12 year old in Adventure Ocean

We are cruising in January. My son's birthday is December and he just turned 12, the cut off for Adventure Ocean. I know they have an area for 12-14 year olds. Has anyone ever had any luck asking if their child could stay in Adventure Ocean? My almost 11 year old son will be there. We aren't cruising over any holidays or anything so I'm assuming older children will be at a minimum.

This is the first time my kids have been on Royal. I successfully had my son stay back an age bracket on Carnival 3 years ago, when he had just turned 9. Wondering if anyone has had a similar experience on Royal.

All depends on how many children there are in that particular age group on your cruise.

We are cruising in January. My son's birthday is December and he just turned 12, the cut off for Adventure Ocean. I know they have an area for 12-14 year olds. Has anyone ever had any luck asking if their child could stay in Adventure Ocean? My almost 11 year old son will be there. We aren't cruising over any holidays or anything so I'm assuming older children will be at a minimum.

 

This is the first time my kids have been on Royal. I successfully had my son stay back an age bracket on Carnival 3 years ago, when he had just turned 9. Wondering if anyone has had a similar experience on Royal.

You might have luck with 12yr old going with the younger kids. Maybe. Sometimes they combine classes but then they wouldnt want an almost 11 yr old with Teenagers since Teens come/go as please where they 10yr olds have to sign in/out with parents...

I wish we’d asked for my then 12 year old. He disliked the teen club. Extrovert, joiner, friends with loads of teens, and it felt too old for him.

Just be aware that when/if they combine clubs they combine the 9-11 with the 6-8, so he’ll be in there with 6 year olds. They play lots of active games in AO, so as the mom of a gangly tall strong kid, I urge you to make sure he understands how to be careful around the littler ones. Even the 9 year olds (if they haven’t combined clubs) can be small!

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I have an 11 year old GD who loves AO and doesn't want to age out. She was told that a 12 year old may elect to go to the 9-11 AO group if there is room. They will not be allowed if it would prevent a 9-11 from going. We have a cruise on Harmony scheduled for 11 days before her birthday so she will be able to go to AO for sure.

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They are more likely to let you "age down" than "age up". Just ask.

Thank you for your responses!

He is my quiet kid and has 3 younger brothers so he is used to be around younger ones, I have no fear of that.

Glad to hear it sounds like there is a possibility of him being in AO.

For your son't sake, I hope he can go with the 9-11 year olds. In July we sailed on Allure and my just turned 12 year old granddaughter was on this trip. The 12-14 year olds were mixed in the group with the 15-17 year olds. There are few scheduled activities and the kids hung out.

I feel there is a huge difference in a 12 year old and a 17 year old and it seemed awkward to have them together. She is used to being with older kids as she has older cousins, but it was different on the ship. She only went to two things and as I said, it's because there is a lack of activities scheduled.

The one positive thing is that she stayed wIth us most of the cruise which was fine with me, but I think she was disappointed in that she totally enjoyed being in the club when she was younger.

We were on the Grandeur this past Summer and a woman tried to get her twelve year old to stay in Adventure Ocean. (She actually tried to lie about his age.) They told her he was unable to stay.