Policy change Oceaneer Club and Lab

[AZMermaid]

Can kids sign themselves out from Edge? Can parents say they’re not allowed to? My oldest is turning 11 this summer. I’m not comfortable with him being able to wander around a ship with a bunch of strangers by himself.

Yes they can and no you can’t- officially at least. You can let your son know he’s not allowed to leave but be aware some of the activities involve leaving (scavenger hunt, sports court, Pirate night etc) so he’d have to stay back. Bit they also post the days activities on a white board in the AM. My kids would go up and snap a picture each morning after breakfast. You can see when the out and about things are and keep him out if you don’t want him tempted.

 

[unrequited23]

Can kids sign themselves out from Edge? Can parents say they’re not allowed to? My oldest is turning 11 this summer. I’m not comfortable with him being able to wander around a ship with a bunch of strangers by himself.

There is no sign in/sign out from Edge. DS11 and I would go over our plans in the morning to coordinate the things he really wanted to do at Edge and the must-do family time activities. He always made sure he was at least 10 minutes early when we were supposed to meet up. The only issue we had was when we trusted him to grab lunch from the pool deck when he got hungry and found out he'd only had an ice cream cone.

 

[Anna131517]

Well there goes the allure of a Disney Cruise. We loved being able to drop our kids off at the kids club while we got some adult time. No way am I leaving my 11 year old at a kids club where he can just walk out. Our five year old ran away from us on our last cruise and was lost for 30 minutes. She went up five floors and halfway across the ship before we found her just standing in a hallway of staterooms. Not a single cast member noticed her or would help us. Which means no one is looking out for an 11 year old wandering around a ship full of strangers (read potential pedophiles). We also found out that no, they won’t even check cameras for your kid.

 

[sponica]

There is no sign in/sign out from Edge. DS11 and I would go over our plans in the morning to coordinate the things he really wanted to do at Edge and the must-do family time activities. He always made sure he was at least 10 minutes early when we were supposed to meet up. The only issue we had was when we trusted him to grab lunch from the pool deck when he got hungry and found out he'd only had an ice cream cone.

Sorry this made me laugh, it's something my kid would totally do. But as an industrious 3 year old, she opened the freezer one morning (we have a side by side) and helped herself to an ice cream sandwhich when I let the dog out back.

 

[MomOTwins]

Well there goes the allure of a Disney Cruise. We loved being able to drop our kids off at the kids club while we got some adult time. No way am I leaving my 11 year old at a kids club where he can just walk out. Our five year old ran away from us on our last cruise and was lost for 30 minutes. She went up five floors and halfway across the ship before we found her just standing in a hallway of staterooms. Not a single cast member noticed her or would help us. Which means no one is looking out for an 11 year old wandering around a ship full of strangers (read potential pedophiles). We also found out that no, they won’t even check cameras for your kid.

It is definitely scary and definitely happens—it happened to us. My son was 11 last year and we left him in Edge with strict instructions that he could stay in Edge or check himself into the Oceaneer’s club (back when that was an option). We came to pick him up and he was gone. Not in the club either. Nobody had a record when he left or where he went. We were in concierge and thankfully they were super helpful and called all around and organized a search for him and our family also split up to look for him. Eventually found him he had followed a group of kids from Edge who were doing the midship detective scavenger hunt game. He knew he wasn’t supposed to but the peer pressure got to him. He felt pretty bad when he saw how scared we all were and after that he was restricted to Oceaneers for the rest of the cruise.

I do think if they are going to force kids that age to go to Edge they should at least have some kind of check in/check out system like the club.

 

[anricat]

I have a different perspective in that I thought the cruise was such a great place for my tween to have a taste of independence and we allowed her to check herself out of the Club/Lab as soon as that was an option. She always had an old phone on her with the app/iMessage and the rule was that she had to have a specific place she was going to go, i.e. trivia, craft, ice cream, the room, and so forth. She was no allowed to go into any other state rooms and she was not allowed to just wander or loiter in any hallways or other areas. She was also not allowed to be in/around the pool area without us. But otherwise, it was a great chance for her to feel independent and for us to see how she would do with that independence. So it was a nice in between stage before we started allowing her to stay home alone eventually when she was 12.

 

[Kerr84]

Has anyone experienced the change for the 3-4 littles? I have a now 4 year old and we cruise next month on Magic. We've always been a big fan of the nursery but now since he's aged out I'm not sure how I feel about it. For reference he's an only child, been full potty trained since 2 and is used to being around kids his age, not older kids. So it's either try it out or keep him with us the whole time which I don't mind of course because we always have lots of fun.

We were on the Wish Jan 2-5. My daughter is 4, but she is autistic and has global development delay and a speech delay. I wasn't planning on leaving her in the kids club, but the 1 hour she was with dad without me and he took here there. lol. They did keep the 3 and 4 year olds together and there were about 5 counselors with 10 kids. Dad sat on the couch by the kids club and could see them moving around as a group. She only stayed for about 40 minutes, but I definitely think this is a great move to keep the little kids more safe. Also, my daughter was only partially potty trained and we were very upfront about that, but the counselors definitely encouraged dad to try it even after he explained all her challenges with speech and stuff.

 

[AZMermaid]

Well there goes the allure of a Disney Cruise. We loved being able to drop our kids off at the kids club while we got some adult time. No way am I leaving my 11 year old at a kids club where he can just walk out. Our five year old ran away from us on our last cruise and was lost for 30 minutes. She went up five floors and halfway across the ship before we found her just standing in a hallway of staterooms. Not a single cast member noticed her or would help us. Which means no one is looking out for an 11 year old wandering around a ship full of strangers (read potential pedophiles). We also found out that no, they won’t even check cameras for your kid.

But there’s a difference between a 5 and an 11 year old. An 11 year old knows to follow directions and if they don’t- no more club- or whatever consequence you choose. But DCL will always be there when you/he are ready!

 

[skierrob]

Well there goes the allure of a Disney Cruise. We loved being able to drop our kids off at the kids club while we got some adult time. No way am I leaving my 11 year old at a kids club where he can just walk out. Our five year old ran away from us on our last cruise and was lost for 30 minutes. She went up five floors and halfway across the ship before we found her just standing in a hallway of staterooms. Not a single cast member noticed her or would help us. Which means no one is looking out for an 11 year old wandering around a ship full of strangers (read potential pedophiles). We also found out that no, they won’t even check cameras for your kid.

Man how times have changed. When I was 11 in the 1980's, I and all of my friends were kicked out of the house in the AM and not let back in until dark. We rode our bikes to mini-golf, the movies, wherever. We played as kids and enjoyed ourselves. When we went to Disneyland or Knotts, our parents just told us to meet them in five hours at a certain restaurant and we went on rides alone. And trust me, the risk of "potential pedophiles" was no less than it is today. Yet now an 11 year old can't even join a group of other kids outside of a kids club on a Disney cruise ship to participate in group activities without mom and dad freaking out? Wow. My mind is blown at the helicopter parenting of today's generation. How will kids learn independent living skills with mom and dad breathing against their necks all day long until they turn 18? Trusting your children to avoid Stranger Danger is a part of growing up. Hovering over them is not.

 

[West_Coast_DVC_Fam]

My son turned 11 a couple weeks before our cruise last summer and was so excited that the could finally go to Edge. He had fun in club/lab when he was younger, but by 11 he wasn’t looking forward to being surrounded by a bunch of littles. I wouldn’t consider him a super mature 11 year old, but he did perfectly fine. He had his cell phone and we communicated through the app. He made friends in Edge that he still texts with on a regular basis. I was a worried at the beginning about not having sign in/out requirements. I thought my son would jump off the side of the ship or something if he was left on his own. I was wrong though. He was perfectly fine. My son said it was the best vacation he has ever had because he had his first taste of independence. I would encourage worried parents to give it a try. Your kids will probably surprise you.

 

[MomOTwins]

Man how times have changed. When I was 11 in the 1980's, I and all of my friends were kicked out of the house in the AM and not let back in until dark. We rode our bikes to mini-golf, the movies, wherever. We played as kids and enjoyed ourselves. When we went to Disneyland or Knotts, our parents just told us to meet them in five hours at a certain restaurant and we went on rides alone. And trust me, the risk of "potential pedophiles" was no less than it is today. Yet now an 11 year old can't even join a group of other kids outside of a kids club on a Disney cruise ship to participate in group activities without mom and dad freaking out? Wow. My mind is blown at the helicopter parenting of today's generation. How will kids learn independent living skills with mom and dad breathing against their necks all day long until they turn 18? Trusting your children to avoid Stranger Danger is a part of growing up. Hovering over them is not.

What “independent living skills” do kids learn from running around a ship or a theme park with a bunch of kids? Cruise ships have a large concentration of strangers (5,500 guests and crew) in a very small area, most of which consists of private bedrooms. We teach our kids independence at home. On a cruise ship, we want to know where they are and who they are with.

It’s not just the predator risk. I’ve also seen other parents’ middle school and high school aged kids enjoy their “independence” on Disney cruises by stealing items from fish extenders or pin boards, licking food and putting it back on the buffet, climbing on railings, and worst of all, knocking an elderly lady down to the ground as they ran down the stairs. I don’t believe my kids would do any of that, but I’m sure those kids’ parents didn’t believe their kids would either, or maybe they do and don’t care. I don’t want my kids free rein to roam the ship in the company of kids I don’t know who may rope them into doing something irresponsible or even dangerous.

 

[Mango7100]

Man how times have changed. When I was 11 in the 1980's, I and all of my friends were kicked out of the house in the AM and not let back in until dark. We rode our bikes to mini-golf, the movies, wherever. We played as kids and enjoyed ourselves. When we went to Disneyland or Knotts, our parents just told us to meet them in five hours at a certain restaurant and we went on rides alone. And trust me, the risk of "potential pedophiles" was no less than it is today. Yet now an 11 year old can't even join a group of other kids outside of a kids club on a Disney cruise ship to participate in group activities without mom and dad freaking out? Wow. My mind is blown at the helicopter parenting of today's generation. How will kids learn independent living skills with mom and dad breathing against their necks all day long until they turn 18? Trusting your children to avoid Stranger Danger is a part of growing up. Hovering over them is not.

I grew up in the 80s as well. But you cannot compare growing up in the 80s to growing up now. Kids these days have a way different world to deal with than we did—thanks to a variety of reasons but the big one is the internet and social media. And kids these days are way more savvy than you or I were riding our bikes in 1984. Just because you don’t want your 11 year old to run around a cruise ship with 5000 strangers unattended does not make you a helicopter parent or mean you will raise some emotionally stunted kid. Am I going to sit and watch her 24/7? no. But I’m also not going to kick her out of the cabin at 8 am and say find something to do and see you at 7 pm like the good old 80s

 

[skierrob]

What “independent living skills” do kids learn from running around a ship or a theme park with a bunch of kids? Cruise ships have a large concentration of strangers (5,500 guests and crew) in a very small area, most of which consists of private bedrooms. We teach our kids independence at home. On a cruise ship, we want to know where they are and who they are with.

It’s not just the predator risk. I’ve also seen other parents’ middle school and high school aged kids enjoy their “independence” on Disney cruises by stealing items from fish extenders or pin boards, licking food and putting it back on the buffet, climbing on railings, and worst of all, knocking an elderly lady down to the ground as they ran down the stairs. I don’t believe my kids would do any of that, but I’m sure those kids’ parents didn’t believe their kids would either, or maybe they do and don’t care. I don’t want my kids free rein to roam the ship in the company of kids I don’t know who may rope them into doing something irresponsible or even dangerous.

And do you know what would have happened had my parents caught me doing ANY of the things you mentioned? I'd never do it because of knowing the wrath I would have received. Today that punishment would, sadly, be considered child abuse.

 

[AZMermaid]

Just today, my 7th grader walked a mile to Cane’s after early release with a buddy. I was telling a friend that he’ll go to the grocery store for me when I need an item. She was shocked and said her freshman wants to do that but she won’t let her. My son has been doing this since he was 10! He started running to the produce aisle or whatever at 6! In the same conversation, she told me her daughter will be getting her learners permit next month. But she can’t walk 4 blocks alone? How does that make sense! I feel Like you gotta start somewhere… so why not the Edge?! And if my kid acted like an idiot with other idiots, lol- well I’d rather punish him for that than let him get his first shot at stupidity in college!

 

[anricat]

Cruise ships have a large concentration of strangers (5,500 guests and crew) in a very small area, most of which consists of private bedrooms.

Just because these people are "strangers" doesn't mean they harbor ill will towards your child. I mean, most abuse to children (90% actually) is perpetrated by someone the child knows. So if you're worried about that, statistically speaking, they are actually safer amongst strangers.

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

We were shocked last year when our daughter turned 9 that DCL gave us the option of letting her sign herself out of Oceaneers— SHOCKED. But we decided that means Disney is OK with us leaving a 9yo unattended and, while we didn’t let her sign herself out, we did let her watch TV in the room for an hour (dad checked in at 30m) with strict instructions not to go out until we returned. She loved it. On this last cruise, we let the kids watch the Golden Mickeys for the 3rd time while we watched the sunset off the back of the ship, if they promised to go straight to the room after the show was out. They loved it, they thought it was marvelous getting to see a show alone, they came straight back, and they had a tiny taste of responsibility and independence. Later they had a “night in” with room service while we ate at Remy (and checked in periodically). They also had a messaging app at all times if they needed us.

You have to know your own kids and for some people, a Disney cruise isn’t when they want to test their own comfort levels and limits, but for our family it was a wonderful growing experience.

 

[Anna131517]

It is definitely scary and definitely happens—it happened to us. My son was 11 last year and we left him in Edge with strict instructions that he could stay in Edge or check himself into the Oceaneer’s club (back when that was an option). We came to pick him up and he was gone. Not in the club either. Nobody had a record when he left or where he went. We were in concierge and thankfully they were super helpful and called all around and organized a search for him and our family also split up to look for him. Eventually found him he had followed a group of kids from Edge who were doing the midship detective scavenger hunt game. He knew he wasn’t supposed to but the peer pressure got to him. He felt pretty bad when he saw how scared we all were and after that he was restricted to Oceaneers for the rest of the cruise.

I do think if they are going to force kids that age to go to Edge they should at least have some kind of check in/check out system like the club.

I’m glad they actually helped you. I couldn’t believe how callous everyone was about a missing five year old. No one would help us look for her. They didn’t put out any sort of alert. We had to run all over the ship ourselves.

I agree - I don’t necessarily have a problem with the 11 year olds being in a different club but I don’t think 11 and 12 year olds should be able to sign themselves out without parent permission.

He’s currently 10 and we do leave him at home unattended for short periods of time (with a landline) but I probably wouldn’t do that on a cruise just because we get a balcony, and I don’t necessarily trust elementary school kids to always appreciate risk. Especially in a new environment.

 

[mjkacmom]

Just today, my 7th grader walked a mile to Cane’s after early release with a buddy. I was telling a friend that he’ll go to the grocery store for me when I need an item. She was shocked and said her freshman wants to do that but she won’t let her. My son has been doing this since he was 10! He started running to the produce aisle or whatever at 6! In the same conversation, she told me her daughter will be getting her learners permit next month. But she can’t walk 4 blocks alone? How does that make sense! I feel Like you gotta start somewhere… so why not the Edge?! And if my kid acted like an idiot with other idiots, lol- well I’d rather punish him for that than let him get his first shot at stupidity in college!

My kids are in their 20’s but walked to school starting in 2nd grade, had the run of our town at 10, in 5th and 6th grade kids go out to lunch if they want, and when the middle school gets out there are 7th and 8th graders everywhere (do not go to Starbuck). Our HS had open lunch (the cafeteria holds 10% tops). My husband and I grew up here, little has changed. No buses so many students walk.

 

[GrnMtnMan]

What “independent living skills” do kids learn from running around a ship or a theme park with a bunch of kids? Cruise ships have a large concentration of strangers (5,500 guests and crew) in a very small area, most of which consists of private bedrooms. We teach our kids independence at home. On a cruise ship, we want to know where they are and who they are with.

feel Like you gotta start somewhere… so why not the Edge?! And if my kid acted like an idiot with other idiots, lol- well I’d rather punish him for that than let him get his first shot at stupidity in college!

We were shocked last year when our daughter turned 9 that DCL gave us the option of letting her sign herself out of Oceaneers— SHOCKED.

He’s currently 10 and we do leave him at home unattended for short periods of time (with a landline) but I probably wouldn’t do that on a cruise just because we get a balcony, and I don’t necessarily trust elementary school kids to always appreciate risk. Especially in a new environment.

Yall should take a look at this:

 

[MommyCMickey]

We were on the Wish Jan 2-5. My daughter is 4, but she is autistic and has global development delay and a speech delay. I wasn't planning on leaving her in the kids club, but the 1 hour she was with dad without me and he took here there. lol. They did keep the 3 and 4 year olds together and there were about 5 counselors with 10 kids. Dad sat on the couch by the kids club and could see them moving around as a group. She only stayed for about 40 minutes, but I definitely think this is a great move to keep the little kids more safe. Also, my daughter was only partially potty trained and we were very upfront about that, but the counselors definitely encouraged dad to try it even after he explained all her challenges with speech and stuff.

I LOVE THIS! Thank you so much! I feel so much better