Edge - A 12 Year Old Girl's Review

[tarheelz]

We just returned from the Jan 18 sailing of the Fantasy (W. Carib.). This was the second DCL cruise where my DD was old enough for Club Edge, the tween club.

Her take, for what it's worth.

Unlike Oceaneers, it's pretty quiet up there. Everyone is sitting playing video games - either the Disney video games or their own tablet or phone. The crew tries to organize activities but kids just want to play video games so nothing really comes together. It's mostly boys and they have to be forced to do anything other than play the games. It's weird because it's not social. No one talks unless they make us do an icebreaker. It's easier to meet kids outside of Edge rather than in there. If you like video games, it's great. If not - meh. Vibe is so much cooler with both an inside (video games, haha) area as well as the outside pool deck with foosball and stuff. Not sure why middle schoolers just get to sit inside in the funnel.

 

[lklgoodman]

We just returned from the Jan 18 sailing of the Fantasy (W. Carib.). This was the second DCL cruise where my DD was old enough for Club Edge, the tween club.

Her take, for what it's worth.

Unlike Oceaneers, it's pretty quiet up there. Everyone is sitting playing video games - either the Disney video games or their own tablet or phone. The crew tries to organize activities but kids just want to play video games so nothing really comes together. It's mostly boys and they have to be forced to do anything other than play the games. It's weird because it's not social. No one talks unless they make us do an icebreaker. It's easier to meet kids outside of Edge rather than in there. If you like video games, it's great. If not - meh. Vibe is so much cooler with both an inside (video games, haha) area as well as the outside pool deck with foosball and stuff. Not sure why middle schoolers just get to sit inside in the funnel.

We were on the same cruise. It was the first time for my 11 yr old dd to go to Edge. My dd has always enjoyed the Oceaneer's Club/Lab. My dd said the same about Edge. There were several different times that she went for a specific activity that was listed on the app(smoothie time) only to be told they weren't doing it. The only activity she really seemed to enjoy was the one in which they learned part of the Chimney Sweep's dance routine from Mary Poppins. We went to Vibe one night during Open house, and it was rocking! They had music going and the kids were all up dancing. As soon as we walked in a cm came over and invited all of us to join them. We only stayed for a few mins, but you could tell everyone was having a blast. My dd did go to the Edge club each day, but some times she would only stay for 10-15 mins because she was bored. Our next cruise will be on the Magic, hoping dd will be willing to try Edge then(with better results).

 

[LeiaOfAlderaan]

My DD is the same age and completely agrees on all points. I think she enjoyed one activity they did but generally speaking she’d rather stay in our stateroom while we’re doing the adult activities like Palo. I’m going to try to get her to do icebreakers the first night on our next cruise (she always refuses) and I’m hoping maybe she’ll make friends that way.

 

[KdKyA]

My 13 y/o son was on this sailing too. He said when he went for a Star Wars activity the CMs were there to start it and then with no warning or reason given, they just up and left and didn’t do the activity. He tried to play GaGa ball (?) and that the kids were extremely rude and competitive and wouldn’t let “outsiders” play. In September I went with my then 12 y/o daughter on the Magic and she had the same complaints. But to add that most of the time no one was there at all even with activities scheduled.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

That's too bad that the Edge was such a bad experience. It sounds like they didn't have a good group of YA staff running it. My DD went to the Edge on 5 different cruises. One cruise she loved it. One cruise she hated it. And the other three cruises, she had mixed experiences: some great, some okay, and some not so good.

 

[bcwife76]

That's interesting, maybe it depends on the CM's who are running it? My oldest has now been to Edge our past 3 cruises (she's 11 and went twice as a 10 year old) and loves it. She always makes new friends, they always hang out together in and out of the clubs. I'm not sure she really plays any video games in there apart from some of the dancing video games (couldn't tell you the real name I'm NOT a video game person lol).

 

[klug_bug2010]

Wow! I was originally excited for our oldest daughter to finally be able to get into the Edge. But after reading these comments, I'm not so excited. Was anyone from DCL ever told about the poor programming, or attempt of it?

 

[tarheelz]

Truthfully, I think it's the age group. Middle school is the worst. Lots of drama. Often things are awkward. Sometimes you feel like a kid. Sometimes you feel like an adult. (They call you "princess" and hand you the adult menu at Royal Palace. You still want to use the waterslide but half the things on the Navigator you want to do are 18+.) Unless it's actively doing something, the safest/easiest play for a kid in this group may be to (virtually) hide out in a solo game.

Like bcwife says, if you have strong CMs, that can make all the difference. (That said, I doubt the best of the Youth team are ending up in Edge.)

For our kid, next cruise she'll have access to Vibe AND Edge (and she'll be a bit older and more experienced).

 

[MrsInsG]

Truthfully, I think it's the age group. Middle school is the worst. Lots of drama. Often things are awkward. Sometimes you feel like a kid. Sometimes you feel like an adult. (They call you "princess" and hand you the adult menu at Royal Palace. You still want to use the waterslide but half the things on the Navigator you want to do are 18+.) Unless it's actively doing something, the safest/easiest play for a kid in this group may be to (virtually) hide out in a solo game.

Like bcwife says, if you have strong CMs, that can make all the difference. (That said, I doubt the best of the Youth team are ending up in Edge.)

For our kid, next cruise she'll have access to Vibe AND Edge (and she'll be a bit older and more experienced).

I am a middle school teacher and absolutely agree with most of the above, except that it's the worst, as I really love my hormonally-driven obnoxious mini-adults. I am well aware teaching middle school is a calling, as is evidenced every time I say it, and people look at me pityingly and back away! Anyway...

My then nearly-12-year-old did not like Edge, either. We went during the open house hours and there was a larger group of kids who knew one another and it was a Mean Girls scenario even with adults standing there. As I was not at work, I did not say, "Oh no, ladies, I don't think so," as I readily do when kids pull that nonsense in school. The room is also ridiculously sized compared to the other clubs, and really seems to assume all the kids want to do is be electronically entertained. It was also hot as hell with the sun beating in; in general, it was a big "no" from my younger daughter. She spent her time hanging out with her older sister and doing stuff with us. Our next cruise she plans to skip the open house altogether, as both of her older sisters will be with us and she hang with them, instead. In general I would advise any parent of a tween/early teen to take into account that it is a rough age to make a quick friends and branch out and to be realistic in your expectations.

 

[disneyholic family]

Truthfully, I think it's the age group. Middle school is the worst. Lots of drama. Often things are awkward. Sometimes you feel like a kid. Sometimes you feel like an adult. (They call you "princess" and hand you the adult menu at Royal Palace. You still want to use the waterslide but half the things on the Navigator you want to do are 18+.) Unless it's actively doing something, the safest/easiest play for a kid in this group may be to (virtually) hide out in a solo game.

Like bcwife says, if you have strong CMs, that can make all the difference. (That said, I doubt the best of the Youth team are ending up in Edge.)

For our kid, next cruise she'll have access to Vibe AND Edge (and she'll be a bit older and more experienced).

what are the ages for vibe and edge?

.

 

[MrsInsG]

what are the ages for vibe and edge?

.

11-14 Edge
14-17 Vibe

 

[Lumpy1106]

I think what you found with Edge has to do with that particular age of kids. We went to a summer camp for years that had kids activities broken up by age. Once they got to "Edge" age, it was a crap-shoot if the kids would even do the activities. All of the younger age groups the kids bought in 100%.

Puberty - nothing you can do about it.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

[nevermind - duplicate)

 

[LeiaOfAlderaan]

PPs make excellent points about age being a big factor. This is a tough age in general and my DD is shy which doesn’t make it any easier. Maybe I won’t make her go to icebreakers on our next cruise like I was planning. I guess I feel like she’s missing out if she’s just in the room watching TV while we’re at the adult activities, but she loves it so maybe I should just let her be.

 

[MrsInsG]

PPs make excellent points about age being a big factor. This is a tough age in general and my DD is shy which doesn’t make it any easier. Maybe I won’t make her go to icebreakers on our next cruise like I was planning. I guess I feel like she’s missing out if she’s just in the room watching TV while we’re at the adult activities, but she loves it so maybe I should just let her be.

My 14 year-old did just that. She wanted to relax and enjoyed catching up on movies. She would head to the pool with us in the morning then go back to the room for a few hours and order room service for lunch while she caught a movie; she voted this her favorite vacation ever! If you think about it, kids are heavily-scheduled at home and may really enjoy the quiet and relaxation of the cabin.

 

[Spiffy MacSpiff]

Our older DS loved Edge and made a couple of girl friends there... not girlfriends, but girl friends. He said that they were "normal and not all weird like the girls at school," whatever that means. He's outgoing and empathetic, and not one to put up with any kind of exclusivity BS whether there are adults present or not, so I can't say whether the usual middle school drama was an issue there or not. Younger DS preferred the kids' club but aged out after our last cruise. It will be interesting to see how he does when Edge is his only option outside of open house. He's a bit more of a wallflower than his older brother.

 

[quinnc19]

I am glad I stumbled on this - make sure DD is 14 on next cruise!

 

[SamFaniam]

I think that Edge, perhaps even more than Vibe, really depends on the kids you happen to come across. When my nephew was in that age group, he had two really good experiences with Edge and then one that was not so great. The first two we’re really about the kids he met and their willingness to get involved and do things together. The third time was not great primarily due to the kids. The kids were not bad or mean, they just didn’t want to participate in the organized activities.

 

[tlprice]

My DD12 has done Edge on our last 4 cruises. She has enjoyed Edge much more on the smaller ships. There seems to be less large packs of kids that already know each other on the smaller ships. It seems the large packs of kids (generally siblings and cousins from the same family) tend to be the mean kids. She loves a lot of the organized activities and even likes some of the video game stuff. What she dislikes the most is when Edge has open house and the younger boys come in and obnoxiously play the video games.

 

[mousefan73]

this is where Royal was so much better for my kids. My kids actually like activities and interaction. They were 12/14 and the club organized table tennis tournees, special hours exclusive for them on the waverider, water vomleyball. Edge they liked too but didn‘t stay too long. My DD did some of the contests and liked those too. but i’m the end like Royal better.

now oceaneers rocks compared