"Adult" Means 18, Right?

[indylaw99]

This is the first time we are going on a Disney Cruise where our girls are both over 18. One will be 19 and one will be 21. Last summer during the shutdown we took an RCL out of the Bahamas and it was fine because the drinking age there was 18. So everything on the ship (including cocktail parties and happy hours) was 18 and up and both of our girls could go to everything together.

Now I'm a little worried about our DCL cruise this summer. I don't want the 19-year-old to feel left out if we want to do things like the silent dance party. I know Palo is 18 and older. I am fairly certain everything else is 18 and up (besides the alcohol tastings). Can anyone else confirm that? Will the girls have to have their IDs with them all the time to get into places like that at night or is it designated on their room keys?

You would thinking being Platinum I would know this stuff but I'm used to sailing with babies, toddlers, and teens over the last 18 years!! Having "adults" as kids is a new world!

 

[insureman]

18 and older can do everything adult except drink. However on the Europe cruises I heard that depending where the ship was leaving you could drink if you were 18. Maybe someone can confirm that.

 

[Dug720]

I'm not positive about the adult areas after hours, but I believe so. I think in Europe they will allow 18+ to drink with a parental consent on file.

As for ID, I think their KTTW cards will indicate that they are adults, but they for sure will need that. I've seen them ask younger looking people in the adult pool area for their KTTW card and when one did not have it, they had to leave (I do not know if she was underage or just didn't have her card with her, but I'm guessing the first since they both opted to leave rather than the one with a card waiting for the other).

 

[happycamper47]

Key cards have an "A" on them.

 

[Dug720]

Key cards have an "A" on them.

I thought so.

But as I said, they will definitely need to carry the cards with them when in adult areas because they could be asked to show them, and if they cannot they will be asked to leave.

 

[insureman]

Just found this.

 

[insureman]

and this

 

[SnowWhite2]

Adults 21 and older have "A" on their KTTW card and Adults 18-20 have "B". If you have a "B", you can't buy alcohol.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Key cards have an "A" on them.

If a passenger is 21+ there's an "A" on the card.
If 18+ there's a "B" which means the passenger can be in adult only areas, but cannot order/drink alcohol.

 

[Geomom]

My oldest was 18 on our last cruise. She could be in all the adult areas, just needed to show her key card to prove she was not a child. She did a few adult only things with us, entertainment in the adult lounges, napkin folding, adult only drawing class, cooking class, etc. She also did a few organized activities with the 1820 club.

 

[Mommb]

When I did a Mediterranean cruise with my 20-year-old son in 2019, the policies were as Insureman listed. He could go to any adult areas and activities, with his Key to the World card, with or without me. I signed a waiver allowing him to order alcohol when I was present, which he did at Palo and Cove Cafe. I was not able to sign him up for an alcohol tasting in advance, but I can’t remember if he was able to book one onboard with a parent.

 

[indylaw99]

Thank you all so much! This makes things a little easier!

 

[lovingeire]

At 19 years old my son really loved the 1820 club. We sailed in the summer and our cruise FB page had a very active 1820 group. My son is pretty social so he was literally greeting people in the cruise terminal before we boarded from the 1820 group. (I think they started If it wasn't for ground rules established before we never would have seen him! LOL! Ironically, as we have a 10 year age gap between him and our middle, we went to Match Your Mate one night with friends we met at our cruise group pub crawl and he showed up with a whole crew of 1820 kids. And he enjoyed our stop in Tortola where he was able to drink at the Soggy Dollar bar. We had a great time walking down there together and getting a drink. (I bought the first, he bought his second! LOL!).

 

[Mrdigray]

I just spoke with a Disney rep and she clarified the policy of booking alcohol tastings in Europe with 18 -20 year olds. We’re taking the 11 night Northern European cruise departing from Dover in late July.

You cannot book the alcohol tastings for anyone under 21 prior to boarding. This is because the waiver to let them drink alcohol is completed on board. She said I could check with guest services after boarding if they can attend and if there is availability.

To try and account for this, I tried to book 2 mixology sessions on different days for me and my wife (assuming once on board Disney would allow the kids to take part and we could switch the names) but couldn’t. Apparently, you can only have 1 reservation for each type for the duration of the cruise. So even though there was availability for mage mixology class on a different day, I couldn’t select it. Too bad we don’t know anyone else taking that cruise.

 

[cwis]

I remember there are recurring guest situations about parties in Europe with guests aged 18-21 only, that can check-in but not drink alcohol since no-one in their party is 21+.

No chance I side with Disney on this one, but as always, their ship, their rule, and they don't care about their customers anyway.