Gem questions - kid related

[eeyoremum]

Hello,

 

We are sailing May 12 out of NY. My DS will be 12 but his birthday is in June. He is wondering what the kid program (9 - 12) is like? Will they let him move up to the teen club if there are too many younger children in kid club? We sail on Carnival last year and he found the kid club had too many younger children an the activities boring because they were geared to the younger children.

 

TIA

[che5904]

From my understanding they are very strict about age limits. Think of it this way. If you think your 12 year old would feel out of place with the younger ones, imagine how the 17 year olds would feel with the 12 year old.

 

That is a very difficult age, too old for young childrens activities and too young for late teen activities. I wouldn't want to be that age again for anything.

 

Have you tried posing this question over on the family boards. They may be a lot more help over there.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=49

[eeyoremum]

No I didn't know there was a family board. Thank you I will post there. My oldest DS is 17 so my youngest DS hangs with the older kids which is why I thought the teen program might be better.

[che5904]

No I didn't know there was a family board. Thank you I will post there. My oldest DS is 17 so my youngest DS hangs with the older kids which is why I thought the teen program might be better.

 

I completely understood which is why I said it was a tough age. Your 17 year old and his friends may be very used to 12 year old hanging out with them. But then again my son when he was 12 didn't have a problem with hanging out with younger ones, because he had a younger siblling and younger cousins. As a matter of fact he felt very looked up to being one of the oldest.:)

 

My point was not all 17 year olds have younger siblings or care to have someone that age hanging around, just as your son doesn't like to hang out with the young ones.

 

From my understanding the teens don't really have a lot of organized activities and usually go the first day to just meet others there age that they can hang with on the ship. So another option you may consider is having your older teen go and meet some kids and see if they mind a younger one tagging with them on the ship. Best of both worlds.

 

Good luck with the family board, I hope they can give you more ideas.

[camz]

The Teen Club on the Dawn and the Gem are great. My teen had a great time and met many teens he still keeps in touch without. In fact, one he is best friends with as they go to the same high school. In any event, the Teen Clubs have their own lounges that are really nice. The Teen Clubs on these two ships have many planned activities. They keep the teens quite busy. They have dances every nite and often eat dinner together. In fact, on sea days we hardly every saw our son. My theory is if the teenager isn't happy than nobody is happy. That is why cruising is a great vacation alternative when you have a teen. I do know that NCL is very strict on the age levels wherein the different groups get divided. Unfortunately, OP's son is at a hard age. However, I am sure there will be others his age that he can interact with.

[Ask4Jay]

@eeyoremum -

We have taken both grandchildren (separately) on a cruise for their 12th birthday. GD in May (Straight A, took her out of school) had a great time, even though she wanted to be with the older kids. We saw her only at meal times. We took GS (her younger bro) on his birthday in August. Different story. It was vacation time and the ship was full of kids. We registered him, and he went once, that's it. Too many kids for him! So he hung out with the two of us, which we not mind. His comments at breakfast, after one week of cruising: I survived a whole week with you <wide grin>. Highlight for him: Behind the Scenes Tour, including 'The Bridge'.

 

 

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