"Stack" questions for young teen

[jbm02]

Hi! We're looking into a cruise with a 13 year old boy. During our last cruise ('06 double dip to Castaway Cay!), he loved the pre-teen clubs. I'm concerned that he'll be a bit intimidated by the older teens at the Stack (he hasn't discovered girls yet....) Does anyone have any insight into the Stack?
Thanks!!!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Which cruise are you going on? If you're going to be on the Magic, he may enjoy Ocean Quest which, I believe, is for 10-14 year olds.

 

[jbm02]

Thanks Wendy. We haven't booked yet - we'd like to go sometime in August 2009 and have been pouring over the available cruises (unfortunately, no double dip is offered at that time! Darn it). Thank for your suggestion - I'm going back to the DCL website to check.....

 

[CraftyMouse]

DS is 12 1/2 and LOVED Ocean Quest. He made friends with several 13yo boys who preferred OQ to the Stack. We will be on the Panama Canal repo in August and DS will be 13. He is already saying that he probably won't go to the Stack at all because he wants to go back to Ocean Quest.

Your DS will be fine. If he likes the Stack that's great. If not he has Ocean Quest. IMO Disney did a great thing by adding OQ. It addresses the issues of those kids that are too mature for the 10-12 group and not quite ready for The Stack.

Look here for lots of good info... http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=948596&highlight=quest

 

[LCTsMom]

My son was 13 the first time we sailed and he loved the teen club on the Wonder! They played video games most of the time, which is his most favorite activity.

 

[GotDisney?]

We were wondering the same thing - that the Stack may be too much for our teens as they will barely be 14 when we cruise.

Call us paranoid, but we worry about them not being chaperoned and with older teens. Yes, we do talk to them about sex, drinking, and drugs, but we have been blessed that their exposure has been limited. No we are not naive parents - we had to go through one of our daughters' close friends dealing with a pregnancy scare last year (7th grade) which gave us a HUGE wake up call. I trust my daughters, but I worry about putting them in a situation they might not be mature enough to handle.

 

[UMTerp]

We had this issue on our last cruise. DS had just turned 13 5 months earlier. We went to the Stack and talked with the counselors and toured the area. DS was welcomed by the staff but he did not feel comfortable there with the older kids. He spent lots of time at Ocean Quest and made friends with kids his age there. He spent time with them going to movies and such. I would recommend Ocean Quest as an alternative to the Stack for younger teens. They will still have a great time!

UMTerp

 

[kcashner]

DD chose to celebrate her 13th birthday in The Stack.

Kids are split 13-14 and 15-17, although much time is unscheduled and the groups hang out together. We had no issues of intimidation or bad behavior when she was younger. We did encounter one issue with another guest with our 16 year old (a 17 year old male was involved). DCL took it VERY seriously, and I was pleased. There are lots of goofy fun activities--Gotcha (game), free smoothie time, fitness center time, etc. Kids tend to meet others with similar interest and move out from The Stack also--hanging in the pool, etc.

How social is your teen? Some mix and mingle better than others. Boys tend to be less mature than girls in the social settings, but the counsellors do a great job of incorporating everyone. DO have him go to the 411 session on the first night. All rules will be discussed, and he'll be able to meet other kids.

Currently, 13 and 14s can use both Ocean Quest (a tween area) and The Stack. A young and less mature teen may be more comfortable in Ocean Quest.

 

[Sorcerer Mom]

I'm really happy to read about OC. My DS will be 12.5 when we sail in June and he was disappointed that he wouldn't be able to go in The Stack with his sister, who is 17. My DD will be 18 that August and she was disappointed that she's not old enough to go into Palo etc. yeesh This will be our first DC and it sounds like both will have lots more to do than they think they will. I've heard that they have pagers for the younger tweens so parents can know when they leave. Does anyone know if that's right?

 

[The LK 4]

My son was 13 the first time we sailed and he loved the teen club on the Wonder! They played video games most of the time, which is his most favorite activity.

This was my DS's experience last January when he was 13. He loved the teen club, and mostly hung out with a few other boys playing the video games. We sailed again over Thanksgiving on the Magic, and he made tons of new friends his age and older. It seemed like a great bunch of kids, and no one was out of control.

 

[kcashner]

The pagers are available (1 per cabin) for parents of 3-12 year olds. No pagers for teen parents.

Yes, DD will be 17 on our next cruise and I've already heard the "do you think they will know I'm not 18 if....." I pointed out that it was on her KTTW card.

18 year olds who have not yet graduated from high school may participate in The Stack on a "space available" basis.

Yes, the Ocean Quest area is great for the tweens....especially the boys. They love all the computer stuff there!

 

[frdeb1999]

My dd 13 is looking forward to trying ocean quest. She has told us repeatedly that she just isn't interested in the Stack. So it's very nice to have a alternative place for her to go.

 

[LisaBi]

As the parent of an older teen - On our first cruise DS was 16. There weren't too many teens on board - mostly 13/14 and him. They all got along well. On our second cruise he was 17. There were so many teens in both age groups they seemed to naturally split into the younger and older.

 

[Sorcerer Mom]

The pagers are available (1 per cabin) for parents of 3-12 year olds. No pagers for teen parents.

Yes, DD will be 17 on our next cruise and I've already heard the "do you think they will know I'm not 18 if....." I pointed out that it was on her KTTW card.

18 year olds who have not yet graduated from high school may participate in The Stack on a "space available" basis.

Yes, the Ocean Quest area is great for the tweens....especially the boys. They love all the computer stuff there!

HA, that's funny, my DD asked the same question...since this will be our first DC I didn't know about the age being on the KTTW card...in this case, she will have just graduated from HS a couple of days before the cruise but oh well . I'm sure she'll come off the ship happy she was able to go to the teen clubs...sounds like overall everyone has a great experience. Thanks for all the info!

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

Check your cruise meet thread and see if there are other teens the same age on your cruise.

I think all of us who have 13 y/o's have trepidations about the teen club. I know I feel so much better knowing there are a bunch of families on my cruise meet thread that have 13/14 y/o's.

 

[Samantha Becker]

DD will turn 13 2nd day into cruise she is psyched to go up to the stack. Only problem is her BF will still be 12. Will they let it slide or are they firm with the rules?

 

[GotDisney?]

Okay, I am feeling better after reading this thread. Thank you all for your inputs.

 

[kcashner]

If you cruise within 30 days of your birthday, you are allowed into the next age group--for instance, you must be 12 years and 11 months. So, turning 13 during the cruise gets you into The Stack. DD turned 13 on one of our cruises. THe only problem was that we couldn't register for the Wild Side excursion because the computer kept insisting that she was 12, even though she was 13 by that day. No problem--the CM got a supervisor on the phone who took care of it for us. THe CM was great--she insisted that she knew there was a way to make it happen, but she couldn't get the computer to cooperate.

They try to be strict about 13 (or 12 11/12) because one of the hits of The Stack is that "little kids" can't be there. In reality, the 8-12s "invade the stack" when it isn't open for teens. It is doubtful that they would allow the 12 year old. Remember, there is a huge age gap between 13 and 17. It is even greater if they allow a 12 year old who isn't almost 13. However, your 13 year old and her 12 year old friend can hang out in the Quest area as well as the many public areas of the ship.