Almost 15 year old …teen club?

[JoanieFL]

Our cruise is exactly two weeks before our son turns 15 and he does not want to go to Circle C (12-14 yrs) and said he wants to be with kids more his age in Club O2 (15-17yrs.) This kid hangs out mostly with kids that are a year or two older than him. Will Carnival be flexible?

[tha sista]

You can always ask, but I don't think so.

[starstruck05]

It's considered by the team depending on how many are in each group. You just have to ask at registration. 

[kctwinmommy]

Yes like @starstruck05 said, it always depends on the numbers. We were on a cruise in the summer with a lot of kids and they could accommodate a few of them, but mostly because they were all traveling in a large school group together. It was like 2 or 3 who were 14, almost 15, so they let them. But then we've been on cruises where they said no to kids moving up. And other times, it's not been a problem. Simply go on the first night and ask.

[Elaine5715]

Remember that the same as he doesn't want to be with the 12 yrs olds, the 17 yrs olds don't want to be with a 14 yr old.  

[mjkacmom]

Teen clubs are for meeting others to hang out with. My 5 are very close in age and close to each other, yet always found their own groups of friends on cruises, on the last one dd14 had a group, ds14 had a group, dd16 had a group, ds19 and dd20 shared a group (more difficult without a club). He won’t be hanging around with 12 year olds, they sort themselves out.

[JoanieFL]

16 hours ago, Elaine5715 said:

Remember that the same as he doesn't want to be with the 12 yrs olds, the 17 yrs olds don't want to be with a 14 yr old.  

I get that as the maturity levels differ. I would not ask if he just turned 14 or was even six months out from his 15th birthday. That said, he literally turns 15 eleven days after the cruise. 

[staceyglow]

9 minutes ago, JoanieFL said:

I get that as the maturity levels differ. I would not ask if he just turned 14 or was even six months out from his 15th birthday. That said, he literally turns 15 eleven days after the cruise. 

It never hurts to ask. They let our son into Club O2 a couple of weeks before his 15th birthday. He had a 17-year-old sister in O2, so I don't know if that made a difference. 

[Elaine5715]

11 minutes ago, JoanieFL said:

I get that as the maturity levels differ. I would not ask if he just turned 14 or was even six months out from his 15th birthday. That said, he literally turns 15 eleven days after the cruise. 

Correct but just like you, some parent is asking if their almost 12 yr old or their just turned 18 yr old can get an exception.  That is why only the camp crew can tell you.

[DukeASUGirl]

It always depends on the number of teens or kids in each group who are on the ship. Last year they let my 11-yr-old son go to the 12-14 yr old club without us even asking - when we went to register him for the kids club they said they were allowing 11 1/2 -yr-olds to choose whichever they preferred because they there so many younger kids on the ship that the kids clubs were skewing younger and there were less preteens/younger teens onboard, so they allowed the 11 1/2 yr olds to make the choice for themselves. Since his sister was 13 at the time, he decided he'd rather be in the older group, since the younger group would barely get any video game time.

 

My point is that they can be flexible based on the situation, but don't expect it. Maybe they'll allow it, maybe they won't. If there are tons of older teens on the ship, then they might not be as flexible as they would be in that age group had very few. 

 

None of us can say what will happen. Only the youth staff can make that call based on the current facts.

[Sabalon]

We did one and our oldest was 17 and youngest 14 (months away from 15) I think.  The youngest didn't want to hang out with the younger kids and wanted to stay with her sister.  I seem to remember there was some maybe, maybe not, but eventually they allowed her in.   I don't recall them really spending that much time with it, but that was 8 years ago and I've slept once or twice since then.

[teknoge3k]

He may end up skipping any of the kids clubs and just going around the ship himself meeting people. Some kids love the kids clubs while others don't. My kids never liked the kids club and always went off and did their own things. They ended up making friends on lido, in the arcade or elsewhere on the ship. The kids club was a one and done for both of my boys.

[CheckersMidwest]

Our daughter was allowed to move up. It does depend on how full the clubs are but we had no problem. She was 14, a freshman in high school but she played varsity sports and was a cheerleader.(So mixed with grades 9-12 regularly) She ran with the older kids on a regular basis, not the younger junior high age kids at all. She was light years more mature and would not have enjoyed the Circle C stuff. (However, when she was 12, she did like Circle C).

[pamesacruisin]

We are bringing our 17 year old Grandson on the Jubilee.  Does he just show up at the Club 02 or make a reservation?  Please tell me about the club.  Food, drinks, games?

[Pyxie]

1 hour ago, pamesacruisin said:

We are bringing our 17 year old Grandson on the Jubilee.  Does he just show up at the Club 02 or make a reservation?  Please tell me about the club.  Food, drinks, games?

 

He can just come and go as he pleases, but highly recommend that he attend the meet and greet on night 1. That's when this age group tends to meet up with their "friends" for the week and then they just kind of hang out all over.

[deelightfull]

And even for a 17 year old, you as a guardian have to sign some one time paperwork.  You can do it online before you get on the boat or in person on that first day. During first day check in the staff makes sure the paperwork has been signed and adds a small sticker to his sign and sail card that shows he's allowed in the club when it's open. (Basically, the paperwork goes over basic rules and gives them permission to evict a kid who's acting a fool.  It's never been an issue for me, and I'm glad staff has some authority in the space.)

[skywalkr2]

Just be aware... Circle C is very much family friendly.. and Club O2 gets up to a lot of shenanigans lol

[cruisehappyinJune]

25 minutes ago, skywalkr2 said:

Just be aware... Circle C is very much family friendly.. and Club O2 gets up to a lot of shenanigans lol

Agree! They are sort of monitored but it’s more “activities director/teen fun squad” than babysitter or behavior check. The music is the same as adult night club (no bleeping out profanity), the dance moves rival any adult club 😂, etc. This wasn’t a problem for us at all but may be a shock for others, so worth mentioning. My daughter loved it and at age 22 is still instagram friends with kids she met on cruises at 15 and 16! 

[skywalkr2]

3 minutes ago, cruisehappyinJune said:

Agree! They are sort of monitored but it’s more “activities director/teen fun squad” than babysitter or behavior check. The music is the same as adult night club (no bleeping out profanity), the dance moves rival any adult club 😂, etc. This wasn’t a problem for us at all but may be a shock for others, so worth mentioning. My daughter loved it and at age 22 is still instagram friends with kids she met on cruises at 15 and 16! 

Exactly correct.

[jsglow]

One thing to note. I do recall that there was a 'no exceptions' policy once a teen turns 18. I'm sure this is for liability reasons.

[cyntil8ing]

4 minutes ago, jsglow said:

One thing to note. I do recall that there was a 'no exceptions' policy once a teen turns 18. I'm sure this is for liability reasons.

 

My kids were 16 and 18 on our Carnival Pride European cruise in 2022. When registering my 16 year old, the group leader said the 18 year old was welcome to attend. I was surprised by this, but I am sure it's because the number of teens was so low. The 18 year old wasn't interested. She had finished her first year of college and didn't want to hang out with high school kids.

I am hoping this flexibility remains the case for our Carnival Pride Greenland cruise this summer. My son turns 18 next month, but will be going into his senior year in high school. I am hoping he will be allowed if he wants to go. 

[JoanieFL]

Update: We are back from our cruise and the Club O2 director allowed our son in since he was so close to being 15. He had a great time and spent a few hours every night with the group. They even had him up dancing with the group at the big 80’s party up in the front waving a glow wand. He is shy and this experience with Clib O2 really brought him out of his shell!

[jsglow]

19 minutes ago, cyntil8ing said:

 

My kids were 16 and 18 on our Carnival Pride European cruise in 2022. When registering my 16 year old, the group leader said the 18 year old was welcome to attend. I was surprised by this, but I am sure it's because the number of teens was so low. The 18 year old wasn't interested.

Wow, very surprised by this. I must admit that my info is 15 years old. 

[mjkacmom]

13 hours ago, jsglow said:

Wow, very surprised by this. I must admit that my info is 15 years old. 

 

13 hours ago, jsglow said:

Wow, very surprised by this. I must admit that my info is 15 years old. 

Me too, this is the first time I read about any line allowing a legal adult in the teen club, I wouldn’t count in it happening again!