17 year olds in adult areas and activities

[PrincessShmoo]

Not his/her job to enforce it. Possibly the parents are ok with it.

JW

OK, so the parents are OK with it. How about the other adults in the area? Are they OK with it? Probably not so much.

I know if my under 18 year old wanted to "just sit by the adult pool", I'd be sure he/she was aware it wasn't acceptable.

 

[P'colaBeachBum]

OK, so the parents are OK with it. How about the other adults in the area? Are they OK with it? Probably not so much.

I know if my under 18 year old wanted to "just sit by the adult pool", I'd be sure he/she was aware it wasn't acceptable.

Amen!!! We travel on DCL BECAUSE of the adult only areas on the ship. I have seen people , with kids/teens, asked to leave the area. Rules are there for a reason and I'll stop there before I get banned.

 

[quickcat]

Even if he isn't carded, you didn't say anything to him about being there?

I would have but I was fishing off my balcony and didn’t want to leave the line unattended.
I didn’t catch anything so my whole family all dined at Palo that evening

 

[Dug720]

Do they pull teenager-looking types aside and card them if they see them hanging around the adults-only area? I don't know how else you'd know the difference between a 17-year-old and an 18-year-old.

100% yes. I saw them do it at the Quiet Cove pool on the Magic last year.

Even if you are over 18 but look young, make sure you have your KTTW card with you. The girls that I saw carded - one did not have her KTTW card. So I don't know if they really were old enough, or maybe the one who had her card was and the one who didn't wasn't and they thought they could get away with it, but the one without the card was obviously told that she couldn't stay and they moved to the family pool area.

 

[Dug720]

My DD will be in that 17 year old limbo age as well on our next cruise. She will have graduated high school, not into the Vibe crowd and too young to hang out with the 18*21 crowd. She is most upset however about being less than a month shy of being able to eat at Palo. I guess her dad and I will have to take turns ordering her coffee from the Cove Cafe.

She can order her own coffee from the Promenade Lounge or Vista Cafe depending on which ship you are on.

Like someone else mentioned, if she's that upset I'd consider rescheduling until she is 18 so an attitude doesn't ruin the trip.

 

[cyclenut]

During our Alaska cruise and our first with DCL, One of my kids had just turned 18 and the younger one was 17. They were very close. The only reason by 17 yo really knew much about the 18+ activities were because it made this child the ONLY one in the entire cruise party who was not already 18. Talk about feeling left out. We chose to bend the rules just a bit. A well behaved and mature looking individual, our child "hung out" in places on occasion with siblings or us as parents that were otherwise reserved. Most of the time though, we simply all went to the under 18 areas. We are generally rule followers and it didn't feel comfortable bending the rules, but those very few times where we did helped ease tensions somewhat. It really became more of an issue that we thought it would, especially since the Vibe was not very welcoming. Lesson learned for us, should have waited another year.

 

[cadien]

Not his/her job to enforce it. Possibly the parents are ok with it.

JW

How is it not their job?

 

[gilsan]

I got espresso drinks at the promenade lounge on the Wonder. That's the lounge area off the atrium. It's definitely all ages. I took mine to go in a China mug, but I was offered a disposable cup if I preferred.

View attachment 303728
You're correct that the classic ships don't have Vista cafe.

I was going to post the same thing. My husband went to the Promenade Lounge every morning (on the Magic and Wonder), He thought the espresso was made better and it was not nearly as busy as the Cove Cafe.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

She can order her own coffee from the Promenade Lounge or Vista Cafe depending on which ship you are on.

Like someone else mentioned, if she's that upset I'd consider rescheduling until she is 18 so an attitude doesn't ruin the trip.

We are going to be on the Magic. I'll tell her about the Promenade Lounge. Believe me, the cruise will not be ruined because she is not yet 18! She is ecstatic about just being on a cruise and very excited about the ports. I'm sure there will be another cruise in her future.

 

[skittlesfirehawk]

the only think I don’t like about the dream is everyone passes by the adults only pool area. I don’t know why they don’t put it on another deck

 

[disneyholic family]

Wow I am surprised she was asked. She must have looked very young. My son is 17 and goes and sits by the adult pool all the time and never once was asked in our past 2 cruises. I would always tell him they are going to ask him for his kttw card but they never did. He was always there by himself too. I guess my “baby” doesn’t look young anymore!

my son never was carded, my daughter always was....and she's 3 years older...
it drove her insane...she was 20, he was 17.....they were ready to serve him alcohol...he looked about 27...meanwhile, she was carded for an excursion that required you to be at least 16.....so funny....she was outraged....

 

[FigmentSpark]

my son never was carded, my daughter always was....and she's 3 years older...
it drove her insane...she was 20, he was 17.....they were ready to serve him alcohol...he looked about 27...meanwhile, she was carded for an excursion that required you to be at least 16.....so funny....she was outraged....

Wait until she's 30, she'll love it and laugh at her "aging" younger brother.

 

[disneyholic family]

Wait until she's 30, she'll love it and laugh at her "aging" younger brother.

she's 33 now and still looks very young....
people ask her when she's graduating high school...so funny.....
they're always shocked when they notice her wedding ring...."you're MARRIED???????????"
.

 

[skittlesfirehawk]

she's 33 now and still looks very young....
people ask her when she's graduating high school...so funny.....
they're always shocked when they notice her wedding ring...."you're MARRIED???????????"
.

That will be me I’m 25 and look like I’m 16. My brother who is two years younger never gets cards drives me nuts.

I've heard stories of people switching cards to skirt the rules. I wish they would add your sex to your card. Im suprised they don't have a bigger under age drinking issue.

 

[JW9DVC]

How is it not their job?

Because they are fine with it.

 

[Dug720]

Because they are fine with it.

Fine with their kid breaking rules. Fantastic.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

she's 33 now and still looks very young....
people ask her when she's graduating high school...so funny.....
they're always shocked when they notice her wedding ring...."you're MARRIED???????????"
.

When I gave birth to my son, at 29, I had a social worker approach me in the NICU to discuss how I was going to handle school and a baby. Our nurse kindly let her know that she had the wrong mom.

The mom she was looking for was 16. I, on the other hand had been married for almost 4 years, we owned our home, and we were both working full time.

 

[Melissa Denning]

For our girls, gaining access to the adult areas was a rite of passage. They never questioned or complained about not having access...there were so many things to do and we told them that rules were rules. Bending the rules quietly because they were "mature" (they were and are) was not an example we wanted to provide. We were on the Wonder a few weeks ago and saw several families with young children and groups of teens be politely told by cast members that they needed to leave the adult areas. Palo, the Spa, Rainforest Room, Quiet Cove...I appreciate having these quiet spaces and that they are kid free.

 

[Jenlynn3]

My daughter won’t be upset or have an attitude if she isn’t allowed in these areas, just disappointed, She won’t let it ruin her trip. Just hard when you are on the age borderline and didn’t know if DCL was flexible on age when only months away from that next age group, didn’t want to start anything. Sorry if I upset or offended anyone

 

[Melissa Denning]

No worries, Jennlyn3...I really do understand as we have been in that situation too. It occurs to me that these kinds of threads can get touchy because there are those that follow the rules and those that don't (and try to justify it). Our girls both had the experience that we cruised prior to their birthdays...we cruise in January or February, their birthdays are in May. DCL was firm on in the rules...no spa, no Palo, no adult areas...when we cruised. We held firm as well. It all comes down to personal choices...and I guess what you can get away with. At any rate, I guarantee you will all have a wonderful time and just as a suggestion, we brought along a friend when our girls were on the edge...it helped.