child within weeks of turning 8

[sartini-co]

We will be cruising on our first DCL cruise Oct 9. My son will be 2 weeks from turning 8. Our TA has indicated that he must be enrolled (right now) in the Oceaneer Club (ages 3-7). We have a daughter that will be 9, and she will be in the Oceaneer Lab (ages 8-12). Our TA told us that we could request, during our checkin at the port, that he be put in the Lab. However, this is based on availability. Disney's web page indicates:

"...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....."

There is no mention of the availability requirement. Does anyone know who I could contact at DCL to get this done now, or has anyone been in this situation, and have good or bad news?

 

[msh8675]

I can't see them declining your child due to not being quite 8 yet. I read that on the DCL website also. I would call the disney cruise line directly (1-800-951-3532) rather than rely on the travel agent. That may be a question they are just assuming the answer to and when you get there they really MIGHT be booked...whereas at least you know first hand now you didn't miss out on your chance to have your kids together.

Good luck!

Meesh

 

[Kimer]

They will let you put your child where you want to - they will adjust staff accordingly....we were in tthe same situation. No worries!

 

[kcashner]

They are very strict about the rule that a child must be within 30 days of the birthday. Beyond that, there's no problem. You put the child in whichever group you prefer. Officially, you need "premission of staff" to move them up, but again, it's always allowed unless the child has special problems that prevent him/her from acting appropriately in the older group. Technically, any time you bring a child to the club or lab, they have the ability to deny admission due to exceeding the allowable adult/child ratio. This doesn't mean your child can't come EVER, it means that until a child checks out, they can't allow another one in. I've only seen this happen in the club, where they require more counsellors as the kids are younger...and even then, it is very rare.

 

[jrabbit]

Sorry to say this but your TA doesn't quite have the facts together. The age of your children that counts is their ages at time of sailing. Since DS will be 14 days short of being 8, he will be able to move up the the lab and his space is already reserved!! Availability in the club and lab is controled via reservations. Once a certain number of kids in an age group has been reached, no more children in that age group are allowed to make reservations. Adults can always be added (as long as there is a room for them).

 

[ClarabelleCow]

guess I'm being thick here! At time of sailing, her DS would be 7, and wants him to move up to be with DD? So technically at time of sailing the child is 7, and when she booked and they asked ages, she said 7. How is the space reserved for him, he is listed as 7 not 8.

 

[js'smom]

I am soooo glad I am reading these posts. Was I supposed to register my 8 year old in the lab for our August cruise when I booked the cruise? My travel agent did not say anything about having to do that. I thought you registered when you got on board. So, do I call up my travel agent and get her booked now?

[as you can see, I am still trying to figure out the abbreviations used, so I am using the old fashioned long versions of words]

Many thanks for the help!

 

[hopelea]

When we took our first cruise my dd's were 7 & 9. The 7 year old was 7 years and 3 months, NO WHERE near 8......I didn't think I had a choice. I enrolled them. Took my 7 year old dd to the club, then took my 9 year old to the lab. The CM's at the lab asked where my youngest dd was. I told them the lab. They said, "well, if she wants to be with her sister, she can!" I quickly went across the hall and brought her to the lab. She was too old for the activities at the club.

 

[CM_Mom]

Talk to the counselors about where your child should be. My guess is that they're probably expecting that he might want to be in the Lab with his sister although at that age sisters still OOEEUUGH. My DD the CM (Club) says that if you discuss your wishes with them they will work with you. They have some families who want an older child to stay with younger siblings in the club and sometimes "older" 7 year olds prefer to be in the Lab. What they do require is that you choose a place and stick with the decision. For security reasons they need to know where your child is going to go and it needs to be the same place for the entire cruise.

I definitely wouldn't stress over this. Their goal is for the whole family to have a Magical time.

js'smom--no worries. Register the kids in the Club or Lab when they get on the ship. The reservations she's talking about are for the staterooms. They take so many 3-4s, so many 5-7s etc so they won't have a cruise with 400 3-4 year olds and only 50 5-7 year olds. On almost sold out cruises, they might show availability for a family with two 13-14 year olds but not for a family with two 3-4 year olds.

On the staffing, some of the CMs (my DD included) have experience with more than one age group so they can make adjustments as needed. If you're already booked you're fine.

I would plan on having a great time.

 

[tkrules]

just off the boat with at DS who is 7 but will be 8 in a week. They had no problem at all allowing him to go up into the next age goup. I simply asked Duane (a CM) when I registered all my kids for the club on the first day. He said that they do have a ratio they must maintain, and if there is ever a "too full club" they pull people from other kid areas, he said thay will never turn a kid away because of a club that's too full and that it has never happened. I traveled over spring break and was a wee bit concerned about that, never had a problem. The clubs were full when I used them but never so overcrowded that they were turning away kids.

 

[Nysie]

I'm glad we waited a year so that our dd's will be in the lab together without worry!

 

[jrabbit]

CM_Mom - thanks for the clarification. I guess I didn't spell it out well enough. DCL only takes stateroom ressies for so many kids in each age group. Once the number of kids in staterooms reaches a certain number, the don't accept anymore kids of that age.

You DO NOT register your kids for the clubs/lab when you make your cruise ressie. You sign your kids up for the clubs/labs once on board. If you are on the ship, there's room for the kids in the clubs/labs. Trust me DCL "knows" how old your children are, and how close they are to moving to another age group when you make your cruise ressie.

Bottom line: if DCL lets you make a cruise ressie for you and your family, there's room in the kids clubs for them!

 

[gottaluvdis]

I was always under the assumption that my DD (age 7) will not be alllowed into the Lab because she'll only be 7 1/2 at the time of our sailing at the end of this month. She's an only child and very mature for her age. I figured we'd have to register her in the Club rather than the lab, but a previous poster said her child was 7 and 3 mos and was able to go to the Lab with a sibling. I'm going to inquire once we board because having read the Children's Navigators, it seems she'd like the Lab better. I think she'd be fine in either place, but given the choice, the Lab might be a better place for her.

 

[TJGorman]

When we went on our DCL in Dec. 2003, we were in the exact same situation. My son turn 8 less than a month later. When they have the open house for the Oceaneer Club, go sign your child up for the older group. When I signed up, the counselor's told me putting my son in the older group would be on a trial basis, if they feel the child is not interacting well with the others in the program because he/she is too immature they will recommend the child be put back into the younger group. We signed him up for the 8-9 group and had no problems! Good Luck.

 

[KAMLEM]

Originally posted by CM_Mom

On almost sold out cruises, they might show availability for a family with two 13-14 year olds but not for a family with two 3-4 year olds.

This is the first time I ever heard this. Are you sure?

We had planned on bringing our nephew on a previous cruise so we provided his name and age at the time of booking. There was a possibility that he may not have been able to come in which case we would have brought along our niece who was 6 years younger. We spoke to Disney about this at the time of booking and they said that we would just need to provide the correct name, age, etc. but they never said that there was a potential for a problem such as this.

 

[CM_Mom]

I'm not positive since my DD works in the Club and not reservations. I have checked availability for some dates for friends and found that if you're booking for "adults only" the date is available but if you're booking for kids and adults, the date isn't available. Part of my previous post was based on the fact that you have to put in the ages of your kids before you can check availability and I saw on some post in the last two months that the reason you need to put in how old your kids are instead of just how many kids is so they can balance the ages. Don't take it as gospel.

 

[Cheshire27]

Originally posted by CM_Mom

On almost sold out cruises, they might show availability for a family with two 13-14 year olds but not for a family with two 3-4 year olds.
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"This is the first time I ever heard this. Are you sure? "

Yes, this is true. Once the number of children in the age range of the lab/club is met, no more are allowed on the boat. Because the price of the clubs is part of the cruise fare, they have to ensure that there is a space for every child on the ship. I was just able to book a last minute cruise for April because my sister is 13. The DCL rep told me that if she had been 12, we would not have been able to book.

 

[KAMLEM]

Wow, I never realized that. Thanks for the info!

 

[sartini-co]

Thanks everyone for the info. I think the bottom line I'm hearing is "don't worry about it".

jrabbit, you said "...Since DS will be 14 days short of being 8, he will be able to move up the the lab and his space is already reserved!!.." Does this mean the 'trial basis' rules shouldn't apply to us? I'm not worried, since my DS is mature for his age anyway.

tkrules, I think your info is the latest, as you have just finished your cruise.

At the time of booking, they should make it clearer, since they already have their birthdate and your sailing date. If they fall within the 30day window prior to their birthday during the cruise, it should be noted which club they will be registered with.

So far, there has been no negative feedback, thats good.

 

[CM_Mom]

Talked to DD today. She said the key for correct placement in the Club/Lab is to talk to the counselors and explain what you would like to do. They will work with you to be sure your child has a Magical experience and is placed in the environment that will work best for him.

I think you'll have a wonderful time.