DCL Children's Programming - Participation Guidelines

[Michelle]

I just ran across this on the DCL website, and thought it was useful information to share here, since this topic seems to come up from time to time:

Children's Programming participation guidelines
and special requests

Physical and Social Interaction

Children's programming is open to all children* ages 3-12, who are:
- Completely potty trained
- Able to interact comfortably within our counselor-to-child ratio groups of 1-15 (ages 3-4) 1-25 (ages 5-12)
- Able to interact comfortably with peers of their own physical size and within our established age groupings of 3-4, 5-7, 8-9 and 10-12
(A child may participate in an older age group, if they are within one month of the minimum age for that group. Example would be a 7-year-old who wishes to join the 8-9 group and is within a month of turning 8.)

*Exceptions that may prevent participation:
- A child who shows symptoms of fever, vomiting, diarrhea, unexplained skin rash, discharge from the nose or eyes or has any other contagious disease or illness
- A child who becomes disruptive within the group. (Should this occur, it may result in the child not being able to participate in Programming, without a parent or guardian)

Special Requests that we are unable to accommodate:
- A child who requires one-on-one care
- A child or adult who wishes to participate in an age group much younger/smaller than their physical age/size. (Example would be a 10-year-old wanting to be with the 5-7 age group)
- A child who needs the attention of a counselor with special training
- A child who needs counselor-assisted medical attention

Family Interaction
If you child's needs cannot be accommodated, there are a multitude of events and activities throughout the ship, which the entire family can enjoy.
- Main Stage shows
- Family game shows
- First run movies
- Deck parties and events
- Selected shore excursions
- Castaway Cay

The Oceaneer Club and Oceaneer Lab are open each evening from 5:30 - 6:30 pm (except for embarkation evening) for the entire family to enjoy the space together.

Parents or guardians may accompany their child to the Oceaneer Club and Lab programs and activities at any time throughout the cruise.

Parents may make a request for modified programming for a limited period during the cruise. Disney Cruise Lines® ability to fulfill the request will depend upon the child's needs, the availability of counselors, program participation, and other applicable considerations. Disney Cruise Lines cannot guarantee that special requests will be accommodated. Such requests must be made prior to sailing, through the Disney Cruise Line Special Reservations coordinator.

For 3-and 4-year olds, who are not potty trained or who may prefer a smaller adult-to-child ratio (1-6), parents may request that the child be accommodated in Flounder's Reef Nursery, the infant and toddler group babysitting area. The fee for this service is $6 per hour, per child and is based on availability. For more information on the facility, please see Group Babysitting section.

For further assistance, please contact the Disney Cruise Line Special Reservations coordinator.

Flounder's Reef Nursery Group Babysitting participation details

Participation details
- Babysitting is not available in guest staterooms.
- This service is available for children ages 12 weeks to 3 years*.
- Reservations are taken on embarkation day from 1:30-3:30p. Space is limited; available on a first come first serve basis, based on sitter availability
(In order to accommodate as many families as possible, we may limit the number of multiple requests per family)
- The fee is $6 per child per hour, $5 per additional child per hour, 2-hour minimum required
- Nursery is open each evening and selected times during each day

*Exceptions that may prevent participation:
- A child who shows symptoms of fever, vomiting, diarrhea, unexplained skin rash, discharge from the nose or eyes or has any other contagious disease or illness

Special Requests that we are unable to accommodate:
- A child who requires one on-one-care.
- A child who needs babysitter assisted medical attention.
- For any further assistance, please contact the Disney Cruise Line Special Reservations coordinator.

Just FYI for all! :D

[DianeB]

Thanks for the OFFICIAL last word on this subject.
I hope we continue to hear the feedback from anyone/everyone who takes advantage of these programs. Every little bit helps!
P. S. I'm a little afraid to use my exclamation marks after seeing a Seinfeld repeat with a story line about these !!!!!!!!!!!! :jester: :jester: :jester:

[mamaroyal]

Thanks for posting this. I better call and clarify how Andrew's daytime meds will work. I imagine I'll have to come give them to him since they probably won't let him take them by himself. I'm glad they don't allow sick kids into the Lab, since he picks up infections easily. Has anyone heard if they're pretty strict about this (re obvious colds, bad coughs, etc.)?

Here's hoping for a healthy, fun trip for all! :cool:

One additional point tho for all-IF medical care is required on the ship, it's cash pay (they won't file with medical insurance, no matter how good it is) and I read on one bulletin board that an exam for a simple ear infection and some antibiotics was $81. I've heard that it's excellent medical care, but is not cheap (as if any medical care is anymore...wry grin.)

Dena/mamaroyal and kiddos

[Scott5150]

I had to visit the medical facilities and it was $75 for a visit. They add it to your tab, so you can pay with your credit card when you leave. They provide you with the proper paperwork to submit to your insurance. Mine covered it 100%.

Scott:bounce:

[mamaroyal]

I'm not too concerned about the $75. It's just that Andrew doesn't sweat so he dehydrates fairly easily and requires an IV bag of fluids. THAT's the bill I'm worried about, but DCL is being nice enough to look into the amount and let me know ahead of time. I'm also being hopeful, in that our local MAW chapter said they have NEVER had a MAW child require emergency medical care while on a wish! Must be that pixie dust! :D

Dena/mamaroyal

[shmoogrrrl]

I had to see the Doctor on our cruise in February after getting my finger smashed while horseback riding. He examined it, gave me some pain killers, and some pills to reduce swelling and bruising. The cost was around $55.00 :pinkbounc

Kathy

:bounce: :p

[Mary.Poppins]

My daughters will be 7 & 9 while we are on the cruise. They are best friends. Does this mean that they won't be able to hang out with each other? That would be a huge bummer!!! That's all they can talk about!!!! I would like to prepare them for this if that is so. If it is true I think that's really too bad. This is a FAMILY trip.
and even though we might not all be together at all times I think they will have more fun if they can be together!!!

[mamagoggle]

Yes, unfortunately that is true. My son and daughter would have made much more use of the kids clubs if they had been able to go together, but at 7 and 10 it was not possible. They take a little while to "warm up" and it would have been easier together. As it was, my 10 year old didn't use the club at all and my 7 year old daughter only went once for one activity and chose not to go again.
I would have liked to have seen some "sibling" options, but we still had a wonderful family vacation without taking advantage of the clubs.

[Mary.Poppins]

I think that's really too bad. But at least I know ahead of time so they can be warned. And thank goodness we are only going on the 3 day cruise!!! A week of them not being able to play together in the clubs would be way too long!!! I guess we'll have to go else where for our next cruise!!!

[mamaroyal]

Is your 7 y/o close to being 9 years old? If so, you may be able to obtain special permission from the Lab manager for the siblings to be together. They really worked with me in a similar situation, in that my daughter will be 8 in August, but she is 2nd grade and is mature for her age. They let us try it on a trial basis to see if she fit in for the group and since that worked out, let her stay with her 9 y/o brother. My 10 y/o liked being with his 10-12 group, although the 8-12 y/o's do overlap for certain activities.

Regarding the medical situation, there were several special needs children in the Lab and the counselors were great about including all kids in the activities. I felt very comfortable leaving Andrew with the Lab (and he has had 33 hospitalizations in his life).

We (thank the Lord) did not have to use the medical services, but another MAW family did and it was about $100. We needed Oragel for my son's mouth sore (from his braces rubbing) and they gave us that from the medical area, without charging us for it.

I've NEVER seen an organization bend over backwards to try and accomodate everyone's needs, wishes, requests as much as DCL!!!!

Dena/mamaroyal

[Mary.Poppins]

My 7 year old will have just turned 7 in Oct. My 9 year old will actually by more than 9 1/2. So, I think the best option will be to have my 9 year old drop down to the lower group. I read on another web site that they would do that. And to be honest she'll probably enjoy that more!!! She's a young at heart kind of gal. And really enjoys playing with kids younger then her more then kids her own age. That's alright with me. The last thing I want is to force her to grow up before she's ready. Kids grow up way to fast these days. I'm glad she enjoys the younger things!!!

[tigger2on]

I just wanted to put in my 2 cents worth since we just returned from a 3-day in May and were given quite a shock. My daughter is non-verbal and non-mobile, is wheelchair bound and is in diapers. During our cruise the Oceaneer staff for 3-4 yr olds took Ryleigh without a problem. They just told me that if there were any toileting / feeding concerns they'd page me.
Just to add though that my child attends full time school and daycare so is pretty adaptable to the "club" thing. We had no tears or missing of mommy. I did however spend the first couple of hours with her and they got use to her too.

[stbert]

:rolleyes: We are going on the Dec 1st Magic criuse & have a question, We have a 6, 4 & 2 3/4 year old-potty trained daughter- she is always with her 4 year old brother, & would probably upset her to be seperated from him and alone in Flounders. She is 4 months from turning 3- do they allow any exceptions, even if she is potty trained?? I know he can move down- and that is a definate option also- but I think they'd have a better time all together...

[Michelle]

Hi stbert and welcome to the DIS!

Typically they do NOT allow potty-trained children under the age of three to participate in the Club, unless they are within a month of their third birthday. It doesn't hurt to ask, though, on rare occasions they do make exceptions.

Good luck! :D

[geeshbabs]

My son just turned 8 on 6/11 so that puts him in the next group, however, the other children travelling with our group will be in the 5-7yr group. Could my son go with that group so that they are all together? Our sailing is 7/28.

[sweetguy_2002]

Does letting like soeone 18 into teeng roup really depend on the counselors? And is there no way of knowing until your on the ship? Basically what I'm asking is do counselors make the decision?

[kshabare]

Had to put in my two cents as well. If you don't have major plans, can't the girls 'hang out' with you and your hubby? We only used the club a couple of times. We might use it more this time for our 7 yr old but we did enjoy doing some things together. Even though your girls are best friends, they MAY surprise you by wanting to check out the clubs seperately. Who knows? It's a Magical place!

It is good to know, though, that they can let one move to a lower aged club. Disney is one classy line!

:)

[Mary.Poppins]

Well...A freind of mine went on the cruise this last January and said she couldn't keep her boys out of the club. Her kids are just like mine. I would love to spend time with my girls. I'm just preparing for the inevitable!!! I know they are going to want to be int the clubs non-stop. So, I just would like to see that on this "family" trip they won't be seperated from each other if they don't want to be!!! We really aren't on the ship long enough to worry about it that much but that's all they've been talking about...The Clubs, The Clubs!!!! That's what they like to look at when I go on the website with them. They are SO excited for that part of the trip!!! So I just hope they can get what THEY want!!!!

[DixieDreamer]

Thanks for posting this information. We are just beginning to plan our first cruise - and need all the info I can get my hands on. I was particularly interested in the kids programs - so this was wonderful to read. Thanks again.

[leanne2255]

Does anyone know about the teen club? My one daughter will be 3 weeks shy of 13 when we cruise. Will she be able to go the Common Grounds with her sister who will be 16, or will she have to remain with the 7-12 year olds? Do they check age at the door to Common Grounds? Thanks. :)

[jenc]

Leanne2255 --
It is my understanding that if they are within 1 month of an age group, they may "bump up" to the next group. Since your 12 year old will be within 1 month of being 13, I'd think there wouldn't be a problem.

Good luck!
Jen

[legs22]

I need to take my daughter there in the morning prior to a
7:40 am excursion that she is too young to go on. I wanted to make sure they were open. Can you bring your child there any time you want?

[jenc]

Hey Leggs22 --
Not sure if this is 100% correct, but the info I have says the lab is open 9 am to midnight or 1 am.

Jen

[legs22]

when I called DCL to change and cancel my excursions because of this she said "Let me check and make sure that's correct". So they called the Magic right then! She wanted to hear it directly from the horse's mouth. YES! They open the kid's clubs early on Tues. and Wed. so that people can go on the early excursions! So, I don't have to change anything!! :)

[Dave_from_Marietta]

Actually, this is Dave's DW replying. I am very pleased to hear so many positive experiences with kids in the clubs. I wish that I could say the same for my experience with our then 4 year old. He had recently potty-trained, but I thought for safety's sake and to make it easier on everyone, I only brought pull-ups on the cruise--new place, lots of excitement, great opportunity for accidents. We had no accidents and no potty problems, but on the Thursday night of the seven-night cruise I was paged to the club and told that I had to take my son out of the club because they did not allow children in pull-ups to be in the club. I explained my reasons for putting him in a pull-up, pointing out that he had been in them the entire cruise, but they said health department rules didn't allow diapers, and pull-ups were diapers.

On Friday, my son desperately wanted to go to the club, so I asked if he could go if I would accompany him. That was fine with the counselors, and we had a good time, but I was rather aggravated when one little girl wet her pants and the floors--just what I was trying to avoid by putting my son in pull-ups.

My personal feeling is that the counselors used the pull-up issue as an excuse to kick him out of the club. They want good little cooperative soldiers who do what they are told when they are told to do it, and lot's of 3-4 year olds have difficulty with transitions. If your child does have difficulty with transitioning from one activity to another, or finds the very visible presence of playground type of equipment a distraction from a less physical activity, you may find yourself frequently paged because your child won't cooperate.

[Buschfan]

I have to agree with your posting Dave's DW. It seems like they find any excuse to remove children from their program. It was a major complaint I had with DCL in September of last year. They expect a 4 yr old to go along with everything and act like a robot, no exceptions. Now, as a 5 yr old (almost 6), he has outgrown this stage. No sympathy is given if your child has a one time accident in their pants or becomes frustrated. No time outs, page the parents and keep track of the incidents in a computer so they can say your child is not welcome when you are dressed up ready to do your one night at Palos. Disney denied this was their policy to ban children after three incidents or 'strikes' after our cruise, but I now feel they were just doing damage control since I brought the situation out in public on this board. It took DW to show her disappointment in tears for them to have a change of heart to watch my child while we were reminded to pick him up as soon as we finished eating. We were concerned my son might be mistreated since he was left under these circumstance. I still remember DW saying 'please be good to my baby' as we left. Needless to say, Palos was a not a pleasant experience for us that night after what we went through. We felt guilty leaving him there. I am not trying to win an award for being dramatic with this, just stating what we encountered. I had the same feelings of DW, but am just able to keep my feelings hidden.

They need to take in account the age of the child. Hurting another child is one thing, but being paged because your child is not being cooperative for one reason or another is something else. My son could only stare through the fence at Castaway Cay at the other kids in the children's program while they were having fun in the sand. I was probably hurt more than him that day. Some children's program. The delayed and very underwhelming response that I received after the cruise from DCL's office in Celebration was another disappointment.

I will say my 9 yr old child loved the program and stayed at the program more than we expected. The ship also had the best children facilities and cabins of any ship we have ever been on. The ESPN mug and Dreams Unlimited rule too! (Sorry, not used to being so serious). We received one heck of an upgrade also. Anyway, they just don't seem to have much patience with the younger children. I believe the counselors have no incentive to be understanding as they are one of the few castmembers who are not allowed to be tipped. They don't care if you are disappointed or not. It makes their jobs easier with less children to watch. I feel our situation was isolated and maybe Dave's DW to a degree, but it does not make me feel any better about the disappointment our family encountered. I am sorry that Dave's DW and family had a similar negative experience.

[legs22]

My DD had just turned 4 yrs abou 2 1/2 mo. prior to the cruise. So she was one of the younger ones there. My DD loved the club and had no complaints. I have no complaints at all with Oceaneers Club. The counselors were fantastic and interacted very well with the kids. It was very efficiently run also. I would think that it was an isolated incident that Buschfan had. I find it hard to believe they didn't want kids in the Club or find any excuse to remove them. You can tell these counselors enjoy being around kids.

[GoofyDisney]

Michelle and everyone else...

Just wanted to make sure ya'll know ahead of time. When it comes to swimming in the pools, little ones MUST be in swim diapers. The lifeguards even ask for verification. If not in a swim diaper, the lifeguards will ask you to leave, and go and purchase swim diapers from the ship store.

They seem to be fairly strict policy, and I witnessed (and experienced) them checking with parents to make sure babies were not wearing regular diapers, and for the little ones, were not without some sort of protection, i.e., swim diapers.


Just a FYI...

[SportyCruiser]

I hear you are going on the disney magic for a 7 night cruise on 12/8. Do you have any young teens?
:bounce: :pinkbounc :bounce: :pinkbounc :bounce: :pinkbounc :bounce: :pinkbounc :bounce: :pinkbounc :bounce: :pinkbounc :bounce:

[ckr]

I'm kind of wishy washy on this. Our situation turned out ok, but could've gone bad quickly.

We were on the 4-day 11/18 Wonder cruise. DD age 3 1/2 is one of those that does her own thing. While she will participate in group activities (if they interest her enough) she is just as happy playing by herself and was also 'distracted' by the play area toys.

On the Nassau day, we chose to stay on the ship. We took her to the club about 10am. She was very excited to go and had no problem joining in with the group. We snuck into Beach Blanket to check on her during lunch (without her seeing us) and she seemed to be doing fine. We went to the spa, got into the Rainforest room and then got a page. I thought the pager would be alpha so that they could send a specific message, but that is not the case. It simply says something like "Your child wishes to be picked up at Oceaneer's Club." So DH got dressed and went to see what was happening. When he got there, DD was coming down the Pirate slide as happy as could be. He asked what she wanted and she said she just wanted to see him and tell him how much fun she was having. Cool. I liked the idea that they paged you as soon as your child asks for you. I was afraid he'd be greeted with a sobbing child, but they do not let it get to that point.

About an hour later, we got another page. This time, I went to check on her. As the other children sat over by the stage playing a game show, my little one ran over to the playground stuff and started playing by herself. This did not surprise me, but what did was that the one counselor on the stage running the game show called for her to come back, but the other 4-6 counselors did not do a thing to try and engage her in the activity. I understand that the check-in area needs to be manned, but there were about 4 of them in there and a few up and walking around and a few more down on the floor with the kids. I stood there in amazement as my (thankfully coordinated) 3yr old was ignored as she stood straight up on the top of the snail (I think it was a snail -- regardless, her feet were about 4 feet off the ground). Luckilly, she did not fall and soon after one of the counselors came and asked her to come sit with her. That's all it took. She accepted the offer and went and rejoined the group - even getting one of the game show questions right!

I asked about the page and was met by counselor Lisa who did not look happy at all. This really took me back. I asked about being paged and she said that DD was not participating and so she (Lisa, not DD) had paged me. When I asked if she was being a problem she said no, but that if she wasn't going to participate, then she must not be enjoying herself and she should be taken out of the club. "We can't have her going off and doing other things 'cuz then other kids will want to do that too.... blah blah" While I understand this, and explained that I didn't want her to be a problem and would take her out of the club if this was the case, I pointed out that she happilly rejoined the group as soon as one of the counselors gave her some individual attention. I asked if I was required to remove her or could I stay and see how it went. Thankfully, another counselor was there too and piped in Oh sure -- I'm not sure what Lisa would've replied. I ended up staying and watching them for about 15-20 minutes during which DD participated the entire time. I asked one of the counselors if it was ok to leave her there and they said sure and that she seemed to be doing fine. I asked again if she had been a problem and they assured me she had not. I told them to be sure to page me if she was any trouble and that I would be back in an hour to take her to the movies if I had not heard from them. We had no other problems at all that day or any of the others, with pages only being at the end of the night when she was ready for bedtime.

Our situation turned out great and DD had a fantastic time in the Club. But if I had not asked and had just taken Lisa's directions and attitude, I probably would've left and not even tried to bring her back. In a nut shell, I think some of the counselors are better than others. IMO, the 3-4s in general need counselors that scoop them up and put them on thier laps. Or make them think it's really cool to sit up by the stage. Some of the counselors (well, mostly one) seemed to want them to sit perfectly still and obey every command on the first try. By watching for just a few minutes, I could tell which counselors do love their jobs and just made sure to let them know that DD loved the program and would really like to stay, but that I supported them if she was misbehaving and would remove her from the club if that were to happen. Remember, these counselors are human, and some are willing to give your child the extra attention if they can see that is what it takes and if they know that you support them if your child does become a problem.

[jeanelain]

Hi, can anyone tell me if the activities in the clubs are required when your child is there or would they be able to do their own thing if they do not want to do the activity?

Also, is there anywhere my 9 yr old can chat with friends backhome via internet?

I read that at her age she would be able to check herself in/out of the clubs. not sure if i like that because I wouldn't know where she was or do they page you and let you know ?/

off subject: what are the ship to shore phone rates?:earsgirl:

[SportyCruiser]

Your 9 year old can go to the internet cafe on deck 3 aft. There is a fee for 75 cents a minute or 82 dollars for the whole cruise. If you are going to be on for more than 20 minutes a day than you want the 82 dollar package. To call to the US it is 6.25 a minute. Online is Better.







Rory
Disney Magic
December 8-15, 2001

[amie]

Hi everyone.

Do they keep the kids in this lab the whole time they are in the kids programming? Or do they take them outside to do things around the ship?

When you are on Castaway Cay do they take them out on the beach or again have them stay inside a room?

TIA

AM

[SC Minnie]

This may seem like a stupid question but what kinds of shoes are the kids supposed to where in the clubs? sneakers, sandals, are flip flops OK? Just trying to get an idea on how many pairs and what kinds of shoes we need to pack for DD 7.

Thanks.

[1 Disney Lovin' Mom]

SC Minnie, that is actually a very good question. I would also like to know if there are any shoe/footwear requirements in the Oceaneer Clubs & Labs. We will be cruising with our DD10, DS7, DD6 & DD4.

Does anyone have this info?

Thanks,

1 Disney Lovin' Mom :earsgirl:
Memphis, TN

[Jandreas]

It was stated that you could request "modified programming." Could someone please explain what that is?

[MartyP]

For those of you concerned about whether siblings will be together. I think my children who were 9 and 12 for our last disney cruise would have made more friends if they had been seperated. We were allowed to bump our 9 year old up a age group. They hund out together and didn't make any friends in the club. This time they will be seperated and I think they may have more fun.

[MartyP]

For those of you concerned about whether siblings will be together. I think my children who were 9 and 12 for our last disney cruise would have made more friends if they had been seperated. We were allowed to bump our 9 year old up a age group. They hund out together and didn't make any friends in the club. This time they will be seperated and I think they may have more fun.

[bud624]

Once a child is signed into the childrens program do they need to sign up each individual day and decide in advance which of the days activities they wish to participate in.

:cool:

[MCazer]

All the programs are designed so that everyone can participate. So in effect, if you decide to go, there will be room, and if you don't, not to worry.

My kids did the things that they wanted, and at the spur of the moment joined things last minute too.

It was the best of both worlds. We had plenty of family time, and plenty of mom and dad time. Have to love the adult only pool!

[cindy_k]

Hi MartyP

I'm glad to hear you were able to bump up your 9 year old.

We are going on the 4 day cruise in Oct. My DS will be 9 1/2 but he's a year ahead in school (he will be in 5th Grade) so his peers are really the 10 year olds.

Do you think I will have any trouble getting him bumped up?

Thanks!!

(We can't wait to sail... Oct can't get here soon enough.)

[Michelle]

I'm going to lock this thread so that those with questions can post them on separate threads below. They may get lost up here and this thread really is for informational purposes only. :)