only child

[Steffi]

For the folks with just one child: Do your kids make friends at the Oceaneer Club? I'm just wondering if my DD7 will have anyone her age to play with...it seems like most of the kids have brothers/sisters/cousins onboard to play with. (She's very outgoing, never at a loss for words...no problem with shyness here.) Thanks for any info

 

[Michelle]

Steffi, my daughter is 8 and an only child, and she's been on four Disney cruises so far, starting when she was five. She LOVES the kid's clubs and we practically have to drag her out of there! She is a very outgoing kid too, and she's also perfectly happy playing alone if she wants to, so it sounds like your daughter will do just fine too.

She will have a blast -- enjoy!

 

[G's mommy]

We have been on 2 Disney cruises with our "only" who was 3 and 4 at the time! He loved the clubs and had no problems making friends! He is also very outgoing and has been in daycare and preschools his entire life, so was used to group activities. On our last cruise when he was 4 1/2, our tablemates also had a son (also an only) who was the same age! Our boys hit it off immediately and enjoyed playing together the entire cruise. A cruise is an excellent vacation for only children, never a dull moment and lots and lots of kids around to play with!

Have fun!

 

[NCRedding]

I'll second the other posters. My only DD is 9 and has been on 2 cruises with 1 more scheduled in the fall. She doesn't make friends that easily at home, but had no problems with meeting and enjoying friends on the cruise. The counselors also work hard to make sure that no one is alone--unless they want to be.

 

[swede63]

Dido here ,my son who was 10y/o last year meet more friends that he had so much fun with, it was struggle to get him to go the shows at night, he wanted to go be with the friends. He actually loved the 7 day Magic cruise more than the year before ten days at DL, so we are going on the 7 day again.

 

[iloverags2]

I wouldn't worry now about it, but would definitely get an only child into cruising when they are younger. Our girl went on her first cruise at 13, and had no desire to go off without us. When she was younger, she would have been more likely to. Maybe just her personality though.

 

[plutospup]

Our shy & quiet DD4 enjoyed the Oceaneers Club, and made many friends. The counselors are great at getting the kids to interact with each other. Also, there was a 4 yo at our dining table. They hit it off immediately, and always wanted to do things together.

 

[SC Minnie]

Our DD7 - an only child- did enjoy the kids club. She made a few new friends on board. She goes to day care when not in school so I think that helps her adjust to other kids and not be so klingy with us. There were times she just wanted to hang out with Mom and Dad and that was OK too. Our tablemates was a mom and daughter about the same age as our DD and the girls became fast friends. They are becoming pen pals. We are doing the same cruise again in Oct and have linked our dinner reservations.

I wouldn't worry about your daughter- if she is outgoing she will fit right in.

 

[blanq]

I have another perspective than some of the other responses to this post, so I thought I'd throw it in. We have an only child...our DS was 7 when we cruised the 7 day Magic last January. We travel fairly regularily (vacationing 3-4 times per year), and always choose vacations that give our DS the opportunity to connect with other kids because of the "only child" issue. In short, he hated the kids club. He is normally an outgoing kid, and tends to make friends easily, but what threw him for a loop was the noise and commotion in the club. We have a fairly quiet household, and there were tons of kids in the club, and noise was anything but relaxing and enjoyable for him. He refused to go back after his first visit, so he played with us the rest of the trip. We will cruise later this year (on a line other than DCL) and he has already forewarned us..."no kids club!" I have learned in our travels that when you have kids you just can never predict what they will, or won't like, so we try to just go with the flow and plan for contingencies.

 

[Steffi]

Thanks, everyone, for the advice I think we'll all have a great time. The only sad news for us is that we won't get to cruise with Disney When we were first planning, we had wanted to go on a 3 or 4 day Disney cruise in October, when there are great fall discounts to be had (and it's right around our DD's birthday!). Then we read that the weather in October can be less than favorable, so we decided that a summertime cruise might be best for our first time on the high seas. We talked to our travel agent & found that we just couldn't do the summertime Disney rates We're going to go on Royal Caribbean instead & hope for the best. Our hearts will still be with Disney, though, and if we enjoy cruising, we'll aim for an off-season Disney cruise next time!

P.S. Does anyone have any information or advice about RCI, especially the kids' programs?

 

[TnRobin]

Steph, I was going to respond to this thread about the only child issue (DS, age 7) is an only and he loves the clubs)

But as for the weather issue. We have been on three cruises during Hurricane Season and have had nothing but great weather. I am actually somewhat concerned about our May cruise as I fear it will be way to hot.