DCL Kiddies

[DeCount]

Gday,

Will be cruising with DCL Disney Dream soon and I will be accompanied by one active 5 year old. Question I have is how reliable ( I mean that in the most respectful way ) is the kids club in looking after kids in their care?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Gday,

Will be cruising with DCL Disney Dream soon and I will be accompanied by one active 5 year old. Question I have is how reliable ( I mean that in the most respectful way ) is the kids club in looking after kids in their care?

Reliable in what way? Do you mean keeping track of the kids? They're very good at that. I've only read good reports as to they way the kids clubs are managed.

 

[luv2sleep]

I was very nervous when I sailed on the Wonder for the first time with my 5 year old. I researched beforehand and asked a bunch of questions when we got there. My son had a great time in the Club. He loved it and constantly asked to go back throughout the cruise (7 days trip). He did not like the Lab. On the Wonder (and Magic) the Club and Lab are in 2 separate locations. The only issue I had a problem with occurred during the time where the Club had open house and all the kids were in the Lab. I was assured over and over again that all of the little kids would be walked over to the Club. Well that didn't happen. Apparently they announced that they were doing that, my son didn't hear them and he was left behind in the Lab. It was his first time there and he was really sad when I picked him up. He's a quiet, shy kid, who doesn't speak up so he was overlooked. I was a little upset with that but decided to only take him to the Club (he only wanted to go to the club) when the Club was open during the secured time. Worked out fine after that.

We are sailing on the Fantasy in 2013. From what I understand the Club and the Lab are connected by hallway (haven't researched this much so I may have it wrong). Will see how that goes.

Edited to add: The security in the Club/Lab was great. There are cameras everywhere. There are always 2 youth activity staff members in the room with the kids at all times. No adult is allowed in the bathroom with them (why they should be potty trained I imagine). There's always a staff member at the door making sure that does not happen. The sign in, sign out process if very secure.

 

[DeCount]

Thanks for the replies Should learn not to be such a over protectve / nervous dad

 

[kuhltiffany]

Excellent, lots of options/choices for the kids, secure and very well organized (from a parent of child who has a peanut allergy and is ADHD/Aspergers, as well as a professional ECE, MSW)

Any specific questions?

 

[DeCount]

Kuhltiffany -no real questions yet...but I reserve my right to fire one or two off later

Luv2sleep - your reply provided me with a great amount of reassurance that Miss 5 will be fine

 

[luv2sleep]

Kuhltiffany -no real questions yet...but I reserve my right to fire one or two off later

Luv2sleep - your reply provided me with a great amount of reassurance that Miss 5 will be fine

I'm glad!

 

[kuhltiffany]

Thought I'd add to his, since we were on the Dream. The Lab and the Club look separate from the hallway, but are linked together way in the back (they can close them off with doors if needed). Both have gates/staff that don't allow children to leave by themselves, or with any adult not on their designated list. The bracelets the kids wear "check"on them electronically while they are in attendance, when you pick them up they are able to tell you the area the child is in.

We went and checked them out on the Open House time, so we knew the layout, and the areas that our kids would most likely gravitate to (which made it easier to find them when we picked them up).

 

[luv2sleep]

Thought I'd add to his, since we were on the Dream. The Lab and the Club look separate from the hallway, but are linked together way in the back (they can close them off with doors if needed). Both have gates/staff that don't allow children to leave by themselves, or with any adult not on their designated list. The bracelets the kids wear "check"on them electronically while they are in attendance, when you pick them up they are able to tell you the area the child is in.

We went and checked them out on the Open House time, so we knew the layout, and the areas that our kids would most likely gravitate to (which made it easier to find them when we picked them up).

When the club and lab are open are the kids free to go back and forth through the hallway? Is there only a hallway in there or is there a door out in the hallway too? Is there a CM there in the hallway making sure kids are ok while they go through the hallway? Are there cameras in there too? I haven't seen it so I'm imagining this dark connecting hallway where kids could corner other kids and beat them up. I know paranoid! I'm a nervous/paranoid parent too.

 

[Izzysdad]

Kuhltiffany -no real questions yet...but I reserve my right to fire one or two off later

Luv2sleep - your reply provided me with a great amount of reassurance that Miss 5 will be fine

Hi Everyone, we took my 4.5 year old DD this past October and she absolutely loved the club. She would pout and try to stay as long as she could until she could not play anymore from being so tired!!

 

[tinkeramy]

When the club and lab are open are the kids free to go back and forth through the hallway? Is there only a hallway in there or is there a door out in the hallway too? Is there a CM there in the hallway making sure kids are ok while they go through the hallway? Are there cameras in there too? I haven't seen it so I'm imagining this dark connecting hallway where kids could corner other kids and beat them up. I know paranoid! I'm a nervous/paranoid parent too.

There is a bright, short hallway inside the area connecting the Club and Lab. However, there are gated check-ins out in the ship's corridor for each of the Lab and Club, so if you know your kid is most likely to be in one area or another, you can just check in at the station closest. And, from my experience, they DO keep track of them between the two. I have 3 boys - 10, 9 and 4. The older two preferred the Lab while the youngest hung in the Club. Every time I went to pick them up, the check-in person would look at her computer screen and tell me, "Eli is in the club but Matt and Jake are in the Lab." So, apparantly, they either don't let them roam freely OR they have some kind of check-in between the two. It appeared that the Club was more geared to younger kids and the Lab to older. They did a lot more arts & crafts stuff in the lab, which my oldest was totally into. We were very pleased and there were TONS of staff in each of the rooms whenever I went to get the 4 y.o. out.

 

[kuhltiffany]

The clubs are joined by a huge hallway in the back. It is where they do cooking and science activities. The kids can free-flow throughout all the areas/clubs when they are both open. There are lots of staff around all the time, and the kids are well-supervised

 

[luv2sleep]

The clubs are joined by a huge hallway in the back. It is where they do cooking and science activities. The kids can free-flow throughout all the areas/clubs when they are both open. There are lots of staff around all the time, and the kids are well-supervised

Great! Thank you!