Can a 12 year old be in the teen activities?

[cay2420]

I have two kids 12 and 14 and was hoping that they didn't need to be separated. Does anyone know if there is a release so my 12 year old can be in the older group with her brother? Thanks!

 

[MagicMe]

I know that my niece was 12 when we traveled in AUG06 and she wanted to be with her cousins in the teen groups (they were 14). DCL did allow it with the approval from my brother and stating that he should realize that she could interact with teens much older then her cousins age. It may have made a difference in that her birthday was also just a little over one month away.

 

[SplashMountainManiac]

If you are on the Wonder and they are pretty close to their birthday, they may be allowed to move up. If you are on the Magic then a 12 year old would be in Ocean Quest which is for 11-13 year olds so pretty much no chance of moving up there.

 

[Soccermom-Cheri]

I understand wanting to keep the kids together but the Stack might not be the best place for it. DS has said it's pretty boring up there if you do not like to play video games and some of the behavior is pretty... advanced, shall we say?

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Keep in mind this is my personal opinion and others might not agree.

If I were you and wanted them together- or they wanted to be together badly- I'd lean more towards trying to see if the 14yr old could go in the 11-13yr old group. Again this is my personal opinion. My eldest was 14 on the last cruise and to say I was "unhappy" about her behavior hanging around much older teens (yeah I found out quickly she's a follower. Keep in mind she hadn't even started highschool yet so it was a rude awakening for us) is an understatement. Also she was pretty bored (and/or was excited about activities that barely anyone else wanted to participate in) during the day and I wasn't pleased with all their "fun stuff" being late well into the night (1am- sometimes later). I'm not the type that can go to bed while my teen is still in the teen stack...... so I had to wait up for her everynight. And granted I am usually a nightowl- but sometimes I was tired earlier than normal for me on the cruise and/or had to get us all up early for excursions the next day and so it was a pain. But if I denied her that and made her go to bed- she'd have missed a huge portion of all their activities! I don't know if it's that way on all the cruises but their navigators didn't even start until near lunchtime and even then the activities during the day were basically hanging out and/or the few activities they had there wasn't a lot of participation in them- UNTIL very late at night.

IMO it's barely a tolerable situation for 14yr olds- not even close to appropriate for 12yr olds. I think she would have had a lot more fun in the younger age group (like last time when she was 12.5) and I certainly would have had a better vacation as well. Again just my opinion..... and also it's my opinion that their age groups are all split up so wonderfully until they hit 14 and then they are thrown in with up to/and 18yr olds. That's crazy IMO. Some will argue they are together in highschool but I don't know what kind of highschools those kids have- ours is NOTHING like the teen stack and all that free time there and around the ship unsupervised with much older kids. Ours is very strict, no PDA at all, and the freshman rarely if ever even SEE upperclassmen let along spend time with them- except maybe in band or choir. I personally think the physical, mental, emotional, maturity level, etc. between just turned 14yr olds and 18yr olds is HUUUUGE. I wish they'd break it up a bit more although I do realize I have no idea where they'd put them. However they could go back to the way it was split up in the lab (up to 12yr olds) and then 13-14 or 15 in the OC. Then 15 or 16 thru 18yr olds in the teen stack would be more appropriate in my personal opinon. Our eldest will be barely turned 15 on this next cruise and she's already been warned- things will be very different this time or spend her days and nights with us nonstop... now that I know what it's "like" to have a young teen in the teen stack. I wish I wasn't put in that position. Some might not know the stuff that goes on there- and neither did I before.... but now I know.

 

[DMMarla07860]

Again just my opinion..... and also it's my opinion that their age groups are all split up so wonderfully until they hit 14 and then they are thrown in with up to/and 18yr olds. That's crazy IMO. Some will argue they are together in highschool but I don't know what kind of highschools those kids have- ours is NOTHING like the teen stack and all that free time there and around the ship unsupervised with much older kids. Ours is very strict, no PDA at all, and the freshman rarely if ever even SEE upperclassmen let along spend time with them- except maybe in band or choir.

not anything about the stack, but you say freshman rarely see upperclasmen besides in band of choir, that is totally different then my high school was freshman through senior year I had at least 5 classes with teens from ages 14-18 in my classes. Only classes I had that had people only my age were Math, English, Science, and History.

 

[Mickey'sfriend]

Just another mom to chime in.... I agree you may want to rethink a 12yr old in the Stack. I didn't want my 15yr old there, let alone a 12yr old.

 

[Deb T.]

As a mother of a son and a daughter, I wanted to also bring up the issue of letting each of your children have their own space... literally. I know my daugther would not have wanted the responsibility of making sure her younger brother was being entertained in The Stack.

I would suggest letting your DD try out her own club first. Girls that age are very sociable, and she will most likely find a new friend to hang out with fairly quickly. I've read many TRs that mentioned how the kids found a new best friend in the clubs. IMHO, it's unlikely the older teen girls in The Stack will want to hang out with a younger girl.

 

[iloveokw]

The teen club doesn't allow 18 year olds - it ends at 17 year olds and I've never had a problem with my daughter in the teen groups on Disney or Princess.

 

[DMMarla07860]

The teen club doesn't allow 18 year olds - it ends at 17 year olds and I've never had a problem with my daughter in the teen groups on Disney or Princess.

18 year olds have been in the teen club. I haven't been since I was 17. But I know other 18 year olds who have gone that are still in high school or just graduated and didn't start college yet

 

[cay2420]

Thanks for the advice. Didn't think about going the other way having him in the other group. We went on Magic 4 or 5 years ago and they were separate and they both survived. I will talk to them and see what they thing.
Thanks again.

 

[lbgraves]

Have you tried to find other families with kids their age on the meets thread? This has worked for our kids every cruise and they have good friends before they board the ship because they have emailed for months, last time over a year.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

not anything about the stack, but you say freshman rarely see upperclasmen besides in band of choir, that is totally different then my high school was freshman through senior year I had at least 5 classes with teens from ages 14-18 in my classes. Only classes I had that had people only my age were Math, English, Science, and History.

I guess all schools are different or maybe it depends on the classes. My daughter in 9th grade is in AP classes and some 10th grade courses (since she took 9th grade in AP 8th grade) and she was never with anyone older than 10th grade except for band (but I mentioned choir -and I guess athletics too is one I forgot- that kids are with upperclassman here). But even lunch they aren't- they get a, b or c lunch- and it works out that 9/10th graders eat the same lunch time also. I can't imagine why 18yr olds in highschool would be taking freshman classes.. surely they won't be graduating that year if they are taking 1st year required courses of which many more years are required to graduate- they can't take them backwards! (ie: can't take 3rd year English and then take 1st year english their senior year... doesn't work that way here anyway LOL)

Anyway my point was that people have brought up in the past that if they are in highschool- they are able to spend time with upperclassman and my point is that OUR SCHOOL they do not generally hardly ever spend time with upperclassman and certainly not the same lax supervision as they do on the cruises. Not to mention the fact that some 14yr olds (like my daughter) hadn't even GONE to highschool YET, when cruising. So that point was invalid IMO.

Just another mom to chime in.... I agree you may want to rethink a 12yr old in the Stack. I didn't want my 15yr old there, let alone a 12yr old.

ditto
LOL

18 year olds have been in the teen club. I haven't been since I was 17. But I know other 18 year olds who have gone that are still in high school or just graduated and didn't start college yet

*nods head*
Yes I used to think it was only up to 17 but I've read recently that they are actually allowing ADULTS (by legal age) in the teen stack if they are still in highschool or just graduated and haven't started college yet. personally, I think that's a bad move... something happens and they are open for law suits- either themselves or the ADULT they are allowing in there with children.
(and my personal opinion is that they should do more activities geared towards 18-21yr olds since they also can't participate in most adult things- I don't think? until 21yrs old legal drinking age)

 

[DMMarla07860]

I guess all schools are different or maybe it depends on the classes.

*nods head*
Yes I used to think it was only up to 17 but I've read recently that they are actually allowing ADULTS (by legal age) in the teen stack if they are still in highschool or just graduated and haven't started college yet. personally, I think that's a bad move... something happens and they are open for law suits- either themselves or the ADULT they are allowing in there with children.
(and my personal opinion is that they should do more activities geared towards 18-21yr olds since they also can't participate in most adult things- I don't think? until 21yrs old legal drinking age)

all schools are different. I know a lot fo people of didn't go to my school and I didn't go to there school and at the time I was amazed at how different they were I don't know what I would have done if we weren't able to leave school for lunch

and couldn't agree with you more they should have more stuff for 18-20yr olds. But actually last cruise I was always busy doing something with new friends I didn't seem like there should be more because we were busy. The only thing we couldn't do was the tastings beer, wine, etc and drinking. So they really could add a few more things. But we had wii competitions, went to the pool, ate, walked around the ship, watched movies, played basketball, went to Rockin' Bar D, stayed up till the wee hours of the morning, so all in all fun times. Can't wait till my b2b cruise startinf Febuary 21st

 

[BelleEm2]

Just offering a bit of input... I'm 16 years old, and spent a lot of time in The Stack during my last cruise in November. If I recall correctly, we had two twelve-year-olds that "snuck in" to the program. The counselors don't take any kind of attendance, and there's no registration for The Stack, so it's generally assumed that if you're there, you're of age. But it's usually very difficult for a 12-year-old to pretend they're a 15-year-old, and by the second or third day, they were discovered, sent down to Ocean Quest, and banned from The Stack for the rest of the cruise. So I wouldn't reccomend letting your child "sneak in" as they take issues like that extremely seriously.

We did have one twelve-year-old who was allowed to be in The Stack. I'm assuming her parents worked out some kind of a situation with DCL, as she did have an older sibling in the program with her. And while she hung out with the older kids for the entirety of the cruise, she didn't seem very comfortable with us. She seemed bored, and frankly, a little scandalized at some of the things she heard and saw. That's not to say that Stack teens are a raunchy, rowdy group of kids (I actually thought we were quite tame on my 11/08 cruise, as compared to other things I've witnessed) but we are teenagers, after all, and we're not always angelic. We saw said 12-year-old less and less as the week went on. Her older sister told us that she found friends her own age who she hung out with.

The bottom line is that it is up to a parent to decide if their pre-teen is mature enough to hang out with 17 and 18-year-olds (and yes, there are quite a few 18-year-olds in The Stack - those who have reached their 18th birthday but have not yet graduated from high school are most certainly allowed in), but if a parent is only afraid of their children being separated, maybe it isn't such a bad thing. They spend 51 weeks out of the year together, and to spend a few waking hours apart and make their own friends and participate in separate activities for seven days is probably very healthy. JMHO.

 

[lindaso]

I agree with the advice to join the meet thread and find a friend or two for the 12 year old to email. We got off the Magic a few weeks ago and we were all happy with Ocean Quest. They were treated like the middle school kids they are...freedom in the club but scheduled activities too. They also had things late at night so they didn't feel like babies. I liked that my DD could pop her head in to see if her friends were there...friends she had already made before the trip.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

all schools are different. I know a lot fo people of didn't go to my school and I didn't go to there school and at the time I was amazed at how different they were I don't know what I would have done if we weren't able to leave school for lunch

and couldn't agree with you more they should have more stuff for 18-20yr olds. But actually last cruise I was always busy doing something with new friends I didn't seem like there should be more because we were busy. The only thing we couldn't do was the tastings beer, wine, etc and drinking. So they really could add a few more things. But we had wii competitions, went to the pool, ate, walked around the ship, watched movies, played basketball, went to Rockin' Bar D, stayed up till the wee hours of the morning, so all in all fun times. Can't wait till my b2b cruise startinf Febuary 21st

LOL Yes.. like in my day we WERE able to leave during lunch- now with my eldest they not only don't let them leave the school for any reason they put up barricade gate things and lock them during school! Only one way in (for adults) with a security tiny building with a guy in there checking. They can't even leave for dentist appts and such- have to come get them. And we live in a small rural town! (I'm not keen on the idea of barricading/gating them all in- but then it doesn't matter now.... the point of being with highschoolers is even more moot for us since I'm homeschooling her now LOL The only teens she hangs out with are those in the homeschool group, but I digress LOL)

I admit I have NO IDEA what activities they have for 18-21yr olds. I was just going by other comments here throughout the years and knowing they don't actually have that age group on the navigator- atleast I don't think so? Just thought that age group might appreciate more things dedicated to that specific age group since they can't do EVERYTHING adults do and probably don't want to hang out with 30/40 somethings like us anyway. LOL

oohhhh b2b -sounds so awesome! I bet that is going to be a blast! Maybe we'll get to do that someday!

 

[Narnian_Princess]

I was 18 (not in college yet) when I went into Aloft/The Stack on the first night of my first cruise. I never went back. I am by no means sheltered but I didn't care for what was going on up there (which was a lot of nothing punctuated with behavior that made me uncomfortable). For a 12yo... no way.

As for the 18-21 activities, I agree there need to be more. I went to the first college club meeting on my last cruise and walked out when the CM who was running it told us which bartender wouldn't card us. They really need to figure out better ways for the young people who can't/don't drink to have fun.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

I was 18 (not in college yet) when I went into Aloft/The Stack on the first night of my first cruise. I never went back. I am by no means sheltered but I didn't care for what was going on up there (which was a lot of nothing punctuated with behavior that made me uncomfortable). For a 12yo... no way.

As for the 18-21 activities, I agree there need to be more. I went to the first college club meeting on my last cruise and walked out when the CM who was running it told us which bartender wouldn't card us. They really need to figure out better ways for the young people who can't/don't drink to have fun.

paragraph 1: *nods head* yes that is pretty much what we saw for our 14yr old as well- a whole lot of nothing (except the wee hours of the night when most activities were) along with behavior we were uncomfortable with..

paragraph 2: wow... so inappropriate to tell that age group which bartender won't card them.

 

[DMMarla07860]

LOL Yes.. like in my day we WERE able to leave during lunch- now with my eldest they not only don't let them leave the school for any reason they put up barricade gate things and lock them during school!

I admit I have NO IDEA what activities they have for 18-21yr olds. I was just going by other comments here throughout the years and knowing they don't actually have that age group on the navigator- atleast I don't think so? Just thought that age group might appreciate more things dedicated to that specific age group since they can't do EVERYTHING adults do and probably don't want to hang out with 30/40 somethings like us anyway. LOL

oohhhh b2b -sounds so awesome! I bet that is going to be a blast! Maybe we'll get to do that someday!

My senior year was the last year students were able to leave during lunch, I feel lucky to have graduated in 2006.

yeah they don't have a age group on the navigator for 18-21yr olds, but in my experience on the three cruises I've been on we didn't really need much more things since we all pretty much just liked going around the ship to different decks, talking, going to the pool, eating, and at night going to the night clubs and staying up till the wee hours of the morning playing jenga in diversions. There was actually more stuff in July to do for my age group then the past two cruises. We had wii competions and we would just plan the next day when we met in diversions at night.

and yeah I am sure the b2b will be a blast. I'll be making a trip report and posting live from the ship if I can so if yuo want to see how it goes feel free to read along