Has anyone else had issues with the new Oceaneer's club/lab policies?

[CC197823]

I e-mailed Disney about my concerns. Within 20 minutes, I got the following reply. With the speedy reply, I think they must be getting lots of feedback on this new change. Hopefully, it will make them re-think the new policy.

Thank you for contacting us regarding your upcoming sailing.

On behalf of the entire Disney Cruise Line team, I hope you will accept
my sincere regret for any disappointment with your upcoming cruise
vacation. I was truly disheartened to read about your concerns with the
"Open House" experiences in our Youth Activities areas.

We strive to meet the needs of all of our guests and have added several
open times where families can interact together in new ways, while still
providing a space for secured activities to occur continuously
throughout the day. As hours for "Open House" opportunities can change,
we would recommend reviewing your Personal Navigator once onboard.

However, I appreciate your constructive comments and have been certain
to share them with the appropriate shipboard and shoreside managers.
Your comments will be evaluated along with those from our other guests
to determine where future changes may be needed.

Thank you again for contacting us. We look forward to welcoming you and
your family onboard soon.

Sincerely,
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Executive Guest Correspondent
Disney Cruise

I also emailed and recieved the same response as above back pretty quickly.

 

[Niebz]

I personally don't understand all the dramatics over a few extra hours of open house time. There will still be round the clock childcare offered. During the peak times for childcare (dinner etc) both the club and the lab will offer secured programming. I doubt Disney would allow open houses at times where the lab/club are likely to reach capacity. There is no comparing it to allowing children in Palo or the adult pool. They're just giving the toddler set and those children who are less independent for whatever reason a chance to experience the club and lab together with their family. I don't see why that's such a horrible, vacation-ruining thing.

 

[princessmom29]

I personally don't understand all the dramatics over a few extra hours of open house time. There will still be round the clock childcare offered. During the peak times for childcare (dinner etc) both the club and the lab will offer secured programming. I doubt Disney would allow open houses at times where the lab/club are likely to reach capacity. There is no comparing it to allowing children in Palo or the adult pool. They're just giving the toddler set and those children who are less independent for whatever reason a chance to experience the club and lab together with their family. I don't see why that's such a horrible, vacation-ruining thing.

I can at least explain MY concerns:
1. According the reports of some other travelers they ARE in fact scheduling open houses for large blocks of time whne the clubs are likely to be at or near capacty.During after dinner hours especially concerns me as these open houses have been for the lab. Those are the kids that would still be up after dinner to go to the clubs while mom and dad are elsewhere. It is going to make the clubs an overcrowded mess where no one is having fun.
2. According to some reports, all kids aged 3-10 are lumped together in one space for "free play" during at least part of these 4 hour open house time blocks. That in and of itself is a huge problem.

If they are indeed gonig to the shorter mid-afternoon open houses only, then this stuff won't be an issue, but I have seen reoprts of both.

 

[Stinkerbe11]

I was totally joking by comparing the clubs to The adult areas

My main problem is that they are taking away a service that they clearly advertise as being for 3-10 year olds. The kids' clubs are the main reason we choose to sail DCL and it is being changed just prior to our vacation.

They are taking away 1/2 of the space that used to be offered and combining the "secure" kids into one club. It was crowded before, now I don't see how it wouldn't be even worse.

The kids don't get a choice of which club they want to be in anymore. My son (7) may like doing lab experiments/playing video games, while my dd (4) do-si-do'd with Snow White. Now they will be stuck in the same club and have no choice in the matter. What about getting sick? It's bad enough when you have kids spread out between the two clubs, now you have all of them in one location, especially during flu season...I could go on...

Bottom line is if the kids aren't happy, Mom and Dad get no alone time and for us that's a big deal.

 

[conandrob240]

This sounds like a really bad set up. They should allow parents in on Day 1 to get used to the clubs and then it should be kid's only. Period. If they want a family space for families to play together, they should create one. What if a large # of kid's wants scheduled programming & actitivites? Wouldn't the one open area be way too crowded?

And I am not sure how this new plan, which IMO, more encourages parents to enter the kid's areas makes it any safer? Less safe, if you ask me because more parents in the club on a daily basis. How is it safer? Wasn't the whole issue with this that a parent/ older teen was inappropriate with a child? How does open play where more adults are encouraged to play solve the initial problem?

I think Disney is trying to cut back on schedule programming & staff, plain and simple.

 

[Niebz]

I was totally joking by comparing the clubs to The adult areas

My main problem is that they are taking away a service that they clearly advertise as being for 3-10 year olds. The kids' clubs are the main reason we choose to sail DCL and it is being changed just prior to our vacation.

They are taking away 1/2 of the space that used to be offered and combining the "secure" kids into one club. It was crowded before, now I don't see how it wouldn't be even worse.

The kids don't get a choice of which club they want to be in anymore. My son (7) may like doing lab experiments/playing video games, while my dd (4) do-si-do'd with Snow White. Now they will be stuck in the same club and have no choice in the matter. What about getting sick? It's bad enough when you have kids spread out between the two clubs, now you have all of them in one location, especially during flu season...I could go on...

Bottom line is if the kids aren't happy, Mom and Dad get no alone time and for us that's a big deal.

No need to roll your eyes at me. I got that you were joking as was everyone else who said the same thing but it is at the expense of parents like me who appreciate the time allocated for our little ones. We're not all self-entitled crazies who demand that everything be catered to our needs. I also don't really buy the argument that kids will be more likely to get sick. The ship is all made up of one confined space, a few open houses are unlikely to affect that. There will still be plenty of opportunities for adult alone time and plenty of time where both the club and lab are available for childcare.

 

[Yokelridesagain]

? And I am not sure how this new plan, which IMO, more encourages parents to enter the kid's areas makes it any safer? Less safe, if you ask me because more parents in the club on a daily basis. How is it safer? Wasn't the whole issue with this that a parent/ older teen was inappropriate with a child? How does open play where more adults are encouraged to play solve the initial problem?

I think Disney is trying to cut back on schedule programming & staff, plain and simple.

As pointed out by others, the issue is not really "making the clubs safer". It is "limiting DCL's liability for any injury that may occur".

 

[Conservative Hippie]

As pointed out by others, the issue is not really "making the clubs safer". It is "limiting DCL's liability for any injury that may occur".

So when I insist on bringing my 18 month old kid to the club during "unsecured hours" and he gets knocked down and hurt by a 13 year old, who do I get to sue?

 

[Niebz]

So when I insist on bringing my 18 month old kid to the club during "unsecured hours" and he gets knocked down and hurt by a 13 year old, who do I get to sue?

 

[AngieEstaAqui]

I e-mailed Disney about my concerns. Within 20 minutes, I got the following reply. With the speedy reply, I think they must be getting lots of feedback on this new change. Hopefully, it will make them re-think the new policy.

Thank you for contacting us regarding your upcoming sailing.

On behalf of the entire Disney Cruise Line team, I hope you will accept
my sincere regret for any disappointment with your upcoming cruise
vacation. I was truly disheartened to read about your concerns with the
"Open House" experiences in our Youth Activities areas.

We strive to meet the needs of all of our guests and have added several
open times where families can interact together in new ways, while still
providing a space for secured activities to occur continuously
throughout the day. As hours for "Open House" opportunities can change,
we would recommend reviewing your Personal Navigator once onboard.

However, I appreciate your constructive comments and have been certain
to share them with the appropriate shipboard and shoreside managers.
Your comments will be evaluated along with those from our other guests
to determine where future changes may be needed.

Thank you again for contacting us. We look forward to welcoming you and
your family onboard soon.

Sincerely,
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Executive Guest Correspondent
Disney Cruise

That is the identical response I received. VERBATIM. Hopefully there will be a change before I cruise on 1/28, but I'm not holding my breath.

 

[Stinkerbe11]

No need to roll your eyes at me.

I really didn't mean it that way, despite it's title, it looks like a half smile to me...I apologize.

Look, before this thread goes any further south, I'm going to reserve commentary and just see what happens on our cruise. I do understand the need for a toddler/parent supervised area, I've been there too. I just wish they had another area set aside, that's all.

It would be nice to hear from people who are cruising in the next few weeks, please let us know how the changes are working out.

 

[Yokelridesagain]

So when I insist on bringing my 18 month old kid to the club during "unsecured hours" and he gets knocked down and hurt by a 13 year old, who do I get to sue?

No one, just as if you dropped him down into the middle of a basketball game and he got knocked over and injured--unless the thirteen year old was acting in a manner that showed reckless disregard for the safety of others.

 

[Niebz]

I really didn't mean it that way, despite it's title, it looks like a half smile to me...I apologize.

Look, before this thread goes any further south, I'm going to reserve commentary and just see what happens on our cruise. I do understand the need for a toddler/parent supervised area, I've been there too. I just wish they had another area set aside, that's all.

It would be nice to hear from people who are cruising in the next few weeks, please let us know how the changes are working out.

Thanks and I couldn't agree more about waiting to see how this plays out. I'm sure it will be tweaked as needed to please as many cruisers as possible.

 

[keaster]

A friend was just telling me how inconvenient it was on her recent Carnival cruise that there were very limited hours of childcare. I told her Disney was much better in that regard, but apparently not anymore. Some of you will think I'm an awful parent, but I am a SAHM, one of the biggest perks of a Disney cruise for me is being able to take a break and let someone else watch my children for a while - and know that my kids are having a fantastic time. There are plenty of activities to spend time with your children on the ship - play in the pool, play mini golf, go to a show, go to a movie, learn how to play shuffle board....why in the world should the kids' clubs have to be open so every Tom, Dick, and Mary can watch their kid play dress-up? What's next - open "unsecured" hours in the nursery so we can all sit on the floor and play peek-a-boo with our babies? Save your money and do it at home. Oh, and I would LOVE to know what Vibe is like, the advertising makes it seem so cool. Can we have open hours in there too? I'm sure my 4 year old would love it.

Totally agree with this! We have been on 5 DCL cruises with DD8 (who was 6when we started cruising). We had NO PROBLEM with the way the kids club was structured and have no interest or need to go to an "open house" with her. For our family time we find other things to do the ship (pool, movies, live shows, shuffleboard, bingo, photo ops, detective agency, golf, etc.) She enjoys her time in the club/lab as her time to meet new friends and DH and I get some quiet time on our own!

What I'm wondering is what happens if the Club is having an open house with only a handful of families attending and the Lab is bursting at the seams with kids whose parents, heaven forbid, have put them in programming on their own?

 

[princessmom29]

No need to roll your eyes at me. I got that you were joking as was everyone else who said the same thing but it is at the expense of parents like me who appreciate the time allocated for our little ones. We're not all self-entitled crazies who demand that everything be catered to our needs. I also don't really buy the argument that kids will be more likely to get sick. The ship is all made up of one confined space, a few open houses are unlikely to affect that. There will still be plenty of opportunities for adult alone time and plenty of time where both the club and lab are available for childcare.

I don't think there is a problem with setting aside SOME time for parents to play with their kids. I thought that was part of the purpose of the open house on embarkation day. I don't think that 4 hours or more DAY of the cruise is necessary when there is som much else to do on the cruise as a family. I dont think rhose times need to be scheduled in the after dinner hours. I think that he extreme response form Disney in setting aside so much time WAS in response to a few who think they should be allowed in with their kids at all ties no matter what.

 

[Conservative Hippie]

Totally agree with this! We have been on 5 DCL cruises with DD8 (who was 6when we started cruising). We had NO PROBLEM with the way the kids club was structured and have no interest or need to go to an "open house" with her. For our family time we find other things to do the ship (pool, movies, live shows, shuffleboard, bingo, photo ops, detective agency, golf, etc.) She enjoys her time in the club/lab as her time to meet new friends and DH and I get some quiet time on our own!

What I'm wondering is what happens if the Club is having an open house with only a handful of families attending and the Lab is bursting at the seams with kids whose parents, heaven forbid, have put them in programming on their own?

That's what I hope happens during open hours - a handful of parents, maybe a few unruly 16 year olds just for good measure. Which is why, as much as my toddler would love to run around Andy's Room, I'm on the fence about actually using the open hours. If it's unpopular, maybe it will go back to "normal."

 

[justhat]

It's always been my understanding that parents- or even YAC's were not in the bathroom with kids in the club. It would be more than fair and expected that someone taking care of a child in in the club would use the facilities outside (even if they are taking a little one potty) to avoid the type of scenario you described.

While the nursery might be a better environment for certain 3 year olds, potty trained or not , I have heard a few stories that lead me to believe that when DCL is referring to the nursery up to age 3 what they really mean is 36 months. After that the OC is the default registration and people have been given a hard time trying to move their child once one board. While I would hope they would be accommodated, I don't see how they can be guaranteed a spot in the nursery if the ratio in there is full.

To the 1st paragraph, that is an inaccurate understanding. Not only have I accompanied my kids into the bathroom, at the CM's suggestion, but I have seen other parents in there as well. There were no rules when my son first turned 3yo so I took him into the boys bathroom several times. Then when he was nearly 4yo they requested that I take him into the girls bathroom since they didn't want parents of opposite gender in the bathrooms.

On the 2nd point, that isn't correct either. If you have a 3yo and do the online registration, it will ask you if they are potty trained. If you say no, you can only reserve nursery. If you say yes, then you can sign up for the club. If there is a doubt in your mind as to the child's readiness for the club, say "not potty trained" and sign up for nursery hours. I did that when my oldest was over 3yo, fully potty trained, but not ready to be left alone in the club. She went into the nursery without issue, but cried in the club cause there were just too many kids, too many bigger kids, and too much chaos. Wasn't her thing. Or once you board, say your child isn't trained, and you need nursery time. They will do their best to accommodate you. There isn't always availability, but with advance notice (like a day or so) we can usually work something out.

This.

So there's say 100 kids (totally hypothetical number) who would be checked in for any specified time. They used to be able to freely go between the lab and club, check out which activities interest them, and have the space to play that this number of kids allowed. Now, the same 100 kids are being kept in only one of the areas, they have half the space as they did before. With sailings maxing out on allowed children, I'd like to know how they are making up for the fact that the play/explore/activity area is essentially halved for many hours out of the day.

I'm not even going to weigh in on the parent issue, I don't care either way and will make do fine with this. I just don't think it's fair to advertise kids areas of the club and lab, and then have them restricted for such large blocks of time.

Though I haven't seen it in action yet, I would think they might break it up, like have an activity on the sports deck, some to studio sea, whatever. If there is a crowding issue, I am sure they will find a solution.

EVERY child care facility I have ever worked at or placed my children in DID NOT allow parents free access to classrooms. Doing so would have resulted in complete chaos. We would have had moms who literally never left, and questioned every move the teachers made. Parents were allowed to schedule an observation if they wanted to see how the classroom worked, and were allowed in for parties, ect. It keeps the pushy parent from taking over the classroom to make sure her special baby gets the best of everything. This is what Disney is trying to prevent with the no parents policy, along with decreasing security risks. I think it is a GREAT idea as I have been where they are and had to ask the pushy mom to leave. The results were not pleseant.
Also, a mom hanging around prolonging the goodbye only makes in worse for the child most of the time. I get that mommy needs to feel needed and no that little junior will miss her dreadfully while she is away, but none of that is helping junior settle in or adjust. From my experience, a clean break at the door policy is best for everyone. It takes a few days to get the kid comfortable rather than a few months. Mom lingering just isn't productive for anyone.

Though our schools haven't been exactly like this in that we allow volunteers, I completely agree with this and the sentiment. I am a big fan of drop and run, and I have 3 kids, all different personalities when it comes to this stuff. The drop and run, in the long run, worked best for all of them.

When DD first sailed, she had just turned 3. We went to the open house for the club on the first night and she had fun, but clearly needed me around to guide her. I didn't feel comfortable leaving her there alone and didn't feel it was appropriate for me to be tagging around behind her while the counselors were trying to have activities and such, so I ended up keeping her with me and doing other family activities. We had a blast! By the time of her next cruise, she was totally fine to be dropped off in the club (and begged to stay pretty much the entire cruise). If your child isn't ready for the club without you, then don't leave them there. That isn't what they are meant for and there are tons of family activities available. There are open houses on the first night to get your child acclimated, if that is all he/she needs.

The only time I can see needing a parent with a child is when the child has a disability that the counselors cannot/should not be addressing and a parent is needed to assist as an accommodation. Perhaps there could be some additional screening of that parent or something, but it wouldn't seem that this would be such an issue affecting so many people that an entirely new system of open house/secured programming needs to be created. I guess all of this just feels like a bit of an overreaction, but it sounds like they are perhaps trying some options to see what works best. Nothing will be ideal for everyone, of course, but they won't know until they try.

Exactly! Use the open houses if your kid needs time to warm up to the club. Then drop and go. No one should need to sit there for 15+ minutes at every drop off if their child is ready to be left in the club.

 

[mom2brooke76]

I wonder if they will have open houses on Castaway Cay at Scuttle's Cove. That's just one gigantic area, so I don't see how they'd separate the two. I'm also not sure that many parents would want to do an open house there either, so maybe it's not an option during that time.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Yes!! That's what I have been wanting to say. If you want to be with your kids, there are oodles of ways to enjoy the ship together, not in the clubs! I love the idea of an open house for an hour or two on each day for special circumstances- special needs child, not potty trained yet, not quite ready to leave mom and dad, time to take photos, but that should be ample. In my opinion, you could even set those two hours a day as a constant, say 1-3 (just an example) and parents could plan accordingly. The clubs were designed as a kids away from parents space, not an additional play space for families on the ship.

A friend was just telling me how inconvenient it was on her recent Carnival cruise that there were very limited hours of childcare. I told her Disney was much better in that regard, but apparently not anymore. Some of you will think I'm an awful parent, but I am a SAHM, one of the biggest perks of a Disney cruise for me is being able to take a break and let someone else watch my children for a while - and know that my kids are having a fantastic time. There are plenty of activities to spend time with your children on the ship - play in the pool, play mini golf, go to a show, go to a movie, learn how to play shuffle board....why in the world should the kids' clubs have to be open so every Tom, Dick, and Mary can watch their kid play dress-up? What's next - open "unsecured" hours in the nursery so we can all sit on the floor and play peek-a-boo with our babies? Save your money and do it at home. Oh, and I would LOVE to know what Vibe is like, the advertising makes it seem so cool. Can we have open hours in there too? I'm sure my 4 year old would love it.

 

[SoCaOC-Mom]

I wonder if they will have open houses on Castaway Cay at Scuttle's Cove. That's just one gigantic area, so I don't see how they'd separate the two. I'm also not sure that many parents would want to do an open house there either, so maybe it's not an option during that time.

I doubt they will be able to do the open house there for the reason you stated, I asked in another thread what there was to do there outside the cove, and it seems like the Spring A Leak is open access so that is good to know.