current age breakdown in kid's club?

[justmestace]

Am I the only one who thinks it's odd that they have ages 3-12 all together?
That's a huge difference....12 is awfully old to be in the same area with little 3 year olds.
I know it's the same on other cruise lines,too, so I'm just thinking in general.....
But Carnival does divide to some extent...ages 3-5, 6-7, 8-10, etc. with the activities, but they also still share the same areas.

I just picture a bigger 11 or 12 year old accidentally trampling a 3 or 4 year old if they get rambunctious.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Am I the only one who thinks it's odd that they have ages 3-12 all together?
That's a huge difference....12 is awfully old to be in the same area with little 3 year olds.
I know it's the same on other cruise lines,too, so I'm just thinking in general.....
But Carnival does divide to some extent...ages 3-5, 6-7, 8-10, etc. with the activities, but they also still share the same areas.

I just picture a bigger 11 or 12 year old accidentally trampling a 3 or 4 year old if they get rambunctious.

DCL used to split the ages. Oceaneers Club used to be 3-7, and Oceaneers Lab was age 8-12. There were many parents who wanted their younger kids to be able to be in the club with their older siblings (maybe thinking that the older ones would able to "protect" and help the younger ones while in there?).

DCL listened and combined the Club/Lab. The Club activities are still aimed at the younger ages, while the Lab activites are aimed at the older ones. But any child in the Club/Lab can participate in whatever activities appeal to them, regardless of age.

 

[justmestace]

DCL used to split the ages. Oceaneers Club used to be 3-7, and Oceaneers Lab was age 8-12. There were many parents who wanted their younger kids to be able to be in the club with their older siblings (maybe thinking that the older ones would able to "protect" and help the younger ones while in there?).

DCL listened and combined the Club/Lab. The Club activities are still aimed at the younger ages, while the Lab activites are aimed at the older ones. But any child in the Club/Lab can participate in whatever activities appeal to them, regardless of age.

My kids are much, much older now....I have two grandsons who we hope to take on a cruise at some point. They're 2 and 3 right now, and I'd like for them to be a little older...but anyway.....I'd seen that they have activities divided up, that's what they do on the other lines too....but I just don't think I'd like knowing the boys (my grandsons) were in the same room with "big" kids.

I don't know how I'd feel about wanting my younger kids with my own older ones....like you said, I remember when all that happened, allowing siblings to be together. Ours were already 8 and 11 on our first cruise, and at that point, they wanted to be as far away from each other as they could possibly get!

 

[lbgraves]

Juststace has kids who cruised with the more defined age groups, so she knows what it use to be. I think that is why she is expressing her concern. I remember them actually being divided even more with 3-4, 5-7, 8-9 and 10-12 within each club. I am glad that when my kids were younger the clubs did have that clear division because I would have been worried about them being kept pushed or bossed around by the older kids, or simply being intimidated by having kids so much bigger than them in the same area. There wasn't a need to "protect" any kids when they did the ages like that because they were with other kids the same age.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Juststace has kids who cruised with the more defined age groups, so she knows what it use to be. I think that is why she is expressing her concern. I remember them actually being divided even more with 3-4, 5-7, 8-9 and 10-12 within each club. I am glad that when my kids were younger the clubs did have that clear division because I would have been worried about them being kept pushed or bossed around by the older kids, or simply being intimidated by having kids so much bigger than them in the same area. There wasn't a need to "protect" any kids when they did the ages like that because they were with other kids the same age.

I agree. I don't have kids in any of the groups, but, based on my volunteer work at my kids elementary school when they were young, I think the range is really too wide.

 

[bumbershoot]

Well, I figure that not *all* 11 and 12 year olds are going to want to be in there. It'll be the kids with little siblings that want to be together, and maybe the older kids who are younger in interests and maturity levels.

In a totally selfish way, I'm glad for it, because it means that if we cruise again with family we can still have the cousins all in the same space for another nearly 2 years. For this cruise it was 5, 8, and 10, and this allows another bit of time before the older cousin *has to* go anywhere. I don't anticipate him feeling pre-teen enough to want to go to the pre-teen club even once he's that age, so it's really nice for him that he can stay in that level.


When DS was 3 he was indeed slammed into and knocked to the ground *at Disneyland* by a much older boy being wild, so I definitely get that concern. But I have to imagine that the CMs working in the club try to help keep it calmer than a random play area at Disneyland can get (and, in fact, a CM had been keeping an eye on the older boy, but was just too late to get to him).

 

[lilpooh108]

Sometimes the secured area is only in the Lab, so that there isn't much separation between 3 - 12 YO at all. This bothered me a lot on our last cruise and my 3YO was unhappy because the Lab was mostly computers and lacked dress up/make belief play areas.

 

[lilpooh108]

Oops double post.

 

[lbgraves]

Sometimes the secured area is only in the Lab, so that there isn't much separation between 3 - 12 YO at all. This bothered me a lot on our last cruise and my 3YO was unhappy because the Lab was mostly computers and lacked dress up/make belief play areas.

Imagine how bored the older kids are in the club area when that is the only secured area. DCL needs to do something about this programing IMO.

 

[Pwac]

I'm not really sure what anyone expects them to do. Some parents want all their children in the same area. Other parents want the ages separated. Finally, some parents don't want to leave their children in the clubs at all but want access for their children while other parents don't want any unknown adults around their children. How do you make all of these parents happy at the same time?

 

[peyjax]

Imagine how bored the older kids are in the club area when that is the only secured area. DCL needs to do something about this programing IMO.

They changed the way the club works right before our cruise last year. I was not a fan. It was not as bad as I suspected but still did not like it. We made it work. Next cruise is the Fantasy so interested to see how the clubs are.

Crazy question: Does anyone know or remember if you choose a club are you stuck there or can you choose club and nursery? We will have a 3 year old who would love the club but can not see liking the lab. Is it possible to put them in the nursery during the secured area times? Just curious.

 

[justmestace]

I'm not really sure what anyone expects them to do. Some parents want all their children in the same area. Other parents want the ages separated. Finally, some parents don't want to leave their children in the clubs at all but want access for their children while other parents don't want any unknown adults around their children. How do you make all of these parents happy at the same time?

You honestly can't make everyone happy all the time. But DCL seems to switch things around an awful lot in an attempt to do so.

I think they should break it down so that they don't have big kids (10, 11, 12) even in the same room as the little ones, ages 3 & 4...and stick with it.
I can understand parents of these smaller kids wanting to check in on them...the 3 & 4 year olds, but by the time they're 5, they've likely gone to Kindergarten and should be used to being without mom and dad for a few hours.
I also think if younger kids are mature enough to move up a bracket and are only one year or less away from the next bracket, they should be allowed to do so.
But unless they have a developmental delay, under no circumstances do I ever see a need for older kids to be placed with younger ones.

From my own experience, I've noted that if there's more than a year between siblings, they most likely want to do their own thing....at least the older child. I can see where a younger one would want to tag after the older one, but sometimes you just have to explain to them that they can't.

How many of us remember complaining that our older sibling got to do things we younger ones didn't, and our parents explained to us that once we got to that age, we could do whatever it was that the older ones were doing....and we had to live with that?
There's far too much molly-coddling going on as it is with kids today.

Divide it up, DCL, make the rules and stick to them!

 

[mom2aredhead]

I think they should break it down so that they don't have big kids (10, 11, 12) even in the same room as the little ones, ages 3 & 4...and stick with it.

How many of us remember complaining that our older sibling got to do things we younger ones didn't, and our parents explained to us that once we got to that age, we could do whatever it was that the older ones were doing....and we had to live with that?
There's far too much molly-coddling going on as it is with kids today.

Divide it up, DCL, make the rules and stick to them!

In my family it was the opposite. I was the oldest of 3. When we were on vacation growing up, our activities/choices/decisions were always geared to accommodate the youngest one. And if we couldn't ALL do something because it wasn't "fair" to the youngest to be left out, then none of us could participate. At some point, I would have loved it if my parents said "too bad, you'll be old enough/tall enough next year" and let me be rather than try to change the rules to accommodate my younger siblings or have us all walk away.

If they split the groups by age, and plan to have age-appropriate activities for that particular group, no one benefits by having the younger sibling tag along with the older kids, or forcing the older sibling stuck with the little ones to "watch" the younger one.

I have an only child (on purpose, partially because of the family dynamic I grew up in) so fortunately this isn't really something I have to deal with. But on our next planned cruise my son will be 9, and I will not be happy if he is mixed in with 4 and 5 year old siblings that absolutely have to be there with big brother or sister at the parents insistence.

 

[Pwac]

Last summer I was on the Fantasy with my then nine year old daughter and three year old nephew. On more than one occasion I was sent through the club to look for one or the other and never saw anything that gave me any concern for either of them. I think the vast majority of children adapt to the arrangements much better than some of the parents do.

 

[lilpooh108]

They changed the way the club works right before our cruise last year. I was not a fan. It was not as bad as I suspected but still did not like it. We made it work. Next cruise is the Fantasy so interested to see how the clubs are.

Crazy question: Does anyone know or remember if you choose a club are you stuck there or can you choose club and nursery? We will have a 3 year old who would love the club but can not see liking the lab. Is it possible to put them in the nursery during the secured area times? Just curious.

My just-turned-3-year-old had to choose between the Nursery and the Club, but she could not go back and forth.

She loved the Club, but one day we got a call during our Palo Brunch from her to get picked up. We had dropped her at the Club, but she was at the Lab (sitting at a computer) when I picked her up. She can't read yet, and so it was really boring for her to be in the Lab with the computers. She was sort of guessing at the games.

Even though there were other things going on (bracelet making, flubber making) those were dominated by the "bigger kids." She refused to go into the Lab after that and told me that she felt "too small." For being 3, I can understand why it was overwhelming.

We ended up only dropping her off in the evenings after dinner where they don't combine the Club/Lab. In the Club, there are slides, group circle activities (like Little Einsteins), princess dresses, pretend kitchens. These things are more geared for the preschool-age kids.

 

[BuzzLightyearInTampa]

Wow, on all 3 of our previous cruises on the Magic, the younger kids were in the Club, while the older ones were in the Lab. Does it really work to have 11-12 year olds running around where the 3-4 year olds are as well? I'd be interested to know if anyone else has encountered any issues with this like the PP.

 

[KristiMc]

Wow, on all 3 of our previous cruises on the Magic, the younger kids were in the Club, while the older ones were in the Lab. Does it really work to have 11-12 year olds running around where the 3-4 year olds are as well? I'd be interested to know if anyone else has encountered any issues with this like the PP.

I think that most 11 & 12 year olds go to the Edge. There may be a few in the Lab. On our last cruise they only seemed to be mixed when there was a open house in one of the clubs.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Wow, on all 3 of our previous cruises on the Magic, the younger kids were in the Club, while the older ones were in the Lab. Does it really work to have 11-12 year olds running around where the 3-4 year olds are as well? I'd be interested to know if anyone else has encountered any issues with this like the PP.

Yeah, seeing your list of previous cruises, that would be true. The kids club ages/enforcement was changed in Dec 2011. At least that's when we noticed the changes on the Wonder. On the Magic & Wonder the Club and Lab were actually separated, making it easier to keep the ages separate. Now, kids are escorted to the "other" side if they want to switch. On the Dream & Fantasy, they are all one big space, divided into Club and Lab areas.

For the most part, it seems that many parents try to get thier 11-12 years old into Edge, although not all. So not all 11 & 12 year olds are in there running down the little kids.

 

[bumbershoot]

I'd be interested to know if anyone else has encountered any issues with this like the PP.

Who had an actual issue, though? This conversation seems to be more hypothetical than anything else.

I know I mentioned a thing at Disneyland, where my (then) little guy got trampled at an outside play area but that was to highlight that I get the worry, but I honestly wouldn't worry about this in the club/lab. Those areas are way more monitored than an outside play area at Disneyland.


I'm asking my son about the club and lab right now, and as an 8 year old with a 10 year old and 5 year old cousin in there with him, he said he barely noticed the younger kids. The 5 year old was supposed to be happy to have DS and her brother there with her, but she kept herself totally separate, and in fact at least one time had her parents called without ever letting her brother know she was leaving. He thought she was there, but she had been gone for well over an hour if not longer, LOL. DS also didn't notice many much older kids. And he saw CMs stopping people from running or being out of control.

I seemed to end up there at quiet times, but DH picked DS up at busier times, and he called it "controlled chaos". Noisy and busy, but no running or trampling.

 

[Meghatron]

DD turned 3 on our cruise last spring and spent the whole week in the programming with the combined age groups and had no problems. She asked to go to the Lab over the Club more than once.

I much prefer having a larger age group of kids under the guidance of only CMs than the way it used to be, when parents could come in whenever they wanted and run rampant over other kids in order to "protect" their kids.

Also, we are a Montessori family and have witnessed first hand in the classroom environment how well older kids can treat and respect younger kids if they are taught to do so. If a 9 or 10 year old can't play in a shared space without some semblance of consideration for others, then they shouldn't be placed in that environment. That's why DCL created Open House.