Will be fine cruising with 13yr old daughter?

[WingIce7]

I'm looking into booking a Disney 4-night cruise in July '07 with my wife and 13 year old daughter. She has a friendly personality, and makes friends at school. But will she be fine joining the Aloft Club as a solo child, with no other friends or siblings with her? Does the staff work on blending solo children into the mix? Also, big question, will the shows and activities be "too young" for her? She likes Disney World. We went last summer.

[RB Bonzo]

I'm looking into booking a Disney 4-night cruise in July '07 with my wife and 13 year old daughter. She has a friendly personality, and makes friends at school. But will she be fine joining the Aloft Club as a solo child, with no other friends or siblings with her? Does the staff work on blending solo children into the mix? Also, big question, will the shows and activities be "too young" for her? She likes Disney World. We went last summer.

 

My daughter went when she was 13 - - and loved it. If your daughter is outgoing, she'll make friends very quickly. Just be sure that she goes to the club the first night.

 

Most kids that age will like the show - they're more advanced than the character skip & wave variety.

[mom x4,grandma x4]

The first night the counselors have "ice breaker" games for the kids, so it is important for kids to go then. Our teen grandkids loved the stack and made many friends.

 

Also look for cruise meet threads where you can post and get aquainted with others who are cruising with you. DSometimes you can meet aparent witha teenager and the kids can post and become friends before the cruise. Our grandaughter loves doing that,so she has friends waiting for her when she gets on board.

 

mom x4,grandma x4

[rrfsteve]

some kids her age do not enjoy aloft - some do. Bare in mind that kids as old as 17 hang out up there, and therefore most major events happen at midnight - 2 am. Other than that it's just a place to chill and hang out. What I have found, is many younger teens 13-14 year olds prefer to be in the lab, as it is more structured and there are more programs. I would recomend she goes to aloft the first night for 411. If she dosent like it, you can register his for the older lab group. (note: thyey only drop people from aloft, they will not put an 11 or 12 year-old up there!)

 

Ste

[CurtS]

If your daughter is outgoing then she will probably be fine. But rrfsteve has a good point--our son was 13 when we last sailed on the Magic and really didn't care much for the Aloft because he is rather shy and simply didn't feel like he fit in--especially with much older teens there. He enjoyed the lab since they are more structured and allow quieter teens an equal opportunity for activities. While the counselors are great in Aloft, there is a lot more independence and quieter teens tend to not fit in as well.

 

Curt

[California Mrs]

I'm looking into booking a Disney 4-night cruise in July '07 with my wife and 13 year old daughter. She has a friendly personality, and makes friends at school. But will she be fine joining the Aloft Club as a solo child, with no other friends or siblings with her? Does the staff work on blending solo children into the mix? Also, big question, will the shows and activities be "too young" for her? She likes Disney World. We went last summer.[/quote

 

My granddaughter will be 13 when we take our third Disney Cruise on 12/29/07. She loves the ship and can't wait for the cruise. Teenagers have a seperate Teen Stack area and seem to make friends quite quickly.