12 y/o kids programs on RCCL?

My son has always enjoyed the kids clubs on our previous cruises. I understand that supervised activities are for 3-11 year olds. My DS will be turning 12 right before our trip and falls into teen category and will probably be the youngest in the group. Anyone sail with their 12 y/o children who participated in ship-organized activities?

I searched for programs on CC but can't find much info for kids in this age group. Most of the activities and planners listed are for the 3-11 y/o group and the ones listed for pre-teens start at 11pm?!?!

Can you please share your experience on RCCL - Particularly Allure of the Seas?

Thank you in advance

:)

They typically do not like to adjust down for age groups. Its for a number of reasons. The ultimate decision will be left up to the staff (and typically this will be restricted to those with developmental concerns or a relative in the one group down) but I encourage you to consider keeping your son in his appropriate age group. If you move him down he'll be with 9-11 year olds including kids that just turned 9. That's a group of young kids for a 12 year old to be playing with all week and he may not find it interesting.

I have experience with the teen program on Oasis, and it should be pretty similar to that of Allure. The teen program is really not so much different than Adventure Ocean. The teens are split into two age groups. 12-14 and 15-17. I have compasses from the Mar 1-8 Sailing for 12-14.

I do not feel like uploading them again, so here are the compasses.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=42034073#post42034073

Tell me if you can read them at all.

The teen program normally starts at 10 am, and goes until about midnight. On port days, there are no activities in the afternoon.

There are also a fair amount of teens, so he will have other 12 yr olds. When I went there were 20-30 teens that regularly attended things.

I'm happy to see this thread. We are also going on the Allure and our son will be turning 12 while onboard so we are really on the fence about what direction he will go. We'll probably just have to see once we get there!

They typically do not like to adjust down for age groups. Its for a number of reasons. The ultimate decision will be left up to the staff (and typically this will be restricted to those with developmental concerns or a relative in the one group down) but I encourage you to consider keeping your son in his appropriate age group. If you move him down he'll be with 9-11 year olds including kids that just turned 9. That's a group of young kids for a 12 year old to be playing with all week and he may not find it interesting.

My son is 11 right now and turning 12 after our cruise in April. He is a very intellectual 11 year old so we considered moving him up to the 12-14 group. For starters, is that even a possibility and if so would he feel out of place. We want him to enjoy his time while on board. Any thoughts or suggestions???????

Thanks a lot

Heimey

We were on the allure for Thanksgiving 2013 with our just turned 12 yo dd. she had previously done 9-11 and loved it. The 12 yo group was way less structured but she is good on her own. We let her decide and she found the 9-11 was just too young. But keep in mind that they have many more activities. It depends on your child.

Hi, I found the 12/15 age group a problem for my son. Not RC's fault at all but my son isn't very outgoing so didn't feel confident enough to join in. Where as next group down 9/11 is very structured and in one place. I'm worried about my son this cruise, Freedom in April, that he won't join in again and then I feel he won't get as much enjoyment as our younger two children 11 and 7 will from kids clubs.

Oh we'll will just have to see what happens!

My son is 11 right now and turning 12 after our cruise in April. He is a very intellectual 11 year old so we considered moving him up to the 12-14 group. For starters, is that even a possibility and if so would he feel out of place. We want him to enjoy his time while on board. Any thoughts or suggestions???????

 

Thanks a lot

Heimey

I know from our Carnival experiences that they are very strict about the age group. They go by age of the child at the beginning of the cruise I believe and they won't change the group (up or down) regardless of your wishes. My nephew was in the younger group last year and we wanted to move him up to be in my son's group and they said this is impossible. I am sure RCI will have similar rules.

My son will be turning 12 a week before we cruise and it helps knowing they will break up the groups to separate the older 15-17 y/o teens. I wasn't aware of that. He is quite independent but I am a typical nervous mom and it will be the 1st time I won't be able to sign him in and out so that is making me a little more anxious. But we will just have to communicate really well and decide what time and where to meet on a ship of this size....

Thank you all for your replies!

I have experience with the teen program on Oasis, and it should be pretty similar to that of Allure. The teen program is really not so much different than Adventure Ocean. The teens are split into two age groups. 12-14 and 15-17. I have compasses from the Mar 1-8 Sailing for 12-14.

 

I do not feel like uploading them again, so here are the compasses.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=42034073#post42034073

 

Tell me if you can read them at all.

quote]

 

This is exactly what I am looking for!!!!

 

Now if I could only read them :(

 

I will try to check on a different computer but it is too small to be legible

 

Thanks

Hi, I found the 12/15 age group a problem for my son. Not RC's fault at all but my son isn't very outgoing so didn't feel confident enough to join in. Where as next group down 9/11 is very structured and in one place. I'm worried about my son this cruise, Freedom in April, that he won't join in again and then I feel he won't get as much enjoyment as our younger two children 11 and 7 will from kids clubs.

 

Oh we'll will just have to see what happens!

I know what you mean. I like the structured activities because I know where my child is at all times. My son really enjoyed the group activities... I guess we will also wait and see...

My son is 11 right now and turning 12 after our cruise in April. He is a very intellectual 11 year old so we considered moving him up to the 12-14 group. For starters, is that even a possibility and if so would he feel out of place. We want him to enjoy his time while on board. Any thoughts or suggestions???????

 

Thanks a lot

Heimey

They were very strict about age when I was there.

I also should have looked at the pictures before uploading them :(

Once my printer decides to work, I'll see if scanned compasses will be legible. I will post them if it looks legible. This time I think I will actually look at them before posting.

They were very strict about age when I was there.

 

I also should have looked at the pictures before uploading them :(

 

Once my printer decides to work, I'll see if scanned compasses will be legible. I will post them if it looks legible. This time I think I will actually look at them before posting.

lol ty :)

We just traveled with our 12 yr old daughter. Our cruise didn't have many 12-17 yr olds so they were all in one group. She loved it at this age they allow them to come and go by themselves which was hard for me at first but I have two older boys (16 & 17) so I just let all of them know she was not to be by herself at night. With such a small group they played games such as cards and spoons. They had competitions in the arcade (free only at that time) they had a "prom" had group dinners, hung out in the teen room. With the group being small they all hung out together a lot it seemed like ping pong was really their thing. My 12 yr old loved it but she also is use to being with older kids because of her brothers and most of our neighbors are older than her by a few years too.

We're planning a family cruise in November, and I am a little worried about the age groupings too.

There are 7 kids going. The youngest three will be 9, 11 and 12 at cruise time. Those three normally want to be together. The 12 year old is not a pre-teen type at all, very much a kid type and I know will do much better with his sister and cousin in the younger group; He is not super mature for his age, so I'm hoping they will let him age down into that group, if he wants to, but not counting on it.

Our next problem is the teenagers. We'll have two who are 14 and two who are 15 at the time of sailing and they will all want to hang out together, not be split up into two groups. They are all typical for their age groups, but not overly mature.

We have a family philosophy that values kids being kids, and not mini-teens or adults, and do not encourage, say, 12's acting like 16 or 15 acting or dressing like 18.

Since it's only a five day cruise, on the Liberty, with lots to do, probably it will be a moot point; they'll find so much to do outside the kid's clubs that it won't matter much. At least I hope so.

We sailed on the Freedom in March last year. They moved my 11 year old nephew up to 12-14, no questions asked. Just had my sister sign something. It was done when we boarded at the adventure ocean check in desk they set up on embarkation deck.

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We sailed on the Freedom in March last year. They moved my 11 year old nephew up to 12-14, no questions asked. Just had my sister sign something. It was done when we boarded at the adventure ocean check in desk they set up on embarkation deck.

 

 

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That's great that they let her do that. It's nice having a choice and leaving it up to the parents to decide if the age is close to 2 different age-group. Afterall, parents know their children best.

Last time on Freedom my oldest (11 at the time) wanted to do AO since it was his last chance to do it (he went through all stages of AO since he was 5). There were other 11 year olds from his school on the cruise and they let them go to Teen Club with their older siblings.

Now 4 years later he's 15, and doesn't want any part of his 11 year old brother in Teen Club in two weeks. On our cruise over Halloween we talked about how it was his last time for either of them in AO, but we couldn't resist the low price on Navigator and found a way to shoe-horn another cruise in before his birthday in July :D.

The youngest is now asking to go to Teen Club since they usually have a Teen Flowrider session one night of the cruise which he can't attend if he is in AO. The 12-15 group is tough, since it spans from middle school to high school, and if they end up combining all the teens you are really dealing with a huge maturity gap.

I'm thinking we'll end up putting him in AO with self signout, and he can still look forward to doing Teen Club on Allure in October.

We're planning a family cruise in November, and I am a little worried about the age groupings too.

 

There are 7 kids going. The youngest three will be 9, 11 and 12 at cruise time. Those three normally want to be together. The 12 year old is not a pre-teen type at all, very much a kid type and I know will do much better with his sister and cousin in the younger group; He is not super mature for his age, so I'm hoping they will let him age down into that group, if he wants to, but not counting on it.

 

Our next problem is the teenagers. We'll have two who are 14 and two who are 15 at the time of sailing and they will all want to hang out together, not be split up into two groups. They are all typical for their age groups, but not overly mature.

 

We have a family philosophy that values kids being kids, and not mini-teens or adults, and do not encourage, say, 12's acting like 16 or 15 acting or dressing like 18.

 

Since it's only a five day cruise, on the Liberty, with lots to do, probably it will be a moot point; they'll find so much to do outside the kid's clubs that it won't matter much. At least I hope so.

We did the same cruise last year, and our kids did not spend much time in the kids club. They let my 12yo go down an age group to be with his 11 yo cousin. We made the mistake of sending them on the dance party night. They were bored and never went back. My 9yo also was signed up in a lower age bracket to be with her cousin and my 6yo. First night, they all liked it. Second night, the little two had fun, but she was bored.

You are right about the Liberty. Between the pool, rock wall, Flowrider, and mini golf, they kept really busy.

I am wondering about how they break up the older kids. I read 12-14 and 15-17. I have a 12, 14 and 15 year old (along with a 6 year old who will go to AO) and was wondering if they could all be together.

DS will be 13 when we cruise week after Thanksgiving this year. He is not outgoing at all and very quiet so this has me and the mrs. worried. Last time he was on a cruise he was in the 6-8 group in AO. Planning on taking him first night to hopefully meet some other teens and make some friends hopefully. Not sure if we will see many kids that week as everybody will be back in school after holiday break week before.

I found a bunch of posting for AO clubs upto age 11.

I don't know why I can't find compasses for 12-14 age group.

BTW I called RCI's customer service to see if I can get additional info on this and also another matter for my upcoming cruise.... Was on hold for 55 minutes on my cell... Gave up and just hung up... What's up with the long holds?

I found a bunch of posting for AO clubs upto age 11.

 

I don't know why I can't find compasses for 12-14 age group.

 

BTW I called RCI's customer service to see if I can get additional info on this and also another matter for my upcoming cruise.... Was on hold for 55 minutes on my cell... Gave up and just hung up... What's up with the long holds?

The long holds have been going on recently, and noone really knows why. You are not the only one.

I will upload the compasses in a legible format once I can figure out the printer.

Apparently cruise critic does not like my PDFs, so I put them on an alternative website.

You must download the pdf.

Teen Compasses 12-14 | Mar 1-8 2014 | Oasis Of The Seas

Day 1-2 http://www.pdfhost.net/index.php?Action=Download&File=2d11e37b2deb4a8b64745d37a9c4f3e3

Day 3-4 http://www.pdfhost.net/index.php?Action=Download&File=50179e4fa59bf39fd8c8e7b931318a39

Day 5-6 http://www.pdfhost.net/index.php?Action=Download&File=18c0119801c70e73a3692cc965afc438

Day 7 http://www.pdfhost.net/index.php?Action=Download&File=5dc1ab20a2445df1499ad11df0f129e0

Please tell me if they download properly and are readable!

Readable on my end, thanks !

Apparently cruise critic does not like my PDFs, so I put them on an alternative website.

You must download the pdf.

 

Teen Compasses 12-14 | Mar 1-8 2014 | Oasis Of The Seas

 

Day 1-2 http://www.pdfhost.net/index.php?Action=Download&File=2d11e37b2deb4a8b64745d37a9c4f3e3

 

Day 3-4 http://www.pdfhost.net/index.php?Action=Download&File=50179e4fa59bf39fd8c8e7b931318a39

 

Day 5-6 http://www.pdfhost.net/index.php?Action=Download&File=18c0119801c70e73a3692cc965afc438

 

Day 7 http://www.pdfhost.net/index.php?Action=Download&File=5dc1ab20a2445df1499ad11df0f129e0

 

Please tell me if they download properly and are readable!

Perfect!

I think this is great. I love the different activities they have planned... Hopefully enough teens will sign up...

Thank you so much!

Jazz