Kids Club Age Differences?

[pjung2]

Does anyone know how strict they are about the age specific kids programing they have on board. My daughter is 7 and her cousin is 9 is there a chance they will let her in on the 8 and up or vice versa by letting him in on the 7 and lower? I would love to get some feedback on this any help would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[tchoney]

Does anyone know how strict they are about the age specific kids programing they have on board. My daughter is 7 and her cousin is 9 is there a chance they will let her in on the 8 and up or vice versa by letting him in on the 7 and lower? I would love to get some feedback on this any help would be appreciated. Thanks

They are VERY strict! They would not bend at all for us. The reasoning, I completely understood, but was still disappointed. If they bend for one they have to bend for all. Most importantly, they don't want 12 year old girls/boys together with 17 year old girls/boys and if they bend for the smaller ones, they'll have to bend for the older ones. The only time your child can move up is if their birthday is a month or two away.

Needless to say, my boys did not attend the clubs at all. They stayed together at the pool, basketball court, ping pong tables and movie theaters. We all had a fantastic time.

 

[RebeccaLovesDisney]

We had a very different experience. My DS was 7 when we sailed and we were traveling with another family whose DD was 8. One day when we went to check the kids into the clubs, we took the 8 year old first to the lab. While the kids were saying goodbye at the front desk, I just mentioned to the other mom that it was too bad the kids couldn't stay together. One of the CM's overheard me and said that my son could move up to the lab (8-9 group) if he wanted. They let him try it out on a trial basis and he did fine. After that he was issued a new ID bracelet and "officially" moved up.

I've read reports about people being able to move kids to different age groups with varying success and I don't always understand the differences. But it doesn't hurt to ask the CM's when you sign the kids up.

 

[clori]

My dd was 4 1/2 on our recent cruise but doesn't turn 5 until May. I never tried to nor wanted to move her up. However I overheard two parents request that there 4 year olds be moved up to the 5-7 year old group. One of the kids wasn't turning 5 until May. His mother really asked if he could go to the pirate activity at the older group but they said he could and could stay with that group if he wanted. The other parent moved the child up but I'm not sure when his birthday was. DD loved the 4 year old activities, met a friend there etc and had a blast at the club.

 

[disneyfan73]

I would say it all depends on CMs / how full club is and your child. They let our DS7 move up to 8-9 yo club... to join his brother DS8. Doesn’t hurt to ask, just don’t get you mind set on it. We weren’t even going to ask because we heard they had strict policy on this issue. BTW this was on the Magic back on Nov 27th 04.

 

[ClarabelleCow]

I really hope they are flexible, I have a 12 year old DD, won't be 13 until September. But would love to do the "activities", sports stuff with the older kids. Especially at Castaway Cay. The surprise cruise on 2/24 is really for her brother, she will not be happy. When we did it in August, she said it was nice, but hated the clubs, most of the time the kids were very young, 8 and 9 year olds.

 

[lbgraves]

I can see where they would be more concerned about a 12 yo being in the same club as 17 yos. IMO is just asking for trouble anyway & I think they should split the teens up. Anyhow it doesn't seem to be a problem in the younger groups. When I told the counselor that DD may cry when we leave but if she is led into an activity she will be fine. Since we were signing DS up for the 5-7 group she asked if I would like DD to be in that group too to help make the cruise more enjoyable for her if she was with her brother. We kept her in the 3-4s since she had a friend her age on the cruise.

They want your child to enjoy their cruise & will do whatever they can to make that happen.

 

[pjung2]

Thanks for any and all help so far keep the opions coming.

 

[madoug]

1/2/05 Wonder, my almost 13 y/o (BDay 5/10) was allowed to attend the ALOFT activities. He visited the Lab with us when we checked in DD 10
and his first impression was not strong. He then visited ALoft with our DS 14, he spoke to Dan, a counselor, who gave several reasons why he should try the Lab first. Then I spoke to Dan, he gave me the many reasons, quoted that there were 60 16 & 17 y/o's on board, but bottom line this is his and our vacation and they wanted him to have a good time. Next morning (noon) when ALOFT opened he went back and talk to Helen, she say sure he could give it a try. They assessed that he looks, acts and sounds like a 13 y/o and he fit right in. Excursions however were not allowed due to "liability" concerns. He did spend part of the afternoon on Castaway Cay at the teen beach. Both boys said that the older teens were not in the club much.

FYI- ALOFT has no signin/signout. If my son had just showed up with his brother, I do not think anyone would have said a thing.