Teen Program - 12 year old

[Lizard755]

I see that a 12 year old is considered part of the Teen Club on RCL. How much if any supervision is there for a 12 year old. May be travelling with a "just turned 12 year old" who has never cruised before and is a bit naïve too. Anyone have experience with a 12 year old and the Teen Club to share?

[cb at sea]

She will be in the 12-14 age group...not with the 17 year olds! No worries!

[Ourusualbeach]

12 YOs are basically on their own. Free to come and go as they please to whatever activities are scheduled. Depending on the ship and number of kids I have seen both teen groups combined into a single 12-17 group.

 

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[LeesSummitCruiser1]

I see that a 12 year old is considered part of the Teen Club on RCL. How much if any supervision is there for a 12 year old. May be travelling with a "just turned 12 year old" who has never cruised before and is a bit naïve too. Anyone have experience with a 12 year old and the Teen Club to share?

Not much organized activity for kids out of adventure ocean. They have a "meet & mingle" usually on the first night. There are some scavenger hunts and sports events. The kids tend to group up an gather at the pool, sports deck, library, game room when not with their parents. I tell my daughter she has to be in public areas, no state rooms other than ours or a family that we have met (just like home). She is 13 and we have never had any trouble. She has been traveling since 4 months so she is seasoned.

[NatsFanOnBoard]

How much if any supervision is there for a 12 year old.

None. This won't be day care at that age. There will be a couple of organized activities on any given day that they can show up to or not. Depending on the ship, this might be games around the pool, dedicated time on the flowrider, a contest at the rock climbing wall, a ping pong tournament - that kind of thing.

 

On the first day of the cruise, walk with your kid around the entire ship so they know their way around, and agree on a few rendezvous points around the ship so that when you say, "meet us by the ice cream" or "we'll meet you at the pool," you'll both know what is meant. After a day or two, they'll be pretty comfortable on their own.

[njmomof2]

She will be in the 12-14 age group...not with the 17 year olds! No worries!

 

There is no guarantee of this. They often group the kids 12-17 together. Especially for teen only activities like flowrider or ice skating. Depending on the number of kids, they could all be together. I would not want a just turned 12 yo girl hanging out with a could be turning 18 years in 3 days boy. Just not in the same maturity level.

 

I agree with several PPs...walk her around the ship, scope out public areas, discuss (in advance) agreed upon procedures such as no going into anyone else's cabin, if you have a drink and put it down, get a fresh one, don't go off alone with anyone, meet up at certain designated times.

 

At 12 there is no sign in/out procedure. They come and go, using the teen lounge as a meeting place, or getting together at other popular locations like the sports court, pool, game room, etc. Go over clear and concise expectations and I'm sure all will be well.

[gerif]

She will be in the 12-14 age group...not with the 17 year olds! No worries!

Absolutely not true. The groups are often combined.

[NatsFanOnBoard]

Absolutely not true. The groups are often combined.

They really aren't "groups" at all. The activities will just be open to kids in particular age groups, as in "The flowrider will be open for teens only from 3 to 4 this afternoon."

[brookmill18]

We've traveled when our kids were one month shy of 12 and kept them in Adventure Ocean and this year one month shy of 13 and she did the Teen program. Which ship will you be on and at what time of year? When we kept our "almost 12 year old" in AO on a short cruise in April, there weren't many kids on board and they combined all of AO--so a wide age group with her being pretty much the oldest by a mile. Fortunately she liked being the big kid and helping out and every night at dinner little kids would come running up to her at dinner to give her hugs!

 

When we went on Allure in July when she was one month shy of 12, there were tons of kids and she had fun with her group, even though she was one of the oldest. She seemed to esp like the later in the day program--esp the late night which we had to pay for by the hour, but she was having fun so we didn't mind--I never regretted keeping her in AO that year.

 

If your child is very close to 12, AO might be a viable option--just check when you get there and ask. The teen club is very loosely organized--I don't think there's any reason to be nervous, but depending on how many kids are there and how outgoing your child is, they may or may not like to join. This summer we had a 12 and 15 year old on it together and they never mixed the teen groups--but it was summer with a lot of kids. The kids seemed to form a group and just wander and hang out together--felt a bit like sending a kid to away camp but meeting them for meals!

[bobmacliberty]

Definitely take advantage of the first night meet and mingle previously mentioned. They do a bunch of stuff to get the kids to know each other (e.g. tell 2 truths and one lie and everyone guesses which is the lie). This is where the informal "packs" are formed for the rest of the cruise. Although some of the planned activities may include the full 12-17 age group, the "packs" hang out together informally when nothing is planned. So long as there are enough other kids about the same age, yours will likely hang out in a pack of similar age (they aren't forced to hang with 17 year olds).

[ONECRUISER]

There is no guarantee of this. They often group the kids 12-17 together. Especially for teen only activities like flowrider or ice skating. Depending on the number of kids, they could all be together. I would not want a just turned 12 yo girl hanging out with a could be turning 18 years in 3 days boy. Just not in the same maturity level.

 

I agree with several PPs...walk her around the ship, scope out public areas, discuss (in advance) agreed upon procedures such as no going into anyone else's cabin, if you have a drink and put it down, get a fresh one, don't go off alone with anyone, meet up at certain designated times.

 

At 12 there is no sign in/out procedure. They come and go, using the teen lounge as a meeting place, or getting together at other popular locations like the sports court, pool, game room, etc. Go over clear and concise expectations and I'm sure all will be well.

Though I've known lot of 17 yr old boys with the maturity level on a 12 yr old... :p

[crosby99]

Our daughter was one month past 12 on Allure last year.

She loved the teen change. I think for her the best thing was she never had to wear her muster station wrist band.

 

The does not seem to be great supervision but she does have a great time. Rules and boundaries, which we often fail on, offer the best chance of success.

[Rala]

She will be in the 12-14 age group...not with the 17 year olds! No worries!

 

Uh, NO. Teens are many times all in one group depending on number of teens onboard and the specific activity in question. So, yes worries (maybe) :rolleyes:

 

OP, you know your child and what she can handle. Talk with the personnel at the kids's club and I'm sure things will work out. Have a great cruise! :)

[Lizard755]

Thank you everyone for your thoughts. We will be on the Adventure of the Seas next summer. I expect lots of kids so hopefully no real concerns.

[katiel53]

She will be in the 12-14 age group...not with the 17 year olds! No worries!

 

Once again you are so wrong! On Allure in July, the 12-14 years olds were mixed in with the 15-17 year olds. There is a big difference in the kids that are 12 compared to the 17 year olds. There were few scheduled activities for these kids. There was on hour of ice skating for the 12-14 year olds and one hour for the 15-17 year olds. The same was for basketball, but there were only boys playing.

 

The space used for the teens was just a place to hang out. It is very loose with the kids coming and going and doing whatever they want. As I posted on another thread, the older kids hung out in a pack and sat on the floor near the elevators on our deck and when someone got off the elevator or walked down the steps, they all jumped up and then sat down again.

 

I was very disappointed as I felt the kids might have enjoyed having more activities. I do think not having a printed schedule for the 12-14 year olds added to the problem as they were given the one for the 15-17 year olds. It was poor planning by Royal Caribbean to have run out of them and not printing more. There may have been a few more activities for the younger ones to attend, but not having a list made it difficult as it was only possible to find them in the Cruise Compass if you went hour by hour.

[lbjen]

My 13 year old really enjoyed Adventure Ocean when she was 11, so she was excited about our cruise this summer, but the teen club was a real disappointment. She's not very outgoing or 'cool' so she only has a few friends at home. She went to the meet and mingle party on the first night and enjoyed it, but she didn't have a way to keep in touch with any of the kids she met that night to plan to meet up at other times. The 'organized' activities were few and far between too. I am definitely considering letting her bring a friend on our next trip so she's not so bored.

[KmomChicago]

What time is that meet and greet for the 12 year olds on the first night? We have 5pm My Time Dining and 8:45 Cats booked for our upcoming cruise next spring but we can change those.

[katiel53]

What time is that meet and greet for the 12 year olds on the first night? We have 5pm My Time Dining and 8:45 Cats booked for our upcoming cruise next spring but we can change those.

 

In July it was 8PM on Allure, so I guess it is probably about the same on Oasis.

[KmomChicago]

In July it was 8PM on Allure, so I guess it is probably about the same on Oasis.

 

Okay thank you Katie. I assume it was up in the Living Room / Fuel Disco area? And do you remember how long it lasted, i.e. once there do they / can they hang out the rest of the evening, or is it just a short thing and then we need to plan to meet back up pretty quickly?

[mollyeilis]

I don’t know why my multi quotes are all

out of order

 

 

We've traveled when our kids were one month shy of 12 and kept them in Adventure Ocean and this year one month shy of 13 and she did the Teen program. Which ship will you be on and at what time of year? When we kept our "almost 12 year old" in AO on a short cruise in April, there weren't many kids on board and they combined all of AO--so a wide age group with her being pretty much the oldest by a mile. Fortunately she liked being the big kid and helping out and every night at dinner little kids would come running up to her at dinner to give her hugs!

 

 

 

When we went on Allure in July when she was one month shy of 12, there were tons of kids and she had fun with her group, even though she was one of the oldest. She seemed to esp like the later in the day program--esp the late night which we had to pay for by the hour, but she was having fun so we didn't mind--I never regretted keeping her in AO that year.

 

 

 

If your child is very close to 12, AO might be a viable option--just check when you get there and ask. The teen club is very loosely organized--I don't think there's any reason to be nervous, but depending on how many kids are there and how outgoing your child is, they may or may not like to join. This summer we had a 12 and 15 year old on it together and they never mixed the teen groups--but it was summer with a lot of kids. The kids seemed to form a group and just wander and hang out together--felt a bit like sending a kid to away camp but meeting them for meals!

 

 

When you write her ages as she was, instead of the “shy of the next age” you see that she was where she was supposed to be.

 

AO is for kids through the age of 11. Teen club starts at age 12. You didn’t keep your then 11 year old from the teen group; you put her where she belonged.

 

And you didn’t bump her up at 12; she was where she belonged.

 

And it’s odd that she was the oldest at 11. My son has only been in AO when they’ve combined 6-8 and 9-11 and he’s in the older end, and he might be the tallest but he’s never been the only 11 year old (when we sailed when he was 11).

 

Thank you everyone for your thoughts. We will be on the Adventure of the Seas next summer. I expect lots of kids so hopefully no real concerns.

 

 

We had lots of kids on our xmastime cruise last year but ds didn’t like the teen club. He was 12.5, he’s outgoing and a joiner, and has friends of all ages (one of his best friends from dance just started college), but he felt the Place was way too old for him.

 

She will be in the 12-14 age group...not with the 17 year olds! No worries!

 

 

Alas, no.

[PrincessBelle39]

My 12 year old was a little overwhelmed by the meet and mingle on the first night. I think it was important for her to go but she did leave feeling disappointed that she hadn't met a group of friends. The next morning there was an organised craft/scrapbooking class. We thought that something a little more organised might be a better way to meet others her age, so we took her back and sat outside telling her that we would be there waiting for her in case she wanted to leave. We barely saw her again after this. :) All her friends were a similar age and she's still in contact with some of them now.

[melski]

What time is that meet and greet for the 12 year olds on the first night? We have 5pm My Time Dining and 8:45 Cats booked for our upcoming cruise next spring but we can change those.

 

It starts at 8 and goes the rest of the night. I wouldn't plan on your 12 year old seeing Cats. As others have said, it is really important to be there the first night. My teens skipped the shows the entire week to hang out with their new friends..

[KmomChicago]

It starts at 8 and goes the rest of the night. I wouldn't plan on your 12 year old seeing Cats. As others have said, it is really important to be there the first night. My teens skipped the shows the entire week to hang out with their new friends..

 

Thanks for the info. That works out fine then. My husband wants to watch shows and I agree kiddo will make friends that first night and we won't see much of her after.

 

We are only buying internet for one device. I don't suppose there is an app, like Carnival's hub app, that allows us to text each other onboard?

[waterbug123]

Definitely take advantage of the first night meet and mingle previously mentioned..... This is where the informal "packs" are formed for the rest of the cruise.

 

Agreed! When my now 19-year-old was middle school age he really didn't want anything to do with organized teen club activities, but he'd go up there the first day and inevitably would meet up with a few kids he'd sort of bond with, his "pack" so to speak, and then they'd spend the rest of the cruise meeting up on their own to play basketball, arcade games, pool, pizza whatever. There were cruises where we barely saw him after the first day because he was having so much fun with his new friends.

[happymanitee]

We went on Liberty of the Seas 2 weeks after my daughter turned 12. She is quiet and not outgoing, so she didn’t really like it. On the second night, I asked if she could be put in Adventure Ocean with her 10 year old brother, but they said no. They said they might have said yes if I had asked on the first night. Anyway, by about halfway through the cruise, she finally made some friends and ended up enjoying it more. She still said she would have rather been in Adventure Ocean if she could’ve been.

 

We go on our next cruise next week. She is 13 now, so it will be interesting to see if she feels like she fits in better. She is definitely more of a teenager now that she is 13.5 instead of barely 12.