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Teen Age Requirements


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We are about to head out two weeks from Today on Harmony of the Seas out of Port Canaveral.  We are super excited and worrying about all the details.  One question I have that I have not seen asked and answered is the overall follow through on the teen age requirements.  We are travelling with my two brothers and families.  12 in all.  Kids range from my daughter who is 11 1/2, two 13, two 14 and one 16 year old.  

Question - Are the "teen" labelled activities (12-17) strictly enforced?  We are really hoping that this is not strictly enforced as we have one that will miss the cutoff by just 6 months.  She will easily pass for much older as she is already 5'5".  Just curious if anyone has any experience with this.  I'd rather know ahead of time and prep my daughter in case all the other kids decide to do some of the Teen activities.  

Thanks!

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Well...official policy is that the 11 yr old cannot join the 12-17s.  Depending on the number of kids on that sailing, you may or may not be able to get around that.  Part of the problem is that the teen area is a separate location from the Adventure Ocean, so it's not like they can enter with the 9-11s and walk over to the 12+ room in the same space.  My kids are now 20 & 22 and they've been in this situation many times as one ages out over the other.  We've been cruising with them since they were 2 & 4, and they've cruised three different cruise lines.

One of the good things is that many of the teen activities are out and about on the ship, not necessarily in The Living Room (or whatever they call it on Harmony) so maybe she can tag along on those activities.  They are thing like basketball games, mini golf, karaoke, card games.  

To be honest - having grown kids now and having gone through the entire kid program process - I would not want my 11.5 yr old daughter hanging out with 17 yr olds.  And those 17yr olds do not want an 11.5 yr old hanging out with them.  They separate 12-14 and 15-17 for most activities, but not all.  Depends on the population sailing that particular week.  The 17 yr olds are all about dating, college, driving and in many cases drinking.  Cousins are one thing, but these other kids are strangers and will behave much differently than the 16 yr old in your family behaves with their own family. 

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It really depends on the crowds and the ship.  You may not know until the cruise.  The teens also are usually divided 12-14, 15-17) but sometimes these are combined depending on numbers.  I would go to the teen area after you board the ship and try to talk to someone.  They may let her go, it they may not but like @KathyC said, many things happen outside the center.  What my daughter (who is now 16) does is that everyone goes the first night to the teen center, meets the kids and they make friends groups that tend to use the teen center more as a meet up point.  Some kids really do enjoy the activities, but many simply meet, hang out and wander the ship.  

   Anyway, sorry it's not more specific.  Like everything RC, things tend to vary by ship and staff!!! Jane

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7 hours ago, doubleJ said:

We are about to head out two weeks from Today on Harmony of the Seas out of Port Canaveral.  We are super excited and worrying about all the details.  One question I have that I have not seen asked and answered is the overall follow through on the teen age requirements.  We are travelling with my two brothers and families.  12 in all.  Kids range from my daughter who is 11 1/2, two 13, two 14 and one 16 year old.  

Question - Are the "teen" labelled activities (12-17) strictly enforced?  We are really hoping that this is not strictly enforced as we have one that will miss the cutoff by just 6 months.  She will easily pass for much older as she is already 5'5".  Just curious if anyone has any experience with this.  I'd rather know ahead of time and prep my daughter in case all the other kids decide to do some of the Teen activities.  

Thanks!

We were just on Anthem in May, 2 weeks before my daughter turned 12 and they wouldn’t let her in the teen club. We asked and they said no, partially because they combined all the ages due to lack of teen aged children on the ship. 

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We were on the Harmony last month and encountered a similar situation with my 11 year old.  She will be 12 in Sept.  Her brother and sister and cousin were all older and she wanted to be able to join in the fun with them.  It was as simple as signing a waiver and, in doing so, she forfeited her rights to the younger kid (7-11 pr whatever it was) activities. So, the short answer is, yes, should not be a problem for her to participate in the teen activities if that is what you choose.

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