OK....with our group of 15 we have 8 kids traveling with us in November. 2 are infants & the other 6 would go to the Oceaneer's Club. Now can the kids be in a group younger, or older, then they are?

*3 of the kids are around the same age (ages 3, 3 & 5) and I want them together (my son will be a new 5, so really an old 4). Would they let me put all 3 on a 3-4 group?

*Then the other 3 are around the same age also (7, 9 & a new 10). Could they all go to a 8-9 group together?

Thanks to anyone who knows how this works and if it is already predetermined what groups they will go into, or can they be changed? If it can be changed, would it be done prior to cruise, or once on the boat. I'd like to keep the cousins together :)

They know who should be in what because when you register you put their ages down. When people were checking in for the L.A. cruise, they had a table for those in Oceaneers to check in and get their activity packs.

I know they like to keep the kids 3-4 in one group, 5-7 in one -- I think the reasoning is the activities .. and a five year old might not want to hang with 3 year olds, and may be bored by some activities. But a "new 5" might be OK, I would double check with the counselors once you get on board

Oceaneers lab is 8-9 and 10-12. I think the 10 year old might be able to go in the younger group -- if thats what he/she wants. Again, the activiites are different and hangin out with 8-year-olds is different thatn hanging out with 12-year-olds.

Did you book the trip with Disney or a TA?

I booked on the phone with Disney & used my Disney Visa to get the $50 cabin credit. The price of the cruise was the same as what AAA quoted me, so I went with Disney directly. I also gave them my Castaway Club # and will be able to book excursions online 90 days out :D


The 10 year old is a very immature 10 year old...so I guess I will wait to see what they say when we get onboard and check in...thanks!

When we went on our first trip, my daughter was a "new 10" as well.
While you can always ask about age groups and the like, it always appeard to me that they really try to keep the groups seperate and in the proper age group. Take that at face value since I only had my daughter in the Lab program (Which she really really loved!!) and I did not have more than one child to take into consideration.

My mantra - it never hurts to ask, but always have a plan B.

For what it's worth, I went on a Disney Cruise with my high school aged Girl Scouts in 2004. Two of them were newly 18. Even though they were technically adults we talked to the cruise people and they let them do the teen activities with the rest of the girls who weren't 18 yet.

Thanks for all the replies....I was looking on a DCL website online (not their official website, but another one) and it said that kids can join an age group up if requested, but not down unless their B-day was within 1 month of sailing. So I will just hope for the best, but have PLAN B in my back pocket if not ;)

They will generally be a little flexible, especially if there are multiple kids from the same family. Usually they will let you do it on a trial basis - if he does ok with the younger group, they will let him stay.