'Tween getting nervous

[disnutz]

Ok - I have tween daughter (12) who is getting a little nervous about the cruise. First, she watched an old Disney Cruise DVD we had, and it said the slide was only for those kids under 10. I thought I read on the web that it was for kids 4-14. Any idea?

Also - did your tween have fun in the clubs? She is a little afraid it will be baby-ish, but I think she is scared of the teen club.

I so wish we could meet up with another family who has an 11 or 12 yr old girl. We are heading out on the 4 night 8/20 if anyone knows of anyone going!!!

 

[pamjb]

I can't really give you an official answer about the slide. I do know that my then 14 year old DS rode the slide on our cruise in Jan 2005.
As for the clubs, our then 10 year old DS was a little bored in the clubs. I think part of the problem was that he didn't know anybody. We were part of a group cruise, with cruisers from all across the US. We had all online chatted before the cruise. Unfortunately, there were no other kids in Nick's age range. So while everybody had a buddy, he didn't. I did check out the cruise meet forum on this list and have found him some friends in his age level that will be cruising with us in August.

 

[poconoboatniks]

DD will be 12 in June and this will be her fifth cruise. To avoid boredome, we have allowed her to check in and out on the past 2 cruises. She is allowed to go with a friend to attend the shows and movies. In addition, we allow her to walk Deck 4, shop in Mickey's Mates and go to Goofy's Galley for ice cream. We do not allow her to swim without us or to roam aimlessly. She must check in with us and she must be with a buddy. DD really appreciates the limited freedom we have allowed her and she has not give us any reason to revoke her freedom. The cruise meet boards have been a wonderful ice breaker for her. She loves getting onboard knowing someone.

Poconoboatniks

 

[disnutz]

Poconoboatniks-

We have discussed the signing out privilege - I think that will help. I am just hoping there is a fellow diser with a similar age daughter going!!

Come one 8/20!!!

 

[vassello]

My DD11 also had some concerns. Prior to our cruise I went on the DIS meets and found a few kids around her age. She ended up going to the camps and found lots of people she liked to "hang out" with there. It really helped that our first full day on the boat was Super Bowl Sunday. The camps had all kinds of fun activities for the children including football face painting and cheerleading for the girls. They had the game playing on the giant TV screen in the camp with lots of alternate activities. Both my kids didn't want to leave. Later that night Sarah got a certificate in our mail from the cruise director, Rachel, commending her on her great participation that night. The next day, Sarah received more mail! It was a pennant from a raffle the clubs held on the outcome of the game and the score. Whenever Sarah was tired of what we were doing, she would ask to go to camp. The last few nights of the cruise they didn't want to leave the camps and still have very fond memories of the activities and the CMs.

We also allowed her to sign herself out and she needed to page us when she was doing that. When signing out, she had to return to our room and normally I would meet her there. I also gave her the option to see a movie with friends, but she chose to go with us.

I have to say the first cruise we went on, we went with friends and their children. Their daughter was older than Sarah and decided it wasnt' cool to attend the camps so of course, Sarah didn't want to either. This cruise we went with a different set of friends who had younger children. Sarah spent much more time at camp, on her own, than I expected. Hopefully your child will have a great time once they get there and enjoy the camps as much as our children did!

 

[mdoodle]

We were on the Magic last week. My DD is 11. If you read go up to the section on trip reports and read my report (Eastern Magic March 18-25), I gave my report on my daughter's experience in the kid's program.... not great, not bad.

 

[kcashner]

DD has sailed on the Magic 14 times...from age 7 to age 14, and we currently have another cruise booked.

The slide has a height limit....so an 8 year old can be "too tall" or a 12 year old might meet the requirements.

DD found the Lab to be "boring" after a couple of trips. However, there are plenty of other things to do --movies, family activities, swim, sun, etc.

Unless your 12 is within 30 days of turning 13, she will not be allowed in The Stack (teen area). While that may sound harsh for a 12 year old, it prevents the special teen area from becoming a younger kid hangout. She will spend some time there with the 10-12 programming, but only when it is "closed" to the teens. DD chose to celebrate her 13th birthday in The Stack, and absolutely loves it.

So....I wouldn't hesitate with a 12. We did have the rule that you had to "try" one programming activity per day....there are some neat crafts, etc, and it gave me a break! It also helps if she meets a friend on line before sailing or makes a friend in the Lab shortly after sailing. Once she has a buddy, they will want to hang together wherever.

The shows, family activities, movies, deck parties, etc. will be great for a 12 yo.

 

[scrapperjill]

Our DD (12) had a good time...we did allow her to have check in/out privlages in the club...which for the most part she found okay..not great but okay. There were some activites she wanted to do in the club and others that she didn't care for. She did like the new ocean quest area...which is made just for the tween population (on the Magic)...and ended up spending quite a bit of time in there. She also enjoyed going to shows and movies...sometimes with friends and sometimes alone. One of her favorite things she liked was when her and a couple other friends went to Lumears for lunch...on their own. I know it sounds silly...but it was one of her best memories she has.

Have you checked out the Cruise Meet board? To chat with others going on the cruise with you? On our first cruise we had our dd exchange e-mails with someone else her age (that we met on the cruise meet thread) that was going on the same cruise...that way they had some time prior to the cruise to chat and get to know each other...then once on the cruise...it was kinda like meeting an old friend for the first time.