But do you really need 4-6 hours EVERY DAY to do that? I cannot see how anyone would want to. THAT is my problem. Not that they are offering open house, but that they are doing so much of it and doing it during times when secured programming is likely to be at peak usage. It should be done for short periods dur ing off peak times.
I am sure the same families won't be using it for 4-6 hours everyday. Some days those parents might have spa appts, Palo reservations, or wine tastings. So they can't participate in the open house hours at those times/on those days. I'm guessing that's why there is a large range, to accommodate a large number of people.
Here's the thing, this isn't just to accommodate people who "can't cut the cord." I have zero issues with dropping my kids and running, zero. But what about disabled kids? Or super shy kids? Those kids might love to participate in club activities but can't for some reason, physically or emotionally. By saying "no adults in the clubs" with this new policy, which I totally, 100% agree with, they are limiting things for those kids.
There are other family activities on board, yes, I know that. We always do the Mickey 200, various trivia games, and last cruise did an Amazing Race thing that was super fun. But those aren't always an option. No one knows when Mickey 200 will be in advance, so you can't plan Palo around it. Or even if you plan to attend, we've gone before and were shut out cause there were too many people. And we were there before it started, but there were already a ton of people, plus people who stayed after bingo so we couldn't make a car. The Amazing Race thing, TBH, if you had a physical handicap you were at a serious disadvantage. You needed to be able to run up and down the stairs to win (which I know, because my team won, and we were literally running anywhere it was safe to do so). And even with that, I was 45 minutes late to Palo brunch cause it ran late. My husband just sat there alone waiting for me (he had a massage prior so he didn't do the race with us).
So for those people who can't take advantage of this stuff, I am glad they have open house times. We met a family at Amazing Race who teamed up with us and their 7yo daughter hit it off with mine. Her mother was so, so happy cause she said her kid wouldn't use the clubs thus far on the cruise but after meeting my daughter they both went happily to the Lab after the race. They hung out together the rest of the cruise. Now, my daughter had been in the clubs nonstop before that anyway, but that's her personality. So with the open houses, maybe some families will meet up like we did and their kids will make friends and feel better going off to the clubs. Or maybe for the kids who can't go alone due to various disabilities, they will get the chance to have fun and act like normal kids. If my kid has to "tolerate" going to the "less fun" club/lab so that a disabled kid can make flubber with mom and dad, then so be it. It's not just about me enjoying my cruise but about everyone on the ship being able to enjoy theirs as well.