17 year old traveling with friend who is 18

[swmal]

We are traveling as a family and my daughter is bringing a friend who will have turned 18 a month and a half before sailing. Will they be able to go in the Vibe still? My daughter will be devastated if they aren’t able to! .

 

[lanejudy]

Unfortunately, no. The 18-yr-old will not be allowed at Vibe except during "open house" times. The girls will have to settle for doing other things around the ship -- pool, movies, sports deck, trivia, bingo, etc.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[jlemieu1]

Agree with OP. My nieces were not interested in the clubs so they just did other stuff and had a blast.

 

[MomOTwins]

There are activities on the navigator listed for 18-21 year olds - maybe they would include your daughter since that is a bit less formal than the clubs and since she'd be there with her friend who is 18?

 

[Snowwhyt]

There are activities on the navigator listed for 18-21 year olds - maybe they would include your daughter since that is a bit less formal than the clubs and since she'd be there with her friend who is 18?

My daughter had to show her id each time to prove she was of age. I suspect only 18 to join them as they are legally adults and you wouldn't think Disney would have any willingness to be responsible for a child-17 in with legal adults-18.
She would be able to attend all of the family options. The 1820s society didn't have that many opportunities so they won't feel as though they're missing a lot.

 

[Shanti]

Unfortunately DCL is weirdly strict about all age-related activities onboard that involve the ages 17 & 18. There won't be much for them to do together besides hang out independently or participate in "Fun for all ages" activities.

 

[bumbershoot]

It’s a hard line between child and adult. It makes sense that they are strict.

 

[hubbard53]

Unfortunately DCL is weirdly strict about all age-related activities onboard that involve the ages 17 & 18. There won't be much for them to do together besides hang out independently or participate in "Fun for all ages" activities.

it's not weird at all. Legal adults shouldnt be in teen clubs and teens should be in adult clubs.

 

[Shanti]

it's not weird at all. Legal adults shouldnt be in teen clubs and teens should be in adult clubs.

I'm not only referring to the clubs, and as others have indicated, there is no big difference between a 17 year-old & an 18 year-old. They often share the same class at school. It's not even like one can drink in the U.S. & the other can't. No huge difference, so DCL enforcing a separation between friends of a close age can be problematic. DCL is much more flexible in relation to other ages.

 

[serenitynow]

I'm not only referring to the clubs, and as others have indicated, there is no big difference between a 17 year-old & an 18 year-old. They often share the same class at school. It's not even like one can drink in the. U.S. & the other can't. No huge difference, so DCL enforcing a separation between friends of a close age can be problematic. DCL is much more flexible in relation to other ages.

But there is a big difference between a 14 year old and an 18 year old. The Vibe is for teens 14-17. In the US, an 18 year old has traditionally been considered an adult.

 

[Shanti]

But there is a big difference between a 14 year old and an 18 year old. The Vibe is for teens 14-17. In the US, an 18 year old has traditionally been considered an adult.

The 14 year-old & 18 year-old can all attend the same high school. Again, this is no big deal. Period.

 

[serenitynow]

And this is why Disney has rules about the ages in their kids clubs. It’s not up to the individual cruisers to decide what is a big deal when it comes to appropriate age cut offs for their various children’s clubs.
Period.

 

[SherriNichole]

When I went as an 18-year old, they checked my ID so many times after hours to ensure I really was. I get it to an extent, but it was still under drinking age. I wish they had a way to note it on your KTTW card because carrying my license made me a little nervous to lose it.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

When I went as an 18-year old, they checked my ID so many times after hours to ensure I really was. I get it to an extent, but it was still under drinking age. I wish they had a way to note it on your KTTW card because carrying my license made me a little nervous to lose it.

They actually CAN tell from your KTTW card if you are under 18, 18-20, or 21+. The arguement has been made that they want to confirm you aren’t carrying someone else’s KTTW card but if they scan the card they will see your picture. So I don’t get the carrying ID thing but whatever.

 

[SherriNichole]

They actually CAN tell from your KTTW card if you are under 18, 18-20, or 21+. The arguement has been made that they want to confirm you aren’t carrying someone else’s KTTW card but if they scan the card they will see your picture. So I don’t get the carrying ID thing but whatever.

I suppose this is true, but in the "night clubs" they might not have that ability? Or didn't when I cruised (I'm now 30). Or didn't want to deal with the hassle, so I had to carry my license...even at 18, I was nervous about it...what if I'd lost it?

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I'm not only referring to the clubs, and as others have indicated, there is no big difference between a 17 year-old & an 18 year-old. They often share the same class at school. It's not even like one can drink in the U.S. & the other can't. No huge difference, so DCL enforcing a separation between friends of a close age can be problematic. DCL is much more flexible in relation to other ages.

The Vibe age rule isn’t designed to separate friends. It wasn’t always that way. Some years back there was an incident with an 18 yro in Vibe with a minor. For legal reasons and the safety of the minors Disney adopted a hard line on the age thing.

I will say this: back when we did the 14-night Panama Canal in May 2015 my oldest son was 19 & my youngest was 17. My younger son wasn’t all that into the group of kids in Vibe. Too much drama or something. Anywhoo, he preferred being with his older brother with the 18-20 group. He hung out with them fairly frequently. Obviously when that group was night-clubbing he kept a low profile. Maybe it being a longer cruise the crew got to recognize and/or know all of them. At least half the cruise the only time he went into Vibe was to find his one buddy then they’d leave to do their own thing. Not much time in the club at all. Both my boys had an amazing cruise. They just self-entertained more.

Also, the 18-20 group isn’t monitored, really. They have like 1 daily scheduled thing to meet for (like lunch) but mostly they self-organize. On that same cruise I know they had several young adults hanging out with that group who were 21, 22, & 23. That’s how my 19 yro learned his tequila lesson the last night of the cruise.

 

[cyclenut]

While back we had a daughter who was 17 and one who had just turned 18. I mean the week before she had turned 18. Nothing we could say or do to change Disney policy. The 17 year old was no allowed to do 18-21 year old programs and the 18 year old was no allowed in the Vibe. The KTTW card had indicators on it and you had to show your card. I think Disney should be flexible on this, but they are not. Maturity between the ages of 16-19 varies widely across individuals and even genders. I get that 18 is the legal age of adulthood and I get the possibility of legal challenges, but I don't believe there should be such absolutes when it comes to shipboard activities (except perhaps the legal drinking age ... which I still don't really think is magical at 21, but hey ... that's not very flexible).

Either allowing the younger kid to attend the 18-21 activities, or the other way around. Would not be hard to have a "90 day" policy or something like that where the parent and the kid agree to some special terms, put a sticker or something on the KTTW card and let the fun begin.

But alas ... it is a fixed policy and our 17 year old was very disappointed and unhappy. The two of them are very close and it was a source of bitterness for the entire cruise and frankly as much as a year afterward (another story).

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I suppose this is true, but in the "night clubs" they might not have that ability? Or didn't when I cruised (I'm now 30). Or didn't want to deal with the hassle, so I had to carry my license...even at 18, I was nervous about it...what if I'd lost it?

I suspect they didn’t want to have to take the key to a computer to scan plus it being dark they may not be able to see you as clearly as they should. But wouldn’t that still be an issue if you were showing your DL? I dunno. Lacks logic for me.

 

[SherriNichole]

I suspect they didn’t want to have to take the key to a computer to scan plus it being dark they may not be able to see you as clearly as they should. But wouldn’t that still be an issue if you were showing your DL? I dunno. Lacks logic for me.

I agree. And I suspect that Disney has these put in place and sticks to them because if they bend for one, they are opening up a can of worms. I mean my mother didn't want me hanging out with 20 year olds at 17, even though I was very mature for my age. I could see the potential for liability issues.

 

[beachdrmn]

They make exceptions for the Edge and just mark the kids KTTWC with a sticker upon patent approval. Why not do the same for the Vibe and 18-20 Society? Why allow exceptions in one group but not the others?