wanting to take a cruise and land package

[collal1]

I would like to take my family on a Disney land and sea package next Sept 06. My husband , myself and 2 boys 8 and 10 would go. I heard mix comments from various people I have come in contact with. Many say the kids club is not good. Can I have some insight from the forum.

thanks
Collal1

 

[scrapperjill]

Welcome to the dis boards. I think alot depends on your kids and what they like to do. My dd6 loved the kids club...but my dd11 didn't enjoy it as much...from what she said alot had to do with the "new" friends she met on the ship...and them not wanting to be in the lab...However they had a wonderful time walking around the ship and shopping in the shops, seeing movies, playing games, going to lunch together and just hanging out. She did like alot of the activites that they had scheduled like making flubber and crashing the club...but she didn't care for the "open-free play" times that they had...where you could play video games on the huge screen or build with legos....she felt those were all things she could do at home...but maybe they are just geared more towards boys and activites they'd enjoy.

Have you checked out some of the DCL navagators with lists of kids activites? If not you should check out Dave's Disney Cruise Line... sight or ***************** site...they both have copies of navagators for all ages...

Oh...and if you didn't know already once kids are 8 they can have check out priviledges at the club/lab...where they can come and go as they please. You can also take this away from them...and not allow them to check themselves out...or you can have the counslers page you when they do leave.

The ONE thing about the lab that my dd11 said she did NOT like was when they'd go to lunch or dinner with the club...I guess they have limited to no choices on what they can have...and limit them on how much they can have.

Also if your looking into booking a Land/Sea trip...you should do a little pricing and see what it would be to book each separately ...alot of times it can save big bucks.

 

[Jrsy Boy]

I agree with everything stated above. There is no rule that says your kids will need to stay in the club/lab all day. They are given a schedule of activities for the entire cruise on the first day and can pick and choose what they want to be there for. Our DS8 loved being there, but we also took him to Nassau and he only did one kids club activity on Castaway Cay, spending the rest of the time with us. We also took in Pooh's Heffalump Movie together and did some swimming. I can't imagine your children not having fun on a Disney cruise.

 

[tink70]

My kids did not like the clubs either, my dd is 3 and 1/2 and ds is 8. There is so much else to do that we did not even mind that they did not go often. We used it mostly in the evenings so we could have a little time. My dd would be upset at leaving her but when I checked back a little later she would be having a great time. She even danced with snow white one night and had a pj party with goofy. I thought the club offered so much it is just my daughter was a little small for it. My son on the other hand was a busy body and wanted to know what we were doing, so he would page us. It was also hard to feel bad for him as they had huge screens for him to play playstation two on. He also loved the computer games they had. He finally made a friend and it was easier to get him to go.
We plan on doing a disney cruise again in a few years and I think they will enjoy it more then. But I think we are going to also do the land/sea package as the cruise was wonderful, but I still missed spending time at the parks.

 

[barkley]

my kids love the kids clubs! in fact it is next to impossible to get them to leave. i think they realy appreciate that while there are structured activities throughout the day, there are always alternate activites available if you are not interested in the main task at hand (a very good thing for my son who was just shy of 5 on our last cruise and is not always into doing a highly stuctured craft or activity). as far as the meals go, we did'nt hear any complaints-in fact we upstairs at the buffet one day as saw our daughter and her group come in. they had some tables set aside for them, took them through the main buffet line-but they did tell them ahead of time it was one trip through the line as a group and not to take more than they could eat.

i think like the others have said-it depends on the child. my daughter (will be 11 on our november cruise) is very social and loves making new friends in the club, our son will be 8 1/2 and is not always adaptable to new situations and people, but he remembers EVERYTHING he did in the kids club last time and also still talks about how nice "the grownups in the club" were. they also both liked the fact that if they wanted to leave they had only to tell one of the counselors and we were immediatly paged to pick them up.

i'm sure everyone on this thread will agree-the kid's club staff are some of the nicest, most patient people you will ever encounter, unlike staff on other cruiselines-all of the staff on disney cruises are so kind and considerate to the kids (to everone for that matter). it always amazes me how the cabin stewards always know every kid by name, take the time to talk to them (and will often take stuffed animals you've left in the cabin and put them into some type of cute arrangement on the bed or have one sitting on top of the tv peeking down at you. the restaurant staff will pick up on your child's likes and dislikes and will make sure they accommodate them (at our first dinner on board our waiter found out my daughter likes marissino cherries in her soda, so every night when we sat down there was already a berry dish of cherries waiting at her plate, another night my daughter mentioned how much she had enjoyed the lasagna they had served the previous night so the server (although it was'nt on the menu that night) called one of the restaurants on board and had it brought to her. everyone, the bar staff-the front desk people...are just the best in the industry.

all this said-i do want to add that disney does not permit behaviour by kids that is dangerous or impedes on another passenger's enjoyment of the cruise. i witnessed a very angry parent speaking with a senior staff member one evening. apparantly there had been problems with his teenage son running around the decks, elevator racing and the like. i overheard the staff member tell the parent that they had spoken both with the parent and the child several times to no avail and that for the remainder of the cruise the child had to be with one of his parents at all times. when the parent got nasty with the staff person they were advised that the alternative was to taken off the ship at the next port. so-they are great with kids but there is the expectation that the parents will ensure their kids are supervised and will behave. i have never seen the "roaming packs of rowdy kids" that cruisers on other lines complain about.

if you decide to give it a try-be warned: your children will enjoy it, you and your husband will enjoy it, and you will become quickly addicted

 

[ImMarcik]

i think like the others have said-it depends on the child. my daughter (will be 11 on our november cruise) is very social and loves making new friends in the club,

When are you cruising in November? We are on the Thanksgiving Wonder cruise Nov 23 - 27. My DD will be 12 at cruise time.

 

[lovebuzz]

My kids age 4 & 5 at the time did not care for the kids clubs. That said, the were never bored. We did the 4 days at wdw/ 3 days at sea. We had more fun on the cruise. Next time I would do 4 days on the ship.

 

[Jrsy Boy]

i'm sure everyone on this thread will agree-the kid's club staff are some of the nicest, most patient people you will ever encounter

Two good examples: DS8 was with the Oceaneer's Lab at Animator's Palatte where they were learning to draw Disney characters. We were paged that he wanted to be picked up and within the 5 minutes it took me to get there, one of the CMs had made him feel comfortable enough that he changed his mind, just by talking with him. She didn't try to convince him to stay, just talked to him to try to cheer him up while they waited for me.
On our last night, we showed up to pick him up and saw that he looked very sad and one of the CMs was listening to him very intently, sitting down at his level, with a look of concern on her face. It turns out he had made a "book" while he was in there and it had gone missing. She'd helped him look everywhere for it, including sorting through the trash, but it never turned up. To try to make it up to him, she gave him an Oceaneer's Lab fishing hat. We never saw those available anywhere else.
Our server and assistant server, on Pirate Night when they were dancing around the restaurant, came over and got him from the table to dance with them and he had a blast!

 

[3mickeys&me]

We did the 7 day land and sea cruise. It was awesome!! My boys 6 & 9 loved the kids club. We did family stuff all day and evening together and they went to the clubs about 8:45 in the evening. They had soooo much fun. We it was time to pick them up they kept telling us every night to come back later. they spent 3 of the 4 nights at the club for a few hours.

 

[scrapperjill]

I just wanted to add that although my dd6 had a great time in the club...she can be shy and withdrawn. She's never been in childcare or any daycare settings...so I was quite worried about how she would do in the club alone. But I wasn't alone...on the cruise meet board ALOT of the other parents expressed the same concerns about their children....so a couple of us who had kids close to the same ages started having the girls e-mail one another prior to the trip...we sent photos and let the girls chat back and forth for a couple months...It gave them the chance to get to know someone else that was going to be on the ship with them...that was the same age or close to it. It worked SOOOO well my dd6 and her cruise buddy still keep in contact via e-mail. Matter of fact our dd was so excited to finally be able to meet her new friend face to face...she started looking for her the moment we got to the terminal. I tryed to tell her we probably wouldn't see her until the dis meet later that day....but I was wrong....SO WRONG....she found her friend across the busy terminal and ran over to say hi. She was SOOOO excited...and from that moment on the two of them LOVED to hang out together in the club.

So I'd suggest after you book your date..check the cruise meet board and see who else is cruising when you are....and see if there are any other kids close to your kids ages.....

 

[collal1]

Thanks to everyone whom gave feedback about the cruise. I hope our family will be going next sept 06 thanks to your comments. Happy sailing.