turning 11 on cruise - which kid club?

[thinkoflaura]

Hi all --

DD turns 11 during our alaska cruise this june. this is her 4th cruise and is always happy the Oceaneers Club/Lab. But if Edge is good for 11 year olds, she might want to experience it. Does anyone know, does she have to choose Club/Lab OR Edge at the start of the cruise, or can she play it by ear?

The hope is she can go to the open houses in the Club, Lab and Edge and then mix and match, based on the activities and her comfort level...

Thanks for any input.

 

[KT2038]

Hi all --

DD turns 11 during our alaska cruise this june. this is her 4th cruise and is always happy the Oceaneers Club/Lab. But if Edge is good for 11 year olds, she might want to experience it. Does anyone know, does she have to choose Club/Lab OR Edge at the start of the cruise, or can she play it by ear?

The hope is she can go to the open houses in the Club, Lab and Edge and then mix and match, based on the activities and her comfort level...

Thanks for any input.

Hi! I am a youth activities Counselor. If she has been happy in Oceaneers then she is more than welcome to stay with us. If she wants to check out Edge but still come back for her favourite programs in the club and lab then she can do that too. She doesn't need to choose and can go between as often as she likes

 

[bumbershoot]

My son is currently 11 and if we ended up on dcl tomorrow he'd stick with the Lab. It'll likely be the same until the day he turns 13. He likes to play and be silly, and he likes many of the activities, and he doesn't mind younger kids at all, so why age him up? We see no point.

 

[MUN]

Go with the Edge. My son at 10 complained that there were too many babies in the Oceaneers Club/Lab.

 

[MissDaisyofTexas]

My 11-year-old son just wrote a review of the Edge on the Fantasy and he preferred it over the club/lab: http://savingforadream.blogspot.com/2016/01/my-tweens-review-of-edge-on-disney.html

 

[disnygirl55]

There's no need to choose at all. Since your DD is already familiar with the Club / Lab, I would encourage her to go the icebreakers session on the first night at Edge, though. Then she'll get a good overview and feel comfortable in the space and going between the two. She'll feel a better sense of belonging at Edge if she meets the kids and counselors that first night. 11 is a great age to cruise, just because of the vast array of choices. She'll have twice as many activities to choose from, and can float between, just as others have said. Our son had "aged out" of the Lab by the time he was 11, so it was a relief when he could go to the Edge. He LOVED it much more, but it's because he loves the type of activities (boys vs. girls contests, scavenger hunts, video games, late night movies, etc.) offered in Edge. He never wanted to leave his new friends and the fun things they were doing.

I expect some kids will feel that way about the Lab, too - if they love those types of activities even more. My son was never much for the crafting and drawing sessions at the Lab, but there were still plenty of things he liked to do there, don't get me wrong.

This next cruise, our son will be 14. Again - perfect for floating between Edge and Vibe. It will be interesting and exciting to see which one he prefers at this new age! I'm going to follow my own advice and make sure he attends Vibe the first night so he gets a solid comparison of the spaces and activities.

Have a wonderful time! Check back in and let us know what your daughter thought of it all and which one she preferred!

 

[DnA2010]

We recently did our first DCL cruise on the Fantasy, this past May. As DD was turning 11 in June and is also 5'6, she was able to go to edge with our 11 year old table mate. While they did still spend some time in the Club/Lab, evenings were in Edge participating in the group activities

 

[scootch]

My daughter also loved the clubs, even weeks before she turned 13. She did not care for the Edge at all though. If you didnt like the scheduled event, not much else going on, where as the younger club, there were still a ton of kids doing other things if you didnt' want to do the scheduled event.

 

[thinkoflaura]

thank you all for your input! i'm so glad she will be able to pick and choose activities as she goes, and play where he feels most comfortable. love the advice about encouraging her to go to the icebreakers in Edge the first night. she'll definitely do that.

she's a very crafty girl and also loves helping the kinders at her after school program, so I could really see her feeling more comfortable in the Club/Lab... but if she clicks with the kids in Edge, that could definitely draw her in.

One thing -- we used to see Edge-aged kids running all over the ship, up and down the stairs, through the halls... maybe at times they were doing a scavenger hunt or something, but other times they just seemed so wild! Even last summer when DD saw them doing that, it made her very uncomfortable. So if the Edge kids are a rowdy bunch, I think she'll probably stick in the Club/Lab and help the Counselors entertain the younger kids.

 

[KayW]

My DD will be 11 when we are on the cruise. She is also an only child. She has done the Club/Lab before. Would it be a good idea to register her for the club and then check out the Edge on the first day? Would we be able to go and check it out and then let her decide? I am not a fan of her being able to leave when she wants, but I am confident that she would be responsible enough to text me or use the wave phone to let me know she was leaving so we could meet her part way.