Eastern Magic 12/10 from 10yr perspective

[cristit14]

Here is my DD 10 trip report.

Dec. 10-17 Eastern Carribean Cruise

Trip Report from a 10 year old’s perspective

I thought the cruise was awesome. Especially the Kids’ club. At first when my parents had to go to Palo’s and I found out that I had to go to the kids’ club I thought that I would hate it, but when I got there I didn’t want to leave. I thought the service at dinner was amazing. I felt like royalty. I loved all the parties. I really liked the fireworks at the pirate party.

Before we got on the cruise we went to the parks. My favorite out of all the parks was MGM. I got to ride rides that I’ve never ridden before. Such as the Rockin’ Rollercoaster and the Tower of Terror. We also went to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party at the Magic Kingdom. It was so cool.


I am still working on mine. I will post when I get it finished.

 

[vassello]

Thanks for posting DD 10 yr old! This will be our 2nd Eastern Disney cruise. The first cruise only my youngest enjoyed the camps since he was 6. This time my youngest will be 9 and my daughter is 11 yrs old and already complaining about having to spend time in the camps. They were given the option to stay at home with grandmom or spend a minimum of 4 hours a day in the camps. They have both decided to go on the cruise with us.

I'm interested to hear what your favorite things were and what you might recommend to my DD 11 yr old! Thanks!

 

[cristit14]

My kids didn't spend a ton of time in the clubs, but when there were certain things we wanted to do, wine/cheese dis meet, Palo brunch and dinner they did have to go. I know that DD really enjoyed the pool party they had for the 10-12 year olds one night. SHe also had fun making flubber and going to Ocean Quest.

 

[jillane88]

I loved reading your perspective. It will help out my DD8 when we cruise in a few months. I love knowing what the kids actually think and what they "really" like about the cruise.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Heather

 

[christophfam]

This time my youngest will be 9 and my daughter is 11 yrs old and already complaining about having to spend time in the camps. They were given the option to stay at home with grandmom or spend a minimum of 4 hours a day in the camps.

I can't believe I am writing this, but here it goes. I'm not usually like this, but your post truly horrified me.

vassello, why do your children have to be in the clubs for at least four hours everyday? If they are complaining about it maybe it is because they would rather spend time with YOU. Children need their parents. A vacation should be spent together. Get your priorities straight!

 

[rjh8115]

I can't believe I am writing this, but here it goes. I'm not usually like this, but your post truly horrified me.

vassello, why do your children have to be in the clubs for at least four hours everyday? If they are complaining about it maybe it is because they would rather spend time with YOU. Children need their parents. A vacation should be spent together. Get your priorities straight!

Please let's be clear here. It is your opinion that a vacation should be spent together. We have told our kids that they need to pick at least one activity to do without us (read - in the club/lab). We will spend the majority of our vacation together, but it is also a vacation for my DW and I. As well as a vacation for both of my kids to be "away" from mom and dad.

We all have different ideas on what constitutes a vacation . . .

 

[monkeybug94]

Nice, short, and sweet trip report. Nice to kno what other preteens think about DCL!

I can't believe I am writing this, but here it goes. I'm not usually like this, but your post truly horrified me.

vassello, why do your children have to be in the clubs for at least four hours everyday? If they are complaining about it maybe it is because they would rather spend time with YOU. Children need their parents. A vacation should be spent together. Get your priorities straight!

I agree! I am 12 and the only reason my parents have booked this vacation is so that we can spend more time together! The clubs are not babysitting facilities , they are where kids choose to go to have fun and make their family cruise special!

 

[atakaratemom]

I can't believe I am writing this, but here it goes. I'm not usually like this, but your post truly horrified me.

vassello, why do your children have to be in the clubs for at least four hours everyday? If they are complaining about it maybe it is because they would rather spend time with YOU. Children need their parents. A vacation should be spent together. Get your priorities straight!

I hardly think that taking your children on a Disney cruise where they spend four hours a day in the kids clubs constitutes child neglect. Most kids should be so lucky and I would venture to say that the parents are spending plenty of time with their kids during the other 10-12 waking hours of the day. I am "horrified" that anyone could be so judgmental of another and I would suggest that you might want to lighten up a bit. This board is a forum for sharing information about DCL and enjoying the excitement of cruising. I think it is inappropriate for you to criticize another poster and question their parenting practices.

 

[christophfam]

I am sorry I have been so judgemental here on the boards, I should have saved it for another arena. BUT, I was just SO surprised to see a poster say their child HAD to go to clubs for AT LEAST FOUR hours each day or they don't get to go on the cruise at all. I was hoping that possibly by my posting they would see that maybe their children just want more time with them. I certainly understand that parents need their time too and it is just as important as time with your children. One activity a day sounds SO reasonable, but that is not what the OP said. I'm sure my kids will pick a couple of activities to join in while we cruise. They will have the choice.

When I am able to spend time with my children, I cherish every moment. Even with the headaches and bickering and everything else they throw at you. During a vacation, I don't have to share them with teachers, friends, or anyone else except my husband who gets just as much joy (and headaches) from them as I do. We are a family and we like spending time together. I would never give them to someone else when I could have them myself. Someday they won't be here. I am going to enjoy them as much as I possibly can while they are still young. If this thinking has clouded my views, then so be it.

 

[vassello]

This is the 2nd Disney cruise we are going on. We all (the kids also) agreed on the Disney cruise since it had such great camps. If they were not interested in going to the Disney camps we would not have booked a Disney cruise. I am a stay at home mom who spends every non-sleeping hour with my children - they are by no means neglected nor ignored!

The first cruise we went on with the children they were with older children who decided the camps "weren't cool" and didn't spend but one hour in camp. My kids of course followed suit. I know the camps are GREAT on Disney and want my kids to experience them. My DD11 is afraid she will not have any friends on board - we have found lots of potential DD11s and DD10s on this board. She of course will not be dragged screaming to the camps but I told her there will be times she needs to go since we have Palo trips planned, etc. AFter reading the Navigators online, she is excited about Ocean Quest and thrilled that the tweens get their own space! She has already chosen lots of "can't miss activities"! My DS9 has asked if he can spend more than 4 hours a day at the camps! Our family plans on eating dinner together every night - as we do at home. We will also be doing activities together during the day and going to the shows in the evening.

We have friends who chose not to even bring their children on cruises so they can spend adult time together. I hardly think 4 hours of quality Disney time (it doesn't even have to be all at once) is going to hurt our relationship with our children, especially when they are looking forward to going! I think you were too quick to judge.

Shari

 

[mousecrazy]

Here is my DD 10 trip report.

Dec. 10-17 Eastern Carribean Cruise

Trip Report from a 10 year old’s perspective

cristit14 - Please tell your DD how much I enjoyed her trip report. I think it's great that she wants to contribute and I'm sure other 10 year olds out there will benefit from her report.


P.S. I'm sorry this thread got hijacked and that your DD's trip report didn't get the attention she deserved! She's an awesome writer!!!! DISers, can we please stop talking about parenting decisions...and let this wonderful young lady know that we appreciate her trip report!

 

[atakaratemom]

Mousecrazy you are so right that this thread has gotten off track. I do think that the comments that took it off track deserved a response and I feel Shari had a right to defend herself. With that being said, I agree that it is high time to return to the original spirit of this post and show gratitude for an entertaining and nicely written report. I guess the good news is that this has bumped the post up so that more people can read and enjoy it. Thanks for reminding us to appreciate the OP.

 

[cristit14]

cristit14 - Please tell your DD how much I enjoyed her trip report. I think it's great that she wants to contribute and I'm sure other 10 year olds out there will benefit from her report.


P.S. I'm sorry this thread got hijacked and that your DD's trip report didn't get the attention she deserved! She's an awesome writer!!!! DISers, can we please stop talking about parenting decisions...and let this wonderful young lady know that we appreciate her trip report!

Thank you! Hopefully, this can return to a trip report and parenting styles can go to a different thread. She will be happy that people are reading her report and hopefully enjoying it. Have a nice day everyone!