How strict are excursion age restrictions?

[sunny4]

Hello - We are very excited for our first Disney cruise this October. We were really hoping to do the kayak, hike, snorkel excursion in St Thomas, but unfortunately the age minimum is 8, and my son will not be 8 until January. The Disney web site would not let me register him, but I signed up the rest of my family. I am wondering if there is any chance of him getting to go along with us once we are on the ship? Or do I just need to pick something else? We are an active family, and it just seems like most of the active excursions are reserved for ages 8 and up, which is such a bummer. Thanks in advance for your input!

 

[Saimaeve]

I personally wouldn't try it simply because chances are those age restrictions are there for a reason. It could be a liability issue or something like that. I wouldn't want to chance it

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Hello - We are very excited for our first Disney cruise this October. We were really hoping to do the kayak, hike, snorkel excursion in St Thomas, but unfortunately the age minimum is 8, and my son will not be 8 until January. The Disney web site would not let me register him, but I signed up the rest of my family. I am wondering if there is any chance of him getting to go along with us once we are on the ship? Or do I just need to pick something else? We are an active family, and it just seems like most of the active excursions are reserved for ages 8 and up, which is such a bummer. Thanks in advance for your input!

DCL ages restrictions are firm. If he isn't 8 on the day of the excursion, he can't go. It's totally a liability issue.

Many people get around such restrictions by booking directly with the excursion company, if they can.

Provisos - Often excursion providers may have an exclusive contract with a cruise line that won't allow them to book cruise ship passengers who want to book directly with them.

Many times ages restrictions are lower with the excursion provider than they are with Disney.

 

[over50visits]

I of course can't speak for Disney, but it appears to be the universal experience of posters here that Disney does strictly observe various age restrictions, such as those for excursions. Why? Some people believe it is for liability reasons (or even state that as a fact); that may be true, but just speculation. I can think of other equally reasonable explanations.

An alternative is booking with local tour agencies, rather than Disney, who might have different age requirements. Over the years we have had great success booking with local tours (we always check the online reviews, such as tripadvisor, first), and I recall a lot of postings here where folks have great luck (and lower cost) with direct bookings.

Good luck! If there you find and choose an excursion on St Thomas geared toward kids/families, I know your DS will love it. St Thomas is a beautiful island.

 

[GioCruise]

Super super strict!! To the point that my nephew turned 10 during one of our past cruises but the excursion we booked took place the day before his actual birthday and the excursion was for ages 10 and up only and they said no because of insurance reasons....
Disney plays by the book...

 

[sambycat]

I of course can't speak for Disney, but it appears to be the universal experience of posters here that Disney does strictly observe various age restrictions, such as those for excursions. Why? Some people believe it is for liability reasons (or even state that as a fact); that may be true, but just speculation. I can think of other equally reasonable explanations.
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not sure what that means, but they are strict. whatever the reason.

 

[sunny4]

Well this isn't what I wanted to hear ...
But thank you for your responses. Much better to know now than find out on the ship!

 

[over50visits]

not sure what that means, but they are strict. whatever the reason.

Agreed. There could be any number of reasons and I've never seen them disclosed. Doesn't matter, though, since evidently they do enforce the age requirements strictly.

 

[aprincessatlast]

I think this is the reason we have never booked an excursion through Disney. We have sailed DCL since our oldest was preschool age. In order to do anything semi active or adventurous we had to book on our own. I was always surprised when DCL would have an age restriction of 8 and the same tour company they used would have it at 4. So we just booked directly and now that our kids are older we can't even look at DCL due to the markup difference. So long story short to say book independently. Just do you research really well and find one with a good reputation that will put your mind at ease. Give yourself plenty of time to get back to the ship for any margin of error and all should be fine. There are some awesome tour companies out there that will give you more personalized service!

 

[Quellman]

If you can't book it online, you won't be able to book it on board.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

If you can't book it online, you won't be able to book it on board.

For the most part that's true. However if OP's son were to turn 8 during the cruise (before the actual excursion date), while he couldn't be booked online before the cruise, he could be once onboard (if there were still availability). They could even do it as soon as they board (before he's actually turned 8). It apparently has to be done in person (manually) due to the age thing.

 

[steves100]

Since DCL KNOWS your childs age its a no go

 

[Quellman]

For the most part that's true. However if OP's son were to turn 8 during the cruise (before the actual excursion date), while he couldn't be booked online before the cruise, he could be once onboard (if there were still availability). They could even do it as soon as they board (before he's actually turned 8). It apparently has to be done in person (manually) due to the age thing.

Good info for others, not for the original poster in this case. The same is true of kids clubs and birthdays.

 

[JimmyV]

Many people get around such restrictions by booking directly with the excursion company, if they can.

Provisos - Often excursion providers may have an exclusive contract with a cruise line that won't allow them to book cruise ship passengers who want to book directly with them.

While exclusivity can be an issue with a particular tour company, it is very rare that there wouldn't be a "competitor" (often owned by the same person or company) offering the same adventure. So even if DCL has an exclusive contract with "Island Kayaking" such that you can't book direct, there might be a "Virgin Island Kayaking" that has the exact same trip with a more relaxed age requirement.

Check out Cruise Critic and Trip Advisor for reviews of third party touring companies. Also, check out "Island Marketing" in just about any port of call. Here is the link to the STT page:
https://stthomascruiseexcursions.com/

They have a kayak trip priced from age 5 and up.
https://stthomascruiseexcursions.com/KayakSnorkelingEco.htm

 

[sunny4]

This is all such helpful info - especially the links to other excursions!
Thanks everyone =)