Has anyone else had issues with the new Oceaneer's club/lab policies?

[Conservative Hippie]

But, the bathrooms in the club are child sized, so as long as they can do everything themselves, climbing onto the potty shouldn't be a problem.

 

[SoCaOC-Mom]

I don't see where this has been answered since you posted your question, but the CMs do not go into the bathrooms with the kids at all. The kids have to be fully able to handle all aspects of PTing on their own. Make sure that the outfit she is wearing when you take her to the club is one she can handle. I just realized that this is going to really affect some of those kids on the verge. You used to be able to go into the club and make sure that your child used the bathroom if they needed a bit of help, but not with the new rules.

I agree with this and made a point of packing cloths that were easy to pull up and down while the kids were in the club/ or nursery.

I noticed at anopen house there was a YAC posted at the bathroom , she seemed to be cleaning up and keeping an eye on things. I also think it was to keep parents from going in to use the facilities inside the club or to take kids inside the stalls.

I noticed that another mom had brought her son to the bathroom and waited outside- as I did with my daughter. The mom of the boy was allowed to help him wash his hands (I assume there were no other kids in there, at least that were visible).

My DD ran out with her sun dress partly tucked in her undies and without washing her hands. I was allowed to direct her to a sink in order to insist she wash her hands (again no other kids were in the bathroom) nor were me and the other mom in the stalls but in a visible area.

 

[justhat]

But, the bathrooms in the club are child sized, so as long as they can do everything themselves, climbing onto the potty shouldn't be a problem.

Sort of. When my son first moved to the club (8/29 cruise and he turned 3yo on 8/4), he was too short to stand to pee without a stool. Problem was they don't have the stools in the bathroom. So he had to take a stool from the outside sinks, bring it into the bathroom, pee, return the stool, then wash his hands. Not a huge deal, but when a 3yo boy has to pee, he HAS to pee! He generally made it, but we did check-in to remind him periodically, and he only had one accident on the cruise. But it was definitely way easier for him when my husband or I came in to help him in the bathroom.

 

[justhat]

SoCaOC-Mom: Sooooo glad to hear you had a great trip! And very reassuring to hear your reports of the club.

How old is your 2yo? I don't have any remote expectations of mine moving up (IF she is even fully trained by then, which isn't a definite at this point, but possible), but I'm just wondering what their general cutoff is. We cruise 3/31 on the Fantasy so Scarlett will only be 2 years, 2 months and our next cruise will be when she is 3.5yo, so it will probably never apply to us anymore!

 

[SoCaOC-Mom]

SoCaOC-Mom: Sooooo glad to hear you had a great trip! And very reassuring to hear your reports of the club.

How old is your 2yo? I don't have any remote expectations of mine moving up (IF she is even fully trained by then, which isn't a definite at this point, but possible), but I'm just wondering what their general cutoff is. We cruise 3/31 on the Fantasy so Scarlett will only be 2 years, 2 months and our next cruise will be when she is 3.5yo, so it will probably never apply to us anymore!

Hey there

She will be 3 on by mid March.

They didn't really say when the cut off was, they were more focused on what the expectations are in the club. Even though Reese is potty trained and likes to be by herself at home ( "Go away Mommy") in public places she is used to being with me in a stall, so I wasn't so confident how she would do in the club left to her own devices. They were also very clear that is she did move and she failed in the club, she wouldn't be allowed back in the nursery. If it was a longer cruise, I probably would have moved her after a couple of days since according to the YAC's she did really well.

We really enjoyed the open houses and it made me beam to see how well the girls did with some of the structured programming. They were playing a game on the dance floor and they won a couple of times- and that was playing against kids who were older and even a few parents.

Reese also was following a YAC names Chris' lead on the dance floor, it was so cute.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

But, the bathrooms in the club are child sized, so as long as they can do everything themselves, climbing onto the potty shouldn't be a problem.

I think mine would be fine with the smaller sized potties, but are the ones in the lab the small ones as well? I am just wondering how it will go during the times the club is having an open house and he is in the lab.

 

[prittfamily98]

Our family cruises in Sept 2012. I will have a DD 14 yo (eager to go to the teen club) and a DD 19 yo with special needs(who will have no place to go)
Then I have a DS 10 who wants to go to kids club. AND I will have a DS 10.5 MONTHS that I hope to be able to put in the nursery for a couple of hours MAX a day( so I can spend time with DH)...

Question 1: is my baby boy going to be ok in the nursery a) if he might not be crawling/walking yet and b) if he is breastfed and does not take a bottle of any kind?
Question 2: I haven't heard anything mentioned about the teen club. Have there been any kind of changes to their side? Can my 14 yo come and go as she pleases?
Question 3: Is my DS 10 going to be able to leave if he hates it? Or is he going to be treated like a baby and wait for parent pickup?
Question 4: What if we get there and NO ONE wants to go to any clubs...is that ok?
Question 5: What can I do with my DD19 with special needs? Yes she is old enough for adult side but she looks about 10 years old. Does she have a place? I can't leave her alone to fend for herself. She doesn't have judgement/knowledge to do that.

Rose

 

[SoCaOC-Mom]

Our family cruises in Sept 2012. I will have a DD 14 yo (eager to go to the teen club) and a DD 19 yo with special needs(who will have no place to go)
Then I have a DS 10 who wants to go to kids club. AND I will have a DS 10.5 MONTHS that I hope to be able to put in the nursery for a couple of hours MAX a day( so I can spend time with DH)...

Question 1: is my baby boy going to be ok in the nursery a) if he might not be crawling/walking yet and b) if he is breastfed and does not take a bottle of any kind?
Question 2: I haven't heard anything mentioned about the teen club. Have there been any kind of changes to their side? Can my 14 yo come and go as she pleases?
Question 3: Is my DS 10 going to be able to leave if he hates it? Or is he going to be treated like a baby and wait for parent pickup?
Question 4: What if we get there and NO ONE wants to go to any clubs...is that ok?
Question 5: What can I do with my DD19 with special needs? Yes she is old enough for adult side but she looks about 10 years old. Does she have a place? I can't leave her alone to fend for herself. She doesn't have judgement/knowledge to do that.

Rose

The baby will be fine in the nursery. They have baby swings and play mats.
They can feed bottles and prepackage snacks and juices to little ones, just not hot prepared foods or anything with nuts in there. You might want to schedule your nursery time around your breast feedings if you are not a feed on demand routine.

Yes, your 14 year old can come and go from her club as she pleases. For a 14 year old they will not be in the Oceaneers club/lab but in the Vibe. It's of a different deck than those clubs and she will have a special KWTC to give her access.

Your special needs child is still legally an adult and will be noted as such on her KTWC, if the other children are in the clubs or nursery she will be allowed with you in the adult only areas if that is where you choose to be.

She can also visit any of the other clubs during their open house/family times which will be noted in the navigator. Perhaps your 14 old can take her if you have an adult activity planned.

 

[SanDiegoSteph]

A lovely DISer answered my request for the Wonder schedule for the kids' club on her cruise to Mexico from Jan 15-22.

Here you go:

Sun, Jan 15: first day/embarkation
Oceaneer club open house: 12:30 to 8:30 pm
Oceaneer club secured: 8:30 pm to 12:00 am
Oceaneer lab open house: 12:30 7:00 pm
Oceaneer lab secured: 7:00 pm to 12:00 am

Mon, Jan 16:
Oceaneer club secured: 9:00 to 3:30 pm
Oceaneer club open house: 3:30 to 10:00 pm
Oceaneer club secured: 10:00 pm tp 12:00 am
Oceaneer lab secured: 9:00 am to 12:00 am

Tues, Jan 17 th can't find the navigator

Wed, Jan 18:
Oceaneer club open house: 7:30 am to 11:30 am
Oceaneer club secured: 11:30 am to 12:00 am
Oceaneer lab secured: 7:00 am to 12:00 am

Thurs, Jan 19:
Oceaneer club secured 9:00 am to 8:30 pm
Oceaneer club open house: 8:30 pm to 11:00 pm
Oceaneer lab open house: 8:30 am to 11:30 am
Oceaneer lab secured: 11:30 am to 12:00 am

Fri, Jan 20:
Oceaneer club open house 8:00 am to 11:00 am
Oceaneer club secured: 11:00 am to 1:00 am
Oceaneer lab secured: 7:00 am to 8:30 pm
Oceaneer lab open house: 8:30 pm 12:00 am

She further told me...

"I don't have the rest of the navigators, but I hope that helps. I will comment that traveling as 1 parent with two kids I was worried about the change in policy due to the other lengthy thread on changed policies. Well, it was our first Disney cruise, we had a fantastic trip, the staff and activities and hours of operation were great for us. When a program moved from secured to open house the staff moved everyone over in a very organized orderly way, and would move children at your request if one preferred the lab or club but if it was moving to secured after you had checked your kid into the other location."

Hope this helps soon-to-cruise the Wonder folks

Stephanie

 

[Conservative Hippie]

Our family cruises in Sept 2012. I will have a DD 14 yo (eager to go to the teen club) and a DD 19 yo with special needs(who will have no place to go)
Then I have a DS 10 who wants to go to kids club. AND I will have a DS 10.5 MONTHS that I hope to be able to put in the nursery for a couple of hours MAX a day( so I can spend time with DH)...

Question 1: is my baby boy going to be ok in the nursery a) if he might not be crawling/walking yet and b) if he is breastfed and does not take a bottle of any kind?
Question 2: I haven't heard anything mentioned about the teen club. Have there been any kind of changes to their side? Can my 14 yo come and go as she pleases?
Question 3: Is my DS 10 going to be able to leave if he hates it? Or is he going to be treated like a baby and wait for parent pickup?
Question 4: What if we get there and NO ONE wants to go to any clubs...is that ok?
Question 5: What can I do with my DD19 with special needs? Yes she is old enough for adult side but she looks about 10 years old. Does she have a place? I can't leave her alone to fend for herself. She doesn't have judgement/knowledge to do that.

Rose

Can only help with question 1 - my son was 10 months old on our first cruise, and we were still nursing on demand. I just nursed him really well before dropping him off, and expected to nurse immediately upon picking him up. We left him for about 2-3 hours at a time, and I left a sippy cup of juice, and they have crackers in the nursery.

 

[lbgraves]

Question 3: Is my DS 10 going to be able to leave if he hates it? Or is he going to be treated like a baby and wait for parent pickup?

That will be up to you. Kids 8 and older are automatically set up with sign in/out privs. The parent can change that to requiring them to be with an adult for both.

If your kids don't want to go to the club, that is fine. Not every kid spends their cruise there.

 

[justhat]

Our family cruises in Sept 2012. I will have a DD 14 yo (eager to go to the teen club) and a DD 19 yo with special needs(who will have no place to go)
Then I have a DS 10 who wants to go to kids club. AND I will have a DS 10.5 MONTHS that I hope to be able to put in the nursery for a couple of hours MAX a day( so I can spend time with DH)...

Question 1: is my baby boy going to be ok in the nursery a) if he might not be crawling/walking yet and b) if he is breastfed and does not take a bottle of any kind?
I'm a little confused as to what specifically you mean by ok. He's definitely allowed to go, they have kids as young as 3 months and I have left one of mine that young. But if he won't take a bottle, then you will have to plan around feedings, or send him with solids.

Question 2: I haven't heard anything mentioned about the teen club. Have there been any kind of changes to their side? Can my 14 yo come and go as she pleases?
Yes.
Question 3: Is my DS 10 going to be able to leave if he hates it? Or is he going to be treated like a baby and wait for parent pickup?
At 10yo you can choose to give your child sign out privileges if you want, then he can come and go as he pleases. If you don't want him roaming the ship, then you will have to check him in/out yourself.
Question 4: What if we get there and NO ONE wants to go to any clubs...is that ok?
No, they mandate all kids use the clubs. Just kidding, of course. That's totally fine. No requirement to use clubs.
Question 5: What can I do with my DD19 with special needs? Yes she is old enough for adult side but she looks about 10 years old. Does she have a place? I can't leave her alone to fend for herself. She doesn't have judgement/knowledge to do that.
You pretty much just have to keep her with you if she can't be on her own. There's the college club, but if she isn't on par with other 18-21yos I don't think she'd enjoy their activities.
Rose

.

 

[5forDis]

Thanks everyone who has recently sailed & shared their experiences with the Club/Lab & Open Houses. It seems like it is working well.

I can't wait to see in April

I don't know how much time our kids will be in the Club/Lab (ages 10 & 7) & Edge (for the 12 yr old). My 12 yr old thinks he'd rather be with us. I'll have him go to the Edge the 1st night & maybe he'll make some new friends and spend some time there. My girls will have each other in the Club/Lab so I think that is easier for them.

 

[TDC Nala]

Agreed, the parents of the adult with special needs are not going to be able to arrange one on one care for her, likely you will need to keep her with you. She will be able to go to the clubs with her parents during the open houses.

 

[joyceyw]

No, other than the first day when people embark and are all the clubs have open houses. It ends before the first diner. Parents aren't even allowed past the gated area to get their own kid, you have to wait from them to bring the child to you.

Thats not true, each and every time we picked our son up we were given a "pick up" pass and we were then allowed to go in and find our son.

Just wanted to clarify MY experience last week on the Wonder

 

[SoCaOC-Mom]

Thats not true, each and every time we picked our son up we were given a "pick up" pass and we were then allowed to go in and find our son.

Just wanted to clarify MY experience last week on the Wonder

In the nursery? They allowed that in the club but on the Dream we had to wait for them to bring our daughter to us.

 

[joyceyw]

Also I was very concerned about the secured programming in the lab vs. the club. I spoke to Hannah the manager about my concerns she assured me that there would be age appropriate programming for all children. She also admitted that what they are doing NOW isn't necessarily what's being advertised on their website. Hmm, interesting. Anyway I left him in the lab the first day and he seemed to have had fun. At pick up he was in the club. I was told by Hannah that when secured programming opened in the club he would have the choice of where he wanted to go, meaning at 3 he could stay in the lab. Again on night 1 he moved to the club.

I honestly didn't feel that there was a variety of activities per age group while one place was open for secured only. But I wasn't there the entire time so I can't say that didn't happen.

While in the lab my son had issues with the bigger kids bullying, being pushy and my son had to get aggressive back. The first time we really got on my son but the second time we talked to son about what was really going on and we went back to the lab to address it with the CM and again Hannah. The child was still there and still playing the on the game that he hit my son over the head to get to. And he admitted my son was "taking to long" on the game. I then reiterated to Hannah THIS was my concern on night 1 and I'm not feeling comfortable with MY child being called on his behavior and not other children. Tbey admitted they didn't see the first lick so to speak and I wanted them to know that in any conflict there are two sides and I was extremely disappointed that they didn't do their due dilligance and find out what really happened. And then I had to ask why is the child still being allowed to play on a game that he admitted to hurting another kid to get to. At that point is when they agreed that maybe the child should be re-directed to another activity. Especially since over 2 hours had passed since the alleged incident and the child was still on the same game that he accused my child of taking to long on.

With all that being said, my 3 year old preferred the lab over the club for the most part until the kids got to aggressive. No problems what so ever in the club part.

But I will say that even when both programs were doing secured programming my son had the choice to go into the lab or the club. And the staff in both locations knew my son by name

As for Open Houses on paper it didn't seem that bad. They had planned activities during the open house for families and we participated in a coupld of activities. During flubber my son wasn't really interested in making flubber (took way to long with BS stuff) and he was allowed to do other things while I stayed with the flubber. There were plenty of counselors that were around to assist those children not interested in the planned activity.

Now I will admit that the Open Houses that I attended rubbed me wrong because of overly aggressive parents. Really they have enough supplies for everyone to make flubber, but the adults pushing and running to the tables and grabbing at stuff from the kids was over the top and I said so to a couple of parents. So I get why parents aren't allowed in during secured programming because if some of those parents acted that way when other parents were around I can imagine what they would be like when we weren't around

All in all, I think the lab/club issue is being a bit blown out of porportion (myslef included) and how it goes will depend on the children involved. I tried to remain positive after my first meeting with Hannah so my son would be okay with being there and he was so for me, I got my money's worth on this trip. I do think Disney still has some kinks to work out but clearly they are trying to make everyone happy and that just isnt possible so they are doing the next best thing.

 

[joyceyw]

In the nursery? They allowed that in the club but on the Dream we had to wait for them to bring our daughter to us.

You mentioned the club in your post not the nursery so I'm speaking to that post regarding the club

 

[SoCaOC-Mom]

You mentioned the club in your post not the nursery so I'm speaking to that post regarding the club

I guess I wasn't clear in my post. But I thought I was replying to someone who was asking about the nursery specifically. The only open house in the nursery is on the day of embarkation during the registration open/house hours.

This is the post I responded to.

Originally Posted by eacdabney View Post
Whew! I finally made it through to the end of this thread!

Can anyone tell me if the "Open House/Family Time" affects the nursery? I'm assuming it's the Club/Lab but wasn't sure if they had it in the nursery too? I hope not!

 

[squirrel]

I still can't believe that the Wonder is still doing 6.5 hrs of Open House time at the club on the first full day.