I recently took my 13-year-old daughter and a friend of hers on the November 28th 3 day cruise on the Disney Wonder. Over all, I would like to say it was a successful vacation since the kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves and the many teen activities kept them occupied for the entire voyage. There were areas that I thought could stand improvement and I intend to mention them to you merely as suggestion; however, after I heard more details about some of the teen activities, I now have serious concerns about the safety of my children aboard the Disney Cruise Lines.
First, during the orientation to the teens at the Common Grounds on the first night of the voyage, the kids were advised not to smoke where the staffers could see them but rather to find someplace where they would not get caught. They should have been informed that smoking was strictly forbidden by minors anywhere on ship and that anyone caught smoking would be reported to their parents; instead, they were told to find places where they would not get caught.
Second, the staff played a game one night that was something like the old Dating Game where groups of boys and girls were asked questions by the staff. When the game started, the staff told the kids that the question What is you favorite Disney Character and why was a signal that an adult had entered the room and that they participants should be on guard. Tell me why such a signal was necessary? What should be taking place that the kids have to be warned about a parents presence?
The answer to that last question is that approximately one third of the questions asked of the participants were sexual in nature. The panel of girls were asked this: if you could be a thong, a pair of briefs, or a pair of boxers, on which of your favorites stars would you like to be and why? One girl replied she would like to be a pair of briefs on Brad Pitt. Asked why and she responded so she could be even tighter against him (in the area of his genitals, clearly).
The boys were asked for their most embarrassing moment on a date. One boy replied that he could not answer because they would think it was too nasty. At this point, when the staffers should have dropped the issue or moved on to another contestant, they choose instead to push him to provide his answer. Which was: once, in a theatre, I was sitting on the back row and my girl friend was doing the chicken on me - i.e., oral sex - and when I finished, I missed and made a mess.
I am incredulous that these questions were asked in front my 13-year-old daughter and even more so that the staff did not have the common sense to avoid potentially inappropriate responses. I asked both of my girls and they said that at least one fourth to one third of the questions were sexual in nature. I find this utterly unacceptable on a Disney cruise.
I choose Disney precisely because I trusted your staff to ensure proper behavior and proper interaction between the boys and girls. I expected your staff to prevent such inappropriate behavior and to make sure that teens didnt smoke or attempt to roam the ship when their last activities where over for the evening.
Yet one night, following a dance that lasted until 2am, my daughter and friend returned to the stateroom at 2:30. How can that be possible? Why are there no staffers roaming they ship to prevent such behavior? My daughter said kids were finding hiding places to smoke or to make out all over the ship. I repeat, where was the staff?
Clearly, your present teen counseling staff does not understand their job. Their job is to ensure that the kids have fun in a safe and appropriate environment. Their job is to make sure the kids are back in their state rooms immediately following the last events.
To this end, I submit the following suggestions.
Schedule no teen events to end past midnight. 2am is far, far too late for families to remain up waiting for the return arrival of young teens. And it certainly makes it difficult to wake them at 8 in the morning to begin their day. When the last event is over, have the teen staffers roam the decks for perhaps half an hour to make sure that the kids have indeed returned to their rooms. As an alternative, only allow the 16-18 year olds to attend the midnight to 2am events.
Place a camera with audio in the Common Ground that is viewable either on a screen outside the Common Ground or on the ships television network. You already do this with the basketball court so the technology is currently available to you on the ship. Virtually all of the under 21 clubs that my daughter frequents have similar monitoring either on site in a parents room or via the web.
Find out who the staff was on the night of the game show on our cruise and dismiss them for asking sexually suggestive questions in front of young 13 year olds.
Finally, to my more general remarks, as a single parent, I was bored silly on this cruise. It seems that virtually every adult activity assumed that all adults love to dance the night away. Being single, that wasnt even a possibility. Further, there were virtually no events that families comprised of teens and adults could enjoy together. I found that the only activity on the Wonder that a single parent could indulge in was sitting at a bar alone.
Over all, it was a very disappointing and expensive experience. The utter lack of adequate supervision for the teen crowd was simply incredulous. The facts that teens were allowed to prowl the ship after hours was appalling. I would never again take a Disney cruise and I would certainly NOT trust anyone associated with Disney to supervise my children in the future.
First, during the orientation to the teens at the Common Grounds on the first night of the voyage, the kids were advised not to smoke where the staffers could see them but rather to find someplace where they would not get caught. They should have been informed that smoking was strictly forbidden by minors anywhere on ship and that anyone caught smoking would be reported to their parents; instead, they were told to find places where they would not get caught.
Second, the staff played a game one night that was something like the old Dating Game where groups of boys and girls were asked questions by the staff. When the game started, the staff told the kids that the question What is you favorite Disney Character and why was a signal that an adult had entered the room and that they participants should be on guard. Tell me why such a signal was necessary? What should be taking place that the kids have to be warned about a parents presence?
The answer to that last question is that approximately one third of the questions asked of the participants were sexual in nature. The panel of girls were asked this: if you could be a thong, a pair of briefs, or a pair of boxers, on which of your favorites stars would you like to be and why? One girl replied she would like to be a pair of briefs on Brad Pitt. Asked why and she responded so she could be even tighter against him (in the area of his genitals, clearly).
The boys were asked for their most embarrassing moment on a date. One boy replied that he could not answer because they would think it was too nasty. At this point, when the staffers should have dropped the issue or moved on to another contestant, they choose instead to push him to provide his answer. Which was: once, in a theatre, I was sitting on the back row and my girl friend was doing the chicken on me - i.e., oral sex - and when I finished, I missed and made a mess.
I am incredulous that these questions were asked in front my 13-year-old daughter and even more so that the staff did not have the common sense to avoid potentially inappropriate responses. I asked both of my girls and they said that at least one fourth to one third of the questions were sexual in nature. I find this utterly unacceptable on a Disney cruise.
I choose Disney precisely because I trusted your staff to ensure proper behavior and proper interaction between the boys and girls. I expected your staff to prevent such inappropriate behavior and to make sure that teens didnt smoke or attempt to roam the ship when their last activities where over for the evening.
Yet one night, following a dance that lasted until 2am, my daughter and friend returned to the stateroom at 2:30. How can that be possible? Why are there no staffers roaming they ship to prevent such behavior? My daughter said kids were finding hiding places to smoke or to make out all over the ship. I repeat, where was the staff?
Clearly, your present teen counseling staff does not understand their job. Their job is to ensure that the kids have fun in a safe and appropriate environment. Their job is to make sure the kids are back in their state rooms immediately following the last events.
To this end, I submit the following suggestions.
Schedule no teen events to end past midnight. 2am is far, far too late for families to remain up waiting for the return arrival of young teens. And it certainly makes it difficult to wake them at 8 in the morning to begin their day. When the last event is over, have the teen staffers roam the decks for perhaps half an hour to make sure that the kids have indeed returned to their rooms. As an alternative, only allow the 16-18 year olds to attend the midnight to 2am events.
Place a camera with audio in the Common Ground that is viewable either on a screen outside the Common Ground or on the ships television network. You already do this with the basketball court so the technology is currently available to you on the ship. Virtually all of the under 21 clubs that my daughter frequents have similar monitoring either on site in a parents room or via the web.
Find out who the staff was on the night of the game show on our cruise and dismiss them for asking sexually suggestive questions in front of young 13 year olds.
Finally, to my more general remarks, as a single parent, I was bored silly on this cruise. It seems that virtually every adult activity assumed that all adults love to dance the night away. Being single, that wasnt even a possibility. Further, there were virtually no events that families comprised of teens and adults could enjoy together. I found that the only activity on the Wonder that a single parent could indulge in was sitting at a bar alone.
Over all, it was a very disappointing and expensive experience. The utter lack of adequate supervision for the teen crowd was simply incredulous. The facts that teens were allowed to prowl the ship after hours was appalling. I would never again take a Disney cruise and I would certainly NOT trust anyone associated with Disney to supervise my children in the future.
), she was knocked out of the game in the first hour, so she had no urgent interest in how it turned out. I think she stopped back in to the club once in the evening to see how it was going but that was it. The game was to 'kill' off of the rest of the players. You either had to poison them (writing poison on tape and sticking it to their cup) or stabbing them with a napkin. Bizarre but tolerable.
