12 yr. olds in Kids club

[coconutpig]

My 12 and 3/4 year old daughter does not like the idea of doing activities with 8-12 year olds (as they say they lump them together) for our upcoming Star cruise. She's in seventh grade and most of her friends have already turned 13. Her second grade sister also falls into this group, which is horrifying to her. She doesn't even want to try to go now.

 

I am sure there will be many kids on this cruise - does anyone know if they will they break them up into groups so that she'll be mostly with other 12 year olds?? How "fine" do they break up the groups??? I realize they won't let her in the teen club.

 

She's happy to hang out with us; but it would be nice if she could meet some new friends her age. I would like to encourage her to at least TRY the kids activities...

 

Anyone have experience with this situation?

 

thanks..!

[mkend]

Hi, We have a similiar problem, my son is 14 and his cousin is 12 (almost 13) My son does not want to go in with the "little kids" and I'm not sure if they will allow his cousin in with the teens. Last yr. on Carnival Glory they just opted to stay out of the kids program due to this. I think my son would really enjoy the teens program so it's a shame. Marge

[soprano]

When we were on the Star in 2002, and again on the Diamond in 2004, the kids were divided so that the "pre-teens" (ages 10-12) were together. I remember this well since we had a 9 year-old daughter at the time who was very disappointed not to be with the bigger kids. As I remember, the younger kids were divided 3-5 and 6-9. The Grand class ships have four separate areas for kids, so this is not how it is fleet-wide.

[busybusybusy]

On the Golden in August, they divided them up further into 8-10, 11-12, 13-14, and 15-Over. My son didn't want to be with 8 yo either, but he found several 10 yo boys in his group and they had a great time. Princess was very strict with these groups and would not budge. It wasn't a problem for me, but it was for some who had cousins that were travelling together and couldn't be in the same group. Often, the kids met at the kids room and went to the Virtual Reality room to hang out. Also, if there are a lot of kids on the cruise, they will all be together at certain points, anyway, like the dinners.

 

Have a great time!:)

[Lisa63]

About strict adherence to the age groups... I come at this from the other end.

 

My son is a very "young" 11 and I know that my husband and I (as well as our son) would feel better if he was with slightly younger kids. Has anybody here had any experience with putting their kids in a lower age group? It seems as if most pax want to move their kids up a year... we want to go in the opposite direction. An 8-10 group would be great, while he's not quite ready for a 10-12, in our opinion.

 

He usually hangs out with us at night as he enjoys seeing the shows with us -- yet he enjoys a few hours here and there with other kids during the daytime.

[margu1241]

Lisa,

As a parent of a "young" 13 yo (who will be cruising with his 16 yo sister), I would also like to know the possiblity of moving down an age group. Just tonight I have read conflicting info on the age group breakdowns on Diamond-some say 10-12, and some have said 10-13. I am thinking it may not be a set number, but may vary depending on how many kids in each age group are on board in a given week. Anyone know for sure how they divide the age groups?

Patty