Kids/Teen Club Flexibility

[Frogger22]

We will be sailing in March on Encore with 12 and 14 year old boys. The Teen club starts at 13 years old. I am assuming there is not flexibility for our 12 year old (13 5 weeks after cruising) to go to the teen club with his brother? Thanks in Advance! 

[n4w]

Correct, none.

[BirdTravels]

1 hour ago, Frogger22 said:

We will be sailing in March on Encore with 12 and 14 year old boys. The Teen club starts at 13 years old. I am assuming there is not flexibility for our 12 year old (13 5 weeks after cruising) to go to the teen club with his brother? Thanks in Advance! 

No flexibility. Strictly enforced. 

[Frogger22]

22 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

No flexibility. Strictly enforced. 

Thank you, that is what I figured, good to know and prep the kids before hand! 

[seasidemama]

Jumping on this thread. Is there any flexibility with any of the age groups or is it pretty much set in stone? Sailing with 9&12 year olds and would want the 9 year old to join the 12 year old.

 

Reading NCL's website there's conflicting info.

 

This page: (https://www.ncl.com/why-cruise-norwegian/family-cruises/youth-programs#:~:text=Youth Programs are comprised of,those 13 -17 years old.) Says groups are divided as follows:

 

Splash Academy

Guppies: 6 months – under 3 years old (daily activities are offered for babies with their parents)

Seals 5 – 9 years old

Dolphins: 10 – 12 years old (6 – 12 year olds in low season)

Entourage: 13 – 17 years old

 

While this page: (https://www.ncl.com/why-cruise-norwegian/family-cruises/youth-programs/faq)

combines the Seals/Dolphins into "splash academy" group and puts 5-12 together:

 

GUPPIES
6 months - under 3 years old

SPLASH ACADEMY
5 - 12 years old

ENTOURAGE
Entourage: 13* - 17 years old

 

 

[seasidemama]

Also - Is the late night program open yet? 

[Frogger22]

I think there is more flexibility in Splash Academy - When mine were 8 and 10 they were there and I don't remember them being separate. Next cruise at 12 and 14 they will be Splash and Teen Club... but not sure they will care as I think there will be much time in the race track, virtual reality (wonder if their are age limits), laser tag, and arcades! 

[MamaS]

In Splash Academy there is flexibility from their side, meaning when there are not enough kids, they merge the Seals and Dolphins groups. According to my experience, this happens most of the time when travelling outside of school breaks. And on our last cruise (August 2022) the Splash Academy staff told us they merged the age groups and instead split them based on the kids' interest in different kind of activities, as a post pandemic thing. Not that I understand how this could possibly be related to the pandemic...

 

However, if NCL operates the two separate groups, there is usually no way you can talk them into letting kids be in a different group than their age indicates. 

[MoCruiseFan]

On 9/26/2022 at 10:30 PM, Frogger22 said:

We will be sailing in March on Encore with 12 and 14 year old boys. The Teen club starts at 13 years old. I am assuming there is not flexibility for our 12 year old (13 5 weeks after cruising) to go to the teen club with his brother? Thanks in Advance! 

NO, they do not allow ANY exceptions to the age policies.  You are welcome in arrears.

 

[n4w]

On 10/10/2022 at 7:30 PM, Frogger22 said:

I think there is more flexibility in Splash Academy - When mine were 8 and 10 they were there and I don't remember them being separate. Next cruise at 12 and 14 they will be Splash and Teen Club... but not sure they will care as I think there will be much time in the race track, virtual reality (wonder if their are age limits), laser tag, and arcades! 

They might not care with the activities you mentioned, but you might.... all of race track, virtual reality, laser tag, and arcades have additional costs.  Ping pong and waterpark is no additional cost.  At 12 & 14, age is not an issue for any of them, race track and laser tag are open at certain hours, weather permitting.

[Frogger22]

1 hour ago, n4w said:

They might not care with the activities you mentioned, but you might.... all of race track, virtual reality, laser tag, and arcades have additional costs.  Ping pong and waterpark is no additional cost.  At 12 & 14, age is not an issue for any of them, race track and laser tag are open at certain hours, weather permitting.

Yes, I'm factoring the extra costs in over the next several months. I understand there is a whole cruise pass for speedtrack, but I haven't quite figured out laster tag, virtual reality bundles if any! Thank you! Or arcade.... I will search forums one of these days. 

 

[JillianRieth]

I think NCL needs to rethink the ages groups.  I have a 12 yr old boy who is in middle school, 12 these days is alot different now then how it was years ago.  

[Frogger22]

1 hour ago, JillianRieth said:

I think NCL needs to rethink the ages groups.  I have a 12 yr old boy who is in middle school, 12 these days is alot different now then how it was years ago.  

I agree!!! My 12 year old will be weeks away from 13. Fortunately the Encore has a ton of stuff for teen boys!

[mjkacmom]

1 hour ago, JillianRieth said:

I think NCL needs to rethink the ages groups.  I have a 12 yr old boy who is in middle school, 12 these days is alot different now then how it was years ago.  

I’ve seen many parent complain about 12 year old being too young for the teen group on RCI, there is no way to please everyone. Having had 5 kids attend middle school, maturity levels are all over the place (contributing to many friends group issues during those years).

[JillianRieth]

2 hours ago, mjkacmom said:

I’ve seen many parent complain about 12 year old being too young for the teen group on RCI, there is no way to please everyone. Having had 5 kids attend middle school, maturity levels are all over the place (contributing to many friends group issues during those years).

Well said,   I think they should allow for the parents/guardians to decide what is best suited for their child.   What I foresee happening is my son doing his own thing with whom he meets, which will in turn mean a large bill at the end of the cruise due to the speedway, laser tag, and virtual reality,

[mjkacmom]

19 hours ago, JillianRieth said:

Well said,   I think they should allow for the parents/guardians to decide what is best suited for their child.   What I foresee happening is my son doing his own thing with whom he meets, which will in turn mean a large bill at the end of the cruise due to the speedway, laser tag, and virtual reality,

I don’t think that would work with insurance liability. I’ve had 10, 12, 14, 16, 18 year olds on NCL, teens really don’t spend a lot of time IN the teen club, mostly just meet up, so your son will be spending the same amount of time roaming the ship. I informed my kids they were not to run up a huge tab on cruises.