13 year old in Lab?

[westjones]

Can 13 year olds go in the 10-12 year old group in the Lab if they want to? Do they allow this? Anyone done it before?
Thanks!
DJ

 

[AspiringCindy]

I would also like to know the answer! When we cruise in November, my oldest DD will have just turned 13, 4 weeks before! Her sibling will be in the 10-12 group! I too would like to see her join in the lab!

 

[jel0511]

You can move down a 13 YO to the 10 - 12 group, but then they can not participate in any of the Teen activities. You can't wander between the two groups, you must choose one and then stick with it for the rest of the cruise.

 

[Tiggerish]

When we cruised on the Wonder my niece was a young 13 and she did not enjoy the teen club at all and spent most of the time on her own.

Two years later, we are getting ready to leave for our Spring Break Adventure which is going on the Magic, and my niece finally 'fesses that she wished we had dropped her down to the lab as those activities would have been better for her. Unfortunately, we did not know this was a possibility at the time. Now she is older and with a year of high school under her belt, not to mention some work in the local community theater, she is ready for the teen group.

So do not be afraid to do this, particularly for a young 13 yo.

 

[westjones]

That is good to know. We may book a cruise for 2007 if the girls (I have twins) can go to the Lab instead of the teen place. One of my daughters is VERY immature and always does better with younger kids, and the other one is pretty easy going and will probably hang with her dad and I a lot of the time anyway. We weren't going to go that year because of them not being able to go to the lab, but if they can, I will probably book a cruise when they open those dates.

Thanks!
DJ

 

[kbkids]

Does this work the same on the younger age groups? Mine will be 4 and 8. The eight year old would have just turned 8 four days before the cruise. She would be fine going with the older group, but the 4 yr old is more likely to go in with no fussing if his big sister is with him. And she'll be fine playing with the kids in that age group as well.

 

[lbgraves]

In the oceaneer club the kids are in two groups...3-4 & 5-7. If your 8 yo were to drop to the 5-7 group IDK if they would let her hang out with the 3-4 yos. Most of the activities have those two age groups seperated. It might work out if you can have your 4 yo put in the 5-7 yo group though. I think that it would depend alot on how close to 5 he is & how he handles the environment.

 

[kbkids]

So, they'll pretty much let you pick the age group you want them in (within reason)? He'll turn 4 in May (so, he'll be 4 and 5 months), and he is pretty shy, so I don't know how well he would do with the 5-7 yr old group though anyway. Are the 5-7 yr olds in the same area - just different activities? In other words, would they enter in the same area? I think once he got in, he'd be fine when they tried to separate the groups, as long as she was in eyesight at different times.

 

[CarolAnnC]

If there is room, with counselor approval, they generally will allow a drop down in age group. As stated above, no flip flopping though, they must remain in that group the entire cruise.

They do not in most cases allow moving up in age however. If there is room, and they are within a week or two of their birthday, it may sometimes be granted.

 

[kbkids]

So, are they in the same general area though - just two separate groups? I really don't think he would do well with the 5-7 group anyway. But if they aren't really in the same area, I may as well let her go in the 8-9 group.

 

[westjones]

If there is room, with counselor approval, they generally will allow a drop down in age group. As stated above, no flip flopping though, they must remain in that group the entire cruise.

That would be no problem. We were not going to cruise the year the twins would be 13 because of them having to go to the teen group, but if they could stay in the lab, we would consider a cruise that year. I noticed on our last cruise there were many 7th graders in the lab anyway (age 12 or so) and on that cruise they are 13 they will be in 7th grade (because Indiana starts kids later, if we were still in Ohio where they were born they would be one grade ahead--but I am OK with where they are). So they would still be with kids in their 'grade'.

I am THRILLED! This gives us one more year to cruise before we have to worry about the teen scene (at which time we may just head to WDW instead of cruising).

Thanks everyone!
DJ

 

[lbgraves]

No, they do not always stay in the same place. In fact there are times when you have to drop them off in two places. DS was in the 5-7s & DD was in the 3-4s and this happened most of the time. The older group goes to the movie theater to watch a movie, up on the sports deck to play games, and the lab when those age groups are elsewhere. Some of the activities are just too old for the 3-4s to be around...like making flubber or the Captain Hook activity. That one would probably scare most 3-4 yos to be honest just because the Captain is so tall.

Now, if you want to go to Palo one night & your DS isn't doing well on his own, you may be able to have DD stay with him as a visitor, but not checked into the club the same way. I read that was allowed on the board one time with the same situation. I agree that putting him in the 5-7 group probably wouldn't be the best thing for him since he will be a young 4, but again, talk to the head counselor when you sign them up. I know that my 4 yr 3 mo DD was offered the chance to move up to the 5-7s to be with her 6 yo brother if she had a problem being in the club without him. That was offered to me out of the blue by a CM in the club as an option when I told them that she might cry for a minute but if they just get her busy coloring she would be fine after we left.

 

[clm3]

I was also worried about my DS being in the Teen Club. He turned 13 the day we left on the Wonder. He loved the Teen Club, and didn't want any part of the Lab. I think it made him feel grown up. He liked the fact that he could come and go as he pleased.

My DS-7 signed up for the Club and he didn't like it, thought it was way to young for him. He just hung out with us most of the time. My DD-5 loved the Club and never wanted to leave My DS-7 felt like an only child for 4 days

 

[westjones]

I was also worried about my DS being in the Teen Club. He turned 13 the day we left on the Wonder. He loved the Teen Club, and didn't want any part of the Lab. I think it made him feel grown up. He liked the fact that he could come and go as he pleased.

My DS-7 signed up for the Club and he didn't like it, thought it was way to young for him. He just hung out with us most of the time. My DD-5 loved the Club and never wanted to leave My DS-7 felt like an only child for 4 days

Kids change so much from 1 year to the next during those middle school years. I may end up letting my girls go to the teen place to try it out (one of my girls is a 'tell all' type, so I will know if there are problems). It just makes me nervous.

Thanks for your input. It is nice to know I will have some options.
DJ