Youth clubs.... Siblings in different age groups?

Hi, am wanting to go on the royal, kids will be 6 and 8.

I'm concerned with them being separated.

Has anyone had any experience with this?

Can the younger move up or the older move down? Are they flexible if it's to keep sibling together?

I know the activities will be aimed at the age group, but a 2 year gap is nothing to them and at home they always do the same thing, whether its aimed at the younger, or more so the younger one always does older kid things

I'm not sure if they would cope being separated :(

It is my understanding that they are strict with the age groupings

It is my understanding that they are strict with the age groupings

Yes, they are strict. While your kids may get along great with one another, the other parents, (who have never met you or your children) are signing up their kids with the expectation that the advertised environment will be created and maintained. The Pelican Club is for ages 3-7. That means that there will be a fair number of 4 year olds in there. The parents of those 4 year olds are expecting an environment where bigger kids (ages 8, 9, 10) will be kept out. It really messes up the dynamic if a bunch of 4 year olds are having their games dominated by 8 or 9 year olds. And would the older kids really want to hang out with 4 year olds?

And the same holds true in reverse. The 16 year olds in Remix don't want to have someone's 11 year old tag-along little brother around, even if that 11 year old gets along famously with his 15 year old sister. Princess knows that this will disappoint the parents of the split siblings. But it is better to disappoint them then to upset of all the other parnets and kids who signed up for a safe, age-limted environment.

Can't imagine your 8-year-old really wants to spend vacation with a bunch of pre-schoolers. Nor will 10-year-olds be thrilled to have a kindergartner in their group.

If they make an exception for you, they will have to make an exception for everyone else w kids. Think about what a mess that will make for the programs.

DON

It is likely your kids are already separated at school in different age groups called classrooms.:) There are important developmental milestones that occur at these ages with regard to independence; what better place to begin to experience this emotional growth than in a safe and fun environment like the kids club?

Sometimes it's good for siblings to be separated. They might actually prefer it! :D

Wow, didn't expect such strong opinions and sarcasm to what I thought was a simple question and valid concern

It is what it is and I understand

But in my defence my mature 6 year old is far from a preschooler or kindergartener.

Now makes me curious as to if they separate different activities for the 3-7s, it's a HUGE age gap and i don't think my 6 year old would enjoy activities aimed at 3-4 year olds.

Wow, didn't expect such strong opinions and sarcasm to what I thought was a simple question and valid concern

I don't see any sarcasm here. The truth is, this question comes up fairly often, and a pattern repeats itself. The question gets asked. It gets answered. And then the OP comes back to debate the efficacy and legitimacy of the rules. And then people chime in and provide the justification for same. Here, people just cut to the chase and got to the final step. Had your question been answered with just a brief: "They are strict", you likely would have come back to tell us how mature your 6 year old is and how your situation is "different" and can't they just make an exception for you, and the old pattern would have repeated. Instead, you got the explanation right up front. The folks who run the kids' clubs are not child psychologists and they do not "test" to determine if a particular child is above or below expected developmental ranges. The goal is to provide a safe environment of inclusion while minimizing the risk of bullying. This is best done through strict age segregation.

As for your question about how the wide gap in ages from 3-7 is handled, that issue sorts itself out once people are on board and the staff can see how many kids in each age group are signed up and in attendance. If there are enough kids in the varying age strata, separate activities are conducted. On a "school vacation" cruise, this is likely. But there are also times when the 3-7 age group is minimal and the staff does its best to accommodate everyone as best it can.

Wow, didn't expect such strong opinions and sarcasm to what I thought was a simple question and valid concern

It is what it is and I understand

But in my defence my mature 6 year old is far from a preschooler or kindergartener.

Now makes me curious as to if they separate different activities for the 3-7s, it's a HUGE age gap and i don't think my 6 year old would enjoy activities aimed at 3-4 year olds.

Your kids will have a great time and, yes, they will be in separate groups. However, your six-year-old won't feel too old at all in Princess Pelicans. Lots of great crafts (bracelet and necklace making, hat and backpack making/decorating, picture frame making) and lots of movies, exercise (including outdoor exercise). My five-year-old daughter had a great time (actually twice on Royall Princess). Your child won't be bored and suspect she won't even miss her sibling she'll be having so much fun and meeting new friends. Enjoy!

Wow, didn't expect such strong opinions and sarcasm to what I thought was a simple question and valid concern

It is what it is and I understand

But in my defence my mature 6 year old is far from a preschooler or kindergartener.

Now makes me curious as to if they separate different activities for the 3-7s, it's a HUGE age gap and i don't think my 6 year old would enjoy activities aimed at 3-4 year olds.

What is really a HUGE age gap is the 13 to 17 year olds. In no way should a 13 year old be in the same catagory as one of 17. But that's a whole new thread.

My kids were never interested in going. Only on the last cruise when my son could do the teen program did he want to go, and as Pia says, that made me nervous given that my 13 year old was with 17 years olds. He went some but we checked up on a very regular way. On the up coming cruise it will be the same and I expect my daughter to be with me all the time. That is fine for me. We have fun and I enjoy the time we spend together. I dont go on a cruise with them to get away from them, its a family vacation.

What I wish was a form of txting or communication I could have on the ship with my children.

My kids also wouldn't go without knowing someone else. They were almost 3 years apart, so neither participated in any of the kids activities and never have because they weren't comfortable being around kids they didn't know.

Also remember there is always one other option on the ship. They can stay with you and not go to any of the kids zones. That way you would know what they are doing and their would be no problem with age groups not to your liking. Have a great cruise with your children.

We had the exact same situation when our kids were the exact same ages on an Alaskan cruise on RCL. We inquired ahead of time and at the time they said that if we were adamant about it they could both be in the group that was the younger group. (I don't know if this is still an option, or if it is ever an option on Princess) Long story short, the first night they both went to their respective groups and did so for the whole trip, they even skipped dessert because our seating would make them late for the kid program if they had dessert. At those ages however, there were many activities where they combined the two age groups because the activities were suitable for everyone. I think you will be surprised how quickly they become comfortable. Our problem was more getting them to leave the kids club at night.

The kids clubs are purposely age specific...even if you think your 6 year old is too mature for that group, you will find, in reality, that the activities are quite proper and fun for them! Give it a try. It's not like your kids will never see each other! I promise, they will have a blast!

And, confidence in yourself is gained by being a "big fish" in a little pond....that's what the older kids in the youngest group feel...

And yes..they will "cope" just fine! Have faith in your kids!

We were on the Coral Princess for a Panama Canal cruise that left January 3rd. There were only 11 children on the whole ship (2 of whom, including my son, were under the age of 3 and not eligible to be left unsupervised in the KidZone.) If you are worried about your kids being separated, you can find a cruise that generally does not appeal to families and takes place during the school year. When the kids clubs are that empty, all the children were grouped together (except the teenagers - I don't know if they ever came to the kids club or if they just spent the time in the teenager room)

Yes, they are strict. While your kids may get along great with one another, the other parents, (who have never met you or your children) are signing up their kids with the expectation that the advertised environment will be created and maintained. The Pelican Club is for ages 3-7. That means that there will be a fair number of 4 year olds in there. The parents of those 4 year olds are expecting an environment where bigger kids (ages 8, 9, 10) will be kept out. It really messes up the dynamic if a bunch of 4 year olds are having their games dominated by 8 or 9 year olds. And would the older kids really want to hang out with 4 year olds?

 

And the same holds true in reverse. The 16 year olds in Remix don't want to have someone's 11 year old tag-along little brother around, even if that 11 year old gets along famously with his 15 year old sister. Princess knows that this will disappoint the parents of the split siblings. But it is better to disappoint them then to upset of all the other parnets and kids who signed up for a safe, age-limted environment.

Actually this is a great answer and not sarcastic at all, IMO.

There are many issues such as insurance liability (if somehow a kid gets hurt and there's an older kid there who shouldn't be --a friend of my daughter was actually on a NCL cruise as a preteen and got injured during a pillow fight with a dislocated shoulder, so things happen), and also there's undoubtedly many times that parents insist their kids are "mature" for their age...and a big percentage of those kids aren't. Having volunteered inside classrooms, it's amazing to hear some parents later on talking about their kids being perfect little angels and wanting to tell them, nope. I certainly wouldn't claim that about my girl.

Most likely your children will find kids their age to hang with unless it's a sailing with fewer kids. My daughter's first Princess cruise was in mid-February and she was one of only three five-year-olds, but she had a little "shipboard romance" with the five-year-old boy. When she was younger, there were plenty of other kids in the youngest group. And on our last two cruises, she finally made the teen group and meet some girls in her exact age to hang with (well, the last cruise, it was a group of six, 3 girls and 3 boys, but all 15).

It really won't be a bad thing for your kids to be separated, considering they are at school.

the sarcasm I was referring to was "age groups called classrooms" sorry, maybe 'down under' we interpret that a different way! lol

Its good to know there will be craft activities such as bracelet making, however if I had a 3 year old, I would not want such a young age to be around such craft chocking hazards!

And I definitely agree with having a family vacation, it is not my intention to get away from them, with an itinerary of 6 port days and 3 sea, I was only expecting them to be in the club for a bit on sea days and maybe in the evening after dinner. we are taking them ashore with us.

by 'mature' im not saying my child is a genius or acts like a 10 year old, im just saying in general 6yo have play interests more closely aligned with 7-8yo than 3-4yo.

The intention of my initial question was just to get a feel for the way they run as my last cruise was pre kids.

Anyway thanks for having a read and it seems a few other lines have a 3-5 group then a 6-8/9 group....so back to the drawing board to consider different ships/itineraries!

Update, princess has the best itineraries, the only other one that covered all the ports we wanted left from San Juan, we decided its hard enough for us to get to miami, let alone further, plus we want to go to Orlando post cruise, so it was the most logical cruise to take.

And the one from San Juan only had 1 sea day, so weighing up the kids club wasn't really worth it for 1 day.

We have booked the royal princess for 10 day east caribbean :)

Thanks everyone