Current Youth Activities CM -- Ask me anything!

[roxy84]

Ok that was awesome. I'm going to tell my daughters NOT to be a Disney dater !! Lol

Just to put it out there - there are many crew members that date and end up marrying that person! I have been happily married for 2.5 years to another crew member that I met while working onboard (we are enjoying life on land now though). There are many other beautiful stories of crew members finding their partners onboard and countless marriages and now children

 

[twinmum]

Edge can get quite loud especially with activities that require a lot of cheering, or karaoke, or dance music - most of the activities are announced over a microphone which can be quite loud if the Counselor has no idea how to regulate their voice (bless them, there are SOME people who inanely yell into microphones!).


Bring headphones I've seen many hearing sensitive kids with them, or just be sure to have a chat with the counselors beforehand. At the very least they can warn him before things get louder.

I'm feeling under the weather so popped over to the DIS boards to cheer me up. I'm enjoying reading this thread, even though my twin DS's (now 14) barely set foot in the clubs on either of our 2 cruises, 4 nighters on the Dream - maybe I was trying to figure out why? I think there were 2 factors: 1) as twins, they already had a playmate and 2) on our first cruise, I didn't advocate as strongly as I should have...one of our sons also uses a manual w/c on the ship. He has cerebral palsy, and uses a w/c or walker. He's age appropriate otherwise. He too is uncomfortable with loud noises.

First, I want to be clear that the CMs were welcoming and assured us they would help DS (although we knew there were limits, so he'd need to be independent in the bathroom etc.). However, simply from our son's perspective, we started off on the wrong foot went to the open house on the first day and discovered that the elevator to Edge required access via keycard...and this hadn't been arranged yet. I'm not sure exactly who organized this for us eventually (i.e. club CMs or Guest Services) but for whatever reason, my son just never warmed up after that. IT was really just his reaction...again, the CMs were wonderful, tried to encourage him to try out the video games and other activities, but he decided to be stubborn about it.

Feel free to PM me if you have any other w/c etc questions. Will you son want to ride the AquaDuck?

And btw, I do agree about the noise level, headphones might be a good idea.

Also, I encourage you to have your son attend the welcome activities on the first evening, even though it starts quite late. We didn't do this as our guys weren't late night guys at that point, and I think it could have made a big difference.

The CMs in Edge tried really hard, even sending an invite for the boys to our cabin, listing the activities that were planned for the next day. I felt badly that we couldn't convince them to join in!

 

[Mayakad]

What is camp out program?

Thanks!

 

[cypressmom]

Thanks for sharing your insight!

On our first cruise, my 6 year old loved the kid clubs, but my 9 year old was bored. She will be almost 11 when we sail again, and I am worried that she will once again be bored. She did not have sign in/out privileges the first time, but will definitely be allowed to do so this time. Do you find this to be a difficult age? Too young for the Edge but feeling too mature for the Lab? Is there anything specific I should suggest she try? She loves to cook, do arts & crafts and be creative.

 

[minniemouse1]

[Also, in the nursery (again, if you know - if not, not worries!), is there any way to nurse before you go and maybe even get a little one to sleep?[/QUOTE]

I did this with my children on the classic ships. the nursery staff would bring me back into the "crib room" and I would sit in a rocker and nurse my little one until she was asleep, lay her in a crib then tell them when I was done and they would move her into the main nursery. I am not sure if they have a private area like the crib room was on the classic ships but I'm sure they would figure something out for you. I loved the nursery for my kids. I knew after our first DCL cruise when our youngest was 10 months that I would use it for our next child (that I was pregnant with BTW on our first cruise). I was a stay at home mom at the time and was very unsure about leaving my child someone elses care esp someone I didn't know but I really liked the set up and the staff.

It does help if your child is "sleep trained" aka can fall asleep on their own when put in the crib verses being rocked to sleep. Our first child was not sleep trained on our first cruise and I received a text to return to the nursery because DD was upset. They tried to put her to sleep just lying her down with her pacifier and she of course didn't go for that. I was bummed because I had to leave Palos before my dinner and bring her back to our room. I made sure to sleep train the other 2 children that we took on cruises when they were infants and never got called to the nursery for them.

BTW, Palos staff on the magic was great. They brought my dinner and dessert to the room on a covered tray for me after I was called away to the nursery for DD. I was so grateful and instantly fell in love with the chocolate souffle.

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

This time at Nassau we will be doing the Blue Lagoon excursion. I'll be taking the girls in the water with the dolphins and my wife is taking our son to the beach until we are done. That is our only excursion. Everything else we couldn't find something for our age ranges.

Just an FYI, the whole family can come back for the encounters if you want them to. Our parents stayed on the observation deck and took photos and videos. It was a great experience for everyone.

I felt bad because a mother and son did the sea lion encounter and the dad stayed back because he didn't know he could come with the group, do the educational part together, and then watch the encounter from the platform. He missed half the day with them.

You don't have to be IN an encounter to go back and be an observer! Just thought you should know in case the wife and son wanted to watch your encounter and THEN go to the beach for a fun time!

 

[Irishgrl]

We have many children with special needs in our spaces every week, and we just ADORE them ! But yes please, just pop by to check in on him. Some parents come every half hour, or 45 mins, or hour depending on what you think is best. Has he had much experience in child care areas where you weren't around for that long? How is he with interacting and playing along with other children? What about....100 other children?

The primary concern we always get is whether we're able to pay attention to special needs as closely when the spaces are packed with kids. And yep, this is of course much harder to keep a finger on! If this is something you're concerned about, I encourage everyone to call ahead and find out how many kids are currently around -whether they're all throwing balls and blocks at each other or sitting and watching a magic show.

Oh! One more thing, always have your Wavephone handy just in case. If an accident does happen, we'll be messaging you right away so you're always kept informed!

He has been in Child care since he was 18 months old and Goes to public school now but, not sure he has been around that many people at once without us there. We planned on following his lead to see if he wanted to be left or just wants to play during open Play time when we can be there but, just wanted to be prepared.

My only concern is he likes to run so I'm afraid that he may run around too much. If we do leave him the first hour we will stay near by just in case.

Are there times of the day that is less crowded?

Thanks for the input.

 

[bumbershoot]

Everything else we couldn't find something for our age ranges. (I don't understand why a chocolate tour has an age restriction). We'll be thrilled to be on the ship and Castaway Cay for the first time even if it is just for a couple hours before nap time.

We did the tour. You're in a van without seatbelts driving through Nassau. You go into a small chocolate store with chocolate and cookies and good-smelling bath items out in hand's reach. You have to be quiet and listen to the tourguide. You have a walking tour where you are standing and listening quietly. And not touching things. You then sit on hard, tall, stools for nearly an hour, making your chocolate creations. And then having the creations taken from you to harden, then again to have them boxed up. At one point when you are making the chocolate bar, everyone is slamming their trays on the metal tables, making a huge racket that would have terrified my son just a couple years ago. Then the tour is done and you're milling around the store again for about half an hour until the tourguides come back.

It's good they have an age requirement.

That said, it's possible you can organize it through Greycliff themselves, perhaps one that's just a walking tour and not a making tour, so you don't have to try to keep bitty kids on their stools and not eating everything?

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

I think there were 2 factors: 1) as twins, they already had a playmate

Just wanted to chime in as a twin cruiser from age 11. We spent all our time with our family or all our time together. I never ever ever remember ever sitting foot in a club (admittedly RCCL not DCL) but the thought just never occurred to us. We still spend all our time together on the cruises!

Yay for twinkies!

 

[DbleTheFun]

Just wanted to chime in as a twin cruiser from age 11. We spent all our time with our family or all our time together. I never ever ever remember ever sitting foot in a club (admittedly RCCL not DCL) but the thought just never occurred to us. We still spend all our time together on the cruises! Yay for twinkies!

Twin mom here too- but we must be the exception, my boys LOVE the club and think it's the best thing ever!!! They beg to go to camp on the big boat that Mickey owns all year long! For them it's another chance to meet new friends and charm the CMs... Lol they are total charmers and soooo social that the dcl portion of our holiday is always "their" time, then the rest of our holiday is about family.

 

[lilbuddy88]

I have read your thread since the day you started and echo all the Thanks for you doing this.

I finally have a question.

My 4 year old has really started taking an interest in helping me in the kitchen. So the Ratatouille Cooking School is something I know she will be interested in. I have looked at the Oct 5th navigators for the Wonder (which is the same itinerary we will be on at the end of November) and I see that it is during open house.

Questions
1. That means I can attend with her and watch right?
2. Is there a limit to how many can participate?
3. We have main dining and if the times remain consistent we will be rushing to get there at 7 PM so I want to know if it is first come first serve and usually a line forming well prior to the start of the program.


Again Thanks!

 

[CMontheseas]

Do you know if the Out and About activities still occur on the ships? I haven't seen them listed in recent Navigators.

From time to time, but definitely not quite as often as they used to be. Because secure programming has become MUCH more secure in recent years (we used to be able to take the kids all over the ship, now -barely).

What is camp out program?

Thanks!

This varies depending on who's doing it, but it usually involves the kids going on a bit of a hunt to find pieces of "wood" for a campfire, maybe singing some campfire songs, a telling of a "spooky" story. It's interesting when you have a British counselor on the program because campfire songs and stories are really unlike what they have here in the States. Many kids end up looking like:

 

[CMontheseas]

Thanks for sharing your insight!

On our first cruise, my 6 year old loved the kid clubs, but my 9 year old was bored. She will be almost 11 when we sail again, and I am worried that she will once again be bored. She did not have sign in/out privileges the first time, but will definitely be allowed to do so this time. Do you find this to be a difficult age? Too young for the Edge but feeling too mature for the Lab? Is there anything specific I should suggest she try? She loves to cook, do arts & crafts and be creative.

This IS a difficult age! When Disney first came out with its programming for the ships over a decade ago, 10-12 year old girls were simply very different creatures to the ones we have today. We didn't mature quite as quickly, the things that would keep up interested just aren't going to cut it for the same age group today.

Especially when so many of them come in trying to look like this now:

So for our more mature adolescents, I'd direct them more to the Create & Invent programs - but her Self-check privileges will be key!! Our 10-12 year old girls who meet at the beginning of the cruise end up roaming the ship in packs and end up hanging out in each other's rooms more than in our space!

 

[CMontheseas]

Are there times of the day that is less crowded?
Thanks for the input.

Yes! Whenever there are Deck parties, Princess Gatherings, on Port Days and in-between big scheduled character programs. Avoid Sea Day mornings if you're concerned about it being overly busy!

 

[KatyTheFairyPrincess]

It's interesting when you have a British counselor on the program because campfire songs and stories are really unlike what they have here in the States. Many kids end up looking like:

Haha! This bit made me laugh! Have you heard the camp song "Charlie was a pigeon"??

I'm about to join the Fantasy at the end of November in BBB, am I ok to private message you some questions?

 

[shandrananette]

[Also, in the nursery (again, if you know - if not, not worries!), is there any way to nurse before you go and maybe even get a little one to sleep?

I did this with my children on the classic ships. the nursery staff would bring me back into the "crib room" and I would sit in a rocker and nurse my little one until she was asleep, lay her in a crib then tell them when I was done and they would move her into the main nursery. I am not sure if they have a private area like the crib room was on the classic ships but I'm sure they would figure something out for you. I loved the nursery for my kids. I knew after our first DCL cruise when our youngest was 10 months that I would use it for our next child (that I was pregnant with BTW on our first cruise). I was a stay at home mom at the time and was very unsure about leaving my child someone elses care esp someone I didn't know but I really liked the set up and the staff.

It does help if your child is "sleep trained" aka can fall asleep on their own when put in the crib verses being rocked to sleep. Our first child was not sleep trained on our first cruise and I received a text to return to the nursery because DD was upset. They tried to put her to sleep just lying her down with her pacifier and she of course didn't go for that. I was bummed because I had to leave Palos before my dinner and bring her back to our room. I made sure to sleep train the other 2 children that we took on cruises when they were infants and never got called to the nursery for them.

BTW, Palos staff on the magic was great. They brought my dinner and dessert to the room on a covered tray for me after I was called away to the nursery for DD. I was so grateful and instantly fell in love with the chocolate souffle. [/QUOTE]

Thanks! I thought I remembered a friend saying she did this on the Dream, but I wasn't sure.

And yes, it would help the entire world (well, at least my entire world) if DD was sleep trained. We're working very hard on that...hopefully we'll have made some progress by the time we get to our cruise but if not, I'll be prepared.

 

[CMontheseas]

So the Ratatouille Cooking School is something I know she will be interested in. I have looked at the Oct 5th navigators for the Wonder (which is the same itinerary we will be on at the end of November) and I see that it is during open house.

Questions
1. That means I can attend with her and watch right?
2. Is there a limit to how many can participate?
3. We have main dining and if the times remain consistent we will be rushing to get there at 7 PM so I want to know if it is first come first serve and usually a line forming well prior to the start of the program.


Again Thanks!

Open House Ratatouille Cooking School is by FAR the superior option to do this program on the cruise.
Spread the word to all of your other friends cruising! This is because most parents drop their children off for the program during secure programming, and this is a HUGE, PACKED, PANDEMONIUM TIME. Don't even think about being able to pick up your children in any easy, quick fashion at the end of secure cooking school either.



Smart parents will check and see if it will be offered during Open House because:

• The program will be less attended and not as busy (think maybe 6-7 families at its busiest!) , meaning more attention to you and your children.
• You can help supervise and encourage your child who might otherwise get lost in the shuffle of 200 children doing cooking school when it's not in Open House.
• There is no limit to how many can participate. The whole family can come if they want to!
• You can join in at any point of the Cooking School. The first 10-15 minutes will involve introductions, handing out aprons and hats and gloves and going over rules with the kids so hopefully you won't miss much. So no rush!
• You can take photos! Nothing cuter than seeing your little chef all dressed up and mixing away and being able to snap photos with them, our chef, and the finished product! When the kids do this in secure programming, no photos are allowed.
• You can eat the final product, whether it's a cookie or cupcake. Because numbers are lower during Open House, there may be more to go around!

Oh! And be prepared to act silly. It's one thing to be silly chefs with children, but when you have unimpressed grouchy parents just staring at you, it's not nearly as fun. So get into it!

 

[CMontheseas]

Haha! This bit made me laugh! Have you heard the camp song "Charlie was a pigeon"??

I'm about to join the Fantasy at the end of November in BBB, am I ok to private message you some questions?

Charlie had a pigeon? Perfect example. Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes was always a big source of debate. Every country did theirs differently!

Go ahead! We stick together, so anything you need help with I'll do my best to prepare you!

 

[Irishgrl]

Yes! Whenever there are Deck parties, Princess Gatherings, on Port Days and in-between big scheduled character programs. Avoid Sea Day mornings if you're concerned about it being overly busy!

How are late afternoon 3-5 or evening 8-10? Just curious.

 

[PizzieDuster]

From time to time, but definitely not quite as often as they used to be. Because secure programming has become MUCH more secure in recent years (we used to be able to take the kids all over the ship, now -barely).

Those old out and about activities were always a joy to come upon. On our first cruise on the Wonder (4/03) I was strolling Deck 9 at about 10:30 pm and came upon my sons lab group in the Mickey Pool with counselors. They had the Mickey pool by themselves. They had the girls in one ear, the boys in the other. They were having relay contests and were cheering very loud. My son was having the best time, they all were. Then Goofy came and they took a group picture then the counselors asked "who wants to go down the slide?" And they opened the slide.

I also use to see his group sometimes lined up in the hall going from the movies or Studio Seas back to the lab. He would give this huge smile and little wave then tell me to "go".

Very fun times. He loved it!

I will always cherish the Mickey graduation cap (including yellow tassel) and t-shirt my kids got at the end of the cruise - which I think is now called Friendship something.