Kids' Clubs process (on Magic)

[Keyser]

I apologize if this has been discussed ad infinitum, but I didn't see a link in the FAQ (someone point me in the right direction, please, if this is already answered somewhere). We're sailing on the Magic this spring, and it seems the kids' clubs have changed the policies since we last sailed 3 years ago. I'm trying to figure out how it works.

It seems that both the Oceaneer Club and Oceaneer Lab are open to kids ages 3-12, Edge is 11-14, and Vibe is 14-17. There's also some "out and about" things that don't seem to have an age attached. Our kids are 4 and 11. So, here are some of the questions I have:

1) Is there any difference between Club and Lab? Does one tend to be more for younger kids and one more for older, or are they interchangeable?

2) Am I correct that my 4yo could attend both Club and Lab activities? That is, she doesn't have to just pick one of the two and stick with it for the whole cruise, does she?

3) Along those lines, am I correct that she'll be checked into just one club, and to go to the other, I have to check her out, move her to the other, and check her in? That is, the two aren't "connected" are they?

4) Can the 11yo go to all of the places in her range (Club/Lab/Edge)? Or, does she have to pick one, and then stick with that for the whole cruise? If she wants to do some things in the Lab, and some in Edge, is that possible? I don't think she'll relish the idea of being in the same place as 3 year olds, but I also don't think she'll feel she fits in as well with 13-14 year olds.

5) Does the 11yo sign herself in and out, or do we sign her in and out? Or, does that vary by which club she's in?

6) Are the "Out and About" activities things that kids get checked into, or are they things where kids just show up at the appropriate location (and I guess parents stay there)?

Thanks for any clarification!

[AudreyKThompson]

Hi- Dont know if this will help because we were on Dream and Fantasy, and my kids are 3,6,8- but . . . The Lab and Club are connected, once checked in they can go to either place without checking in/out again. I think over some age (not sure what, maybe 8 or 10) you can opt for the kids to be able to check themselves in but you still have to check them out . . . Out and about activities vary as to whether an adult is required to be with them, but there is no check in process for activities throughout the ship, pools, etc. The kids club on CC does require check in/out, though. HTH! Have fun!!

[samily]

Originally Posted by Keyser

I apologize if this has been discussed ad infinitum, but I didn't see a link in the FAQ (someone point me in the right direction, please, if this is already answered somewhere). We're sailing on the Magic this spring, and it seems the kids' clubs have changed the policies since we last sailed 3 years ago. I'm trying to figure out how it works.

It seems that both the Oceaneer Club and Oceaneer Lab are open to kids ages 3-12, Edge is 11-14, and Vibe is 14-17. There's also some "out and about" things that don't seem to have an age attached. Our kids are 4 and 11. So, here are some of the questions I have:

1) Is there any difference between Club and Lab? Does one tend to be more for younger kids and one more for older, or are they interchangeable? Before they opened the Club and Lab to the 3-12 age range, the Club used to be for ages 3-7, and the Lab for ages 8-12, and for the most part the younger kids still gravitate towards the activities in the Club.

2) Am I correct that my 4yo could attend both Club and Lab activities? That is, she doesn't have to just pick one of the two and stick with it for the whole cruise, does she?
Correct.
3) Along those lines, am I correct that she'll be checked into just one club, and to go to the other, I have to check her out, move her to the other, and check her in? That is, the two aren't "connected" are they? If she wants to move to the other, there is a "secret" hallway that connects the two and that the CM's use to move them from one side to the other (on the Classic ships). This is also how they move them if the space they are checked into is changing to open house time, and all kids checked in are moved to the other side which will continue with secured programming.

4) Can the 11yo go to all of the places in her range (Club/Lab/Edge)? Or, does she have to pick one, and then stick with that for the whole cruise? If she wants to do some things in the Lab, and some in Edge, is that possible? I don't think she'll relish the idea of being in the same place as 3 year olds, but I also don't think she'll feel she fits in as well with 13-14 year olds.When we were on the Dream this summer, my 11yo was able to do both Edge and Club/Lab but was told that he was not allowed to wear the Club/Lab wristband in the Edge and he also needed sign out privileges for the Club/Lab. We will be on the Magic next month and hope it works the same.

5) Does the 11yo sign herself in and out, or do we sign her in and out? Or, does that vary by which club she's in? As above, our experience on the Dream was that we needed to give our DS sign out privileges in the Club/Lab if he wanted to do Edge activities too. There is no sign in/sign out for the Edge - the kids come and go as they please.

6) Are the "Out and About" activities things that kids get checked into, or are they things where kids just show up at the appropriate location (and I guess parents stay there)? If I am remembering correctly, I think the Out and About activities were listed under the Edge activities, so no sign in/out or parent needed.

Thanks for any clarification!

Enjoy your cruise!

[kcashner]

Essentially as above.
1. There is essentially no difference between the Club and Lab any more. Kids move between them freely and choose the area they wish to be in based on the activities rather than age groups. The activities do have a "designed for ages whatever" attached, but any kid 3-12 can participate in any activity.

2. Your 4 year old can move between locations/activities at will.

3. No, you don't need to do anything for the child to move between locations--the CMs take care of that.

4. This depends on the cruise. SOmetimes they let kids be in both the Lab and Edge by simply removing the wristband when in the Edge. Other times they do a "pick one" system.

5. To participate in the Edge, a kid must be able to sign themselves in and out. an 11/12 without that permission must be in the Lab only.

6. Out and about is an old program that was used while the Edge space was being prepared. Kids in the Edge do move around the ship for some activities, but the program called "out and about" no longer exists as a separate thing.

[cruisecrasher]

FYI. They would not let my 3 year old who very much wanted to participate play Gaga ball because she was "too little". She was registered and checked into the lab during the activity.
So not all activities are for all ages.
Oh, and she has an allergy, so anytime they did a cooking activity they transferred her to the club or called us for a pickup depending which she preferred.

[jelliott04]

Our first cruise coming up in Feb. I'll have a 12 (almost 13) year old and a 7 year old.

1) Will they be in the same club?

2) The ships are giant! I can't imagine giving my 12 year old permission to roam and check herself in and out. Is this not as big of a deal as I'm thinking it will be?

Didn't mean to steal the OP's thread but thought this would be a good place to ask!

Jen

[kcashner]

It might help if you re-read the above. In the "olden days," the Oceaneer's Club and Lab were separate programs. Now they are a single entity in two spaces (which the kids can move between). The furniture and bathroom for the younger kids is in the "club" area while the bigger furniture and generally older kid activities are in the "lab" area.

A 12 year old without sign out ability will have to be in the 3-12 programming--the Lab (which means he/she can also go to the club area). So yes, your kids will be in the same area. They can choose to do the same activities or not.

11-12 is an overlap age. These kids (with parent permission) can choose to participate in the Edge (tween) program for 11-14s or the Lab. Kids in the Edge must be able to sign themselves in and out.

I think I gave my 9 year old sign out WITH MY RESTRICTIONS because the way things were being conducted in the Lab weren't working for us. She knew I was picking her up for meals. This was in the "old days" when they took the kids to Topsiders to eat and the Navigator listed "transition time." I showed up 5 minutes before "transition" but because they had already started lining up the kids to move, they wouldn't release her to me--I had to wait while they lined up, counted, walked to deck 9 and went thru the logging in procedure....all told, about a 20 minute process...before they would allow me to sign out my kid. My problem was not with the procedure, but with the fact that they didn't adhere to their own printed time schedule. My daughter was upset because she knew she wasn't supposed to go to a meal with the group.

I gave her sign out so that if they started the line up stuff, she could sign herself up and go back to the cabin. Our rule was that she had to be either in the Lab or in the cabin...and obviously the rules got more flexible as she got older.

Most 12 year old kids have the run of the ship, especially if it isn't their first cruise. But you know your child. Make the rules that work for YOU. This is also the age group that we find harassing the stateroom hosts or doing mischief in the halls while parents don't have a clue as to what they are doing.

NOTE--meals are now served in the kid spaces. They are no longer taken to Topsiders for meals.

[lbgraves]

One difference on the Fantasy/Dream is that the kids who are in the Edge, or allowed to go to the edge if 10, have to have their KTTW card switched so that it allows them to access the Edge via the elevator. Only kids enrolled in the Edge can get to the club that way using the elevator because they had to hold up their KTTW card to a pad in the elevator to open the doors at that level.

[lanejudy]

Originally Posted by jelliott04

Our first cruise coming up in Feb. I'll have a 12 (almost 13) year old and a 7 year old.

1) Will they be in the same club?

2) The ships are giant! I can't imagine giving my 12 year old permission to roam and check herself in and out. Is this not as big of a deal as I'm thinking it will be?

Didn't mean to steal the OP's thread but thought this would be a good place to ask!

Jen

They CAN be in the same club - if you insist or if the older one prefers the Club/Lab over the EDGE. The 12-year-old falls into the overlap age range and will be allowed a choice of the Club/Lab or the EDGE; there's a possibility he/she will be allowed to use both spaces as some have reported, though most posters indicate their child had to choose one or the other.

As to whether the 12-year-old has permission to "roam" - only you can decide how mature your child is. Will he/she listen and follow "rules" you set? If not, you might want to insist on the younger level club where the children must be signed in/out. Just because the kids have check-in/out priviledges doesn't mean you have to allow your child to freely roam all day every day. You can certain take your child to the EDGE and meet him/her there (or at the elevator) at a set time if that makes you more comfortable. You can also set a rule that he/she is only allowed to leave the club and return to your stateroom, nowhere else, or whatever you decide. But it will be up to the parents to enforce that as DCL allows them freedom to move about the ship; also keep in mind that there may be activities (like a scavenger hunt) where all the EDGE kids leave the club space for the activity.

Enjoy your cruise!

[jelliott04]

Originally Posted by lanejudy

As to whether the 12-year-old has permission to "roam" - only you can decide how mature your child is. Will he/she listen and follow "rules" you set?

She's a very good girl. My question was more about the size of the ship and the kids getting turned around or lost. She doesn't have the greatest sense of direction. I guess she could always ask a cast member for directions.

Thanks for your feedback.

Jen

[kcashner]

One thing kids need to know on the ship is that they can ask any CM for help with anything--the CM will get them to the right person. And be sure they know where Guest Services is and understand that it is a place for ANYTHING they need. These simple points will give them a lot more independence.

It's a big thing when they can tell you that they locked their key in the cabin but went to GS and got a "single entry" key. They had a problem, identified and solved it!

[lbgraves]

Originally Posted by lanejudy

Will he/she listen and follow "rules" you set? If not, you might want to insist on the younger level club where the children must be signed in/out.

Not sure if it is what you intended to say but kids don't have to be signed in/out of the lab once they are 8 years old. You can give them sign/in out privs at that age.

Originally Posted by kcashner

One thing kids need to know on the ship is that they can ask any CM for help with anything--the CM will get them to the right person. And be sure they know where Guest Services is and understand that it is a place for ANYTHING they need. These simple points will give them a lot more independence.

On the first cruise where DS had sign in/out privs when he was 8 and on our 4th cruise on the Magic. We felt that he knew his way around the ship pretty well. The first afternoon we would take him somewhere in a roundabout way and tell him to take us to our room or GS, or the Lab. He was able to do it each time. His basic rules were not to let anyone in the room and to let us know where he would be on a white board in the room [before wave phones]. One day he stayed on the ship while the three of us went on an excursion and we were to pick him up after we got back to get lunch. Well, the lab CMs said that if you weren't going to eat with the group you had to checkout. Three kids went up to get chicken fingers together then went back to their rooms to eat. We saw him walking down the hall with his lunch. Another time he told us when he broke a rule. He had been at the pool with a friend we knew from a cruise two years earlier [and I knew the family well]. He went to her room so she could change first and waited out in the hallway. When they went to our room he said that he didn't think that it was a good idea for her to stand out in the hallway by herself so he let her into the room to watch TV while he changed in the bathroom. So he did break a couple of the rules we had given him, but it was due to a situation we hadn't planned on and told us when it happened, and we agreed that he had made the right choice. They have to be able to think and make good decisions as well because things are going to happen that you do not expect.