Not sure about Club/Stack for 13

[mhb]

Okay, new ??

I made excursions plans for my 13 yr old DS for CC. The Wild side adventure. We will be going with another family that has a 12 yr old DS, who is my DS's friend. Seems we have to pick which program my DS has to be in. Either the Stack or the Club. I thought he could just travel between the 2. My older DS is 15 and the younger DS would sometimes be with him.

I guess this is not possible, from what I read on the boards. My DS 13 is about 5'6". Tall for his age. If the club is for 10-12 will he feel out of place? He gets along with all ages well.

Thanks
Michelle

 

[NYGiantsRule!]

It's not really about size, but maturity and interests. My DS was 13 last year on our cruise and loved hanging out in the Stack (Common Grounds at the time). He did the catamaran cruise. The activities in the Lab may be too "kiddish" for him. There is not a lot of free time (Hanging out in the Lab as they call it) and the organized things may not interest him if he wants to do the Wild Side on CC. Check the Navigators available on other sites to see which activities may be the best choice.

 

[SweetSpot]

You're asking all the same questions I've asked over the years so hopefully I can help. We had the same worry last year, my DS was 13 and wanted to be in the Club with his brother but he is a big kid and looked older than his age so we were concerned for him. It wasn't a problem at all. There were even kids bigger than him.

The club had a huge Playstation II and plenty of activities that might interest him and if not he will be free to come and go just like the Stack if you allow him. If the boys don't like an activity they can head to a movie, get ice cream or find many other things to do but if they both want to go to the Club's late night pool party for example they won't be able to if their both not signed up at the Club. The kids can't bounce between the two and I would believe if it were at all possible to bounce into one for a little while the Stack would be the easiest because the Club is very strict and only allows those signed up for the Club to join in. If he wants to spend more time with his friend than his brother the club is the way to go and he will be comfortable because he definately won't be the only one moving down and age group.

 

[kcashner]

First of all, the Club is for 3-7 year olds, the Lab is for 8-12, and the Stack is for 13-17 or 18.

The Stack is the strictest of the programs as far as allowing under-age kids in. You must be within 30 days of the 13th birthday. And, as others have said, you cannot bounce back and forth between programs. I always suggest that you start out with the kids in their age appropriate programs. If they then want to move, you confer with the counsellors. Each child is allowed only ONE move.

Now...as to how a 12 and a 13 can spend a lot of time together....anything on the Navigator listed as "family" is something they can do. This includes fun things like making a veggie race car, games like "walk the plank" and Mickey Mania", karoke, family variety shows, etc. They can go to the arcade, do all sorts of sports things on deck 9, hang out at the pools, go to movies, etc.

Both the Lab and the Stack have computers, play station, music, etc. The real issue is that there is a huge difference between a 12 year old and a 17 year old, and the Stack is far less supervised than the programming for the younger kids.

At 12, DD felt that the Lab was "lame," but she'd been on several cruises in that age group. She celebrated the big 13 in the Stack, and can't wait to go back.

 

[Cheshire27]

I think it all depends on the child. My sister was 13 when we cruised in April and spent about 5 minutes total in the Stack. She didn't like the way a lot of the older kids were acting. It also seemed that a lot of "cliques" had already started and she didn't know anyone. So, she was definitely too young for the stack and would have had a much better time in the lab, where she had been the prior year. BUT, if your child is very outgoing and makes friends very quickly, he/she might have a great time with the "cool" activities they do and the freedom they're allowed. I think knowing someone else in the group makes a HUGE difference.

 

[mhb]

If my Ds goes to the lab, will he have the freedom to come and go as he pleases?

 

[SweetSpot]

They would have let my 8 yr old come and go if I let her. They give you the option when you sign them up and they pretty much expect that you will let your 12 yr old sign out on their own. I liked that we had the pager and even though the kids were signing out themselves they would page me with a message saying that the kids were heading to so and so. They don't normally do that when you give sign out priviledges but I asked them if the would and they did. Your DS will be able to sign himself in and out and come and go as he pleases bases on what he wants to do. Check out the navigators, it really does depend on what he would like to participate in when deciding on which age group to be in but if it is so he can be with a friend he really wants to spend the most time with you would want them in the same club. He would probably love either club and feel comfortable in both. His decision will be more based on who he wants to spend the most time with his friend or his brother.

 

[ksjayhawks]

If his friend is 12 and in the lab and that is who he really wants to be with, then sign him up for the lab. You will receive a pager and can choose whether they can come and go on their own. If you choose this, the boys can check out and go up to deck 9 to get food, play pingpong, go to the sports deck, go to the pools, whatever. We requested that our ds11 tell the counselors where he was going whenever he and his new friends checked out. That way we would know if we came down there to look for him. This worked out great. He liked the freedom, but also had to be responsible. If he forgot to tell them, he would have the freedom revoked.

He really liked the club and the activities and many nights was out later than we were!

 

[ksjayhawks]

I guess the big questions is: are he and the other boy really good friends or just friends? That may determine where he wants to go. If the 12 year old is his best friend, he will probably want to be with him.
If you sign him up in the lab, you will receive a pager and can choose whether they can come and go on their own. If you choose this, the boys can check out and go up to deck 9 to get food, play pingpong, go to the sports deck, go to the pools, whatever. We requested that our ds11 tell the counselors where he was going whenever he and his new friends checked out. That way we would know where he was if we came down there to look for him. This worked out great! He liked the freedom, but also had to be responsible. If he forgot to tell them, he would have the freedom revoked.

He really liked the club and the activities and many nights was out later than we were!