Current Youth Activities CM -- Ask me anything!

[KerriL]

If I want to be a youth counselor what should I major in college?

My daughter has a degree in Communications and she works as a Youth Counselor for Holland America Line. She said that some had degrees in Education, Communications, English, Biology. Work experience was more important than the specific degree as most of her fellow co-workers had previous experience working as counselors in summer camps. You did, however, have to be at least 21 and have a bachelor's degree. I would think that DCL would be similiar.

 

[CMontheseas]

You did, however, have to be at least 21 and have a bachelor's degree. I would think that DCL would be similiar.

Would this were the case!

CMs who volunteered at daycares could just as easily be placed in a teen setting. I'd never worked with any children under the age of 10 and I worked in the Club! But of course, any and all experience with kids is a definite plus to getting the process started. What matters most is the impression you give during the interview, and a clear police background check.

*Strongly recommend your Bachelors Degree! The spelling and grammar of many people can be atrocious!

 

[disneyfan654]

I am from America

 

[CMontheseas]

I am from America

Then yes, though not required the American recruiting team will likely want you to have majored in something. Doesn't matter what!

 

[FrostMommy]

This is so awesome that you are doing this! Everyone has had great questions and your responses have been very helpful.

My question is not so lighthearted, and I'm a bit hesitant about asking, but it's something I have been thinking about a lot lately as we plan our upcoming cruise. Our son will be in the clubs for the first time (age 4) and I'm a bit worried. This may be because of my background working in news, reading too many police reports, and unfortunately knowing all too well the terrible things that happen to children. It also may be because a parent on a previous cruise planted the seed, saying they would not allow their young child in the clubs. In any case, I'm wondering about guidelines CM's are given in regards to older and younger kids being around each other. I am admittedly nervous thinking of my son being around 10 and 12 year olds, and I don't feel there is a way to bring up this topic without it veering into touchy areas. To condense into one question, How do I know my little boy is safe in the club and not being taken out of a CM's view by someone I don't want him to be alone with?

I will try not to derail what this forum is too much, but I just wanted to add a little something. I have two older kids and two young kids, and I see them playing across age gaps frequently with friends. Even so, I understand your point. From my experience, just like the CM said, the kids do tend to separate themselves by age groups. Just please, as a plea to any parents out there, do not assume an older kid hanging out in the younger area is up to no good. Recently a woman shoved my 12-year-old repeatedly while yelling at him at the zoo playground as I was running over to protect him. They thought he did not belong there, and did not pay attention to the fact that he had been going down the slide with younger siblings and his young cousin, all of whom had asked him to go with them. He will most likely be at the tween club this next cruise we go to, and I really do not want to offend anyone; I just wanted to throw in a little two cents.

 

[Conservative Hippie]

We are just off of the Dream today and the YA's were amazing! I have to admit I did not get enough interaction with the counselors to learn names. But they recognized my children by name every time I dropped them off an even in the hallways! I was worried about my newly potty-trained 3 yo, but he actually did great, not a single accident and even wanted "privacy" every time he had to go out of the clubs. I dropped off a big bag of chocolates and Starbursts on the second and last nights and I hope they were appreciated.

Sent from me.

 

[CMontheseas]

We are just off of the Dream today and the YA's were amazing! I have to admit I did not get enough interaction with the counselors to learn names. But they recognized my children by name every time I dropped them off an even in the hallways! I was worried about my newly potty-trained 3 yo, but he actually did great, not a single accident and even wanted "privacy" every time he had to go out of the clubs. I dropped off a big bag of chocolates and Starbursts on the second and last nights and I hope they were appreciated.

Sent from me.

Yay! Good to hear! I saw them post in Facebook about the Starbursts ^_^ they were thrilled! How'd you like the pumpkin tree?

 

[cmcadoo66]

As requested, based on personal observation of things you really should and shouldn't do to keep life on board Magical.


TOP 10 THINGS PARENTS SHOULD DO ON DISNEY CRUISES:

DO:

1. Register your kids online and fill in as much information as you can, and pick up your Mickey Bands on the ship when you first embark.
   Apparently it's a really nice feeling when you see an unprepared parent hastily scribbling on a registration form knowing you've already done it all in advance. And even if you register in advance, you still have to get a Mickey Band and confirm the registration when you get here. If there's a long line in the terminal - forget it. Just head straight to the Club/Lab onboard where it'll be Open House and get your Mickey Bands there with usually no wait!

1. 
   
   Thank you so much for all of the helpful information you have been providing. Even though my children are not in the younger group, there is still I lot I have learned. (I will be making up little candy bags to hand out to CMs throughout the ship )
   
   But I do have one question (and I understand this pertains to kids older than the ones you work with so I will understand if you don't have the answer)......do the kids in Vibe have to have this registration form filled out and, if so, where online do I find it? I have already completed our online check in but I do not remember seeing any specific club registration forms. TIA for any info you can provide.

 

[castlegazer]

The good thing is they're both in age group "limbo", so they each have the ability to choose between 2 spaces to go to at any time!

If your 11 year old find he's getting bored in the Lab, he can go to Edge (he's in the age range).
If your 14 year old doesn't quite mesh with the 16-17 year olds in Vibe, he can also go to Edge with this brother.

You have just settled what is often debated on the DIS - whether kids can move back and forth when they are at the beginning of the age cut off. I really hope it doesn't depend on the staff you are getting in the clubs during your particular cruise and that this is the policy. Reports from past cruisers go both ways.

My 11 yo son will be very happy to hear this. He is so looking forward to seeing the new Marvel Academy and the re-imagined club spaces on the Magic, but I have a sneaky suspicion he may want to head up to the Edge shortly after checking it out. I don't know for sure, so I have been nervous that he will get stuck in one place or the other and not able to switch once the decision is made.

Thank you!

 

[Conservative Hippie]

Yay! Good to hear! I saw them post in Facebook about the Starbursts ^_^ they were thrilled! How'd you like the pumpkin tree?

Good! We never got to see the pumpkin tree activity, but we loved the Halloween decorations!

Sent from me.

 

[aliron]

CMoftheseas,

Which ship will you be on for your next contract?

Thanks.

 

[KerriL]

I am from America

This is directly from the Disney Cruise Line jobs site:

Basic Qualifications
Minimum two years recent experience working in a high-volume, fast-paced recreational/camp environment with children
Strong oral and written communication and organizational skills
Must be able to command the attention of large groups of children
Be at least 20 years of age
Be able to speak, read and write fluent English
Willingness to live and work onboard one of our vessels for a certain length of time (based on position)
Be able to work a seven-day, 70-84 hour week with limited time off
Be able to adhere to Disney Cruise Line appearance guidelines
Agree to share a cabin with other crew members
Be flexible with your work schedule, job duties and work locations
Enjoy working in a high-volume, fast-paced, guest-service oriented environment
Appreciate diversity among guests and crew


Preferred Qualifications
Schooling in recreation, education, or related field of study is preferred
Bi-lingual in Spanish and/or Portuguese
Microphone experience preferred
Experience working with special needs children

 

[CMontheseas]

......do the kids in Vibe have to have this registration form filled out and, if so, where online do I find it? I have already completed our online check in but I do not remember seeing any specific club registration forms. TIA for any info you can provide.

Haha, I've been a Vibe counselor too during my time. We can be moved around from one month to the next, depending on what they need you for!

Anyone over the age of 13 does not have a registration form to fill out. Instead, just come to us on embarkation day of the cruise and we'll take down your information, it's a bit more streamlined than the registration form for the Lab and Club (because of far less restrictions).

Which also means for any parents with a 12 year old who will be in Edge, if you ever want her/him to enter in the younger spaces for secure programming, you will have to fill out a registration.

 

[CMontheseas]

CMoftheseas,

Which ship will you be on for your next contract?

Thanks.

I'm due to return on the Disney Dream, but I've put in my request to transfer to the Magic. A Long shot, but fingers crossed! I'm second guessing coming back for another contract on the Dream, to be honest.

 

[CMontheseas]

This is directly from the Disney Cruise Line jobs site:

Basic Qualifications
Minimum two years recent experience working in a high-volume, fast-paced recreational/camp environment with children
Strong oral and written communication and organizational skills
Must be able to command the attention of large groups of children
Be at least 20 years of age
Be able to speak, read and write fluent English
Willingness to live and work onboard one of our vessels for a certain length of time (based on position)
Be able to work a seven-day, 70-84 hour week with limited time off
Be able to adhere to Disney Cruise Line appearance guidelines
Agree to share a cabin with other crew members
Be flexible with your work schedule, job duties and work locations
Enjoy working in a high-volume, fast-paced, guest-service oriented environment
Appreciate diversity among guests and crew


Preferred Qualifications
Schooling in recreation, education, or related field of study is preferred
Bi-lingual in Spanish and/or Portuguese
Microphone experience preferred
Experience working with special needs children

Excellent find! Thanks for posting it up here!
This is the first time I've personally seen the "Bi-lingual Spanish/Portuguese" bit added, but it makes sense considering the challenges we've had over the past 2 years.

And good to see they've kept up the "preferred" bit in, even though I've personally worked with at least 10 CMs who had none of those 4 qualifications!

 

[Weedy]

Two more questions:

How many kids are in each club? I know when we sailed the Fantasy last summer I was surprised there were over 200 kids in the Vibe.

Also does the crew area have a library? Would they like a donation of paperback books?

Thanks for answering all of our questions.

 

[MissDaisyofTexas]

I'm due to return on the Disney Dream, but I've put in my request to transfer to the Magic. A Long shot, but fingers crossed! I'm second guessing coming back for another contract on the Dream, to be honest.

Were you working on the Dream last year? We LOVED the cast members on the Dream. Even though we were on a summer cruise, the crew in the lab knew the names of our boys. When we were at Castaway Cay, we rented bikes. Our younger son (who was 4 at the time) was determined to ride with us on training wheels. He was already tired from the cruise, and he decided he was just going to stop riding in the middle of the path. We couldn't convince him to keep going and get back to our starting point. Then along comes two off-duty kids' club cast members, riding their bikes. They stopped and recognized my son from the club and encouraged him to keep riding back to the bike rental place. They clearly had the day off, so it was really nice of them to stop and help.

We liked the crew on the Magic, too...but we were on a Kids' Sail Free cruise and the kids clubs were a lot more crowded.

 

[Ellester]

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this!! We are in the beginning stages of planning our first cruise and this is great info At first I wanted to sail on the Dream but now I am reconsidering that in favor of one of the Classic ships. I will have a 4 year old, 15, and 17 year olds. It sounds like the kids' programming is more involved with more activities than just video games for the younger ones which is what I would prefer. But I also want to make this enjoyable for the teenagers. Are the teen spaces and activities comparable to the newer ships? For a first time cruise do you think one ship would be better than the others? We'll be taking a 4 night cruise. I'm getting excited to hear people's opinions of the new Magic. Hope you get there soon!!

I will just say that our 15yo daughter LOVED the Vibe on the Wonder this past Sept. on our Alaska cruise. The CM's were fabulous. There were under 30 teens on the whole ship (I guess since many schools had started?) and about 10-15 regulars in the Vibe. She would have happily stayed in there 24/7. She learned tons of new games (cards, charade-type), had a blast on the regular and video scavenger hunts (and yes, they did have to bring the CM's ice cream!), smoothie hour, etc. She actually keeps up with many of the kids online through Skype and Facebook. She has learned lots about how high school operates in Panama, Australia, and Canada since some of her new friends live there. She has learned that complaining about the amount of work is universal!! The kids are trying to plan their OWN cruise for 5 or 6 years from now when they are all in college! She did join us for dinner every night and we had plenty of family time on excursions and she made a point to come to the Princess Tea with her 12 and 4 year old sisters. She is busily scheming how to get the family on another cruise soon!

 

[JoeP26]

Great thread!

 

[Conservative Hippie]

Is there a maximum age for counselors?

Sent from me.