Oceaneer Youth Club vs Nursery question

[TNMamaJ]

We booked our upcoming december Disney Cruise on the Dream this summer through a non-Disney travel agent. One of my concerns when booking was that I wanted to make sure that my fully potty trained almost 3 year old would be able to go in the Oceaneer Club with his 2 big sisters. We will be traveling a few weeks before his 3rd birthday. The agent called and checked on this for me and was supposedly told that given that it was right before his birthday and he is potty trained he would most likely be allowed to go with his sisters into the Oceaneers Club. When I was filling out my documents online the other day it wouldn't let me register him for the kids club so I called Disney and was told that no they wouldn't allow him in the Oceaneer's Club. Has anyone had luck before getting an almost 3 year old into the Oceaneer's Club?? I am very disappointed by this and we may have put the cruise off a few weeks if I would have been told from the beginning that he absolutely wouldn't be allowed. I know there is a baby nursery for children under 3 but he will want to go in the "big kid nursery" with his sisters!
Can anyone offer any advise or help on this situation?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We booked our upcoming december Disney Cruise on the Dream this summer through a non-Disney travel agent. One of my concerns when booking was that I wanted to make sure that my fully potty trained almost 3 year old would be able to go in the Oceaneer Club with his 2 big sisters. We will be traveling a few weeks before his 3rd birthday. The agent called and checked on this for me and was supposedly told that given that it was right before his birthday and he is potty trained he would most likely be allowed to go with his sisters into the Oceaneers Club. When I was filling out my documents online the other day it wouldn't let me register him for the kids club so I called Disney and was told that no they wouldn't allow him in the Oceaneer's Club. Has anyone had luck before getting an almost 3 year old into the Oceaneer's Club?? I am very disappointed by this and we may have put the cruise off a few weeks if I would have been told from the beginning that he absolutely wouldn't be allowed. I know there is a baby nursery for children under 3 but he will want to go in the "big kid nursery" with his sisters!
Can anyone offer any advise or help on this situation?

For the most part an under 3 cannot be in Oceaneer's. How close to 3 is he (how long is "a few weeks")? I've read that OCCASIONALLY they will allow a child that's within a month of turning 3 to use Oceaneer's. But that may have changed. I do know that there are Open House hours daily that you can take him and his sisters in there to play, but you have to go along.

 

[Nachos Libres]

The policy a year ago or so when we went on our first Disney cruise was what you stated above - if they were potty trained, were close to being 3, and had older siblings in the kid's clubs the staff would allow them in. This is no longer allowed. We had to postpone our original cruise this year that was scheduled for September to this past week for this very reason, our 3 year old turned 3 at the end of October and even though he was potty trained and had older siblings in the kid's clubs if we had sailed in September he would not have been allowed in.

So, if you don't want your almost 3 year old to be restricted to using the nursery instead of kid's clubs you need to postpone the cruise.

 

[lanejudy]

So sorry you've been caught in this situation. Your TA may well have been given that information if you initially booked your cruise a year or so ago. I believe DCL became very strict on the 3-yr-old lower limit at the Club/Lab within the past year. It did used to be that an "almost" 3-yr-old who was fully potty trained could age-up. My understanding now is that even if the child celebrates a 3rd birthday during the cruise, he/she is not allowed at the Club/Lab until officially 3 yrs old.

If it helps any, I believe there are quite a few activities for the "older" kids in the nursery. They do crafts, story times, character visits, etc.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[KT2038]

Hi I am a youth activities Counselor. I am sorry that you were given the wrong information. As others have posted already, the policy did change throughout the last year. We used to let 2 year olds in as long as they were toilet trained and within a couple of weeks of their third birthday. This policy changed and Now it is a firm 3 with no exceptions.
This is due to many reasons, including the fact that some people after getting their 2 year old in complained that they were in there with 12 year olds. Also because it was within a couple of weeks of the third birthday and people kept pushing it and wanted us to take children months away from their third birthday.
Your child will be able to attend the nursery and they will do lots of fun activities with the older childen. You will also be able to attend the open houses at Oceaneers and depending on your cruise, there may be toddler time in Oceaneers. Again I am very sorry that you were given misinformation and I hope you have a magical cruise.

 

[n2mm]

All clubs are enforcing their age requirements. I've read many reports now that a child turning 3 was not allowed in until the day of their actual birthday during the cruise. Other club levels are also enforcing the age requirement too. Sorry. You should book your allotted time for the Nursery now and more time on board if needed. There use to be open houses at the kids clubs so that the parents may attend with the kids under 3. Not sure if they still do it.

 

[TNMamaJ]

Thank you all so much for the helpful information! I am very disappointed but at this point it is not an option for us to postpone the cruise until after his birthday i greatly appreciate the information though!

 

[Rapunzel22]

Do you know if it works the other way around? Can we get a three year old into the nursery to be with her 1 year old sister?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Do you know if it works the other way around? Can we get a three year old into the nursery to be with her 1 year old sister?

At 3 they are supposed to be in Oceaneer's. While DCL has started being more firm about the ages (as in not aging up), they've almost always been firm about not "aging down".

That being said, I've read reports that, the nursery CMs will ask you to give Oceaneer's a try first, and then will allow 3 year olds in the nursery, but I have to experience with this.

 

[KT2038]

Do you know if it works the other way around? Can we get a three year old into the nursery to be with her 1 year old sister?

Hi yes a 3 year old can be in either. 3 is the overlap age between nursery and Oceaneers. It doesn't happen very often because most three year olds don't want to be in the nursery. (And most grown ups don't want their 3 year old in with the babies!) Some grown ups do put them in for a couple of hours while at Palo or whatever.

 

[Tinked]

When I was registering my DGS for the nursery on the Wonder it asked if he was potty-trained. Since he can't make up his mind whether to be or not I said "yes" It would only allow him in Oceaneers. When I changed it to "no" I could book Flounders. I can't imagine him alone in Oceaneers with kids up to 11. We will certainly take him in and play there during open house times but I think Flounders is for him right now. Besides he loves babies.

 

[orangesub]

When I was registering my DGS for the nursery on the Wonder it asked if he was potty-trained. Since he can't make up his mind whether to be or not I said "yes" It would only allow him in Oceaneers. When I changed it to "no" I could book Flounders. I can't imagine him alone in Oceaneers with kids up to 11. We will certainly take him in and play there during open house times but I think Flounders is for him right now. Besides he loves babies.

Were you registering online? The only reason a three year old would be turned away from the nursery on board would be if it was full at the time. Kids can be potty trained in the nursery and they like to know so they can take them to the bathroom.
Lots of three year olds like the nursery better because they have more toys.
When you get onboard go talk to the nursery and they can book some time for you.