Are my kids the "wrong" age?

[bellevie]

This is my first post so be patient please. I've been reading and reading -we are considering a cruise in the next year. My kids will be 13 and 11. It seems like the programming is much more "fun" for the 3 -9 set - more Disney-ish. If my kids won't join the clubs, will there be enough for them to do for 7 days? Are the pools something they would enjoy or are they full of little ones? How can I get them excited about a Disney cruise at this age?

 

[alexandrew]

they will have an amazing time!!!!

DCL is for kids of all ages.....so much to do even if they dont go to clubs...swimming, games at Quartermasters, exploring, basketball, eating etc

 

[MO Disney cruiser]

My DD is 13 and can't wait to go back. We took an RCL cruise last year and all I heard was she wished we'd taken DCL

 

[cantsitstill]

My older son is 12 on our upcoming cruise and wishes he was 13 so he could join in all the teen activities, but is also excited about the kid's club activities. On our last 4-day cruise, the boys were pretty much gone the whole day between the club, the pools, the movies, shows, food, the arcade - there's plenty to keep them busy. My son is telling me right now about all the friends he made too! They'll LOVE it! And you will too!

 

[cathie]

We are going on our 2nd Disney Cruise next Sunday Feb. 22 with a 16, 12 & 9 yr.old . There is plenty of Disney Magic whether they choose to do the clubs or do their own thing. They can't wait to go back!!! Cathie & The Gang

 

[ClarabelleCow]

If my kids won't join the clubs

Remember one thing - you are the parent, check out the clubs, if you think the kids will be safe and happy, sign them up! and make them go! My DD is 11 and DS is 4, they will be going to the clubs, they will experience new things, nothing Disney has offered will harm the kids and only give them memories, your kids should enjoy, just give them that push to join in!

 

[SeaSpray]

We're taking our sons who will be 16 and 13 when we cruise! DH and I researched all of the cruise lines and found that Disney Cruise Line offers a great lounge and program for teens as well as the younger kids. Both of them are excited about our cruise this summer. When my older son was 12 he went on a Disney cruise and really had a good time.

The teens have their own lounge, their own teen beach on Castaway Cay, and they even offer teens-only excursions which the teen counselors take them on. (We're doing the 7 night western caribbean, I'm not sure if they offer the teens-only excursions on the 3 and 4 night cruises though).

If you aren't completely sure that Disney is the right cruise line for your family, do some research. Here's a wonderful message board that covers all the other cruise lines: www.cruisecritic.com But for researching a Disney cruise, NO ONE beats the DIS boards here

 

[NYGiantsRule!]

The kids clubs are in two different places on deck five. There is one place for 3-7 year old with age approriate activities, games, etc. and a separate place for 9-12 year olds with much different things to do. My DS's have been in the lab and now in the teen group. There is plenty for them to do. If not there is Quartermasters (the arcade), the pool, movies, activities. There is just so much to do.

 

[JungleCruiser]

I think you could add to their experience by booking some really fun shore excursions! As far as being too old...one is never too old for anything Disney!

 

[jrabbit]

You have an advantage in that your sons have a built in "friend" with each other if they don't hook up with anyone in the club and common grounds.

I really believe that your 11yo will be fine in the lab. My son was ok there when he was that age (and he was PO'd that he was missing some thing back at home during the time we were cruising - he did get over it and enjoyed himself).

The 13 yo may be a different story. The teen club is just that, teens (13-18). Thats a big age difference. Their hours generally are from noon to 2am. These are teenagers and then need their rest - they are in a major growing phase of their lives. (OK back to our regularly scheduled thread). Our kids when 13 were rather shy and didn't hook up with a friend and didn't participate in many of the activities (they looked interesting to me and if I was 30 years younger they would have let me participate - age discrimination ) If you child is used to hanging out with older kids or if they are outgoing they will probably be fine. DCL has realized that 13-18 is a big age difference and they now have activities targeted to the 13-15 and 16-18 age groups along with some common activities.

 

[DISJen]

Forgive my stupid question, I'm fairly new and just booked our first cruise. What is Quartermasters? I assume its a video arcade. Is it free, or do all the games "cost a quarter"?
Just curious. Thanks!

 

[NYGiantsRule!]

Quatermasters is the arcade. I am sure we all wish they were free. You must purchase a card with at least $5, $10 or $20. The card is the only thing that operates the machines. I think they are at least .50 each, if not $1. My DS liked to get a new card everyday because they had different pictures on them.

 

[DoomBuggieDriver]

We haven't been on a cruise yet, as we waited until the kids were older; they will be 13 and 11 when we go. I wanted them to be old enough so that my DH and I could hopefully spend at least a little time without them.

I figure my older daughter will be glad not to be lumped in with the younger daughter, and would enjoy the 13-15 year old activities more than those in the Lab. That said, your kids ages are close like mine, and I am hoping if they don't have fun in the clubs, they will have fun together.

 

[SeaSpray]

Originally posted by jrabbit
DCL has realized that 13-18 is a big age difference and they now have activities targeted to the 13-15 and 16-18 age groups along with some common activities.

I just wanted to add something that I just noticed. In many of the teen Navigators, they did have *some* separate activities for the 13-14 year olds, and the 15-17 year olds. But on the most recent Western teen Navigator, I see only one activity out of the entire week where they had a separate activity for the 15-17 year olds. I bet this depends on the time of year and how many kids of each age group they have on board. In other words, if there are a lot of teens on board, they probably do MORE separate activities with the 13-14s and the 15-17s, but in mid-January (this is the most recent Western teen Navigator), there probably were not all that many teens on board, so they kept all of the activities, except for one, together, both age groups together. So depending upon the time of year you cruise, the teens might or might not have separate activities between the two different teen age brackets.

Also, the 18 year olds are not included in the teen program since they are considered "adults" on board and can use all of the adults-only facilities.

 

[Towncrier]

I guess that a lot depends on the child. On our first cruise, DD was 10yo and DS was 12yo. Sarah loved the Oceanears Lab and begged to cruise again before she turned 13. DS didn't want to have anything to do with the Lab. He was pretty much a loner on that cruise (although I found out later that he did manage to sneak into Common Grounds a couple times to play chess with the teens).

On our second cruise, DD was 12yo and could not WAIT to get back to the Oceaneers Lab. One of the CMs from our first cruise remembered Sarah and that made her experience even more special. DS James was old enough to be part of the teen scene. He took every advantage of that and had the time of his life. We even signed him up for the wild side excursion on Castaway Cay.

Regardless of whether or not your children take advantage of the children's programs on the ship, there's still plenty to see and do while on board.

 

[musicgirl]

My ds was 11 and 12 and loved the cruise and the programs. He'll be 13 this time and he seems excited to get to the teen club. I had him take a look at the teen navigators.

 

[cindysteve]

Disney has programs for teens/preteens, and some of the teens really enjoy them. Others do not. Some teens enjoy Royal Caribbean more. Rock climbing wall, in-line skating track, ice skating, basketball, mini-golf, etc. Only you know your kids best. My kids enjoyed both cruise lines. Talk to your kids, get the videos and travel brochures so they can see what each vacation will be like. We alternate WDW and cruise vacations.

 

[ivanova]

we cruised (4 day) in November ... we had in our group 3 kids, aged 11, 12 and 13 ... the 13 year old absolutely LOVED the teen club (still talks about it to this day) and the 11 & 12 year olds loved swimming and going to the Oceanears Lab for their age group. No complaints from any of the 3 kids at all, and they've all said they'd love to do it again.

 

[tvguy]

My daugher was 12 and son 16 when we went on the 12-27-03 Eastern on the Magic. Our second cruise as a family having gone on the Amsterdam to Alaska in June 2002.
Both times the kids checked out the kids programs, but elected to stay with us. It was, after all, a FAMILY vacation. Some parents rarely saw their kids on sea days because of all the kids activities. So, I'd say Disney is set up for kids who want to do everything in the clubs, or nothing in the clubs, or anything in between.
Only criticism I have is there is no family time in the exercise room. Adults can go anytime, but kids, age 13 and above only, can only go in 2 or 3 times with the kids clubs. So families can't go in and ride the exercycles together.

 

[kcashner]

We just returned from the 2/7 Magic, and according to my DD, the best part of the cruise is The Stack. She just turned 13. The best part of the teen programing was the "Wild Side" excursion on Castaway.

The programming is appropriate to any age--that's the point of the age divisions. She was unhappy with the lab at age 12, but she'd done that level several times and couldn't wait to be a teen. She really loved the club at age 7.....

Yes, we were on the 7/31/98 sailing at age 7, have been thru both age groups in the lab, and have not "graduated" to the teen program on this recent cruise. Can you tell we (she) is addicted to DCL?