Att: Parents Revolutionary Kids Program on DCL? Your Thoughts Please!

[HappyGrumpy]

http://Children can now customize their DCL cruise, with no age restrictions and even more options! VIDEO posted today http://*******.com/DCLyouth

So I don't have kids..However I am the Aunt of two AMAZING nieces who are 3
& 10 Months. I am very curious to get some feedback!


As stated in cruise critic this has the potential to be controversial? Who agree or disagrees?

 

[kcashner]

ANYTHING Disney does has the potential to be controversial. It would be lovely if only those who have actually experiences the new programming that is being tried out on the Wonder would comment.

The program is being tried because there were so many parents or kids who wanted the kids to be in an age group other than where they chronologically belonged, whether to be with family members/friends or to go activities other than those scheduled for their age group. This is an attempt to address that, and I suspect DCL will be very aware of feedback and make any alterations they deem necessary.

And, I guess I should take my own advise and cease any further comment.

 

[OurDogCisco]

We've been discussing in depth at this post here: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2334294

You might want to check it out.

 

[Edd]

There is nothing revolutionary about this. The other cruise lines already use programs similiar to what Disney has set up. It is just Disney trying to catch up with the cruise industry success.

My grandson (11 yrs, 5'5", 150 lbs) has cruised on the Wonder (2), Magic, Glory, Sensation (2), Monarch and Freedom since 2007 and did not like the Disney kids club. They would only allow him to participate in activities in his age group (8 and 9 at the time). He was big than and the kids were smaller. He spent a lot of his time finding the contests, shooting basketball, swimming or eating watching the big TV on the 9th floor.

The other cruise ships allowed him to participate in whatever he wanted to do. I would imagine he looked at the kids for his size first before he got into any activities with those clubs. He does join the club on both the Carnival and the RCCL, but comes and goes to his covenience. I have been told, by him, the Disney kids club are not good. The Sensation had dancers in the clubs teaching dancing and he really enjoyed that. He has been a dance student (local dance school) since he was 3 years old.

 

[kkmcan]

I have already commented on the other kids club threads but I'll quickly recap our experience from a few weeks ago. We sailed 12/20 on the Wonder and my kids loved the freedom of choosing which activities they wanted. They were able to do some things with their cousins who are close in age but still wouldn't normally be in the same age group.

They choose things that interested them which were in the 8-9 and 10-12 listings on the navigator. There were never any really small kids with them and they never chose to do any activities that were targeted for younger (3-7) kids.

They actually wanted to spend time in the clubs this time around. We were all thrilled to death as were the kids to have the freedom to be with who they wanted to be with and do what they wanted to do.

It was wonderful for us. I know there are lots of concerns with bigger kids crashing the fun for the little kids etc but I didn't see any of that and I do think that the counselors are there to make sure everyone has a good time and is acting appropriately.

HTH

 

[disney1990]

We are getting ready to travel with our granddaughters (9 & 11) and I am quite happy that the girls will be able to do activities together on the cruise.

I can't imagine that very young children would "choose" to be with the older children and vice verse.

 

[KSandbergFL]

... It would be lovely if only those who have actually experiences the new programming that is being tried out on the Wonder would comment....

I have been a minor critic of the kids clubs... the old format just didn't fit with our son's interests or our family schedule, etc etc. On our last cruise, we didn't even bother with the kids clubs at all... which is a shame. Count us among the many parents (mentioned in the Cruise Critic article) Disney says commented "please change how the kids clubs work".

We are cruising again in 2 weeks (Jan 21), and we'll definitely check it out... and I promise to give a full report. We are excited about the changes and hope they work for our DS8.

 

[HappyGrumpy]

I have already commented on the other kids club threads but I'll quickly recap our experience from a few weeks ago. We sailed 12/20 on the Wonder and my kids loved the freedom of choosing which activities they wanted. They were able to do some things with their cousins who are close in age but still wouldn't normally be in the same age group.

They choose things that interested them which were in the 8-9 and 10-12 listings on the navigator. There were never any really small kids with them and they never chose to do any activities that were targeted for younger (3-7) kids.

They actually wanted to spend time in the clubs this time around. We were all thrilled to death as were the kids to have the freedom to be with who they wanted to be with and do what they wanted to do.

It was wonderful for us. I know there are lots of concerns with bigger kids crashing the fun for the little kids etc but I didn't see any of that and I do think that the counselors are there to make sure everyone has a good time and is acting appropriately.

This is the feedback I was hoping for & I am sorry I did not see your original post! Thank You!

The reason I started the thread is b/c I follow DCL and CC on twitter so when I saw the tweets late last night I though I will go to the most trust worthy group of people I know for feedback. So again I thank You!

I have been a minor critic of the kids clubs... the old format just didn't fit with our son's interests or our family schedule, etc etc. On our last cruise, we didn't even bother with the kids clubs at all... which is a shame. Count us among the many parents (mentioned in the Cruise Critic article) Disney says commented "please change how the kids clubs work".

We are cruising again in 2 weeks (Jan 21), and we'll definitely check it out... and I promise to give a full report. We are excited about the changes and hope they work for our DS8.

Can't wait to see your feedback and to see if it lives up to the expectation that DCL twittered about.

I have never paid attention to the Kids clubs thus the reason I started the thread! My family will all be sailing together for the first time soon and I want my nieces first trip to be as cool as possible and I want to make sure my sister understands how the kids clubs work.

 

[HappyGrumpy]

We've been discussing in depth at this post here: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2334294

You might want to check it out.

Thanks a whole bunch! On my way to visit!