Crusin with a 3 year old

[voodooboy]

My daughter will be 3 years old a few days before we embark on our family's first Disney Cruise adventure. My family is small but very close and though my DD is a "social butterfly" my wife and I are concerned about just dropping her off at the childrens program while we go off and do our own thing. I am sure others have experienced similar issues so I am curious about a couple of things;

1) Is the child care sufficent to entertain a 3 year old for a few hours?

2) Has anyone experienced any abnormal negative service when using the child care?

3) What is the ratio of kids to counselors?

Thanks for any information.

 

[talicskai]

We have travelled twice on the Magic - last year DD was 3 and DS was 5. It was wonderful. DD never paged us and was constantly bringing back crafts and stories of her adventures. DS paged us daily but basically he just wanted to see us and know we were close by and then would go back. This year they were 4 and 6 and it was pretty much the same scenario. DS liked the pool better this year and DD was tall enough to do the water slide! The counsellors are amazing and I have no negative feedback at all.........the kids are still talking about "Monica"

 

[voodooboy]

Thanks for your info. My daughter will probably love the experience, My wife and I will have the most difficult time letting her go (1st kid). I imagine we will have plenty of time and activities to keep us busy. Thanks again.

 

[princesslondon]

We just got back from the Wonder in Jan. We also have 3-year old who has never been to daycare or any real activity (besides with family) outside of normal family stuff. We were really concerned with how she would react, etc. so we didn't plan any activities with the concern she might not like it. However, when we went there the first afternoon (it was free play time) and she saw all the other kids and playstuff she took off. When my husband finally climbed up the slide to get her she said she wanted to play. So we explained to her that all she had to do was tell someone and they would page us and we would be right there to get her. Well off we go (nervous as ever) -come back about an hour(probably less knowing us) to get her to get ready for supper and we couldn't find her.(Now don't get upset-hehe) Our little princess saw us come in (they were doing a puppet show) and she hid behind a little boy so we couldn't see her. We have never laughed so hard.
Anyways, we were very pleasantly surprised with her and the amount of activities they had for her. Needless to say she can't wait to go back to "Mickeys Boat"!!!

 

[voodooboy]

I am really happy to hear that. Our daughter does not attend daycare either and it is good to hear from someone with very similar experiences. Your comments are very reassuring and appreciated. Thanks again.

 

[Roemama1]

We just got back from the Wonder in February. My two DD's are bit older, 5 and 8...but this was their first cruise. (The 8 y.o. stayed with the 5 y.o. in the club). The same thing happened to us....just like the DCL commercial on t.v.... they didn't want to leave. The first time they were there we dropped them off for about an hour and came back and they asked us to come back later!!! I was amazed. The girls had a great time. The security is wonderful and the counselors are like angels. You'll love it. :0)

 

[voodooboy]

That is great to hear. I am getting more and more excited about the prospect of free time now that I have a bot of reassurance that she will probably have a very good time. Thanks for the info.

 

[TangoMan]

We just cruised with our two and half year old daughter this January and since she wasn't potty trained, we spent a fair bit of time with her in the Oceaneer's Club. She participated in most of the activities with the other children and just had a great time. All the counselors were just fantastic and were just great with the kids!!

We'll be going back this October for another cruise; our daughter will be over three years old and we'll have no reservations leaving her in the club.

Hope this helps!!

 

[CM_Mom]

Your DD will have a ball. The minimum Youth Counselor to kid ratio for the 3-4s is 1 to 15. My DD is a CM and having the time of her life working with the kids on the Magic. FYI, the requirements for the job were a college degree and 2 years experience working with groups of kids. Its really interesting to talk to her on weekends and find out how she spent her week and what activities she led during the week. LOTS of work.

She's sent pictures of the Club and if I were 3 or 4, I'd much rather be climbing all over a pirate ship or playing with Pluto or Snow White than being bored with my parents.

I don't know that I'd recommend leaving your little one there all day but I know she'll be well cared for and entertained during the time you want to do Adult things, like a quiet dinner or a show. Check out the Kid's Navigators posted at DCL Tribute - Kids and Teen Navigators to get an idea of the kids activities. You'll notice that they also have some quiet times scheduled where the kids can lay on a mat and watch a movie.

I'll probably talk to my DD the CM tomorrow if you have a specific question and want to PM me.

Have fun on your cruise. Our kids are grown now but we're gonna cruise anyway.

 

[voodooboy]

Wow that is great information! I really appreciate all of the help.

 

[lbgraves]

My DD was 3 y 2 m when we cruised & she was fine the morning I went with her. She also wanted to stay that night with DS. However, I got too excited too soon. She never wanted to go back to the club. I think that she enjoyed the one on one time that she had with DH & myself too much with DS in the club all the time.

 

[lurontravel]

We are planning to leave our 3.5 year old at the flounders reef a few times during our cruise. How many sessions are you allowed to sign up for on the first day?
Do you tip the counselors?

 

[CM_Mom]

As long as your 3.5 yr old is potty trained, I think you would probably want to leave him/her in the Oceaneer's Club instead of Flounder's Reef. Flounders is babysitting only and doesn't have the planned activities. Also my DD said they only have room for 15-20 kids and it's space available. Flounder's is really intended for the UNDER 3 set with much more limited hours than the Club.

I think someone else mentioned pagers. They give each family a pager for the duration of the trip and your DD or DS can have their folks paged if they get "mommy-sick" or the CMs will page you if your child gets too upset.

Note to everyone...the Club DOESN'T take the kids to the pools and Scuttle's Cove on Castaway is away from the ocean so swimming is a family affair.

The clock keeps ticking. Yipee!!