Young children in Oceaneer's Club

[MrsWoody]

Hi everyone,

We are eagerly awaiting the release of the later 2015 dates so we can start planning.

We are torn as to what cruise we would like to do. I have always wanted to do a transatlantic cruise but the OH is worried he'll get bored on the sea days. This sounds terrible but I think the one thing that is drawing him to it is the few days kid free!

I on the other hand am a bit worried about our youngest going in the oceaneer's club. He will be 3 in October so 3 and a half when we'd be on board. He will have his big sisters with him but I am still getting butterflies in my tummy when thinking of leaving him with complete strangers, plus the girls will probably want to go off and do their own thing - they'll be 6 and 10.

Just wanted to get people's experiences leaving a younger child and also if someone could tell me more about the security in place that might reassure me!

Thanks in advance x

[Scotty]

Mine were 6 and 4 on their first cruise, P&O they loved the club, we had ground rules about when they had to come out!
The staff were great, I'm sure the Disney ones will be equally good. You might want to explain that they may not understand different accents/use different words for things, that upset my 2 slightly on their first cruise on an american line.

[MrsWoody]

Thanks, that's good to hear. I think the staff not being able to understand him is part of whats worrying me. His speech is delayed, he has a referral to speech and language in the pipeline and hopefully his speech will have improved by then. I was never this neurotic with the girls!

[BevS97]

The kids clubs are excellent. Very secure. Mine really enjoyed them and spent a lot of time there.

by 3 1/2 will he be at nursery? So you will be more used to leaving him.

[MrsWoody]

He's at a childminders now but I know her very well so have never fretted about him being there. He did used to get upset when we first left him there so think this is playing on my mind. I suppose they would contact you on the phones if your child wants to leave? If all is going well what is the usual procedure? do you just arrange a time to collect them?

[Bats]

Originally Posted by MrsWoody

He's at a childminders now but I know her very well so have never fretted about him being there. He did used to get upset when we first left him there so think this is playing on my mind. I suppose they would contact you on the phones if your child wants to leave? If all is going well what is the usual procedure? do you just arrange a time to collect them?

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On DCL, you don't have to give pick up times, you just drop him off when he wants to go, then head to the nearest adult only area to enjoy some you time!
If he gets worried and they can't settle him (they will always try first), they will contact you via the wave phone (2 in each room for you to take around the ship).
The clubs are open from early morning until very late at night and you could, if you wanted, leave your child in there all day! Not many do I'm sure, but if you and your hubby want a few hours, then go for it.
On DCL, all counsellors are trained and qualified to a good standard.
The activities in the club are fantastic, you only have to look at the Navigators (daily on board news letter) to see how much goes on .. Just google Disney Cruise Navigator for more info.

For security, your little ones will NOT be able to escape! Each club has a turnstile or an electronic gate and only the CMs can open it. To get a child out, you have to first give their name, then your name, then a password (access list and passwords are set up when you register the children for the clubs). So, nobody can just ask for your child and say they're the uncle/aunt etc.
Children over the age of 8 can be given permission to sign themselves out, but that's up to you. The Oceaneers Club and Lab both operate this policy.

Hope that helps
Joa

[MrsWoody]

Thanks that's very reassuring. I definitely won't be leaving them all day it is a family holiday after all, but I must admit a couple of hours child free sound very appealing!

Just got to wait to book now...

[Alba20]

My son was 3.5yrs old and newly potty trained. He was in the club with his sister who was 6yrs old and had experienced the clubs before.

The staff were pretty mixed nationalities, there were a few from the UK, Canada and USA and the staff were great.

There was one time at Palo Brunch we got a message that he was a bit unsettled and wanted to leave by the time I had gone outside to call them back, she said he was in the dressing up area with one of the CM's and we should stay and enjoy Palo.

We were reluctant to leave him in there any more than 2hrs max but checked after an hour to see if he wanted to come out and every time he said no. He will be 4.5 when we cruise this time and is looking forward to the clubs.

Alba

[MrsWoody]

Originally Posted by Alba20

My son was 3.5yrs old and newly potty trained. He was in the club with his sister who was 6yrs old and had experienced the clubs before.

The staff were pretty mixed nationalities, there were a few from the UK, Canada and USA and the staff were great.

There was one time at Palo Brunch we got a message that he was a bit unsettled and wanted to leave by the time I had gone outside to call them back, she said he was in the dressing up area with one of the CM's and we should stay and enjoy Palo.

We were reluctant to leave him in there any more than 2hrs max but checked after an hour to see if he wanted to come out and every time he said no. He will be 4.5 when we cruise this time and is looking forward to the clubs.

Alba

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Thanks, 2 hours sounds about right, but I find it reassuring that they'll be able to contact us on the wave phones if he needs to come out beforehand.

You've give me something to think about though - potty training! Both the girls were late coming out of nappies as we waited until they were showing signs they were ready. When they did they were dry within a week both day and night - I hope he follows a similar pattern and does it before we cruise!

[Alba20]

DS was very lazy and much slower than our DD at potty training.

He had spent time in the nursery the year before and he felt he was a bit on the older side for it at 2.5years old.

In order to encourage his potty training we showed him pictures and videos of the kids club. It was touch whether or not he'd be ready as he was still prone to the occasional accident. We took him onboard at the open session and I spoke to one of the CM's about it. She said that they do encourage the kids after every activity to go to the toilet and they hold spare clothes as they understand kids get carried away when excited and forget about the toilet.

We took DS to the toilet before going into the clubs and went after 1hr to ask if he needed to go again and it was all fine... we worried over nothing really.

Good luck with the potty training.

Alba