you will have. All kids in our group were slightly younger with him just turning 13 before we cruised. He went to meet and greet - met a bunch kids. We had to "hunt him down" when we needed him for something.

You may want to see if your sailing has a role call. If there are other 13 year olds - she could email back and forth until the cruise, then meet up once on ship. There are always lots of "loners" who are looking for friends to hang out with.

 

We often travel with groups and see this situation all the time. Many times the parents make the issue much worse and the kids start out with a bad attitude. Then they get onboard, make friends, and disappear and have a great time. Lots of anxiety for nothing.

[tvan76]

Thanks everyone .. She will be fine .. She's your typical drama queen 13 yr old .. and is shy .. I figure if she still isn't satisfied after meeting people the first night then maybe they will let her stay with her sisters .. I will check out our roll call .. :)

[Cruisin' Chick]

I agree on you taking her to the teen center the first night. She'll meet the others and she may find someone she clicks with. Hopefully that week there'll be plenty of kids if some schools have time off (for us, there's only President's Day and that's it for days off).

 

You might want to check on your roll call if there will be other 13 year old girls coming (of course, don't forget there could be plenty of people on your cruise who have never heard of CC). Some of the teens may have started a Facebook group (a couple of cruises ago, there was one that my daughter was able to premeet the kids). As it turned out, we repeated the same cruise (ship and itinerary) exactly two years later, and one of her friends (they became FB friends) was going to be coming too. They arranged when and where to meet and they, another girl, and three boys around the same age formed a group and spent the sea days (ten in all:)) together.

[SadieN]

Carnival divides the kids by these age groups--

 

Camp Carnival 2-5, 6-8, 9-11

 

Circle C 12-14

 

Club O2 15-17

 

Depending on how many kids are sailing they might let the older one into the lower age group.

[cb at sea]

She'll be fine...that 1st nights meeting, EVERYONE is new....no worries! And, it's not like they will be there 24/7.....she'll be fine.

[tvan76]

Carnival divides the kids by these age groups--

 

Camp Carnival 2-5, 6-8, 9-11

 

Circle C 12-14

 

Club O2 15-17

 

Depending on how many kids are sailing they might let the older one into the lower age group.

 

 

Now that I see the way the ages are divided .. Now I am worried about my 8 yr old too .. LOL .. She has developmental delays and is more shy than the 13 yr old .. I truly hope Carnival will make exceptions for her at least .. If they don't then she won't be going to the Camp ..

[njmomof2]

Now that I see the way the ages are divided .. Now I am worried about my 8 yr old too .. LOL .. She has developmental delays and is more shy than the 13 yr old .. I truly hope Carnival will make exceptions for her at least .. If they don't then she won't be going to the Camp ..

 

If she has developmental delays and is that shy, I'm thinking you might want to see about having your 9 yo move down to be with her in the lower group. They will definitely NOT move her up to the next age group if she can't hold her own there. What most lines do, if they will even consider aging a kid up a group, is have them go to their assigned group at first, then see how mature they are and if they will be able to handle the older kids. This is usually when you have one that is weeks away from aging up to the next group.

[Kerry's Girls]

Now that I see the way the ages are divided .. Now I am worried about my 8 yr old too .. LOL .. She has developmental delays and is more shy than the 13 yr old .. I truly hope Carnival will make exceptions for her at least .. If they don't then she won't be going to the Camp ..

 

At 6, Carnival let my delayed child go into the lower age group, where she was absolutely more comfortable. At 8, she was fine in her own age group. Since at 8 your daughter will be at the top of the age group, so should do fine. They will not let her move up, only down. There are very used to dealing with kids with all kinds of issues - have a talk with them ahead of time and they'll take great care of her. Since my daughter can't follow games, they'll often let her "help" the staff, which she loves.

 

Enjoy!

 

Best,

Mia