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

This is their exact quote...

We cruised after the policy change and I didn't know anything about it until I came home and read about it on the disboards. Then I looked at my navigator and asked my child what happened. He said it felt very crowded when they came over to the lab, but it wasn't too bad when they went to the club it wasn't so bad. He is 10 years old and spent all of his free time in the clubs.

I would take a deep breath, not say a word to your kids, and see how it goes. I'm glad I didn't know about it because I would have worried and been upset, and like I said, I didn't even notice.

We were on a Dec. 18 Dream cruise and it was a sold out cruise with tons of kids because school was already out.


I think that is a completely different tone and expression that what you posted.

No it is not...she said "He said it felt very crowded when they came over to the lab"

You referenced this person's experience on another thread and did use a completely different tone and expression when you said their child said it wasn't too bad.
 
We will have to agree to disagree on this matter. I think it is a big deal, and you don't. I will not be commenting on this on this thread or the other any more! I will be taking my issues up with Disney instead.

Have a great day!
 
And I don't see why you can't just see that for those of us that are planners, not having set times doesn't work. My family (and apparently lots of other posters' families on here) feels that we will be losing in this situation because we cannot schedule a couples massage or Palo brunch or dinner because it may be at a time that is scheduled to be open house and my children will be miserable.

The reason I can't see it is that I, too, am a planner. Hence my membership on this forum. But the club isn't closed and I can't think of how my child would be "miserable" for a brief period of time. My kids can make the best of most situations, probably because I don't usually have the attitude that any mild change that might potentially inconvenience me will be catastrophic to our vacation. And if I heard "I'm MISERABLE in a club [designed specifically for kids to have fun]" my kids would hear about how some kids, many kids, don't vacation at all so they need to drop the selfish mindset and figure out a way to have a good time.

It's a flipping Disney cruise! That in and of itself is awesome. So there are some changes and it disrupts one person's planning but helps others out. Big deal. You still are going on an awesome vacation and will have an awesome time (unless you allow yourself to sit and stew and writhe in misery).
 
The reason I can't see it is that I, too, am a planner. Hence my membership on this forum. But the club isn't closed and I can't think of how my child would be "miserable" for a brief period of time. My kids can make the best of most situations, probably because I don't usually have the attitude that any mild change that might potentially inconvenience me will be catastrophic to our vacation. And if I heard "I'm MISERABLE in a club [designed specifically for kids to have fun]" my kids would hear about how some kids, many kids, don't vacation at all so they need to drop the selfish mindset and figure out a way to have a good time.

It's a flipping Disney cruise! That in and of itself is awesome. So there are some changes and it disrupts one person's planning but helps others out. Big deal. You still are going on an awesome vacation and will have an awesome time (unless you allow yourself to sit and stew and writhe in misery).
:thumbsup2
 

Have you considered giving him sign in/out privileges? Then he could leave the club if he's bored, text you on the wave phone to tell you where he's going, and all is well. And again, will he not make any friends? Cause then he wouldn't really need to bring anything, he could hang out with the friends. Or use the computers or gaming system in the captain's closet.

I think that is my only option. I've been told by one person on the phone that regardless of whether or not he had in/out privileges, he could not go into the open house by himself. I was told another that he could.

I really don't want my my 9.5 year old to have in/out privileges, especially in the evenings. :crazy:

Regarding wave phones, does anyone know if we can get more phones per room? My 12 year old daughter will have one and we'll have the other. Is there a way to get one for my son too?
 
I don't mind two hours a day. I do not think it should be more than that. I do not care when they put it in, I could work around it. It seems that on the Dream and Magic the hours are reasonable. The hours on the Wonder, however, are not. It seems they have even increased the hours since they first implemented them.

1/3 of the cruise kids club time being open house, is just not acceptable for OUR family.

It seems to me to be a cost cutting measure, because the Mexican Riviera cruises have not sold as well. They have had to do kids sale free and such, which is why i think the hours are so much longer on the Wonder.

I have written Disney a second letter voicing my unhappiness. I received the same form letter back.

We are booked concierge, so I will not cancel and lose our money. However, if this continues before our cruise, I, too, will cut my costs and not spend as much money onboard.
 
/
How do you know that few families take advantage of open houses? I have been reading threads on dis and other boards that say that it varies, as does the number of kids in secured programming. And you can book Palo in advance because there is always secured programming with activities for all ages. Per this and other threads.
I have read several posts on other threads and recent TR's that the open houses were largely empty, while all the secured kids were crammed in the other club.
I have read from several reports, on the Wonder, that the open house was virtually empty in the club. Her husband and child were the only ones in there for the Where's Tink activity, usually a very popular activity.

I can't tell you about the Dream, have not seen any reports.
EXACTLY!!!
And I don't see why you can't just see that for those of us that are planners, not having set times doesn't work. My family (and apparently lots of other posters' families on here) feels that we will be losing in this situation because we cannot schedule a couples massage or Palo brunch or dinner because it may be at a time that is scheduled to be open house and my children will be miserable.
ITA
The reason I can't see it is that I, too, am a planner. Hence my membership on this forum. But the club isn't closed and I can't think of how my child would be "miserable" for a brief period of time. My kids can make the best of most situations, probably because I don't usually have the attitude that any mild change that might potentially inconvenience me will be catastrophic to our vacation. And if I heard "I'm MISERABLE in a club [designed specifically for kids to have fun]" my kids would hear about how some kids, many kids, don't vacation at all so they need to drop the selfish mindset and figure out a way to have a good time.

It's a flipping Disney cruise! That in and of itself is awesome. So there are some changes and it disrupts one person's planning but helps others out. Big deal. You still are going on an awesome vacation and will have an awesome time (unless you allow yourself to sit and stew and writhe in misery).
Nice attitude. Any kids the doesn't operaet the way yours do are spoiled brats. I don't think so. Just becuase YOUR kids will be fine, that doesn't mean everyone's will, and NO, that is NOT becuase we haven't taught them to cope with change, or thatthey are spoiled. My kid shouldn't have to just deal with being someplace she doesn't want to be doing activities NOT geared for her age so that 3 families can spend 4 hours in the KIDS club, which is what is being reported as happening over and over. She CAN absolutely deal with that, but the point is that she shouldn't have to. Open houses should be at set times and everyone should know about them well in advance so that if we feel our kids wont be happy we are not stuck forcing them to participate. Of course we can have a good time anyway, but if the experience could be better, or something has the potential to really effect your enjoyment of the trip, why SHOULDN'T you speak up about it? It is ok for you to say, overadn over, what does or doesn't work for your family, but everyone else is being unreasonable when they do so. How does that work???
 
Nice attitude. Any kids the doesn't operaet the way yours do are spoiled brats. I don't think so. Just becuase YOUR kids will be fine, that doesn't mean everyone's will, and NO, that is NOT becuase we haven't taught them to cope with change, or thatthey are spoiled. My kid shouldn't have to just deal with being someplace she doesn't want to be doing activities NOT geared for her age so that 3 families can spend 4 hours in the KIDS club, which is what is being reported as happening over and over. She CAN absolutely deal with that, but the point is that she shouldn't have to. Open houses should be at set times and everyone should know about them well in advance so that if we feel our kids wont be happy we are not stuck forcing them to participate. Of course we can have a good time anyway, but if the experience could be better, or something has the potential to really effect your enjoyment of the trip, why SHOULDN'T you speak up about it? It is ok for you to say, overadn over, what does or doesn't work for your family, but everyone else is being unreasonable when they do so. How does that work???

It's funny, cause on all other threads, you state that anyone who doesn't do what you do is wrong. Like people who hold their infants while feeding them, rather than making them hold their own bottles. Those people are coddling, your way is the right way. But in this case, having kids cope with a fun club is torturous and inhumane.

Yet, in this case, you don't even KNOW that your child will be miserable, crammed in a tight spot, or unhappy. You haven't cruised yet to know a difference. You're just anticipating the worst. Like the drop side crib issue. Because you don't like the change, it can't possibly work for anyone else.

And yes, as I have stated before, my memory for written word is impeccable, no, I didn't have to go back and look anything up. It just seems like a pattern that you dwell on "possible" problems that might not remotely affect you and cannot possibly see any other side that might be good.



ETA: The point you are missing is that this might not work for my family at all. I have already said it is unlikely I will attend open houses. If we do it will be maybe once during the 7 days. But I am able to see how it will work for others and that I can work with it. It certainly isn't the catastrophe you are making it out to be.
 
It's funny, cause on all other threads, you state that anyone who doesn't do what you do is wrong. Like people who hold their infants while feeding them, rather than making them hold their own bottles. Those people are coddling, your way is the right way. But in this case, having kids cope with a fun club is torturous and inhumane.

Yet, in this case, you don't even KNOW that your child will be miserable, crammed in a tight spot, or unhappy. You haven't cruised yet to know a difference. You're just anticipating the worst. Like the drop side crib issue. Because you don't like the change, it can't possibly work for anyone else.

And yes, as I have stated before, my memory for written word is impeccable, no, I didn't have to go back and look anything up. It just seems like a pattern that you dwell on "possible" problems that might not remotely affect you and cannot possibly see any other side that might be good.



ETA: The point you are missing is that this might not work for my family at all. I have already said it is unlikely I will attend open houses. If we do it will be maybe once during the 7 days. But I am able to see how it will work for others and that I can work with it. It certainly isn't the catastrophe you are making it out to be.
I didn't realize you cared enough to keep such careful track of everything I post, and misquote and misreperent it later in an attempt at personal attack. What are you doing, keeping a notebook?? I cannot imagine investing that kind of time in someone else's message board posts, and I don't know what any of this has to do with the issue at hand. It seems to me that attacking me and my parenting is a defense mechanism here. I see it often when people have nothing further to add to the discussion. The personal attacks start to come out.
 
Nice attitude. Any kids the doesn't operaet the way yours do are spoiled brats. I don't think so. Just becuase YOUR kids will be fine, that doesn't mean everyone's will, and NO, that is NOT becuase we haven't taught them to cope with change, or thatthey are spoiled. My kid shouldn't have to just deal with being someplace she doesn't want to be doing activities NOT geared for her age so that 3 families can spend 4 hours in the KIDS club, which is what is being reported as happening over and over. She CAN absolutely deal with that, but the point is that she shouldn't have to. Open houses should be at set times and everyone should know about them well in advance so that if we feel our kids wont be happy we are not stuck forcing them to participate. Of course we can have a good time anyway, but if the experience could be better, or something has the potential to really effect your enjoyment of the trip, why SHOULDN'T you speak up about it? It is ok for you to say, overadn over, what does or doesn't work for your family, but everyone else is being unreasonable when they do so. How does that work???

Wow. So true. I stopped back by to see if anyone had received a response other than the form letter from DCL and I see that the same person is still here, bullying anyone who dares to voice their concern or defend their position. Of course, the argumentative posts all include little tidbits like, "My kids go into Cove Cafe all the time" and "I wouldn't mind if Palo and Remy were open to kids." Like I said 10 pages ago...intentionally inflammatory. :sad2:

Keep saying it bothers you, just say it to DCL. And don't bother responding to the multi-quoted missives anymore, because clearly you (and I) are in the majority anyway. And those of us who are horrible child-dumpers with spoiled rotten brats who can't bear a little disappointment won't have to feel guilty if DCL listens to us and makes adjustments, because plenty of other kids are happy no matter what. It's a win-win, really. :thumbsup2
 
ETA: The point you are missing is that this might not work for my family at all. I have already said it is unlikely I will attend open houses. If we do it will be maybe once during the 7 days. But I am able to see how it will work for others and that I can work with it. It certainly isn't the catastrophe you are making it out to be.

Then WHY DO YOU CARE?
 
This is the first I heard of this "Open House" thing in the kids' clubs. This sounds like quite a problem? Why did they change things? I'm guessing something inappropriate happened? What a shame, because I alway felt things worked well. I'm nervous about booking another cruise (our 5th Disney Cruise) if I won't be able to leave my children in the kids club when I/they need/want to.
 
This is the first I heard of this "Open House" thing in the kids' clubs. This sounds like quite a problem? Why did they change things? I'm guessing something inappropriate happened? What a shame, because I alway felt things worked well. I'm nervous about booking another cruise (our 5th Disney Cruise) if I won't be able to leave my children in the kids club when I/they need/want to.

There is always a secure location you can drop your kids at. The Open House only happens in either the club or the lab, the other location is still the secured program.

:cutie:
 
Wow. So true. I stopped back by to see if anyone had received a response other than the form letter from DCL and I see that the same person is still here, bullying anyone who dares to voice their concern or defend their position. Of course, the argumentative posts all include little tidbits like, "My kids go into Cove Cafe all the time" and "I wouldn't mind if Palo and Remy were open to kids." Like I said 10 pages ago...intentionally inflammatory. :sad2:

What is intentionally inflammatory? Wow, it's like you're not just looking for complaints about the policy, but about anyone who doesn't join the "Down with the open houses" mob. Someone said people who don't mind the open houses would be outraged if adult areas were compromised. I said I wouldn't care if adult areas were compromised, but also don't care about open houses. A fair statement. The point with my husband taking my kids to Cover Cafe to get drinks is to show that they apparently do allow kids in there briefly. He initially had them sit right outside the adult area and the CM said they were welcome to come in since he wasn't planning to stay. If you're paying for a drink, they could care less if you bring an entourage in. Where is the inflammation coming from?

Keep saying it bothers you, just say it to DCL. And don't bother responding to the multi-quoted missives anymore, because clearly you (and I) are in the majority anyway. And those of us who are horrible child-dumpers with spoiled rotten brats who can't bear a little disappointment won't have to feel guilty if DCL listens to us and makes adjustments, because plenty of other kids are happy no matter what. It's a win-win, really. :thumbsup2

I also contacted DCL and told them how thankful I was about their new policy restricting adults and creating open houses for kids who can't otherwise participate in the clubs. I received a very enthusiastic reply from JD.

Then WHY DO YOU CARE?

Because, and I know this is crazy, I don't just care about myself. I care about the handicapped kids i have seen cruising who can't use the clubs independently. I am glad they have an option now that will allow them to participate. And this goes not just for physical handicaps, but emotional ones as well, such as painfully shy kids who just can't get dropped off. Or even average people with toddlers who are looking for a place for them to burn some energy. This one is especially big on the Wonder as there were days on our MR cruise where it was too cold for the pool or doing much outside, and in Alaska we couldn't swim at all during the trip as it was too cold. I feel pretty fortunate that I don't fall into these categories (well, I do have a toddler who could always stand to burn some energy!) and have no problem supporting those who do if it even minimally enhances their cruising experience.

But at the same time, why do you care so much about something that might not even be an issue? If you tried it and it was a catastrophe, I would fully support your anger. But that isn't the case. It might not even come up your entire cruise. But you're hell bent against anyone else benefiting.

And the main reason that I care is cause I keep seeing people post that now they are afraid of cruising because of the horror stories posted by people who haven't even tried the new policy. Why needlessly scare people off? If you go into it thinking it can work out fine, odds are it will. So I'd like people to see the other side, that maybe it won't be so bad and they'll be just fine. I've done Celebrity, Princess, and RCCL with kids, and DCL is hands down better for programming, regardless of this change. The other ships clubs close during meal times and often in ports and there is no paging system like DCL.
 
Exactly. I am a planner. I have a 10th anniversary dinner booked at Palo. I don't want DD stuck somewhere she would rather not be because of this new policy. DD is also a planner. She has looked at the navigators, and there are several activities she was looking forward t o doing INDEPENDENTLY. Looks like she probably won't have that chance for some of them. Mom or Dad will have to be there. I am complaining now because I want this fixed BEFORE we board. There is no reason to have 6 hours of open house time a day. It is excessive, and we need to know BEFORE we board when the open houses will be so we can plan our vacation. The simplest solution would seem to me to be the 3-6 every day option that was used on at least 1 cruise on the Dream. It would be a time most people couldl make and wouldn't interfere tool much with secured programming.

I'm sorry, did I miss the memo that everything is all about you? I can't believe these comments you made. You sound like you are insisting that these rules be changed to better accommodate you OR ELSE. There are thousands of people who's opinions matter every bit as much as yours. You are going on a family vacation. It's not just to benefit YOUR family and your anniversary. It's to benefit EVERY FAMILY.

And I realize you do not think your children should have to compromise, but guess what, life is all about compromise so I suggest you start teaching them a little tolerance now so they do not adopt the same attitude as you seem to have later in life.

I hate to be unpleasant on a forum that should be more focused on the positive and joyful experience we are all lucky enough to have the opportunity to do (when so many others would love to have this problem of yours) but I just cannot believe some of these comments you are making.

Go ahead and blast me.
 
I got the form letter response to my email. I'm considering writing back with the new information about the huge blocks of time on the Wonder. Like I said before, I wouldn't be nearly as upset (or not at all upset) if there were clear consistent times we knew ahead of time, and smaller blocks of time. While 2 hours have been reported, 5 and 6 1/2 hour blocks have also been reported. Having to wait until the night before to get the times is just insanely unreasonable when you know that people book Palo and Remy 6 months in advance. While there is one side open at all times, my concern is that the secure side becomes just free childcare, not the fantastic youth activities that Disney is known for.
 
I got the form letter response to my email. I'm considering writing back with the new information about the huge blocks of time on the Wonder. Like I said before, I wouldn't be nearly as upset (or not at all upset) if there were clear consistent times we knew ahead of time, and smaller blocks of time. While 2 hours have been reported, 5 and 6 1/2 hour blocks have also been reported. Having to wait until the night before to get the times is just insanely unreasonable when you know that people book Palo and Remy 6 months in advance. While there is one side open at all times, my concern is that the secure side becomes just free childcare, not the fantastic youth activities that Disney is known for.

Are you sailing on the Wonder? If not, I'd probably not worry about it if the other ships have different hours. I mentioned some reasons above about why the Wonder would be different. Those were definitely the most challenging cruises for us to occupy the toddler just because of the weather and therefore restricted activities.
 
Are you sailing on the Wonder? If not, I'd probably not worry about it if the other ships have different hours. I mentioned some reasons above about why the Wonder would be different. Those were definitely the most challenging cruises for us to occupy the toddler just because of the weather and therefore restricted activities.

Not this time, but if they can do it on the Wonder, they can do it on the other ships as well.
 
I have been going back and forth with a rep via both email and phone. I sent her the navigators to show her that there are huge blocks of time for the open houses on the Wonder as when we spoke, she said that they were only 1 or 2 hours at a time.

I also asked her how it was fair that in order for kids to participate in certain activities in the KIDS club, they needed their parents to be with them (as per the navigtators activity schedule during open houses). Unfortunatley she did not address that part of my email, but please see the response below.


"Hi Kim!


I did look these over and spoke with some folks from the Youth Activities. From my understanding the children who are in the Oceaneers Club/Lab while there is an open house happening are moved to the other side and their activities continue. The counselors are divided by age group of the children and they will still continue the programming on either side of the Club/Lab with age/stage appropriate activities with the children who are not visited by their parents.



When there is an open house, the activities are set for parents and children in that area. I would say, once you are onboard and see what exactly is happening during your sailing you will be able to decide which activities you will want to do as a family.



Even though your sailing had a “Kids Sail Free” offer, it does not mean that the ship will be sold out for children. We have specific limits for selling the ship based on age groups that we can accommodate in the youth activities area, so there will always be plenty of room for all children if they all decide to participate in the programming. Typically, when school is in session there are fewer children who sail, so we make special offers.



Hope this helps! I know you and your family will truly enjoy sailing, I wouldn’t worry about anything."
 

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