Current Youth Activities CM -- Ask me anything!

[lbgraves]

...The older 2 should be in the teen club they will be 13 and 12 at time of sailing and DD9 will be with DS5 at the regular club. ...

Just to clarify so the kids aren't looking at the Vibe for activities and space, at those ages they will be in the Edge with the tweens. The teen club is for 14-17.

 

[olenalt]

Thanks for your insight! Just got a bunch of goodies for our cruise Sunday on the Magic to give out. I have a 2 1/2 year old who has been potty trained for about six months. While she is completely trained, she can't go by herself per Disney's definition (dress and wash hands). I have no problem with her being in the nursery... But will they take her to the bathroom when she asks to go in the nursery? I have seen mixed responses. They change diapers, so I am hoping yes? Not sure it would be helpful to leave her there otherwise. Thank you!

 

[TKTJ9799]

I agree. How long before DCL starts charging for these or eliminates them altogether. If you want to so something special for a CM, bring candy or whatever from home, don't abuse room service.

I agree and as for a CM posting on this site, answering questions about the cruise is nice, but when a CM comes across as not happy with their working conditions or pay, maybe they should find a new job. DCL isn't the only employer out there. Sorry....

 

[minniemouse1]

Just to clarify so the kids aren't looking at the Vibe for activities and space, at those ages they will be in the Edge with the tweens. The teen club is for 14-17.

Sorry yes I meant the tween club.

 

[minniemouse1]

Oh! Sorry to hear that I know that on the newer ships us Counselors don't get as much freedom to create our own programs and activities like our counterparts on the classics. The programming hasn't really changed - with the exception of the Disney Magic. Oh man, such exciting new stuff!

I can get why they might feel bored though; all of the electronics was really because guests wanted more, more! With a space like we have on the Dream we Counselors spend more time helping the kids on the computer or telling them not to climb on Rex in Andy's Room than coming up with things to do. I'd recommend that you aim for a classic ship if you wanted less computer time - I know they tend to get to do more crafts/activities/games than we do on their Counselor schedules.

I would love to do the classics again but we really like the 7 day, the others are just too short for us and the longer 7 day cruises that are offered on the Magic/Wonder fall during our school year (September to the end of June). I am not a teacher but am a nurse at a school so I follow the school schedule which is a real perk for me. A LOT less pay but I get to be home when my children are home so it is worth it IMO. I guess I will have to stick with the Fantasy for now. My kids were constantly asking why they couldn't climb on Rex and they always hate my "I don't know" answers. So if you can answer why can they not climb on Rex? He looks like that is what he was built for. My kids were also really bummed that there was no slide in the new kids clubs like on the classics.

 

[tankin]

Oh my goodness, whoever told you that? I hope it wasn't one of us - if you can imagine our team having to escort all of our 100+ kids in each space to their individual parents- in pairs, of course - it simply would take far too much time/ we don't quite have enough of us to be able to! Not to mention it certainly wouldn't be safe (which is #1 for us on DCL!).


The way we explain to guests what happens in an emergency - and what they really MUST do - is immediately head upstairs and collect them, where we'll be waiting with the kids and clipboards having divided them in half A-M, N-Z by last name. If you're on board during a crew drill, you'll be able to watch and see exactly how we do this!


That said, we DO bring the kids down if for whatever reason the parents don't show up to pick up the children and all the others have left. You can easily see what assembly station they're in- it's printed on their Mickey Band!

So much for trusting our Lifeboat Captain.... He made a big deal out of it at the time (Dream). Sorry for the bad info everyone!

 

[DbleTheFun]

I agree and as for a CM posting on this site, answering questions about the cruise is nice, but when a CM comes across as not happy with their working conditions or pay, maybe they should find a new job. DCL isn't the only employer out there. Sorry....

I hope you aren't referring to the attitude of this CM.... Her attitude is fantastic and she sounds so upbeat and genuinely invested in our families having an awesome time aboard DCL! I for one love her posts/responses! Heck- we can all find areas for improvement in our employment, but having such a fun and light hearted attitude toward it all is a great attitude! I commend the OP For sharing all the insight!

 

[CMontheseas]

I hope you aren't referring to the attitude of this CM.... Her attitude is fantastic and she sounds so upbeat and genuinely invested in our families having an awesome time aboard DCL! I for one love her posts/responses! Heck- we can all find areas for improvement in our employment, but having such a fun and light hearted attitude toward it all is a great attitude! I commend the OP For sharing all the insight!

Thank you DbleTheFun, I'd think that if I wasn't happy with my job I wouldn't have continued to work there for more than a year .

Sorry....

Apology accepted.

 

[YxlsMom]

We are about to go on a cruise, but it's just DH and me--no kids. I would love to bring along candy, chap stick, magazines, etc. to give out to CMs. Since we won't be using the kids' clubs, where should we leave these things?

You are totally awesome for giving us all this info! Thank you so much!

 

[Dream101]

Thanks for all of the concern, everyone! As far as social media goes, our managers told us that as long as we didn't say anything clearly confidential / something a guest couldn't find out from talking to us onboard, we're within our standards of business conduct!

(Incidentally, if you're a current Youth Activities manager and mine was completely off track telling us that, let me know otherwise all of us with blogs and tumblrs would've been punished by now!)

I'm not 100% sure that includes posting on a Disney message board inviting questions. But hey, it's your job your playing with I'd tread very, very carefully.

And honestly, it might be a pain to take the 100+ kids down to muster stations (which was why they used to have them printed on their wrist bands), but it would be much worse having 200+ parents panicking & running around the ship rather than going to their muster stations. If they've changed that policy, then I think they're bringing their safety standards down.

Don't forget, Disney won't sink, the pixie dust will keep them afloat!

 

[ggfred32]

So my question is, if my child is old enough to check himself out of the Club, and my tween is in Edge, are they allowed to head back to our stateroom on their own as we are all supposed to do anyhow?

If we are supposed to meet in our stateroom and collect our life jackets and warm clothes, then we shouldn't be running to all the clubs to collect our kids. I feel a little silly having never asked this while cruising. I just assumed that our kids, as they are old enough to navigate the ship on their own, would be allowed to head back to our stateroom and meet us there. That is what we have always told them to do, so I am glad that this has been asked here.

Seems like this is a pretty important point that should be covered in the muster drill.

 

[CMontheseas]

I'm not 100% sure that includes posting on a Disney message board inviting questions. But hey, it's your job your playing with I'd tread very, very carefully.

And honestly, it might be a pain to take the 100+ kids down to muster stations (which was why they used to have them printed on their wrist bands), but it would be much worse having 200+ parents panicking & running around the ship rather than going to their muster stations. If they've changed that policy, then I think they're bringing their safety standards down.

Don't forget, Disney won't sink, the pixie dust will keep them afloat!

I don't suppose the policy is anything that's been recently changed., considering I've been at this a few years As of last week, we still printed the Assembly stations on their wristbands. When we consider the Disney commitment to safety, in the event of an emergency what seems more organised and safe:

-That your children are in a secure location that you know they will not have left from, where you can track down their location based on their Mickey Bands, with restrooms handy and several trained Counselors to help keep the children calm, organised and occupied while they wait for you.

-Or that Counselors lead large groups of children through an emergency situation with potentially panicking and running people to Assembly stations and attempt to use that time to identify parents in each one, completing our Security and Authorised Adult check for each child. Would these parents calmly line up and wait their turn or might they grab their children? Can we be certain that these people are the child's authorized adults?

This isn't so much of a pain, but a safety and courtesy and efficiency thing! I'm sure Disney has thought this through enough for us to be putting it into practice each drill.

 

[CMontheseas]

So my question is, if my child is old enough to check himself out of the Club, and my tween is in Edge, are they allowed to head back to our stateroom on their own as we are all supposed to do anyhow?

If we are supposed to meet in our stateroom and collect our life jackets and warm clothes, then we shouldn't be running to all the clubs to collect our kids. I feel a little silly having never asked this while cruising. I just assumed that our kids, as they are old enough to navigate the ship on their own, would be allowed to head back to our stateroom and meet us there. That is what we have always told them to do, so I am glad that this has been asked here.

Seems like this is a pretty important point that should be covered in the muster drill.

Why of course, any child who can sign themselves out and meet with their families can do so, whenever did we say they couldn't? Do you think the Counselors would force those children who are able to check themselves out on their own and navigate to their meeting point to remain with them? Instead, think about all of the other children who don't have the ability to check themselves out, who we wouldn't allow to leave our care.

 

[lbgraves]

We have also been told at muster drills that the kids would be brought to the station. This was mentioned if we couldn't go back to our staterooms and we were also told there are life vests accessible at the stations as well. This has been on three of the ships over the last 10 years.

 

[ATLMinnie]

You mentioned previously that recognizing the performers on deck, etc would be a nice acknowledgement for them, and I do love the shows. However, I'm terrible at recognizing people once they take off the costume and makeup and put on "regular" DCL wear. Is there a special identifier, like a pin or something on their name tag, that would indicate that this person is a performer in the shows?

Thanks!

 

[CMontheseas]

Thanks for your insight! Just got a bunch of goodies for our cruise Sunday on the Magic to give out. I have a 2 1/2 year old who has been potty trained for about six months. While she is completely trained, she can't go by herself per Disney's definition (dress and wash hands). I have no problem with her being in the nursery... But will they take her to the bathroom when she asks to go in the nursery? I have seen mixed responses. They change diapers, so I am hoping yes? Not sure it would be helpful to leave her there otherwise. Thank you!

Oh definitely! Nursery counselors will escort any of our toddlers to the potty if they can use it. It's helping them grow up!

 

[lbgraves]

...Is there a special identifier, like a pin or something on their name tag, that would indicate that this person is a performer in the shows?

The CMs who accompany the characters are entertainers in the shows. When little ears are around the best way to ask them is Are you friends with Peter Pan? [or whatever character they may play]. You can then ask them to convey a message that you really enjoyed their performance and anything specific that you wanted to complement them on. It may seem odd to talk in the third person, but that works better at M&Gs so they can actually confirm.

 

[CMontheseas]

Sorry if anyone's a bit confused about the emergency procedure, I'm not sure where any alternate instructions are coming from, so I can't comment on that beyond that much of the rest of the ship doesn't quite do the same stuff Youth Activities would in an emergency! I can only really speak to what we're expected to do and tell guests what to expect from us!

You mentioned previously that recognizing the performers on deck, etc would be a nice acknowledgement for them, and I do love the shows. However, I'm terrible at recognizing people once they take off the costume and makeup and put on "regular" DCL wear. Is there a special identifier, like a pin or something on their name tag, that would indicate that this person is a performer in the shows?

Thanks!

If their name tag says United States, that's probably the biggest indicator. Ask if they're friends with anyone .

 

[ggfred32]

Why of course, any child who can sign themselves out and meet with their families can do so, whenever did we say they couldn't? Do you think the Counselors would force those children who are able to check themselves out on their own and navigate to their meeting point to remain with them? Instead, think about all of the other children who don't have the ability to check themselves out, who we wouldn't allow to leave our care.

I didn't mean to imply that you had said that. I totally understand about the kids who aren't self-check. I just wanted to be sure that the rules weren't different in an emergency.

 

[CMontheseas]

I didn't mean to imply that you had said that. I totally understand about the kids who aren't self-check. I just wanted to be sure that the rules weren't different in an emergency.

Ah! Gotcha. Thank you