5/12 Wonder observations and opinions...LONG

[mollyjo]

Well we have been back for a couple of weeks and I'm now helping other friends plan their Disney cruise. To that end I have been reading a couple of threads and just analyzing other people's thoughts. Anyways--here's my two-cents worth. We had a great time on the Wonder. (My DH and DS's, ages 10,8, and 5) Things to remember in general--Disney cruises, like Disney parks are never going to be "uncrowded" And I would think that adults on a Disney cruise would expect there to be a lot of kids. The pools, especially Mickey are crowded. And yes, kids--mixed with water, on vacation --can get rambunctious. While it is no fun "disciplining" other children, I have no problem whatsoever in reminding any child who is being unsafe or obnoxious that this is not their own private ship--I would say that the kids who don't listen to authoritative adults are the exception, not the rule. We parents are all on vacation and need to help each other and stick together.
The kid will be up too late and eat food they shouldn't and be tired and cranky at some point along the way--it's a vacation and no matter how you slice it, it's not a regular routine like most kids enjoy at home. Why not let them stay up way too late, sleep in too long, eat hot dogs and ice cream when they want and enjoy relative freedom of walking around a ship. (This would apply to the eight and older crowd.) As far as the Oceaneer's Club goes I have to say it was a bit disappointing. I thought things could and should be improved and have written to Disney. Don't get me wrong, it was fine but not awesome and it could be. That being said, I understand why some parents walk away as their childeren are crying, they want a break and their kids need to know that it is OK for Mom and Dad to have time to themselves. The kids need to learn that they may not LOVE going to the club, but they will be FINE. My five year old wasn't gung ho but he was fine. And quite frankly, we did take the cruise to enjoy time with the kids as well as some time for us. To that end, it worked like a charm. All in all, the ship is incredible, the food was decent--great at Palo--the shows were top-notch and the service was mostly Disney. It is an expensive vacation, but it is a great choice for families, at least it was for ours. Sorry for my soapbox moments but I get testy when it sounds like people are criticizing other parents. I always try to remind myself that "there but the grace of God go I"--you never know what's going to happen or what has happened to make people act the way they do. Have a magical day!--MJ

 

[taswira]

I agree with you about the Oceaneer Club. I was on the May 12 cruise and I posted a lot of pictures from it on one of my sites (See Trip Reports). Even though I cruised solo, I went to the Oceaneer Lab to shoot some photos. That was fine because it was empty at the time. But when I went to the Oceaneer <I>Club</I> with the same intention, I finally gave up and left. It was totally chaotic. There were long lines of parents dragging their kids at the check-in area and standing in line for what seemed an eternity, and as I looked into the club I could see CMs with what appeared to be groups of uncontrollable kids going in all directions. I don't know if it was always like this, but my thought was that things could certainly have been managed better. As for "my" cruise, I had a FANTASTIC time and can't wait until my next one!

 

[disboo]

As a mother of three young adults, I very well remember the joys and frustrations of vacation time with young kids. I agree, mollyjo, vacation time is a time for kids to experience something different from their every day routine. Some of our kids' favorite memories are not necessarily the sights and sounds of the wonderful place we visited, but things like the burping contest between Dad and kids every night at bedtime, or the way our youngest would announce in amazement, "hey, there's a TV set in our room," each time we checked in somewhere new.

At the same time, I remember taking different kids out of restaurants or theaters when they became cranky and loud.

Kids are kids. We need to model and teach good manners and respect for others. Vacations should be a time to really talk to our kids, and manners and empathy are important things to talk about.

Well, enough of my soapbox, too. I really enjoyed our cruise (with none of our kids along) last Jabuary. I loved seeing other people's kids, and saw very little crankiness or disruptive behavior during the trip - certainly less than I see at WDW on a typical day!

I love DCL! Can't wait for Nov for our next trip!

 

[gscott8075]

I have cruised on DCL many times and have been very happy with the attention paid to my DD's.

When CM have had out of control kids - which is going to happen - they page the parents. I observed both groups at different times and I think they do a pretty good job keeping the kids included and involved.

I rarely had to wait in line to check in or out - I think its to be expected before or after a big event - like dinners and the shows. If you work around that, you will be much happier.

I know my kids have it a lot better than I did - and that's what is important. They have a lifetime of memories from the Oceaneer's Club, to meeting the creator of Toy Story, to meeting a former president, to eating different foods and seeing some exotic places. They also started developing their independence as we gave them a bit of freedom.