1st day in Club for slow adapter

[mobetsy]

Ds#2 will be almost 6 when we cruise on the Magic in 19 days. We have watched the DCL video countless times, looked at the Club Navigators, talked about other kids who will be in the Club (those cruise meet threads are a great thing!), and generally tried to familiarize him with the fun he can have in the Club. I think if he gives it a chance, he will really enjoy himself. But he is slow to warm up to new situations, and I really want his first impressions to be positive ones. I'm looking for suggestions from anyone with kids with a similar temperament as to what worked well for you (or didn't) in helping your child adapt to the Club setting and have a good time.

In particular, I'm wondering if kids first come into the Club in the morning during free time, are some of the counselors already doing a variety of activities so we can look for something that might engage him? I'm guessing the kids get broken down into smaller groups some of the time; will he be able to be with a couple of the same counselors each time, or do they rotate around? He is one of those kids who sometimes will cling and cry when we leave and be having a blast 2 minutes later; are the counselors good/patient with that style (I work at a preschool/elementary school, so I know my son isn't the only one who transitions this way!)? What else can you tell me to help me prepare him and ease the entry for him? Obviously, if he's miserable we won't leave him there, but we do think he'll have fun once he gets past the newness of the setting.

 

[ruttie]

cannot help too much as my kids are go getters but here is a suggestion I noted on my last cruise. Try to avoid taking him the first time when there is a big crowd like first night after dinner 8ish or next mornnign right at opoening. there tended to be a large crowd and that could discourage the littleo ne as to not want to stay. it would porb be best to wait for a time when not crowded so you can just walk up drop off and wacth rom a disatnce...

 

[geffric]

On the first DCL cruise DS#2 was 5 and a bit shy.. we stayed in the club with him on the first night and just played with him with all of the things. The next day we stayed for alittle while, then he and another boy started playing and after a few minutes he told us it was okay to leave..

 

[confal1]

I had this same problem with my 4 year old last year. She did great and loved it. We went and signed her up when we 1st got on the ship. Counselors were there so she was able to see how nice they were. We brought her down after dinner the 1st night and told her that we had a beeper and if she wanted to leave they would beep us. Of course I went down 2 hours later and she wanted nothing to do with me so I left her in for another 2 hours. I say to make sure that you bring him the 1st night so that he can make friends with kids in his same situation who are looking for a friend. When you are checking in at the terminal look for people with kids the same age and introduce them before they go aboard, that way they will both feel like they already have a friend when they get to the club. Good luck and have fun.

 

[disneystyle]

The sooner you get them in the club the more they will like it. The above post are good advice.
Our dd is initially gun shy with things but it seems to make the matter worse if we don't get her into things early. Starting with a smaller crowd and letting her stay close to us and just observe during the registration process worked for us...

Our past cruise the kids didn't like eating with the clubs at all, but previous cruises didn't mind it at all. Knowing this was a vacation for the whole family we told them (4,6) that mommy and daddy really wanted to have a date at Palo and they would only eat with the club one night. It's funny, they were fine, they seem to do better with knowing our intentions and how long they would be in their clubs.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. You'll have a great time.

 

[Mickeyhugger]

I could have written what you did, as we were in the same situation w/our 7-yo DD.

She's slow adapting to new situations (especially w/other children) and what helped us tremendously was when she made buddied up w/our dining companion's DD (who was two years older.)

Are you going to meet up w/any families from the cruise meets?
That might be your ticket to an easy transition for him.