Kids in the Adults Only Areas

[cruisecrasher]

So I was on my third cruise, enjoying a little R&R for my ninth anniversary with a no kids cruise (thank you mom!)
As DH and I walked around deck 9 the first afternoon we noticed something a little odd. Kids cutting through or standing in the adult area. I figured it was probably something that they would figure out since it was just the first afternoon. The next morning I walked into this
(There was a picture here, which, for reference, contained two ladies and their children, one of whom was facing the camera, the other three were looking away. I had selected this photo as it contained the least of the adults' faces while still showing their lanyard, it has been removed from this site due to public outcry as seen below. The photo was not taken in a sneaky manner, I merely selected it out of respect for the adults privacy.)
as you can see in the picture both moms are wearing gold castaway club lanyards and should clearly therefore know the rules I was quite irritated but didnt see anyone around to tell and the barista clearly knew they were there and did nothing. They set the kiddos down by the snack case and let them pick out what they wanted from the case and hung around a bit before hanging outside (still in the adult area) drinking their coffees with the toddlers.
I get it. I've got a 4 and 6 year old. But really why don't they enforce this?

 

[TDC Nala]

Happens quite a lot apparently. This looks like the Cove on the Magic. The children should not have been in there. But I know the crew sometimes doesn't like to "offend" the guests.

Cutting through is not going to be stopped, though, as long as they dont' hang around.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

So I was on my third cruise, enjoying a little R&R for my ninth anniversary with a no kids cruise (thank you mom!)
As DH and I walked around deck 9 the first afternoon we noticed something a little odd. Kids cutting through or standing in the adult area. I figured it was probably something that they would figure out since it was just the first afternoon. The next morning I walked into this

Wow by LoriKetcherside, on Flickr
as you can see in the picture both moms are wearing gold castaway club lanyards and should clearly therefore know the rules I was quite irritated but didnt see anyone around to tell and the barista clearly knew they were there and did nothing. They set the kiddos down by the snack case and let them pick out what they wanted from the case and hung around a bit before hanging outside (still in the adult area) drinking their coffees with the toddlers.
I get it. I've got a 4 and 6 year old. But really why don't they enforce this?

While I have no doubt this happened, it isn't the norm, from our experience.

We've been in the adult only areas and anyone obviously close to under 18 has been approached, carded, and some of them left the area.

I think the barista should have addressed the situation and reminded the moms that the kids were in an adult only area.

 

[Nikki'sMommy]

That shouldn't have happened, however, you do have to remember that there is a forward elevator that families use to get to their staterooms. We were in conceirge on our last cruise and we were getting all kinds of dirty looks just for walking through that area with the kids.

 

[cruisecrasher]

I know they do card as they carded me while I was sunbathing on deck last November (I don't look young. I just have bad skin, so they assume I'm a teen.)
Yes, this was taken in Cove Cafe on the Magic during the February 5 sailing. Actually being carded then unable to avoid kids within 4 months on the same ship threw me a bit.

 

[bahacca]

If they were bothering me, I would have had NO qualms about asking them to leave and go eat at a family appropriate venue. After all, it is your vacation too that you wanted without child disruptions. If they just stopped by, got some snacks and left, I'd be ok with it as I've read Cove Cafe has some great stuff that isn't found elsewhere.

 

[dharma517]

On my December cruise on the Fantasy there was this one woman would always come in there in the morning with her two kids...around say 10am or so. She had one in a stroller which she pushed into the cafe cove and one walking with her.

Now i have 4 kids myself and I would never do that. Maybe I could see if it were 7am and her DH or family members were not up and she was on duty and NEEDED the darn latte but it wasn't.

One time a ships officer was in there and he told her about 3 times that guests under age 18 or was it 16? were not allowed and she would need to leave. She didn't...she just looked annoyed as her child thru his sippy cup..lol.

ENTITLED!!!!!!

 

[OrlandoDisneyFan]

While I will agree with you that people not respecting the 18-and-up rule is quite rude, I would also like to express my opinion that posting pictures of the 'offenders' is in very bad taste.

You could have just as easily aired your grievance about children in the adults area without resorting to posting pictures of the familes on a public internet forum.

Did you and/or your husband mention the policy to either the castmember or the families themselves? Or just snap a picture or two for posting later?

 

[PATTERSON PARTY OF 3]

Question.... I am sailing on Fantasy Our stateroom is on deck 11. From looking at the deck plans it looks like this an adult only area out side the stair/elevators, correct? So I will I need to take my 11 year old up a deck and then down a deck to get to the regular pool area.

 

[AquaDame]

Question.... I am sailing on Fantasy Our stateroom is on deck 11. From looking at the deck plans it looks like this an adult only area out side the stair/elevators, correct? So I will I need to take my 11 year old up a deck and then down a deck to get to the regular pool area.

Moving through the area is tolerated, lingering or staying is meeting with mixed results. Due to the bad design of the ships, I don't think anyone minds - you kind of have to - but just know that adults are being adults and you might hear some language or see some snogging or bikinis that could be deemed inappropriate for kids.

 

[TBMommy]

IMO, what they did was wrong, what you did by posting thier picture was worse.

While I agree that it was wrong for them to have their kids there, although it looks quite empty. It is extremely wrong of you to take a picture of them and their children then post it on the internet without at least blocking out the child's face.

 

[EPCOTatNight]

While I will agree with you that people not respecting the 18-and-up rule is quite rude, I would also like to express my opinion that posting pictures of the 'offenders' is in very bad taste.

You could have just as easily aired your grievance about children in the adults area without resorting to posting pictures of the familes on a public internet forum.

Did you and/or your husband mention the policy to either the castmember or the families themselves? Or just snap a picture or two for posting later?

I totally agree and am surprised that no one else mentioned it. I really don't like the child being in the picture.

 

[clten]

I think the barista should have addressed the situation and reminded the moms that the kids were in an adult only area.

I'm not sure the barista is allowed to address it. We were in Cove Cafe and were quite friendly with the barista assigned there from previous trips. As she brought us our drinks, she saw us looking at the couple in the corner with their baby in the stroller. She whispered to us that she knew and was frustrated but there was nothing she could do about it; that she wasn't allowed to say anything. I trust what that barista told us so there might be rules for certain crew members not to handle these situations and leave it for others.

I do know they have crew that do address it -- this has become a bigger problem on more recent cruises than I remember in the past. On the NYC cruises it must have been a big problem because they had a couple of people address it immediately when the families started to settle in and seemed to have the "extractions" well coordinated. (Well, there was this one lady who took almost 45 minutes to leave with her crying baby even though they were standing over her helping her gather up her stuff. We did overhear some comments about how many cruises they have had this issue over the summer so it wasn't just our cruise!)

Question.... I am sailing on Fantasy Our stateroom is on deck 11. From looking at the deck plans it looks like this an adult only area out side the stair/elevators, correct? So I will I need to take my 11 year old up a deck and then down a deck to get to the regular pool area.

That is the fault of the ship designers. As soon as I saw the deck plans, I knew they hadn't addressed the traffic patterns that the classic ships have had problems with for years. I would not expect that anyone staying on deck 11 would have to take an elevator ride or two, just to avoid the adult area. There is always a parade of families through there. Some probably didn't need to do it -- could have gone to the midship elevators on the floor they were on before coming up. But if your stateroom is on Deck 11, I think you should just head through but let the kids know that it is an adult area and not the best place to start arguing, shouting or running!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I'm not sure the barista is allowed to address it. We were in Cove Cafe and were quite friendly with the barista assigned there from previous trips. As she brought us our drinks, she saw us looking at the couple in the corner with their baby in the stroller. She whispered to us that she knew and was frustrated but there was nothing she could do about it; that she wasn't allowed to say anything. I trust what that barista told us so there might be rules for certain crew members not to handle these situations and leave it for others.

I do know they have crew that do address it -- this has become a bigger problem on more recent cruises than I remember in the past. On the NYC cruises it must have been a big problem because they had a couple of people address it immediately when the families started to settle in and seemed to have the "extractions" well coordinated. (Well, there was this one lady who took almost 45 minutes to leave with her crying baby even though they were standing over her helping her gather up her stuff. We did overhear some comments about how many cruises they have had this issue over the summer so it wasn't just our cruise!)



That is the fault of the ship designers. As soon as I saw the deck plans, I knew they hadn't addressed the traffic patterns that the classic ships have had problems with for years. I would not expect that anyone staying on deck 11 would have to take an elevator ride or two, just to avoid the adult area. There is always a parade of families through there. Some probably didn't need to do it -- could have gone to the midship elevators on the floor they were on before coming up. But if your stateroom is on Deck 11, I think you should just head through but let the kids know that it is an adult area and not the best place to start arguing, shouting or running!

OK, the barista should have contacted the proper person to come and handle the situation. OP said that the offenders were in the area (both inside and outside) for "a bit".

Personally, I know our DS was carded at least 3 times that I know of before the people at the Quiet Cove area got to know him. And I've seen under 18s asked to leave the bar/lounge areas after the adult only time has started.

One time we were in the Quiet Cove and a man and his 2 daughters (I'm assuming), about 12/13 came in and immediately entered the hot tub. One of the CMs in the pool area immediately approched them and told them that the needed to move to the family pool area. I think they try to step in as soon as a "situation" starts, not let it linger.

 

[MarineFam]

Our first Cruise on the Magic in 2007 this was not a problem however we cruised on the Magic this past April and it seemed it was different in the fact that there were teens trying to hang out around the Adult pool area. It is a pain because they do have their areas to hang out and I would not allow my boys to do this. I think Disney needs to get there arms around this if it becomes a larger problem because some Adults with no children like to cruise with DCL without being around kids all the time.

 

[Minnie321]

We were on the Magic last week and spent alot of time in the adult area - I did see kids that passed through - clearly coming from the eleveators - never bothered me as I did not encounter a single kid on that cruise that did not use every manner they were ever taught. There was once this group of girls doing a scavenger hunt for one of the clubs and they came and sat down at a table a few down from us and were looking at their list - my father went down and let them know they could not stay there and they didn't realize they couldn't sit at that table (kinda was close to the end of the adult area) - and why did my dad feel obligated to go tell this group to move on - oh yeah that would be because my daughter was one of them!! I just think sometimes the kids don't realize on the Magic which tables are part of the adult area as one side is not blocked off like the other. As for mothers taking kids into the cove cafe yeah they should have known better - especially on that side where there is a clear partition between the two areas.

 

[Melissa S]

TBMommy before even looking at the details under your name I knew you were a New Yorker. People from other parts of the US may not know but around here you need to get parental permission before taking a picture of a child or else it is illegal. OP I wanted you to know that so you understand the context of these comments.

Bottom line some people are jerks. They shouldn't have brought them to Cove Cafe. There is no reason for a child to be there especially since there are soooo many places for kids on the ship. I feel bad for these kids that they have these types of mothers. Cove Cafe isn't child friendly that kid could have fallen off that high chair. People on this board complain about 17 1/2 year olds- toddlers should be escorted out immediately. Obviously this barista didn't becuase Disney promotes an environment of ambiguity (i.e. Dress code states no shorts but people are allowed anyway). I LOVE Cove Cafe, however I order and make a plate that I take back to the pool deck or stateroom for DD to enjoy.

I don't understand why the coffee bar on the classics is in an adult only area. On the Dream Vista Cafe was accessible to all ages. Every Saturday DD and I go out for bagels and I love sipping on my latte while DD has breakfast. Another problem is the cool snacks (talking about the cove cafe pastry etc) are only in the adult area. Why? Us people with kids pay more to be on the ship (unless it's KSF) so why is it only in the adult only area? They should keep a few of the treats at Goofy's Galley behind glass and this problem would be solved.

 

[hollybud68]

We were on the Magic out of NY over the summer and my husband almost ended up in a fight with a father who did not appreciate us letting them know that the rules were that kids were not allowed. His about 2 year old hung out for a while before anything was said (and the child was whining the entire time). Multiple staff members, in uniform, walked right on by turning their head as to not acknowledge the kid. The father came right after my husband (who is not a fighter) and threatened him.

 

[hollybud68]

Sorry...hit the wrong button.

Thank goodness the guy left but if was very uncomfortable and not what I want on my vacation. Now, this is coming from someone born and raised in NY. I will never do another cruise out of NY. I experienced more rude and arrogant entitled people then I thought that I would. But love my Disney!!

 

[ktb2002]

We were in concierge on the Dream, my 10 year old son would walk through with me to get to the pool. I told him to not talk, stay with me and we always walked as far away from the adults as possible. Yes we did hear snarky comments from other passengers, and many times we went to deck 12 to walk across because it made my son uncomfortable to hear the comments from others. He never cut through there without me, was very respectful, yet we still got the comments from others. We loved concierge, yet they definitely made a flaw on that design.