Just Returned from Disney Magic

[royalfun]

Eight of us just returned from a wonderful Disney Magic Cruise on Feb.1, 2003 (4 adults). Our rooms were great: 6116 and 6118. The weather was perfect except for Sunday at sea. We loved our buffet breakfasts at Topsiders and hated our dinners (lousy waiter and so-so food). Because of this, we had room service for two dinners.

Our beaches were perfect (Dawn Beach at St Maarten and Saphire Beach at St Thomas). Taxi rides to the beaches were exciting (wild drivers). And Castaway Beach is everything they say it is and more.

Dinner at Palos was very special with great food (filet Mignon, lobster, shrinp cocktails, etc.)

Don't miss the Disney Dream floor show (we all saw it twice, it was that good).

Our kids (10 and 11 yr olds) did not think much of the Oceaneer Lab (boring) or the lab for our 5 yr old. They liked the pools on the ship, movies, dances, etc. The 13 yr old played basketball, went to movies, dances and just hung out with us.

From all the people we talked to, whoever says that you just wave goodbye to the kids in the morning and never see them again all day, is wrong. But please know that our kids had a fabulous time anyway. It was our best cruise ever.

If anyone has any questions of me, now is the time to ask me while It's still fresh in my mind. By the way, if you have small children, the 8:30 dinner time is way too late.

 

[bahama97]

Glad you had a nice cruise!

About the Oceaneers Lab, did your gets do any of the scheduled activities? I'm hoping my 12 yr old won't be "bored" with it either.

THanks!

 

[hilltopfamily]

I also am hoping my 12 (almost 13) year old DD and 9 DS won't be bored with the kids programs. I'm less worried about my DD 6, I think she will be in heaven. Any further info on why it was boring? thanks for the info

penny

 

[royalfun]

They said that the few computers in the lab were always taken and the other games were boring. I was going to go down and talk to the couselors but I never did.

If I had to do it over again, I would suggest to the counselor that my daughters (10 and 11) are shy and maybe you could introduce them to some other girls and watch and make sure they are having a good time. As you know, once kids find someone they like, there's no pulling them apart.

 

[Michelle]

Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

Every child is different and many kids DO love the programming and never want to leave...I have one of them. She definitely now prefers the free time over the scheduled activities in the Lab, but she still has a blast. And they do make them take turns on the computers.

 

[my3kids]

My 12 year old didn't do much with the Lab either, although the 2 in the 8-9 group enjoyed the Lab and did a couple of events each day. The 12 year old said he wishd it was more free time to play video games or do his own thing in the lab. He didn't like so many scheduled activities. That was just him though....it seemed as though the other boys in that age group had a great Lab time.

 

[kml2000]

There were three families in our trip - 4 kids - all in the 8-9 age group, 3 girls 1 boy. NONE of them liked the scheduled activities. They enjoyed the free time but none of the "activities". We allowed our kids to check themselves in and out (even though they couldn't GO anywhere, we didn't have to stand in line to sign them in and out), and they would go after dinner but page us when the activities started.

 

[disneybets]

Thanks for your report. We are leaving 2/15 for western 7 day. My boys are 12 and 9. I don't expect them to get involved with sceduled activities. I know they like to be with us. I also plan to let them check themselves in and out of the lab. I just want them to join us for dinner and shows.

 

[kml2000]

That was EXACTLY how we were with our kids. We always knew where they were, checked up on them, etc but we did give them freedoms. They were not allowed in the pool without us and they had to join us for meals and shows. They did not get to roam at night. They were allowed to check themselves in and out as long as they had a plan for where they were going and what they were doing. They had a "meeting place" in case they got separated (it was all or none - they were not allowed to break up). We had all kind of little things (can't remember them all) that were "safety net" things.

When they went to the arcade - one of us went up and peeked in, etc. Our kids didn't let us down, they always did what they told us they were doing. The first time they didn't do as they said, the freedom would have been GONE.

 

[videoman]

Check them selves out of the Oceaneer Lab program if they find the activies are not for them.
What I really mean is if my wife and myself are doing something together...do we have to phyiscally go down to the camp program and sign them out or can a 9year old sign her self out if there is something going on that she's not interested in doing.

 

[kml2000]

For a 9 year old, you have to give permission for them to check themselves out, if my memory serves me correctly. My daughter was 9 and I gave permission.

 

[MickeyB426]

MY kids (DS,DS,DD, all 9 yrs old) have already put me on notice that they do NOT want to go into the Oceaneer's Lab unless there's a specific activity that suits them (ie, Flubber).

They said the same thing someone else mentioned on this thread, that last time, the computers were all taken and the other games were boring.

But, as Michelle stated, it's definitely a "your-mileage-may-vary" kind of thing. I would encourage the parents of first-time DCL cruisers to not only check out the Kids' Clubs, but do what you can to encourage your children to at least partake in SOME of the events.

 

[Towncrier]

My 12yo son did not like the lab activities at all. On the same cruise, our 10yo daughter had the time of her life. When we went on our 2nd cruise last year, our son was now 14yo and spent all his time in Common Grounds with the other teens. Our 12yo daughter absolutely loved spending all her time in the Oceanear's Lab. So much so that she would leave dinner after appetizers and head for the lab to be with the counselors and her friends.

Regardless, we saw very little of our children on our 7-day cruise last January.

 

[tecdavidt]

We would agree with Towncrier, we rarely saw our Teens, the rule was we ate dinner together. That was about it for seeing them. Our daughter loved the lab. She is looking forword to this next spring break cruise because a fellow classmate and friend from her grade school will be aboard! It seems if your children are on the shy side they don't like the clubs but if they are out going they love them. Kathy

 

[Verandah Man]

Thanks for your report!
We have a DD 12 and we did find another family taking the same cruise as ours on a post that have a DD 12. Our girls have started e-mailing one another, we hope they hit it off. This is our first cruise and don't know what to expect our DD will want to do. She makes friends easy, so that's a plus. We'll just have to see what happens!

 

[TeamMom011]

royal fun, I'm hoping my DS and Friend enjoy the lab but I find it questionable. DS has repeatedly told me science is NOT his favorite subject so he doesn't want to have to do experments and he isn't the kind to enjoy skits or performing at all.

But onto another one of your points: can you give us more info on how disappointing your waiters and food could be that would cause you to eat in your room That's a real shame.

 

[westjones]

I have one DD who loves the lab and one who would rather be with us and hang out at the pool or go to a movie. Kids are all different (so are adults). The thing that I think is great about DCL is that they seem to have something for everyone.

DH and I don't like loud music and packed crowds, so we don't tend to go to the 70's parties or things like that. BUT we really enjoyed the piano music at the quieter lounge (forget the name), and we could sit, look out a porthole as we pulled away from shore and have a glass of wine.

See there is something for everyone! Your kids will find something that they like! There is an arcade (which does cost extra), the pools, the basketball court, Studio Sea with the silly game shows, and scheduled activities (like Goofy's pool party on deck 9).

Don't worry, everyone will have a wonderful time!
DJ

 

[Buckaroo's Dad]

A very enlightening thread! Prior to these posts I had viewed mostly rave reviews for the Oceaneers Lab. Yet my then DS9 didn't really care for it. He did, however, prefer the structured activities to the free-play time.

For the most part, however, he wanted to spend time with me - which was MORE than fine. I chose DCL specifically because it is a family cruise. My son and I had a most wonderful time sharing the offerings of Mickey and company aboard the Magic - without the "back-at-home" intrusions of homework-homeworkreview-dinner(yesyouhavetoeatthevegetables)-dishes-laundry-folding-ironing-cleaning-bathing-playingaquickgame-brushyourteeth-feedthehampster-timetoread-nightnight only to be interrupted by an occasional telemarketer (even though I placed our number on the "Do Not Call" list).

Can't wait for our next cruise in August...

 

[royalfun]

I was hoping someone would ask me some questions about the cruise since we just got back. Instead everyone is talking about the lab. Yes our dd did check themselves in and out and that was fine. I just wanted people to know not all kids will find the lab interesting all day. But our dd did spend some time there.

Let's be honest. There were probably 800-1000 kids on board, maybe 200 in the 8-10 age group and never more than 25 in the lab so I think that tells the story. But our 4 dd's had a ball on the ship and that's why we wenton this cruise.

 

[royalfun]

I think the problem was twofold. We ate too late (8:30 pm) and our waiter (Adrian and his helper Joyce) were different. When he was taking our order, he saw someone he knew and left immediately to talk to them for about 5 minutes. The next night, while kneeling on the floor talking to our girls, he asked our daughter to stand up and he took her chair and carried it all across the room. He had her sit there at another table until my wife got up and took her back. I talked to him the next night, let him know our wishes and this would not be tolerated again. He was fine from then on. But the bad taste was in our mouths.

His helper never did get the silverware right, never refilled the water or coffee unless we called her over. It would all be funny if ity weren't that we always looked forward to dinners before this cruise. Yes I know I could have changed waiters, but by then we would have been embarrassed to see him in the dinning room knowing we had complained.

Like I said, we had a great cruise despite this little blip.