Kids Club Concerns

[gotomu212]

A lot of people may not agree with me, but I just wanted to add a thought for the CMs on the thread. I think you have the best of intentions, and you do a great job on the ship, but I would be careful asking for unstructured feedback here.

Surveys are usually developed scientifically and in the case of DCL comment cards there's a process for Disney to follow up with people who seem particularly upset or have a specific incident to discuss further. It leaves a really bad taste in people's mouths when you ask for feedback and either justify the practice or point out that it won't be changing (again not trying to upset you or point to anything specific in the thread) but there's a reason companies use suggestion boxes, online surveys, and specially trained customer survey people.

I personally love this forum to be able to give feedback straight to a CM unfiltered, but from a Disney perspective I would think this thread could raise some eyebrows in their very structured feedback process.

 

[Jess_S]

Yes, and all the kids who require secured programming are crammed into that one space. I'd be more in favor of a one hour open house time every morning in all spaces. That way kids can show off "their" space to mom & dad, but the whole rest of the day it will be for kids only, as intended.

I know that I'm replying to a post 3 days later and after 6 pages of intervening posts, but I wanted to let you know that I did see and appreciate your comment. When I reread my post in the context of the rest of the thread, it seemed kind of flippant. My point was really that I was happy to have the option to bring my son to the clubs before he was old enough to be dropped off. I didn't really understand why the open houses were an issue for people, but I see from this thread what the issues are and why people are concerned.

 

[houseofduck]

Maybe it is because we usually travel during less crowded times, but I haven't seen the problem of the younger children being run over by older children when I have been in the clubs to pick up my children. I may be in the minority, but I (and my children) don't mind the 3 - 12 age range.

Activities my children like are: Anyone Can Cook, Super Sloppy Science, Avengers Training Academy, Toy Story Boot Camp, Goofy Files, magic shows, drawing classes
In the Edge, they like the scavenger hunts, Edge vs. Vibe games (trivia, races,...).
We don't have anyone in the Vibe yet!

 

[kerry1379]

I am torn on the open house times. I absolutely understand parents and kids wanting less open house hours (and I have 2 kiddos that would agree whole heartedly). But I also have a special needs son whom I cannot leave in the kids' club without parental supervision. So the only times he can go in is with us and therefore at the open house hours time. But I also understand that Disney cannot possibly appease everyone and they have to cater the many as opposed to the few.

 

[KT2038]

A lot of people may not agree with me, but I just wanted to add a thought for the CMs on the thread. I think you have the best of intentions, and you do a great job on the ship, but I would be careful asking for unstructured feedback here.

Surveys are usually developed scientifically and in the case of DCL comment cards there's a process for Disney to follow up with people who seem particularly upset or have a specific incident to discuss further. It leaves a really bad taste in people's mouths when you ask for feedback and either justify the practice or point out that it won't be changing (again not trying to upset you or point to anything specific in the thread) but there's a reason companies use suggestion boxes, online surveys, and specially trained customer survey people.

I personally love this forum to be able to give feedback straight to a CM unfiltered, but from a Disney perspective I would think this thread could raise some eyebrows in their very structured feedback process.

I know Disney does its own surveys and questions. But after years of working as a CM, I really just wanted to know what you all really think of us and our spaces. Unless a comment on the comment cards is very specifically for us we don't generally hear it. We do hear good ones though!

 

[Imahikergirl]

I brought my DD on a cruise back in 2004 when she was 9. I know she loved the flubber class and something to do with a mystery and goofy (with goofy himself presenting her with a detective's certificate).

I'm looking forward to some day sailing DCL with a grandkid or kids and just hope it's as magical as it was for my DD.

To the CMs on this thread, thank you for what you do. Dealing with children can be both rewarding and challenging and I hope you guys have some wonderful cruising days ahead of you with many satisfying moments!

 

[anna08]

I will pass your concerns about open house times on to management. However, for the foreseeable future the open house will probably remain as it is.

We've been cruising with DCL for the last decade and the one change we felt has decreased our satisfaction is the new frequency and timing of the OH hours - honestly. Everything else has been the practically the same and drawn us back. We survived the getting trampled stage in the beginning as all nervous parents with their firstborn do, but we've hit the problem well-stated in this thread. We have Palo/Remy reservations and the OH pushes all the kids to one side which can lead to lines with check in and our (now older) kids don't like being stuck into the club. In my opinion, the worst time to go down to one club is during dinner hours. OH used to be mostly just the first day or two of the cruise, when your kiddo could decide whether or not they would want to come back another time, and would disappear by the end of the cruise or be in the morning/early afternoon. Having been to many open houses in the past, it's very rare to see a parent playing with their child there unless they are a toddler.

There is a huge difference between the classic ships and Dream/Fantasy as well. The newer ships can have crazy volumes over dinner and I think there should be more programming outside of the kids' clubs during those times if families need to stay together and don't want to attend the shows. There is plenty of space as was mentioned earlier in this thread.

The OH frequency/length changed on a dime in the recent past - there's no reason to not change it again as quickly back. I think it should be added to the survey as you have a small sampling here and you can see that it is an issue.

 

[orangesub]

I wonder if the amount of open hoses is the same but people are taking cruises with different/ longer itineraries. The youth staff work fewer hours on an Embark because the spaces open some time after drill for check in. On the short cruises there is an Embark every 3 or 4 days. If you take a longer cruise the staff still have to have the required off time. Open House lets the staff get the off time required by law while still keeping the doors open so people can enjoy the space. A lot of people take a short cruise their first time and start to book longer and more varied cruises once they know they like cruising with Disney. To truly know if Open House is more frequent than in the past you would need to look at navigators from the same itinerary and ship. Maybe some one with lots of old navigators can look and compare.

 

[tlprice]

My DD9 (was 8 on our cruise) is an only child. The age ranges don't matter to her. She is used to hanging out with her older cousins (14-17) and also loves to play with younger children. She likes it when they look up to her. On our cruise she befriended several younger children in the Club/Lab. She really liked Pixie Hollow, drawing lessons, face painting, anything with arts and crafts, something fun with Stitch, and pretty much everything except the Star Wars stuff. She also never got to play in the Infinity room because it was always full, but she didn't care. There were plenty of other things to do.

One suggestion I'd make is better hours for Meet Your Counselors on the first day. On our last cruise this was only available during the first show (which was our show time) and during the tree lighting (which my child wasn't going to miss!). On our upcoming cruise, it looks like it is only during 2nd dining, which is our dining time.

 

[imortalcandy]

My 8 & 10 year old love the club on the ship but hate it on the beach and refuse to go because they feel the staff make them play even if they don't want to and hate that there is nowhere to go that they can't get splashed
They also hate that the staff won't page us the first time they ask
And that the club is for 3-11 year olds and that's to much of an age difference to all be together
They also say there is no announcement when special things are happening like cooking

 

[elena_n2o]

As a relative newbie (we've only done 1 cruise so far), a guide to what the different activities are would definitely be good. We didn't really check what was going on in the club, we usually dropped our daughter in the club when we had time between excursions and meals and shows, she absolutely loved it and kept asking to go (she was 4 years old), so we didn't target any particular activities.

She never told us much about what she'd done (once she did say she had met Superman which I thought was quite cool from him considering he's DC not Marvel we still don't know who she meant ) She loved being with the older kids, and when I went to pick her up I did find her playing with older children more often than not. She's not shy, she loves playing and will go up to anyone if she likes what they're doing, so for her having a wide age group definitely works great.

I think on our next cruise I'll try to ask more when I check her in about what activities are going on. But for instance during boarding day, when they have the open houses, it could be nice to have already a list of the different activities that will be going on during the cruise so parents have a chance to ask about them and maybe plan accordingly.

 

[cheermom2four]

Im a little concerned looking at very recent Western caribbean navigators that the club (not lab side) is OH from 9am to 1pm about every day of the cruise. Thats 4 hours of OH just for that side that is geared (from what I've experienced) to the younger aged kids in that age range of 3 -12. I'm bummed because what will my daughter do when we are on an excursion early morning that is geared to her age in the lab side of the club (she will be just turning 5 on the 2nd day of our cruise). We planned on leaving her on the ship as she literally just meets the age 5 limit to snorkel but she doesnt swim well enough for us to feel comfortable to bring her. She's not into video games.

Edited to add: Just verified its every port day that the club is OH from 9am to 1pm. I saw that the club side is geared to the younger kids. I know I will see people who dont agree with leaving your kids in the club while you go on an excursion and its something I struggle with but I'd rather her be safe on the ship than trying to hold onto her while snorkeling.

 

[TestingH2O]

Im a little concerned looking at very recent Western caribbean navigators that the club (not lab side) is OH from 9am to 1pm about every day of the cruise. Thats 4 hours of OH just for that side that is geared (from what I've experienced) to the younger aged kids in that age range of 3 -12. I'm bummed because what will my daughter do when we are on an excursion early morning that is geared to her age in the lab side of the club (she will be just turning 5 on the 2nd day of our cruise). We planned on leaving her on the ship as she literally just meets the age 5 limit to snorkel but she doesnt swim well enough for us to feel comfortable to bring her. She's not into video games.

Edited to add: Just verified its every port day that the club is OH from 9am to 1pm. I saw that the club side is geared to the younger kids. I know I will see people who dont agree with leaving your kids in the club while you go on an excursion and its something I struggle with but I'd rather her be safe on the ship than trying to hold onto her while snorkeling.

I'm on a Western next spring and I have the same concern. Having the same side closed for so long ever day seems particularly unfair to the younger kids. I suspect the numbers really are lower on port days, but it's the fact that it's always the club that's closed that I am questioning.

We haven't reached our booking window yet, but I'll be keeping that in mind when I book.

 

[Chica1581]

My daughter would love more organized activities that include characters in the club.

 

[Vicki106]

We sailed the Dream in March and my son (8) loved everything about the Oceaneers Club. He loved the Disney Infinity room (and now since that game is discontinued, he's worrying that they will close/change the Infinity Room) and he loved the game where he got to "drive the ship". His older sisters (ages 12 and 15) didn't spend much time in their clubs because they wanted to hang out together. Our next cruise they will both be able to go to Vibe, so they might spend more time in that club. But the one thing that both of them absolutely loved was the activity where they painted cells of Disney characters. This activity was done in both the Edge and Vibe, just at different times. My oldest asked for some extra plastic sheets and tracing pages and the CM gave them to her. She shared with her brother and he loved this activity, as well. Thanks for all the hard work that the CMs in the Clubs do!

 

[Weedy]

it could be nice to have already a list of the different activities that will be going on during the cruise so parents have a chance to ask about them and maybe plan accordingly.

The events happening in the club are listed in the Navigators that you receive each evening in your cabin or you can download an app that list the events for the whole cruise.

 

[Naomi Collison]

Im a little concerned looking at very recent Western caribbean navigators that the club (not lab side) is OH from 9am to 1pm about every day of the cruise. Thats 4 hours of OH just for that side that is geared (from what I've experienced) to the younger aged kids in that age range of 3 -12. I'm bummed because what will my daughter do when we are on an excursion early morning that is geared to her age in the lab side of the club (she will be just turning 5 on the 2nd day of our cruise). We planned on leaving her on the ship as she literally just meets the age 5 limit to snorkel but she doesnt swim well enough for us to feel comfortable to bring her. She's not into video games.

Edited to add: Just verified its every port day that the club is OH from 9am to 1pm. I saw that the club side is geared to the younger kids. I know I will see people who dont agree with leaving your kids in the club while you go on an excursion and its something I struggle with but I'd rather her be safe on the ship than trying to hold onto her while snorkeling.

I don't know much about Disney Cruises, but in regards to snorkeling, is she comfortable with her head in the water? We are working with both my 2 and 5 yr old now to get them comfortable with that skill. When snorkeling, they wear life jackets so it is just lean forward and sit up. My sons both love it and they started at 3.

 

[Naomi Collison]

I wish for early dine and play as well. My 2 yr old will be old enough to play in the Club / Lab when we go however she has serious allergies and we don't trust others to feed her as her allergens can be quite hidden (Potato, Wheat, Dairy). I would rather we feed her and then she get to go play but I also know that an hour long meal will be way too long for her to stay and us to stay sane.

 

[TestingH2O]

The events happening in the club are listed in the Navigators that you receive each evening in your cabin or you can download an app that list the events for the whole cruise.

View attachment 187000

Yes, but not all activities have descriptions readily available. Also, the counselors are indicating that there are events that happen in addition to those published in the Navigator.

 

[jeepnjudy]

If adults meet in the kids club at 1 am to make Flubber, something tells me, a ton of rum had to be consumed prior to this!
Ok, I can see now, probably fun times in the kids club!

Now we all need to try a longer cruise just to check this out! lol