What is actually inside the Edge club?

[DLgal]

Just curious. I have a 12 and 10 year old, both boys. Both have autism (high functioning but super antisocial). The 10 year old will be 11 next month. We don't have a cruise booked but may take a last minute one this summer if there is a good military discount. My 12 year old will be 13 in July so I'm trying to figure out what is there for them in the Edge? Are there computers with games? If yes, what kind of games? What else is up there? Video game systems (if yes, which one and what games).

I am trying to figure out if the Edge would be a fun place for my sons to hang out if DH and I want to do something like a tasting or similar. We had a bad experience at the Club on our first cruise and my youngest won't go back to secured programming again. I wonder if the Edge is a more laid back atmosphere than the Club, which was just too loud/chaotic.

Are there counselors in the Edge that watch out for bullying situations? My kids won't get involved in organized activities, most likely, but they have some mannerisms that "mean kids" sometimes make fun of (stuff like self talk, echolalia, etc.) They will likely just keep to themselves or stick together and play on computers and such. They are responsible kids that I would trust to come and go as they want. Just wanted to get more information because I never read anything about this club. I'd hate to make them stay in the cabin if there is somewhere more fun to be.

On another note, when the Club has open house, are kids 13 and up required to have parents with them? Like, if my older son wanted to there during open house but my younger didn't, could he go alone? Or do all kids under 18 require a guardian?

 

[minorthr]

Not sure what boat you are going on, but we did the Dream in sept with our son who is autistic and just turned 13 before the cruise so he had to go to edge. I honestly dont remember everything that was in there. We checked it out had some concerns with our situation, with the kids ability to just leave on their own and having to go to another floor to use the restrooms. Our son ended up never going as we were traveling with an autism travel group that had some respite care in a private venue on the ship that met our needs.


I will add the manager of edge seemed willing to work with us if he wanted to go to edge. If we let them know when he was coming they would put another staff member there to keep an eye on him but they were not going to stop him from leaving or give any one on one assistance which isn't really their job anyway.

 

[bbel]

I can only speak for edge on the classics. But yes, it's full of games consoles: wii, Xbox, PlayStation. And literally tons of games. There's also board games and craft stuff. (I have some photos somewhere il try and find out)
There's always at least two Counselors in there, secured and open house. I will point out that they're free to come and go as much as they like, and there's no check in or out system.
I would go and talk to the Counselors on the first day, that way they'll know not to pressure them into he organised activities (which is their job to get everyone included) and just let them know any other limitations or triggers. They'll also be best to ask any specific questions as things can change from cruise to cruise.

When the club and lab are in open house anyone can go in, any children can be unaccompanied, even younger kids if their parents know/approve.
They'll also be able to go vibe open house times too, which is a similar set up to edge.

 

[DLgal]

We would be on the Fantasy, if anything.

Thanks for the info. Keep it coming! These clubs are like a secret society. I only hear vague stuff about them and never see pictures!

 

[Anchors Away 2016]

We would be on the Fantasy, if anything.

Thanks for the info. Keep it coming! These clubs are like a secret society. I only hear vague stuff about them and never see pictures!

I know what you mean! Before our trip, I tried to find out more about Vibe and Edge on these boards but it was difficult. It's because most of the people on these boards are adults, and so they don't go to those spaces! I can't help you TOO much, as my 14 YO, who could go to Edge, mostly chose to hang with his older brother in Vibe. I will ask him though, as I do think he went in there at least once.

I can say that even in Vibe, where you might think there is a more hands-off approach by the counselors, they were pretty pro-active about not allowing Bullying and intervening if two kids were not getting along together well, so I suspect you can expect the CMs to be good advocates for your kids and protecting their space.

I can also say that sometimes when specific "loud" or "participatory" games are scheduled (check the navigator) it might be harder for them to be on their own, or they might find it too loud. Check with the CMs on board as bbel suggested, though. They know best.

Have a great trip!

 

[Bree]

There are all sorts of videos on Youtube.

 

[NMK62303]

We were on the Dream in December 2016 and our son with high functioning autism (13) did just fine going to Edge when things were going on that he wanted to do, otherwise he would hang out at the basketball court some or do the Aquaduck. They have big screen TV's there, x-box, DIsney Infinity, and maybe a Wii according to my kids. Go the first day and register them and talk to the counselors. I did and let them know a few things about our son and we had no issues! My kids said there were no bullying issues but that they also felt that the counselors would have put a stop to that if there were any. And they say it is a laid back atmosphere.

 

[DLgal]

We were on the Dream in December 2016 and our son with high functioning autism (13) did just fine going to Edge when things were going on that he wanted to do, otherwise he would hang out at the basketball court some or do the Aquaduck. They have big screen TV's there, x-box, DIsney Infinity, and maybe a Wii according to my kids. Go the first day and register them and talk to the counselors. I did and let them know a few things about our son and we had no issues! My kids said there were no bullying issues but that they also felt that the counselors would have put a stop to that if there were any. And they say it is a laid back atmosphere.

Great feedback! Thank you!

 

[bumbershoot]

When the club and lab are in open house anyone can go in, any children can be unaccompanied, even younger kids if their parents know/approve.

That has not been our experience at club/lab. They wouldn't let kids be unaccompanied at all. Adults could be, but not kids.

 

[bbel]

That has not been our experience at club/lab. They wouldn't let kids be unaccompanied at all. Adults could be, but not kids.

So you've corrected me before.
Like I can say, I can only comment on the three years I spent on the classic ships when this wasn't a thing. I've also only ever heard this happen once. Not even heard it from people who have transferred.
Unfortunately maybe you were just unlucky. Maybe they were trailing something. Maybe there had been incidents. Maybe you got someone who was new and thought they were doing the right thing...
But no one will probably ever know.

 

[PurplePencil]

That has not been our experience at club/lab. They wouldn't let kids be unaccompanied at all. Adults could be, but not kids.

So you've corrected me before.
Like I can say, I can only comment on the three years I spent on the classic ships when this wasn't a thing. I've also only ever heard this happen once. Not even heard it from people who have transferred.
Unfortunately maybe you were just unlucky. Maybe they were trailing something. Maybe there had been incidents. Maybe you got someone who was new and thought they were doing the right thing...
But no one will probably ever know.

We were just on the dream, on both this cruise and previous cruises they've let children be unaccompanied and did not care who entered except making sure that drinks/food didn't enter

 

[belac]

It used to be a switch between the lab and club. DS was always shuffled to the club side if the lab was OH and shuffled to the lab when club was OH. Basically the kids that were checked into club and lab were altogether during OH of the other. It was so kids that were there as drop off were separate while OH (with adults in either) was going on. DCL changer policy to allow all kids in during OH checked in or not.

 

[bumbershoot]

So you've corrected me before.
Like I can say, I can only comment on the three years I spent on the classic ships when this wasn't a thing. I've also only ever heard this happen once. Not even heard it from people who have transferred.
Unfortunately maybe you were just unlucky. Maybe they were trailing something. Maybe there had been incidents. Maybe you got someone who was new and thought they were doing the right thing...
But no one will probably ever know.

It's not meant to be a correction; just my experience bouncing off of your post of your experience, and fwiw I try to not pay attention to usernames as it keeps me from feeling like it seems you now do! It was our absolute experience when trying to let ds have fun, and encountering the open house. They said that since adults were there it's not allowed that kids are there alone.

We were just on the dream, on both this cruise and previous cruises they've let children be unaccompanied and did not care who entered except making sure that drinks/food didn't enter

Interesting.

Maybe it's because we didn't know it was OH and *asked* if we could leave him. We shall never know!

 

[PurplePencil]

Interesting.

Maybe it's because we didn't know it was OH and *asked* if we could leave him. We shall never know!

I know that sometimes if you ask, they want your kid to have self-checkout to be in OH. We might never know, but just walking in with him and then you leaving as soon as he goes to play might have been a work around