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

[threewilmingtonwalls]

Since anyone in the 3-10 age group always had the ability to go to either the club or the lab, I very much suspect that capacity (whatever actually number that might be) in either the club or the club is representative of the entire body of that age group (3-10).

So while all the kids in one secured section might make the club/lab look or feel full, they are guaranteed a spot.

In theory, there is more of a chance of being turned away at an 'open house'- since people outside of the registered group can use it.

No, this can't be right. Neither the club nor the lab on its own could contain the entire capacity of all the children in the age range at one time. Kids 3-10 are guaranteed a spot in one space or the other, but if the Lab were at capacity the CM's could absolutely send someone trying to check in down the hall to the Club. That's why there are two separate spaces. And, while I don't have exact square footage, by sight the Lab actually appears to be smaller than the Club.

 

[ditty3199]

This really stinks. DCL has long boasted about having more kids programming space than anyone else at sea. Now they are essentially cutting it in half for hours at a time! Isn't the rest of the ship a giant "Open House" with unsecure activities for families? Why is this necessary? Go ahead and say adults aren't welcome to stay, for security sake, I get that. But why do they have to offer this alternative? Maybe they could offer some of the more popular activities to families somewhere else.

My thoughts exactly! We spend time together around the boat, not in the lab. My son considers the lab his own personal space.

 

[ditty3199]

But I thought they were KIDS clubs...what happened?!

EXACTLY!!!! There are adult only sections of the boat. And I don't expect to see kids while there. So what is wrong with KID only sections.

My son LIVED in the lab of his own free will. He will be heartbroken to learn that he can't hang in the KID section because the ADULTS are in there???

 

[andersonfamily]

My youngest will be 14 when we cruise so I don't have to experience all of this, but if someone from DCL is reading these comments, I definitely agree with this one. To me, an "open house" is time for you to see what is offered; it should not be hours of parent/child time while the kids whose parents are doing something else are crammed into a smaller space. If parents want to be with their kids, there are plenty of other things they can do and places they can go. If I had a kid in the age group affected, I would be canceling my cruise and booking with another company because this is a major change that makes the disney cruise way less enjoyable for many, kids included. For people to have to rearrange spa treatments and other adult activities is a slap in the face of those who had every right to believe they didn't have to schedule around day-long "open houses."

It's the change in plan from what is advertised that bothers me. There absolutely is time that there's no closed areas, and there are times that there are significant blocks of time that age appropriate secured play is not available and that's materially different than what is advertised. It takes away the benefits of advance booking and planning when you get to the boat and find out that your spa appointments are during lab only secured time when you have a three year old. If this is the new program I don't like it, but if the timing is sprung on me when I get on the boat I'm more than a little mad and that might be my last Disney cruise.

 

[SoCaOC-Mom]

No, this can't be right. Neither the club nor the lab on its own could contain the entire capacity of all the children in the age range at one time. Kids 3-10 are guaranteed a spot in one space or the other, but if the Lab were at capacity the CM's could absolutely send someone trying to check in down the hall to the Club. That's why there are two separate spaces. And, while I don't have exact square footage, by sight the Lab actually appears to be smaller than the Club.

How do know? Even before the policy was restated, there was no rule saying a 4 year old couldn't go to the lab or a 10 year old couldn't go to the club. So in terms of prefernce, even if your opinion is right then there was never certianity that a child could go to the section of their choice if it was "full".
There hasn't beena single breport of a kid being turned away from secured programing because they were full, even during. KSF promo and holiday sailings.

I get that everyone will have their potential concerns, I have my own which is why I know it feels much better to just take the 'wait and see route'.

 

[KarenR122]

I do agree that the new open house times are a bit too much. I think a better way of handling the situation would be to do an open house for a few hours the first night of the cruise and then families would be able to go with their children and get them comfortable with the surroundings. They then would able to decide if their child is capable of being left alone during the rest of the week.

I think by doing that and also adding some extra support (even at the cost of the parents) for special needs children, would have been a great compromise.

 

[princessmom29]

How do know? Even before the policy was restated, there was no rule saying a 4 year old couldn't go to the lab or a 10 year old couldn't go to the club. So in terms of prefernce, even if your opinion is right then there was never certianity that a child could go to the section of their choice if it was "full".
There hasn't beena single breport of a kid being turned away from secured programing because they were full, even during. KSF promo and holiday sailings.

I get that everyone will have their potential concerns, I have my own which is why I know it feels much better to just take the 'wait and see route'.

So,you are saying that the combined capacity of both clubs together is the same as that of just one of the clubs? I don't see how that is possible unless the clubs always operate at half capacity. That would seem wasteful to me.

 

[princessmom29]

I do agree that the new open house times are a bit too much. I think a better way of handling the situation would be to do an open house for a few hours the first night of the cruise and then families would be able to go with their children and get them comfortable with the surroundings. They then would able to decide if their child is capable of being left alone during the rest of the week.

I think by doing that and also adding some extra support (even at the cost of the parents) for special needs children, would have been a great compromise.

This WAS the policy, and apparent,y some were using the "get settled" time as carte balance to stay indefinitely, and their pusy, overbearing behavior was a problem. That combined with the incident in th teen club triggered a policy change. Some parents simply cannot be trusted to know how to draw the lime when it comes to their own kids.

 

[Conservative Hippie]

I do agree that the new open house times are a bit too much. I think a better way of handling the situation would be to do an open house for a few hours the first night of the cruise and then families would be able to go with their children and get them comfortable with the surroundings. They then would able to decide if their child is capable of being left alone during the rest of the week.

I think by doing that and also adding some extra support (even at the cost of the parents) for special needs children, would have been a great compromise.

They have always had open house for several hours on the first night. IIRC, the club isn't "secure" on the first night until 6:00. You would think that would be enough.

 

[KarenR122]

This WAS the policy, and apparent,y some were using the "get settled" time as carte balance to stay indefinitely, and their pusy, overbearing behavior was a problem. That combined with the incident in th teen club triggered a policy change. Some parents simply cannot be trusted to know how to draw the lime when it comes to their own kids.

Sorry, I didn't know that...first Disney cruise is in April : ).

I have read so much on this topic and most of the "blame" for the change as been directed towards that incident that happened in the teen club but if that was the catalyst for change then why is the organization still doing DCL cruises and trips to WDW. I would think that if that was the main reason for the change, Disney and the organization would have parted ways due to legal issues.

Regardless of that, hopefully Disney will take note of all the complaints and modify the open house policy again.

 

[PrincessLKMiller]

This WAS the policy, and apparent,y some were using the "get settled" time as carte balance to stay indefinitely, and their pusy, overbearing behavior was a problem. That combined with the incident in th teen club triggered a policy change. Some parents simply cannot be trusted to know how to draw the lime when it comes to their own kids.

What was the incident in the teen club?

 

[Princess Sleepy]

What is AOS? I tried to google it and got a large variety of responses (American Orchid Society, Armed Offenders Squad, Australian Optical Society, among about 250 others) but none of those seemed relevant.

 

[threewilmingtonwalls]

How do know? Are you asking how I know? I know because I have cruised on DCL and have seen the facilities for myself. I have seen both the Club AND the Lab packed during dinner time, and there is no way both groups in their entirety could be squeezed into one space. That's why there are two.

Even before the policy was restated, there was no rule saying a 4 year old couldn't go to the lab or a 10 year old couldn't go to the club. So in terms of prefernce, even if your opinion is right then there was never certianity that a child could go to the section of their choice if it was "full". I'm sorry, but I don't quite understand what you are trying to say here. I never said anything about where 4 or 10 year olds are allowed to go. The sizes of the spaces are not my "opinion." How ever you interpreted my post, what I was trying to say is this: Under the previous system, if a five year-old wanted to get left in the Lab, it could happen that when the parents arrived to the Lab to sign him in, the Lab would already be at capacity. The parent might be directed to take the child to the Club instead. Or, the CM's on duty in the Lab might take the child, round up additional "smaller" children and transfer them over to the Club. Parents come back to pick up child, and are told that he is now at the Club. Happens all the time! If EACH space was built to hold ALL the children, this would never happen. Thus, it is entirely plausible that at any given time, the single space that is dedicated to secured care COULD POSSIBLY exceed capacity.


There hasn't beena single breport of a kid being turned away from secured programing because they were full, even during. KSF promo and holiday sailings. You're right. I never said there was. What HAS been reported is dead Open House, packed secured area. Which is completely contrary to your theory about people actually being more likely to get turned away from the Open House. It is absolutely physically impossible for that to happen.

I get that everyone will have their potential concerns, I have my own which is why I know it feels much better to just take the 'wait and see route'. Which is exactly what I said earlier. But I feel the need to reply because your theory comment would make it seem - to cruisers who have not yet been on a DCL ship - that the Club and Lab are these vast spaces that were built to house every child between the ages of 3-10 TWO TIMES OVER.

I apologize if I somehow misinterpreted what you were trying to say, but I can see that if I did I am not the only one. I don't want to debate, I just want first-timers to have a realistic expectation of the size of these spaces.. You've seen them, right? Do you truly think they would each hold every child in the age range, independent of one another?

 

[threewilmingtonwalls]

so,you are saying that the combined capacity of both clubs together is the same as that of just one of the clubs? I don't see how that is possible unless the clubs always operate at half capacity. That would seem wasteful to me.

thank you!!

 

[SoCaOC-Mom]

I apologize if I somehow misinterpreted what you were trying to say, but I can see that if I did I am not the only one. I don't want to debate, I just want first-timers to have a realistic expectation of the size of these spaces.. You've seen them, right? Do you truly think they would each hold every child in the age range, independent of one another?

There isn't a need for a debate, if any of us want to get the actual numbers I am sure DCL would attempt to provide them.

Also I truly don't see our different opinions as a personal conflict and I appreciate the civility of our discussion.

But, a parent could previously drop their kid off in the lab only to latter find them in the club because that is where a child decided to go. It really has nothing to do with capacity as per a fire marshals standard.
Being at capacity in one club or another in previous accounts probably had more to do with how many YAC's were assigned to that area.


With the new structure, unsecured programming will likely have minimal YAC's other than to serve in a guest relations role, where they secured programming should have ample since the YAC's are in one space.

As stated, there hasn't been an instance, even during what was described as a full sailing of a child not being accommodated in the secured programing. I'm only hoping to avoid people worrying (potentially) needlessly.

I've been there, I get it- abet from a bit of a different perspective which is why I know it feels a lot better and is much more enjoyable to take state of mind of dealing in actualities instead of hypotheses.

 

[SoCaOC-Mom]

What is AOS? I tried to google it and got a large variety of responses (American Orchid Society, Armed Offenders Squad, Australian Optical Society, among about 250 others) but none of those seemed relevant.

Autism of the Seas.

 

[SoCaOC-Mom]

Yes i beleive if your within 2 months from your birthday to the time your cruising

The open houses are too long. I cant drop my son off at the lab when theres a fun activity unless im there!?! Thats not what we planned when we booked the cruise.

The various activities are supposedly going to be offered in secured and open programming. You can drop your son off in the secured section anytime you like, although it might not be the section of your choice (e.g. lab vs club) .

 

[dizzi]

I had a very large problem with the kids clubs on our 2nd cruise with DCL, one that prompted me not to use DCL until my DD was a teenager.

Even though DCL did go out of there way to accomodate me and my child while we were on our cruise, I was not happy with some changes that they had made....

AND our cruise was the FIRST to try it out on.

I complained and ( I am not a complainer) took it straight to the top.
Had a personla meeting with the Man in Charge of ALL of the childrens activities on board. He came out in his nice crisp white suit and we told him our complaint and why we thought it was a great concern.

He escorted us up to the Kids club and addressed the problem.

I think if the discussion on here continues and people remain concerned that they will try to make improvements....

After all we are the biggest bunch of DISNEY CRAZIES OUT THERE

 

[DVCMomofThree]

Who said it wouldn't be busy? There is a difference between that and being told they are at capacity and being turned away.

You're missing the point. It's not enjoyable for the club to be "at capacity" during peak hours so a handful of kids get to "experience" the other facility with their parents. As you can see from this thread, that's not why many of us paid a premium to book on DCL.

 

[DVCMomofThree]

My youngest is still breastfed and I had to book everything around his eating schedule (and available time in the nursery) My older kids most certainly have a preference of lab vs club (and they usually don't want to be together ) so I can promise this will be an issue. My oldest isn't a big fan of chaos either...so she's going to see 10 million kids running about and say thanks, but no thanks...

I don't think it's fair that the formula fed babies get to go into Flounders and stay as long as their parents like. It's not fair to my breastfed baby. I am going to demand DCL provide me a wet nurse!

Yes, I will be writing a letter as well. Letting DCL know that I was already on the fence about trying RCCL for our next trip...and this is going to tip me over the edge.

We're leaving in 24 days....I'll let everyone know about our experience. Maybe I'll bring my 5 month old into the open house. He's pretty advanced for his age.