Kids club ages - how strict?

[dperrigo]

We will be going on Freedom of the Seas in less than a month now. I just checked the kids club ages and they are broken down 6-8 and 9-11. We are traveling with my sister's family... Our son is 8 and her twins are 10. The whole point of this cruise is for the family to be together! Will they let my 8 year old son be with his 10 year old cousins????

[BillOh]

Welcome to cruise critic. This is outside my normal expertise, but most reports I have read for group activities they keep kids in the proper group age wise. Your family can do things outside of the kids club together.

[cb at sea]

No, they won't, since there is a huge difference in 8 and 11 year olds. They might let the 10 year olds "age down". In reality, you really don't need to worry! The boys will have PLENTY of time together outside of the club...they won't be there 24/7!

 

Go on orientation night, let them all meet new friends, and see what happens! The activities are perfect for each age group.

[Grandma Dazzles]

You can check when you get on board. It usually can depend on how many kids are on board.

They sometimes will move older kids down, rather than younger ones up.

 

It can vary greatly from week to week and ship to ship. No definite answer until you ask - be prepared for a no - it might happen. They are usually pretty strict on this.

Edited February 24, 2016 by Grandma Dazzles

[MANDMTRAVEL]

I tried on Oasis 2 years ago and they said no. Of course the kids did not like it and never went back. They are very strict on this. Last year they were on the same category and had a blast. Did not want to leave the kids club. Also on Majesty of the seas, did not let my nephew last Summer. I will have this same issue next year. But will see what happens. They will be 7 and 9 yrs old. This is the only thing that is not making me happy about my next cruise.

[dcgrumpy]

In my experience it depends on the ship and how busy it is. On our last cruise they did let a couple of 8 year-olds move up to the 9-11 group in order to be with siblings. But there weren't a lot of kids on our cruise. There were probably be a lot of kids on your cruise if it's during Spring Break, so I wouldn't count on it.

[Keith1010]

They will be in separate groups.

 

You can check on board but that is what I would expect.

 

Keith

[ARCruisinNana]

We will be going on Freedom of the Seas in less than a month now. I just checked the kids club ages and they are broken down 6-8 and 9-11. We are traveling with my sister's family... Our son is 8 and her twins are 10. The whole point of this cruise is for the family to be together! Will they let my 8 year old son be with his 10 year old cousins????

 

 

My Granddaughters are now 8 and 9 and have traveled with me quite a bit. In November it was the first time in a few years that they were going to be in different groups. We talked with the supervisor about the 8 year old moving up to the 9-11 group. They observed her in the 6-8 group the first session. Then then allowed her to move up, but told her and us that if she misbehaved or had any problems she would have to move back down. We are on Liberty for spring break and hope they will allow it again.

[Clarea]

Be prepared for them to be in separate groups.

[wranglerkb]

We've taken our son on four cruises now, and he's been in every 'level' of Adventure Ocean. He's shy, an only child, and L.O.V.E.D. every adventure ocean experience. He'd ask to stay late, he'd ask to stay onboard during port calls and, especially when he was little, would nearly cry when it was time to leave. The actives are jam packed, and he would pal around with the other kids at the pool and when he would see them on the ship.

 

Give it a try- I can't speak highly enough about the program

[jticarruthers]

Rules say no.

 

We have asked twice (nicely and willing to be told no) and both times they allowed us to have our son step up a group.

[dperrigo]

Wow, what a range of different answers! I guess we'll just politely ask (and hope they say yes) when we get on. He will be devastated if he can't be with his cousins and may not want to go at all.

[ljmandelbaum]

On the grandeur of the sea's the kids club was one group for 6-12 year olds.

[dcgrumpy]

Another thing. Someone mentioned Orientation on the first night. In my experience they have a Mix & Mingle the first night for the Teen Club but none for the kids club. There was an Open House and Registration. But people would just walk in and sign up. There wasn't really an opportunity to meet the other kids in each age group. But maybe it does happen on some ships.

 

They did combine the 6-8 and 9-11 groups during the Late Night Party Zone on our cruise

Edited February 24, 2016 by dcgrumpy

[powelweb]

they might also combine the age groups in the evening party zones, too, so keep that in mind, as you might want to try the evenings.

[Jenjer]

We asked nicely and had to speak to the kids club manager and they allowed my DD to age up. So its worth a try.

[mollyeilis]

On our two low-kid-time cruises they have automatically combined the 6-8 and 9-11 clubs.

 

But you're going in Spring Break Season. There will likely be too many kids for this to happen.

 

I feel like talking about this now with him can lessen his devastation. He will have fun, make new friends, and have things to talk about with his cousins when the club time is done.

 

Unlike Disney (not sure if you've done DCL), they can't just stay in the clubs all day long, so there will be loads of time for them to be together. And they can talk about the different things they did in their respective clubs.

 

Cousins are awesome. Cousins are fabulous. And cousins are often not the same age, so you generally aren't plunked with them during things like this. Just part of cousins.

 

Maybe someday they'll take a "cousin trip" together when they are in their 40s and they'll talk about this cruise. (I just got home last night from a cousin trip)

[cello56]

Please keep in mind also, that while YOUR family would be happy to have the 8 year old in with the 9-11 year olds, there would probably be some 11 - maybe almost 12 - children that would not be happy at all hanging out with an 8 year old. There is a huge difference in maturity levels between 8 and 11. The cousins will still eat all their meals together, go swimming, go to the shows maybe and do excursions - lots of together time.

[The Fun Researcher]

We have a similar issue with our two daughters. My younger daughter is 11 so would slotted into the 9-11 group, but she turns 12 three days after our cruise. My older daughter is 14. They want to be together in the 12+ club. I'm guessing we'll be able to get my younger daughter into the 12+

 

Dan

[LeesSummitCruiser1]

We will be going on Freedom of the Seas in less than a month now. I just checked the kids club ages and they are broken down 6-8 and 9-11. We are traveling with my sister's family... Our son is 8 and her twins are 10. The whole point of this cruise is for the family to be together! Will they let my 8 year old son be with his 10 year old cousins????

 

If your child is mature they can move up. I have an 11 year old daughter that has been sailing since she was 5 months old. From 3 to 7 she loved kids club we had to drag her out of there every evening. After the 4th cruise she became board in kids club because they pretty much do the same events for every 7 or 10 day cruise (you can only capture the ship as a pirate so many times). We were able to move her up an age class when she was 5 from aquanauts to explorers and when she was 7 to voyagers because she was mature and wanted to do the events the older kids were doing. Even at 10 and 11 she likes going to pajama night and also the late night (of course that costs money so that's why she likes it :)) It's totally up to the staff and how your child acts as to if they can move up. I have noticed it is easy of there is a sibling or friend they want to move up to the next oldest group with.

[Queen of Oakville]

I had to push a bit on Reflection. It was the first time my kids were in different age groups.

 

My son was 8 and wanted to be bumped up to the next group with his sister. At first they said they said no. Then we would drop her off, and they would ask him to say. He said he did not want to play "baby games" because to him, that was what they offered for the 5 -8 group.

 

My son is tall (he was the tallest in the next age group) and is very mature and is not a trouble maker. They agreed to take him into the next group and had no trouble whatsoever.

 

The problem you have with 8 year old boys (at any age really) - is that there can be a big variation in the maturity levels. some are more suited to the younger ages and others are more suited to the older ages.

 

Rules are there for a reason. You really just have to ask and hope for the best.

Edited February 24, 2016 by Queen of Oakville

[BunkerVA]

On the grandeur of the sea's the kids club was one group for 6-12 year olds.

 

 

This makes me slightly nervous as there is a big difference between 6 year olds and 12 year olds. We are sailing with my daughter who is turning seven. We'll be aboard Grandeur on March 30 and I'm not sure I want her hanging out with the "big kids". Just my opinion...

Edited February 26, 2016 by BunkerVA

[spookwife]

We will be going on Freedom of the Seas in less than a month now. I just checked the kids club ages and they are broken down 6-8 and 9-11. We are traveling with my sister's family... Our son is 8 and her twins are 10. The whole point of this cruise is for the family to be together! Will they let my 8 year old son be with his 10 year old cousins????

 

EXTREMELY strict.

 

aging DOWN is SOMETIMES allowed. aging UP NEVER is.

the only time they combine the clubs is if very few children overall are on board.

[dcgrumpy]

EXTREMELY strict.

 

aging DOWN is SOMETIMES allowed. aging UP NEVER is.

the only time they combine the clubs is if very few children overall are on board.

 

That's not true. There were 2 or 3, 8 year-olds in the 9-11 group on my last Indy cruise. They were allowed to move up to be with their siblings.

[ARCruisinNana]

My 8 year old granddaughter was allowed to move up to the 9-11 group to be with her 9 year old sister.