Cove Cafe is supposed to be adults only...

[MrsScooby]

Nothing sucks the specialness out of your 20 year old's first trip to Cove Café than another parent bringing their grade school children in to get their milk shakes.
Just FYI to that parent who glared at me a few days ago as I watched her children get served their drinks before my son received his (even though he ordered first)..I didn't say anything at the time because my son asked me not to, but next time I am going to approach you and the CMs serving you and politely remind you all that Cove Café is supposed to be for adults only.

I have recently been asked about whether DCL was a good option for those cruising without children and I am going to have to be honest and say that DCL does not do a good job of keeping the kids out of the adults only areas

Hoping this serves as a reminder to the parents cruising that your kids should wait until they are 18 to enter Cove Café....
My 17 year old has never been inside and is looking forward to her first visit when she is 18+.

 

[NC State]

Thank you and I agree! Please keep the kids out of the adult area. I noticed this on my cruise too.

 

[AlexandNessa]

I've never heard a CM tell a parent she can't have her children in there. (& yes, I've seen moms with stroller-aged children in there more than once.)

 

[elliev]

Yes, I agree...Disney is wonderful, but there are a few shortcomings realistically...and this is one of them, unfortunately!

 

[TJHutch]

My dh and I will be doing a b2b 7 day in September. I will be disappointed if rules aren't being followed. We have children, but never allowed them near the adults only sections. Why do people feel rules do not apply to them?

 

[wilkeliza]

Which ship where you on? I realized on the Dream we saw this problem but never experienced it on the Fantasy because there is a family cafe on deck 4 that I believe isn't on the Dream.

 

[TAK]

My heart goes out to you -- I would have been really frustrated.

Your son has a kind heart, I think -- I don't know him obviously but just a guess -- and didn't want to make a fuss. I can understand that.

But honestly, I feel like people who behave in this way are the ones who started the "fuss" by ignoring rules. When there are children in the adult-only areas on the Disney cruise ships, there is nothing wrong with an adult speaking up and pointing that out to a CM. OP, I hope there isn't a "next time", but if there is, you would be absolutely right to approach the CM about this. In my experience when I did so, they did then enforce the rules. If they had not, I would have insisted.

It's baffling. The rules for adult-only areas are the same as the rules for the child-only areas. If I want to take my 40ish self down to the Oceaneer Club and play, is that okay? Obviously not.

 

[katds10]

I have a baby and a toddler and would usually try to go to CC when they were sleeping - I never took them with me and was disappointed to see other toddlers and preschool aged children there almost everyday with their moms picking pastries or getting hot chocolate with whipped cream on the Wonder. My daughter would've liked that too but it's an adult only place and the vibe is totally changed with kids. If people want to get their kids drinks from there, they should bring it out to them - they can take the pastries too, no need to hang out in there. The cast members were always so nice and interactive with the children. I thought they were worried about getting a negative comment on the comment cards about them or maybe they were just looking for an extra tip....

 

[chrystalc77]

I walked through the adults only area several times with my kids, but only because that elevator/stairs was closest to our room. We never stopped only a quick walk through on the way to the pool area.

 

[wdwwishes]

Agree! but I think some parents feel it's a quicker way to satisfy their kiddos than waiting somewhere else, that doesn't make it right though. Hopefully they got the shake and left. I also feel that some folks think that unless it is a CM in white reminding them of the rules, then it doesn't count. If I've seen a few too many kiddos in the area, I casually say something to an officer at some point.

 

[aanderson5]

That is disappointing. We have only cruised once, on the Magic, a couple of years ago. We had kids in the adult area only twice, by the pool and then in the hot tub. They were quickly told to leave and did so. One group did appear to grumble a bit but didn't cause any problems. I hope we have a similar experience on our up coming cruise.

It is probably dependant on how comfortable the CM's feel about telling the 'customer' they have to leave. They shouldn't have to hire bouncers to make sure guests are following the rules.

 

[Dug720]

Which ship where you on? I realized on the Dream we saw this problem but never experienced it on the Fantasy because there is a family cafe on deck 4 that I believe isn't on the Dream.

Nope it's there. Just off to the side of where the character meetings are.

 

[chuckm403]

I am one who believes that rules should be enforced. However I personally have no problem with kids walking through an adult area (except bars after 9:00am) as long as they can respect the quiet and walk through with the purpose of getting from point A to point B.

 

[mollygirl13]

The last time DH and I cruised the Dream, we were very pleased with the way they enforced the rules of the Adult-Only area.

As a couple with no children who LOVE DCL, we spend a lot of our cruise in the Adult-only areas. While we witnessed many parents thinking the 18 and over rules clearly didn't apply to their family, the CM's were very diligent in getting them to leave.

Thankfully, on our 6 DCL cruises, we have found the Adult-only area rules enforced rather well. Hopefully we have the same experience on our November cruise. If not, I will not hesitate to quickly point out to the nearest CM children lingering in the Adult-only areas.

 

[wilkeliza]

I don't mind parents quickly ushering their little ones through the adult pool area to get to the regular pool area but the problem starts when they let Jr splash around in the adult pool, they bring a screaming kid through, or the stop and try to have lunch there because there were no tables let on the all access side.

I must say though every cruise we have been the CMs have not let kids linger for more than 5 minutes (just enough time for kids to check in with a guardian) and have always asked them to leave and are persistent in it.

 

[Zandy595]

Which ship where you on? I realized on the Dream we saw this problem but never experienced it on the Fantasy because there is a family cafe on deck 4 that I believe isn't on the Dream.

Vista Cafe is on the Dream also. That's were DS16 went to get his specialty coffee drinks on our last cruise because he knew he wasn't allowed in Cove Cafe.

 

[MouseMomx2]

I have no problem asking a CM to enforce the rules...any rules, not just adults-only-area rules. If that CM refused I would stop by Guest Services and let them know.

That said, I don't walk around looking for issues to report, nor do I nitpick every little thing. I have no problem with children walking quickly and quietly through the adult pool area or nightclub area on their way to somewhere else. It is when those kids linger or loud that I have an issue. I would definitely have an issue with kids in the Cove Cafe and I would say something to the CM about it...quietly and politely.

 

[abridgel]

Nothing sucks the specialness out of your 20 year old's first trip to Cove Café than another parent bringing their grade school children in to get their milk shakes.
Just FYI to that parent who glared at me a few days ago as I watched her children get served their drinks before my son received his (even though he ordered first)..I didn't say anything at the time because my son asked me not to, but next time I am going to approach you and the CMs serving you and politely remind you all that Cove Café is supposed to be for adults only.

I have recently been asked about whether DCL was a good option for those cruising without children and I am going to have to be honest and say that DCL does not do a good job of keeping the kids out of the adults only areas

Hoping this serves as a reminder to the parents cruising that your kids should wait until they are 18 to enter Cove Café....
My 17 year old has never been inside and is looking forward to her first visit when she is 18+.

What's the big deal? Kids got their shakes and left - simmer down.

That goes for most of you "adults" on a Disney cruise - yes there will be kids around - even in the adult areas. Let the CM"s handle it - if you still have an issue maybe try a princess or royal cruise.

Better yet - don't rant on a message board annonymously.

 

[wilkeliza]

What's the big deal? Kids got their shakes and left - simmer down.

That goes for most of you "adults" on a Disney cruise - yes there will be kids around - even in the adult areas. Let the CM"s handle it - if you still have an issue maybe try a princess or royal cruise.

Better yet - don't rant on a message board annonymously.

The problem is that the kid isn't suppose to be in that area in the first place. They can go to deck 4 if they want a milk shake. It isn't about being around kids or not it is about following the rules.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

What's the big deal? Kids got their shakes and left - simmer down.

That goes for most of you "adults" on a Disney cruise - yes there will be kids around - even in the adult areas. Let the CM"s handle it - if you still have an issue maybe try a princess or royal cruise.

Better yet - don't rant on a message board annonymously.

Since DCL does promote their "adult-only" areas hoping to draw in those guests who may not have kids in tow, it seems only right that they should enforce the policy.

As a previous poster said, if I want to just "stop by" Oceaneer's Club, or Vibe it wouldn't be allowed, so why are kids allowed to stay in the adult areas?

I agree that the layout of the adult pool areas is a bit problematic with the location of the forward elevators, so I'm willing to let kids walk (quietly) through the area to get to the family/kid areas. But, actually going into Cove Café, ordering drinks, using the hot tubs? Not OK.

Our experience has only been on the classic ships, thus far, but the Quiet Cove pool area has always been enforced when we were there. Yes, I've seen kids (12-15ish) who have gone into the hot tubs and a CM was there before they could even sit down and point them in the direction of the Goofy pool. I can even report that our DS who was 19 at the time was "carded" in the pool area at least 6 times before the CMs there got to know him.

I've seen under 18s denied entry into the adult bars/lounges, as well as seen some under 18s (who were "already there" )asked to leave when adult hours started in one of the lounges.