Traveling with tweens and teens and in betweens!

[watel]

I have a DS15 at cruise time and DD13 and DS13 (twins) who are traveling with our BFF's who have a DS15 and a DS14. (In real years, they are in 10th, 9th, and 7th graders.) To make a long, convoluted situation even more long and convoluted, I would like my younger twins to have the chance to hang with their bro and friends at Club Vibe. Is that possible? Also, I would like to sign up all 3 of my beautiful babies for the Wild Side Teen Adventure on Castaway Cay with their BFFs. Again, is that possible?

 

[bigAWL]

I don't have personal experience in asking for younger kids to be allowed in an older club. I've read on these boards that DCL does not allow it. But I know it happened on my cruise on the Magic this summer (13 year old allowed into the Vibe -- during non open hours -- to be with an older sibling). So my guess is it depends on who is handing out the Vibe stickers for that cruise.

 

[NZMUM]

I have read that they will allow the younger ones into Vibe if there is space and if you sign a waiver.
The Wildside is listed as 14-17. I doubt that they will allow your 13 year olds on this. They are very strict about excursion ages.

 

[darnheather]

They will be allowed into some events in the Vibe at the very least. They will not be allowed to do the Wild Side Adventure.

 

[anjuan]

My DD was 13 on our June 2 Magic cruise. We went to tour the Vibe just to check it out the first day and without asking they offered that she could use the club if I signed a waiver, which I did. She spent time both clubs that cruise. I can't tell you about castaway cay because our cruise was a Mediterranean one.

 

[xavier2001]

IF they are close to 14 and there is enough room in Vibe you can sign an waiver and they can get in. We did it with my 10 year old twins in Edge on our last cruise. But you won't know until you go to open house on embarkation day. I wouldn't get their hopes up just in case.

 

[apathetic]

They allow waivers in the club, but it is not 100%. Also, they absolutely have to be 13 to get the waiver. Our son was less than 2 months from being 13 and it was a hard no.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

IF they are close to 14 and there is enough room in Vibe you can sign an waiver and they can get in. We did it with my 10 year old twins in Edge on our last cruise. But you won't know until you go to open house on embarkation day. I wouldn't get their hopes up just in case.

My son has been asking about this since he heard it mentioned on the last cruise. He will be almost 11. So he can go to Edge, if there is space available? But they sign in and out themselves there, right?

 

[anjuan]

My son has been asking about this since he heard it mentioned on the last cruise. He will be almost 11. So he can go to Edge, if there is space available? But they sign in and out themselves there, right?

They don't sign in and out at Edge. When they sign up the first day they put a sticker on their ID that allows them to come and go as they want.

 

[PurplePencil]

My son has been asking about this since he heard it mentioned on the last cruise. He will be almost 11. So he can go to Edge, if there is space available? But they sign in and out themselves there, right?

Technically it is up to CM discretion. However generally speaking if there is space available you can sign a waiver allowing him to go, one of the requirements usually is that he has self-checkout privileges in the kids clubs. In Edge, there is no signing in and out, and some activities take place around the ship

 

[tlprice]

My son has been asking about this since he heard it mentioned on the last cruise. He will be almost 11. So he can go to Edge, if there is space available? But they sign in and out themselves there, right?

My daughter was 10 yrs. 7 mo. on our cruise on the Wonder in January and they let her into the Edge because there were VERY FEW kids on the ship at all. On our cruise on the Magic in June, she was 11 and they probably did not let any 10 year olds in. When we went to get her sticker they showed us the list of just 11 year olds on the ship and it was a several pages long list. I can't guarantee they didn't let any younger kids in, but we kind of made a comment about how many 11 year olds there were and the cast member had some sort of response that sounded as though they wouldn't be allowing any younger kids in. I think it will just depend on the cruise you are on and how many others of that age there are.

 

[xavier2001]

My son has been asking about this since he heard it mentioned on the last cruise. He will be almost 11. So he can go to Edge, if there is space available? But they sign in and out themselves there, right?

If you don't give them self sign out privileges at the club/lab they will not be allowed in Edge. We were on a 14 day cruise, the first 2 days I was pretty strict about letting us know exactly where they were. By the end of the trip they had pretty much free reign of the ship aside from the pools. I had to be on deck if they were swimming. We set ground rules like no elevators, no going in anyone else's stateroom, staying in public areas of the ship. What was very helpful is I had some VERY old iPhones that we were able to install the disney app on. That way we had some text communication going. We would set meeting places at certain times and they were always early or on time. I was actually pretty proud of them. It was hard when we got back to the 'real world' and they don't have as much freedom.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

My daughter was 10 yrs. 7 mo. on our cruise on the Wonder in January and they let her into the Edge because there were VERY FEW kids on the ship at all. On our cruise on the Magic in June, she was 11 and they probably did not let any 10 year olds in. When we went to get her sticker they showed us the list of just 11 year olds on the ship and it was a several pages long list. I can't guarantee they didn't let any younger kids in, but we kind of made a comment about how many 11 year olds there were and the cast member had some sort of response that sounded as though they wouldn't be allowing any younger kids in. I think it will just depend on the cruise you are on and how many others of that age there are.

Thanks.
TBH, I hope he can't go in. I'm not comfortable with him roaming the ship alone and if he just can't go then I don't have to be the bad guy who doesn't let him.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

If you don't give them self sign out privileges at the club/lab they will not be allowed in Edge. We were on a 14 day cruise, the first 2 days I was pretty strict about letting us know exactly where they were. By the end of the trip they had pretty much free reign of the ship aside from the pools. I had to be on deck if they were swimming. We set ground rules like no elevators, no going in anyone else's stateroom, staying in public areas of the ship. What was very helpful is I had some VERY old iPhones that we were able to install the disney app on. That way we had some text communication going. We would set meeting places at certain times and they were always early or on time. I was actually pretty proud of them. It was hard when we got back to the 'real world' and they don't have as much freedom.

Thank you. My dd19 was allowed to have alot of freedom when she cruised at that age, but my DS10 is a very diff child. He is the sweetest, most considerate little guy, but he has ADHD and has a really hard time with impulse control. I just wouldn't feel comfortable having him roam the ship. He would likely be fine, but I'd be a nervous wreck. I do let him and DS8 stay in the movie theatre alone and I just peek in on them, or run up to grab a drink and come back, etc, but I'm not sure on full freedom.

 

[xavier2001]

Thank you. My dd19 was allowed to have alot of freedom when she cruised at that age, but my DS10 is a very diff child. He is the sweetest, most considerate little guy, but he has ADHD and has a really hard time with impulse control. I just wouldn't feel comfortable having him roam the ship. He would likely be fine, but I'd be a nervous wreck. I do let him and DS8 stay in the movie theatre alone and I just peek in on them, or run up to grab a drink and come back, etc, but I'm not sure on full freedom.

I totally get it, there is no right answer and you have to do what you feel comfortable with. I was surprised how comfortable I felt after a few days of letting them have some freedom. Maybe it has to do with being on vacation mode lol. We started with very strict rules and really loosened up. We had been on the Wonder previously so they knew the layout of the ship as well. I think the long length of the cruise helped too. The staff really got to know everyone on board and there were relatively few kids (about 200 vs. a typical 1000-1500) so there was that 'small town' feel.

 

[kylaura]

My daughter was just old enough to go the Vibe this year. They have organized activities, but not as much as the Edge. She's had to grow up a lot the first year of high school, I don't think I would have wanted her with the 16-17 year olds when she was 7th grade.