Oceaneer's Lab question

[d4est]

Hey there-

We will be cruising for the first time in Jan 2010 on the Wonder. My Ds will be 12. Can he come and go from the lab without our knowledge? I ask because I was reading a thread about Quest on the Magic and it seems that kids aged 11-13 can come and go as they please, without a page to the parents.

I guess I am an overprotective parent, but I am not comfortable with my Ds running around the ship unsupervised. Don't get me wrong, he is a good kid and we've never had any behavioral or disciplinary issues with him...but you never know. He could hook up with kids that aren't "rule followers," for example. Plus, just because it's Disney, doesn't mean that everyone on board will be happy, pixie dust throwing dis'ers. You just never know. Predators can be anywhere.

So...can he just sign himself out? Thanks!!

 

[JoiseyMom]

Hey there-

We will be cruising for the first time in Jan 2010 on the Wonder. My Ds will be 12. Can he come and go from the lab without our knowledge? I ask because I was reading a thread about Quest on the Magic and it seems that kids aged 11-13 can come and go as they please, without a page to the parents.

I guess I am an overprotective parent, but I am not comfortable with my Ds running around the ship unsupervised. Don't get me wrong, he is a good kid and we've never had any behavioral or disciplinary issues with him...but you never know. He could hook up with kids that aren't "rule followers," for example. Plus, just because it's Disney, doesn't mean that everyone on board will be happy, pixie dust throwing dis'ers. You just never know. Predators can be anywhere.

So...can he just sign himself out? Thanks!!

On the wonder you will have a pager, and he will only be able to sign himself out if you give him permission to do so. Hope that helps.

 

[SILLYANDI]

I was one of the skeptics that said I would never let my kids sign themselves in/out BUT after reading the boards we decided to give it a try.
We allowed our 10 & 8 yr old daughters to sign in/out-the lab paged us everytime they left.
We had no problem with our girls wandering the ship because we set down ground rules before hand that were very clear. They signed out to come back to the cabin to nap, change for dinner or go to bed. Toward the end of the cruise we let them sign out to go to the pool together also.

It was much easier for us to let them sign in/out because we didn't have to go to the lab with them everytime or stand in long lines to check them out when necessary. Several times I called up there and they sent the girls down to the room for us. Our cabin was right off the midship elevator so navigating was easy for them).It worked very well for us, but I'm not sure if I would have done it if I had a lone child. I do have to say I was very worried at first but as the days past and we all got more comfortable with the ship it got easier and my kids really enjoyed the responsibility (and I was impressed with their handling of the responsibility too!)

 

[kcashner]

You are totally in control. You give or deny permission for you children to sign themselves out. They can always sign themselves in.

The beepers--yes, you can request that your child ask the CM to notify you on the beeper when the child signs out. The system is automated and it is easy for the CM to do so. With a few mouse clicks, they can send a message that "Tommy is going to the pool" or whatever. However, the CMs do get busy and guaranteed parental notification when a child signs out is not part of the deal. Also, your child must remember to ask the CM to page the parent. They made the system easier for the CM than it used to be, but when 10 kids are trying to check out that becomes a higher priority than paging parents who have allowed kids to sign out on their own. "May sign out with page" is not an option.

Yes, I was concerned about DD being able to sign out the first time despite it not being our first cruise. However, the benefits outweighed the small risk--we set up family rules that when she left the Lab she had to either go straight to the cabin OR have me paged. Thus, I knew that she was either in the Lab or the cabin...or I had been notified as to where she was going. She couldn't leave that place except to go to the cabin. Yeah, I'm an overprotective parent.

 

[d4est]

Thank you, all, for the responces. I am glad to know I have as much control as I want. Like I said, he's a good kid but... We are from a small, rural town. We live in the boonies, so he's not used to being able to roam like some kids who live in town and walk to school, to the store or to a friend's. I'll just feel better knowing where he's at all times!

 

[ChaosControl]

My son was able to come and go as he pleased. I felt better with the paging system, he always had us paged before he left to go anywhere. (Usually back to the room.) Thank goodness for bolt locks on the doors and the heads up from the pager!!

 

[d4est]

My son was able to come and go as he pleased. I felt better with the paging system, he always had us paged before he left to go anywhere. (Usually back to the room.) Thank goodness for bolt locks on the doors and the heads up from the pager!!

He was able to "come and go as he pleased" because you gave him sign out privileges, right?

 

[kcashner]

He was able to "come and go as he pleased" because you gave him sign out privileges, right?

Exactly. Mom must sign permission for this for age 12 and under.

 

[atinkerbellmom]

Yes in the lab you have control. Once they are teens parents do not. It may be a good year to try it half way through the trip as for your next cruise he will have his own rights.... (Know you can switch it anytime.) We did not give my 10 yr old privilages until this last cruise and we did not do it until day 3. We were with a lot of other kids and he was friends with a lot of the DIS kids prior and we still waited. We have cruised DCL many times and I still did not do it until after we had been on the ship for a couple of days. We also had him have the CM page us and say where he was going. The pages are text pages. He knew he needed to be there or the SR after he left! Grant it last cruise we ended up with almost all Sea Days which with child self check in/out it is a lot easier on sea days than port days IMHO.

 

[kcashner]

When you register your child in the Lab (or the first time you go to the lab on the ship and get the pager) you will have the option of allowing him to sign himself out. If you say no, then you will be paged if/when he tells a CM that he wants to leave and he will be released only to people you have indicated who know the password. If you say yes, he can sign himself out whenever he pleases. You can also change this during the cruise. If you don't allow him to sign out the first few days but later decide it will work, you can go to the Lab and change your preference.

You can also make a request that you be paged when he signs out. They make an effort to honor this request, but it is not a guarantee. If the CM is busy, they may not get it done in a timely fashion.

YOU retain total control about the sign out as long as child is in the LAB. When they move to Ocean Quest, Aloft, or The Stack, there is no sign out at all--they come and go as they please.

 

[d4est]

You guys have been great and I thank you! I feel much better knowing I have control. It's also nice to know that I can change my preferences at any time. I am really hoping to get some action on my cruise meet thread, thinking that maybe he can hook up with another child of a dis'er.

 

[anewmac]

We gave our 10yr old a stern talking that this is a privledge and at anytime that it could be taken away and he would have to be checked in and out like his lil bro. We told him when he wanted to be checked out he had to have us page.. we didnt care how busy the cm's were he had to wait to get a page to us. Our rule was he could go to the beverage station/food at one of the places up on deck and then back to the room Where we would meet him.

This was only allowed on sea days as port days they were with us. Execpt for the extended time at Cozumel when we went back to Carlos and Charlies for a few drinks LOL. Thats when we told ds he HAD to stay until we got him out.

**** question for someone that may know, sorry to thread steal**** on our next cruise. Can we allow ds #1 (11) to check out ds #2 (6) from his club and they can together walk back to the room. Might help us in the times we need to get ready for dinner, having ds check out the other instead of dh and I losing getting ready time standing in that long line LOL

thanks

 

[kcashner]

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**** question for someone that may know, sorry to thread steal**** on our next cruise. Can we allow ds #1 (11) to check out ds #2 (6) from his club and they can together walk back to the room. Might help us in the times we need to get ready for dinner, having ds check out the other instead of dh and I losing getting ready time standing in that long line LOL

thanks

Unless the policy has changed, you cannot authorize a child to check out a sibling. There is usually not a line for check out, so it is unlikely that you would lose much time handling this yourself.

If traveling with family, you can authorize adults who are not parents to do the check out. They need to be listed on the form and know your password.

 

[SILLYANDI]

We gave our 10yr old a stern talking that this is a privledge and at anytime that it could be taken away and he would have to be checked in and out like his lil bro. We told him when he wanted to be checked out he had to have us page.. we didnt care how busy the cm's were he had to wait to get a page to us. Our rule was he could go to the beverage station/food at one of the places up on deck and then back to the room Where we would meet him.

This was only allowed on sea days as port days they were with us. Execpt for the extended time at Cozumel when we went back to Carlos and Charlies for a few drinks LOL. Thats when we told ds he HAD to stay until we got him out.

**** question for someone that may know, sorry to thread steal**** on our next cruise. Can we allow ds #1 (11) to check out ds #2 (6) from his club and they can together walk back to the room. Might help us in the times we need to get ready for dinner, having ds check out the other instead of dh and I losing getting ready time standing in that long line LOL

thanks

No. Wouldn't that be great though? I tried on the Magic 12/13 and they would only allow adults (18+) to sign anyone out of the club. I wish I would have got those extra minutes!