How Strict on Kids Club Ages

[CarterGriffin]

We are thinking of taking the Breakaway in April, I see that there is a age break 3 - 5 (will be 6 in July) and 6 - 9 for the kids clubs....my younger son is 5, and his brother is 7...what are the chances they will allow them to be together in the 6 - 9 age group?:confused:

[RYMOMA]

none

 

they are firm on it....no changes

 

unless there are not alot of kids, then they may combine

Edited February 17, 2014 by RYMOMA

[djmess]

Very strict

 

Only age combos I've seen is 6-12 when numbers in the club are very low

[DMH15]

Agree. NCL enforces this to the letter.

 

 

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[Kimf]

We were on the Jewel last summer and they would not provide any exceptions (my kids were 11 and 13 at the time and in two different groups). As a result - we did not use the kids club as they wanted to hang out together. Its too bad they can't provide some flexibility for siblings.

[youngestof9]

as the others have stated, they are very strict. When I sailed Epic in January 2011, they did combine 2 of the groups on some days because there weren't a lot of kids. But that's never a given and they will not let you switch your kids to different groups.

[SissasMomE]

We are thinking of taking the Breakaway in April, I see that there is a age break 3 - 5 (will be 6 in July) and 6 - 9 for the kids clubs....my younger son is 5, and his brother is 7...what are the chances they will allow them to be together in the 6 - 9 age group?:confused:

 

They will not allow it.

[OCruisers]

Unfortunately, they are now quite FIRM on the age groups.

[Godiva830]

NCL Is strict on the age groups and summer sailings have a lot of kids so there's prob a chance age groups will not be combined.

 

 

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[Willowmina]

I don't know why people think that NCL abiding by their age groups is a 'bad' thing. My daughters are two years apart and have frequently been separated into different age groups in kids clubs, but I've always believed that is for good reason and my girls have always had a good time!

[DISNEY1975]

I don't know why people think that NCL abiding by their age groups is a 'bad' thing. My daughters are two years apart and have frequently been separated into different age groups in kids clubs, but I've always believed that is for good reason and my girls have always had a good time!

 

I agree! They meet new people their own age and play age appropriate games. If the siblings want to spend time together, that is great! But, consider an hour or two in the evening for the kids club..they might enjoy it!:)

[jdvmd]

Won't happen.

[2red4u]

I really hope they keep the ages separated. My 12 year old will not want hang around 5 years children. And if she is put in with her sister who is 16, my husband will not let her attend. As a 12 year old does not need to be doing things with 17 and 18 year olds.

[rvsullivan]

We were on the Jewel last summer and they would not provide any exceptions (my kids were 11 and 13 at the time and in two different groups). As a result - we did not use the kids club as they wanted to hang out together. Its too bad they can't provide some flexibility for siblings.

 

 

They are not flexible at all nor do I think they should be. If you make exceptions for one, you make them for all. How about putting the 6-9 with the teens, ok?

[Vyhanek]

NCL will not allow any flexibility with this at all. Not even if your child is traveling with a group of kids and misses the birthdate deadline by a few days! They are completely inflexible.

 

However, Carnival and Royal have both been a little flexible in the past. To address the previous posters, no cruise line is going to put a 5 year old with the 12 year old group or put a 9 year old with teenagers. What they will do is fudge a little for a couple months or they will have the older child move down to the younger level group. Other cruise lines will have a customer driven flexibility with this issue. Not NCL. You have to know this going in.

[Mom2B&Z]

Ditto what others have said, NCL is firm on their age groups and I have no problem with their policy at all.

However, there are free play times listed in the schedule where, most of the time, the kids from different age groups can mingle together. I say most of the time because I dropped off B and Z once so they could play together, just to get a call because they were mad that free play was canceled :). I totally agreed with them and told the staff that cancelling events needs to be better communicated to parents and children at drop off. Now we ask before we check in.

 

 

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[zoya19]

Pretty strict..we were on the Sun in early Jan. It left the 1st and my daughter turned 6 on the 3rd. Her brother is 8. Once she turned 6 she could join his group but not till then. They were together mostly though as there were not a lot of kids on this cruise. Some of the counselors were fine with her joining him and others not so much. They never did change her band or her binder info. which made it a pain for checking in / out. We had to explain quite a few different times that she had her birthday and was now 6.

[garycarla]

Lots of reasons they are firm. Parents are probably the biggest reason that would want to mix all sorts of ages.

 

And, when there is a problem, NCL would be in trouble.

[aimathy]

They will not allow it. That being said, just be aware that if THEY decide to combine ages, you will get no choice in the matter either! I am a fan of the age grouping. I don't want my 5 year old with 12 year olds in the club and likewise, my 13 year old would not have fun in a group for 9 year olds etc. We just sailed with NCL during a very slow week for children (there were only 40 on the entire boat) and they combined the ages every day, all day. I was really unhappy with that because it totally changed the experience for my 5 year old and she also wound up learning a few unsavory things the little time she was in there! :rolleyes: So, be prepared for either...but most likely, you will be there at a busy time and they won't make exceptions to the rules for age.