How hard is the Oceaneers Club on ages?

[mkauffman]

My DS will be 9 and my D-nephew will be 10 at cruise time. Technically they would break these two up into the 8-9 year olds and the 10-12 year olds. Will they be together at all? Do these two groups do any activities together? If they don't I'm not sure that they'll want to participate in the club.

 

[reveric]

I'm pretty sure they will let the 10 yo stay in the 8-9 group. When we cruised in October my son was in the 3-4 group and my daughter would have been in the 5-6 group. They let her stay in the 3-4 group with her brother. I don't think they would have let him go to the older group but it was no problem to have her be in the younger group.

 

[jel0511]

You can request that the 10 year old be moved down to the next group to keep the boys together. Now, once you move down, you can't go back up because you don't like the group. This happened to a friend of mine. Her two DD's wanted to be together, so they both were placed in the 3-4 year old group. The 5 1/2 year old thought the activities were boring and didn't want to go to the club anymore, so the little one didn't want to stay either, she wasn't then allowed to move up to her appropriate group.

 

[mkauffman]

That's the problem that we had on our last cruise....my ds was then 7, so he was in the 5-7 group. He was way past 5 year old activities and he was bored with the group. He wouldn't go back after the first night and they refused to move him up to the 8-9 group. I've been told they don't have a problem moving your kids down, but they won't move up. That's why I was wondering if they keep the 8-9 and the 10-12 groups together at all since they're both technically the "Lab", or if they really do split the two groups into their own activities. If nothing else I'll give my nephew the choice of moving down. I don't know if he'll want to or not.

 

[jel0511]

Go to Barb and Tony's website. They have all the navigators up there, so you can compare the 8-9 and 10-12 navigators to see what's up in their respective age groups. Here is the link:
http://www.castawayclub.com/

 

[tkd lisa]

The 8-9 and 10-12 are often in the lab at the same time, but they tend to keep them pretty separate. For instance, the 8-9s will be in the computer area while the 10-12s are working on the flubber, etc. During the free time at the labs, it's a little more mixed (at least it seemed that way). I think they try to keep them separate to prevent the big 12 year olds from overpowering the little 8year olds! I know my son who was 8 1/2 at the time had a hard time getting time on the video games during free time.

 

[winnyis]

My 4 year old DS wanted to be in the club with his 7 year old sister and our 7 year old friends son. They told me he could move up on a trial basis but if it didnt work out he would have to move back. It worked out GREAT!! They all stayed in the clubs together almost every night and let us adults have some time to eat at Palo and see the late night shows.

I am hoping in August 2004 they let me then 6 year old DS move to the 8-9 group with my DD and Nephew.

Ginny

 

[mareka]

It depends on the child and you. My grandson was bumped to the next yr group. We asked because he is a year ahead in school. So this is the age group he is used to being in.

If the child is mature ask to move up. they will generally accomdate on a trial basis.

 

[westjones]

I plan to have my twin DDs stay with the 8-9 year olds in September, even though they will turn 10 on the second day of the cruise.

We were on the 7 day cruise last year and some of the kids in the 10-12 year old group were a bit too mature for my girls and I would prefer for them to stay with the younger group. Next year, they can go to the older group, but I don't want them to be the youngest in that group.

I think you have to consider your children and where they would best fit in. Frankly, many of the 8-9 year old activities are with the 10-12 group, but they do do some different things. I checked the navigators on Barb's website and I know my daughters would enjoy the activities for the 8-9 year old better (hanging in Common Grounds with the 10-12 would be boring for them this year, but maybe in another year they would find it interesting).

If you are on a 3 day cruise, you might find that they spend very little time at the club. There is SO much to do and so little time to do it! But on the 7 day cruise, we did use the club quite a bit.

I agree with the suggestion of looking at the navigators on Barb and Tony's website and deciding from there. That is how I knew my DDs would prefer the 8-9 year old group this year.

DJ

 

[Mjasp]

My DD was 10 on our cruise in May,and she was in the 10-12 group. Our friends DD turned 9 on the first day of the cruise and they let her bump her to the 10-12 yr old group, so the 2 girls were able to be together.


Joanna

 

[mkauffman]

Wow...thanks for all the answers! My son is also used to being with older kids because he started school when he was 4, therefore he's the youngest in his class. I think that's why he gets so bored with the younger activities (not to mention that he has a 14 year old brother!). Now that I know some of you have gotten your children to bump up, I think I'll take the chance and ask if we can! We're on the 7 day next time and I hope to get him more interested in the club than he was on the 4 day.