Experience for 3 Year Olds in Oceanears Club

[RJAYL]

We just finished a 7 day cruise on the Magic with our children 93-95-01-04. It was terrific for all, we made reservations for Flounders every night so we could go to the shows after dinner!

The little one 19 months at the time would holler when we left her at Flounders the first few times, but was always playing & smiling (looking through secret mirror) when we returned.

While we have now booked the 6/27 Med cruise during which she turns 3 on 6/30! This gives us the option of Flounders or the Ocean Club (As long as she is Potty trained)!

How has the Oceanears Club worked out for those of you with 3 or just turning 3 year old Children!

 

[flexsmom]

My DD was 3 1/2 her first time in OC. She had a great time and never seemed to look back when we dropped her off. We were paged once on Day 2 because she was straying from the schedule activity, but after one quick visit where we explained that she would be thrown out for good if she didn't play ball with the scheduled stuff, that was it. After that, it was hard to pull her out for pool time and dinner. We had another 7-night when she was 5 and one scheduled for this August and she's 7. We find it's a great mix of family time with DD enjoying some "kid time" alone. DS just turned 3 earlier this month and is on track with potty-training, so we're hoping all will be well with him in August. Since DD will also be in OC, even in an older age-group, at least they'll be in the same spaces sometimes.

 

[lbgraves]

Our 3 y 2 mo DD would only go to the OC once with me & once with just her brother for an hour on our 7 day. She wanted to stay with daddy...who is away on travel alot. We had the best vacation ever that cruise!

 

[Cindi0511]

I am very interested in this topic, so I hope more people will share their experiences!

Thank you!!!

 

[sirena]

On the 4nt cruise my DD3 stayed at the OC the first two nights but did not want to stay on the last 2 nights. Her two teen cousins were running free and she felt left out I think. Also she felt alone in the club. She is more introverted and looks for someone to come to her rather than makings friends. I thought a CM would be assigned to a group of kids but they were not so she was pretty much on her own. It broke my heart one day I picked her up and she was looking sad. I asked her why she did not beep me and she said she was calling me but I did not hear. She told me she called "mama" and I did not answer. I had explain to her that she needed to ask someone wearing a yellow shirt to call me but she didn't get the concept. I think next time we'll have a drill.

 

[Mdlex]

I hope more people post also. I have a DS who will be 3 1/2 next year when we do the Med cruise and he is very shy. I was really hoping that the CM's would be really helpful in making him feel comfortable but after the above post of SIRENA, I am a little nervous. His older sister will be 9 and she will be over at the OL. I was hoping to get in a dinner at Palo with my DH.

 

[RJAYL]

Just so you feel better my other DD was 4 1/2 on the cruise in Feb and she had no trouble having us paged!

Which she did the first day or two, however after that she never wanted to leave! One night I litteraly had to pick her up and carry her out for bed!

Although she is not shy (except at first).

The Cast Members were very attentive to all the children, if a child was not happy and showed it visably (crying or sulking) they would deffinitely page the parents!

I hope this reassures you, I am hoping that my 3 year old who is also fairly active, will aclimate as well when we cruise next!

If the Oceaneers club is not working out you can always make a reservation at Flounders for the night you are going to Palo's

 

[DutchsMommy]

Our DS turned 3 the day we sailed on a 4 night Wonder trip. He enjoyed the Club, however was not in from morning til night. He would stay a few hours max. Generally he preferred to be with us. The CMs were very good if you advised you were going to Palo - they really try and avoid calling if at all possible. I expected the same level of attentiveness from the CMs as DS gets at Daycare and that is about what I got. I don't think you can expect fulltime 1:1 attention with your child and a CM. At daycare there are times when some of the kids are crying and some are fighting and some are upset. Never for more than a few minutes, but it does happen. We were hoping DS would be more enthralled with the Club but I do think he was s bit young - at just 3 he really was *just* starting to have interactive play with others. On our next cruise he will be almost 5 (we're going in Nov) and I can see a huge difference in his play from the last time we went to now - he plays alot more with others, making up games etc and interacts alot more. I believe at this age he will likely get more out of the more structured games etc that they offer.

So - long saga short - I think your child will enjoy herself, however I would not put any expectation on her staying in the Club - if you expect her to be with you and plan accordingly, then if she does stay in the Club it is more of an 'added-bonus' of alone time for you and DH as opposed to a disappointed if you wanted her in the Club and she refuses.

 

[sirena]

I want to clarify that DD3 did not have a bad experience. She enjoyed it while she was there but I think when she got tired or lonely she was not as active and she does not show her emotions (crying). She just has a long face that only those of us who know her know something is going on. I think the CMs did a fine job but I expected to have one person in charge of one group and it was not the case (which is fine). They all move around and look around. I thought my DD would have been more comfortable if she knew that one person was leading her group, just like her daycare environment. She also wanted to be with us and her older cousins so I am sure she played the victim a little bit. We had a great time spending time with her b/c we got to do other activities like character pics, playing shuffle board, pool, etc). On graduation I tried to leave her at OC but she cried she would not want to stay. When she saw everyone on stage w/Mickey and Minnie she wanted to join. They let her in at the last minute and she was on the front row.

I think she did very good given her age and personality. Now I told her we are going to Mickey's boat again only if she stays at the club and she is OK with that (at least for now).

 

[hilbil]

I think it depends on your 3yr old and how well she does with groups. On our first cruise DD was 3yrs3mos and not quite potty trained so we couldn't leave her in OC. She stayed one night in Flounders with DS 18mos with no problem. They have a TV in Flounders and she watched Disney shows and loved it. (The shows in Flounders are more appropriate for little kids. The movies they show in OC are often too scary for most 3yr olds.) We did go play in OC as "visitors" and had a great time playing there with her.

OC can get overwhelming for the little kids, especially during transition times when the staff are trying to separate the different age groups. There can be LOTS of little kids getting shuffled about which the staff handle very well, but if a kid is not used to being in big groups, this could be tough on them. As a parent and early childhood teacher, I thought it would be too stressful for my 3yr old to learn how to navigate big groups on her own for the first time. On our second cruise when she was 41/2 yrs and had had a few years of preschool under her belt, she loved OC and had no problem with group size or listening to unfamiliar staff.

If you do decide to have your 3yr old in OC, I would suggest personally introducing your child to the staff member who will be in charge of her age group while you are gone. It helps if kids have a name and a face to go to if they need help or comfort.

 

[Nemo Mom]

My DS was 3 yrs 2 months. He had the time of his life. The Club rocked his world. He still wants to go back to "his boat." It just depends on the child. I was on the elevator after picking up DS listening to him go on and on about "his club," and the man on the elevator with me holding his DD said, "She won't go to the club. She runs into the daycare every morning, but she won't step foot into the Club." My son cries at the top of his lungs every morning going to daycare, but ran over people getting to the Club.

We watched the cruise DVD a few times and looked at the website before we went to get him fired up. Then, the first afternoon, we took him to see the Club, but we didn't let him stay as long as he wanted, so it left him wanting more. We treated it as a reward for good behaivor. "If you (fill in the blank), and you are real good, we might let you go to the Club for dinner and a movie...but you have to be REAL good."

I tried to throw away a visor he made in the club the other day and he lost his mind. All things Disney Cruise related are sacred.

 

[Rence]

It varies a lot with the personality of the child. We cruised with my 5 nieces, 2 were 7, 2 were 5 and 1 had just turned 3.

It was the 3 year old who was club crazy, she loved it and wanted to spend as much time as possible there, never paged mommy & daddy etc. The older girls really weren't into the club at all, but the 3 year old loved it.

 

[Mdlex]

Thanks everyone, your comments have been helpful. I will go expecting nothing and if my DS feels comfortable then he can stay in the OC, if not we have to try again when he is older. Anyways, I have fourteen months till we sail, he may be more social by then.


RJAYL - I am sailing on the same MED cruise (June 27) as you, so our three year olds will be in the same club.

 

[vlf32]

My son will be 3 years and 2 months old when we sail in May 2007. I am hoping he likes the club at least for a few hours a day so I may have a few quiet moments to myself! Right now he participates in gymnastics( mother's stay) and a playgroup(mothers stay). He loves going to be with all the kids but he doesn't participate in the group activities. WHen they sing or do things like ring around the rosie, he stands in the middle of the circle and watches everyone but he doesn't participate. When it's time to do the climbing and things like that he is totally with it!! What have been your experiences with children like this? I am just curious. Of course he will be older then and may change before we sail. As far as getting him hyped up about the cruise and clubs, what can I do? I have the cruise dvd, the website but what I am really looking for are actual pictures of the club and the kids in it! Then he can see what is going on better than what is available on the internet or dvd. Does anyone have extensive pictures of the clubs that they would be willing to share? Thanks for the great thread!!

 

[Mdlex]

My son will be 3 years and 2 months old when we sail in May 2007. I am hoping he likes the club at least for a few hours a day so I may have a few quiet moments to myself! Right now he participates in gymnastics( mother's stay) and a playgroup(mothers stay). He loves going to be with all the kids but he doesn't participate in the group activities. WHen they sing or do things like ring around the rosie, he stands in the middle of the circle and watches everyone but he doesn't participate. When it's time to do the climbing and things like that he is totally with it!! What have been your experiences with children like this? I am just curious. Of course he will be older then and may change before we sail. As far as getting him hyped up about the cruise and clubs, what can I do? I have the cruise dvd, the website but what I am really looking for are actual pictures of the club and the kids in it! Then he can see what is going on better than what is available on the internet or dvd. Does anyone have extensive pictures of the clubs that they would be willing to share? Thanks for the great thread!!

Great Idea! I would love to be able to see some pictures also. I went to DCL website and did the virtual tour of the ship, but you really can't see to much of the OC. I haven't received my DCL DVD yet. I hope it shows inside the OC.

 

[sirena]

If you click on this link you will see some pics:

OC Pics

It is really dark in there so the pics are somewhat dark. You can see when DD first got there (really happy) wearing her wrist band and sticker. I went to check on her and they had done face painting. Snow White was there telling a story. She did not want to sit in the group to listen so she sat in front of the TV (not too happy) and was ready to leave. But she spent a few hours that day. You can see two other kids laying down next to the TV. There is a pic of the bathrooms as well.

You can click on the pics to see them full size.

 

[RJAYL]

It will be interesting to see how things work for the Oceanears Club,But its good to know that you always have Flounders as a back up!

Hi Mdlex, its nice to know that our kids will have someone there own age onboard!

I wonder how many or how few children will be onboard during our trip?

It is very different then going during school vacation!

Europe takes it to a whole new level!

 

[Mdlex]

Sirena - cute pictures, your DD did look like she was having fun.


RJAYL - I am also very curious to see how many young children will be on our Med cruise. I have been watching the other thread of who's sailing on our date and I do see some young children are sailing. I'm sure as we get closer we will see more. I am also very curious about what kind of excursions they will have. I wonder if they will have any that are more kid-friendly than the standard cruise ships that sail to the Med.