OceanQuest on the Magic

[DisneyMama27]

My DD11 and DS13 are wondering about OceanQuest. We sailed on the Wonder before, and this isn't a separate area. Now we will be on the Magic, and they are both too old for the Lab this time.

It looks like kids can enter and leave OQ at will? There was no registration online for that, as there was for my DD9 for the Lab. They are wondering how crowded it will be, if it's "babyish" (my son's concern), and if they have organized activities (crafts, games, etc) in there like the Lab. Have any of your kids spent time there? enjoyed it? Any feedback is welcome!

Also, will DD11 be allowed to go to the Lab with her sis if she wants? DS was hoping he could go to the Stack this time, but online it says 14-17. I am ok with that, since I'm not sure about a barely-13yo hanging out with older teens, but he really wants to know if that is the rule or if they allow 13yos in there too.

The age limits on the Wonder were different, so they are a little confused now!

 

[madmum63]

We are on the Magic 28th Aug 2010. We have the same problem as you, our DS just 13 no longer has to be signed in and our DD 10 wants to sign herself out if her friends that she makes in club are allowed. We are not comfortable with this situationas on our Panama Canal cruise in 08 it was a disaster as this was the 'trial' for the change in signing in and out. We ended up organising our sons entertainment as quite a lot of other children were playing in the elevators and generally being a nuisance. We didn't want him getting into trouble.

Having said that, here we are again giving another DCL a go. He turned 13 in July and I have been reading the advice given by other families when they hit the same problem. All being well our son can meet up with a nice buddy and they can go round together. He still chats via email to his friend that we eventually let him hang out with on the Panama cruise. Good Luck.
It is always a concern but I suppose we have to let them grow up and give them some responsibility eventually

 

[DisneyMama27]

We did not give ours sign-out priveleges last time, but I regretted it. No sooner would DH and I start to enjoy our own activity, we would get paged that someone wanted to check out.

This time, I am giving DD9 sign-out...I think. It just seemed like last time we had to wait a lot longer to get them signed out. Kids who could sign themselves out got out a lot quicker. I would like the pager for her, though.

Definitely we will use the whiteboards and set some serious ground rules (I've seen some great ones on the disboards!) but I know I have to let go a little and let them have their own fun, especially if I want to have MY own fun!

 

[Lokkabear]

This will be our first cruise and my kids will be 11(DD) and 13(DS). My DS was quite upset when he heard The Stack was for 14 -17. I called DCL directly and spoke with a great guy(Abraham) and he informed me that if my son is mature enough(meaning he is fine on his own) I can meet with the Councelor for The Stack have he will be able to go there. They post the age groups as a guid line and sometimes it can be bent. I hope this is true because my DS will be right bent out of shape if he can't use the teen facilities. I am sure it will be fine though and I trust Abraham. I hope this helps.

 

[boundfordisney]

We were on the magic Nov. 2009 took our 2 grandkids , grandson 13 and granddaughter 12, they loved oceanquest! We hardly ever saw them as they wanted to be there as much as possible. Some days we would see them only at meals and while in ports. They made good friends and still keep in touch by emails , they even are trying to get us all to cruise again at the same time so they can see each other again. It was a first cruise for all of us, we were in a stateroom just down the hall from oceanquest so it was handy for us to check in on them every once in awhile.The only downside was that I wanted to spend a little more family time together but they were having so much fun with their new friends that I couldnt say no. We are booked on the dream next August for a BTB and Im sure they are gonna be looking forward to the new hangout vibe and making new freinds once again.

 

[Stimpy]

My DS did Ocean Quest 2 weeks ago on the Magic during the Baltic. We went with him the first time to see if he could go since he was still 10 (11 in October). The place seemed packed to me. Once he was allowed in OC, they told us he was no longer allowed into the Lab except as a visitor. They removed his wrist band and he could come and go as he wanted. (He was fine with that since there were too many younger kids in the Lab anyway)

They did have organized activities plus there is the Out & About program they can participate in. There was also downtime for them to do what they wanted.

This was the first time we gave him sign out priviledges in the OL and it worked well. In OQ, there was no signing in or out so he was no his own. The CM's did say they could page us if he wanted to let us know where he was going. (We still had DD in OC so had a pager). I wouldn't rely on the pagers though. Sometimes they were really delayed...like the next day! LOL

 

[hopelea]

I guess my dd, 12 at the time, was one of the rare few. She did not like OQ at all. She thought some of the activities were fine, but felt it was geared more toward the boys. This was her 3rd cruise. The first 2, she was always in the lab. I had a hard time getting her to eat with us. But the lab was just not her thing. Our upcoming trip in March she will be in the Loft and she is thrilled about that!!!

 

[Stacey in MD]

I have 3 boys - 7, 9, & 11. This will be our first time on the Magic (we were on the Wonder in 2008) and do I understand right that they are not so rigid on the ages for the Club & the Lab now? My boys were all hoping to be able to be together for the most part, but will my 11 year old be required to go the Ocean Quest or will he be able to go to the Lab with his brothers? Will the 7 or 9 year olds be allowed in Ocean Quest?

Thanks!

Stacey

 

[Stimpy]

The 7 & 9 yr olds will only be allowed in OQ during designated times (Sometimes the Lab will take them there as an activity or there are open houses some days when the OQ kids are somewhere else)

They are strict with ages for OQ. We had to ask permission for our DS to attend instead of OL. He will be 11 in 2 1/2 months. We had to wait until a manager ok'd it before he was allowed to move up.

The way I understood it was that he was no longer allowed in the lab/club unless attending as a visitor with a parent.

Apparently the lab & club are for kids from 3-10 now and they can switch between the two whenever they want? I didn't realize this before we went this time since they were always two seperate places for seperate ages the last time we sailed. One of the reasons my DS wanted to move up was because there were so many younger kids in the Lab and he felt really out of place.

 

[DisneyMama27]

Thanks for the great feedback! I think the kids will love OQ, and they are already making friends on our Kids' Cruise Meet thread!

One more questions...what is the Out and About program? I have not heard of this before. TIA for any info. Kids are really looking forward to the cruise!

DD9 was wondering if she could go to OQ, but it looks like that will be a no. We'll see if DD11 would rather be in OQ or hang with sis in OL! Either way works for me...she makes friends easy, and is easily entertained!

 

[Cliffside]

The 7 & 9 yr olds will only be allowed in OQ during designated times (Sometimes the Lab will take them there as an activity or there are open houses some days when the OQ kids are somewhere else)

They are strict with ages for OQ. We had to ask permission for our DS to attend instead of OL. He will be 11 in 2 1/2 months. We had to wait until a manager ok'd it before he was allowed to move up.

The way I understood it was that he was no longer allowed in the lab/club unless attending as a visitor with a parent.

Apparently the lab & club are for kids from 3-10 now and they can switch between the two whenever they want? I didn't realize this before we went this time since they were always two seperate places for seperate ages the last time we sailed. One of the reasons my DS wanted to move up was because there were so many younger kids in the Lab and he felt really out of place.

That is one of the thinkgs I was concerned about when they combined all the ages. DD has been on 5 Disney cruises and has loved the club and lab on each one. She is an only child and what she really enjoyed was meeting a lot of kids her own age that became her "friends". With all the ages combined I think that would be harder.

When we sail on the Magic in August she will be 2 months shy of 11. I had spoken to a CM in OQ when we sailed last November and he said that she could be most likely moved up, but I will sure miss having a pager especially at night if she is allowed and wants to move up.