Kiddos first-time experiences in the kids clubs?

[sadiecatie]

I’m wondering if anyone’s kids were too nervous to do the kids clubs on their first sailing, or if they all loved it once they got to get in there. We’re going on our first sailing in June, and my daughter (8) can get herself a little anxious with anticipation of new experiences. I think she’ll see what fun the kids clubs are and be all about it; my husband wonders if she’ll just want to hang with us the whole time because she’ll be too nervous to go on her own. What have your kids’ experiences been?

 

[NerfHerder99]

I’m wondering if anyone’s kids were too nervous to do the kids clubs on their first sailing, or if they all loved it once they got to get in there. We’re going on our first sailing in June, and my daughter (8) can get herself a little anxious with anticipation of new experiences. I think she’ll see what fun the kids clubs are and be all about it; my husband wonders if she’ll just want to hang with us the whole time because she’ll be too nervous to go on her own. What have your kids’ experiences been?

I did a 3 night Disney Wonder trip out of San Diego in November and my 6-year-old was in the same boat. It's always a roll of the dice if she'll like a new camp or group outing. She ended up loving the clubs. The staff is super accommodating and very helpful. During our cruise, there were numerous times (including during boarding) when they have an 'open house' and parents are allowed to go into the clubs with the kids to look around. I'd recommend using that time to share the experience with them and help them get familiar with the layout. It's also good to introduce them to the staff so they can see they are friendly and hopefully might be working when you drop them off in the future.

After some slight hesitation, there were multiple times when I'd go in and check on her only to have her tell me she didn't want to leave and to come to get her later.

 

[Cats12]

My kids have been cruising since they were little and have maybe spent about 5 hours in the kids clubs alone during our 10 cruises, mostly during one cruise where some form of dodgeball was popular. Every time, I think this is the one where they're going to realize they love it, because they really should and are very social at home, but something about it being all new kids keeps them from wanting to try. We like spending the time as a family though, so we still have fun of course, but have never once gotten to go to the adult pool areas or activities other than to look around. Just wanted to answer your question that no, not all kids get over the nervousness and love it.

 

[revdon64]

My older son's first experience with the kid's club was for his 8th birthday cruise on the Dream. He was hesitant at first, but we visited during the first open house and he loved it. He wanted to go after that and spent about as much time as he could in there when we went on the Magic in January 2020. I'd say go to the open house and let her experience it. She'll let you know.

 

[Meriweather]

My grand daughter tried it a couple of times on her first cruise. She was almost 5.
She didn't like it and keep asking to be picked up.
Our table mates had a daughter the same age and same thing with her.
They even went once together and both wanted out

Other cruises, she wouldn't even try it.
Grandson tried it once and stayed 2 hours but didn't want to go back anymore. He was 5

 

[Pens Fan]

On our first cruise our son couldn't wait to go to the kid's club. It's all he talked about pre-cruise. We checked him in the first day only to get a page (this was years ago) about 30 minutes later that he wanted to be picked up. He never went back. We took a couple more cruises where he just hung out with us. It was only when he got old enough for Vibe that he started enjoying the clubs and spent a lot of time there.

Honestly, you just don't know until they try it. Tons of kids adore the clubs and never want to leave. Others don't like them at all or fall somewhere in the middle. At the end of the day, we always had a great time just being together. Back in the day my husband was traveling almost constantly for work, so the three of us hanging out for extended periods of time was a luxury anyway!

 

[Carohs]

My kids (9 & 7) attend summer camp, daycare, after-school care, etc. I knew there wouldn't be a problem getting them to kids club, and they were excited to try it. They do love it but we always ask them do you want to go to club or go to the pool as we plan out our day (usually over breakfast). Then throughout the day I check in and ask if they want to leave for another activity/show/character. Sometimes they come with me (yay!) and sometimes they're having too much fun (yay!). I think it helps that they know they have the opportunity to go to club if they want but also that they won't miss out on anything else going on onboard the ship.

 

[KrisApple]

I am curious myself. We sail in September and my son will be 9. He has high anxiety, ADHD and Asperger’s. We will be doing the open house on embarkation day and meeting counselors, then each morning looking at the daily schedule to decide when he wants to go and for how long. We will start with short spurts of time so he doesn’t get overwhelmed

 

[Tenkawa]

My (just) 4 year old loved the kids club. We couldn't pry him out of there. (So much so that on one port day we left him on the ship while we explored [yes, another member of our group was on the ship too]).

The 8 year old that was with us (family friend) also couldn't be removed.

We are going again in a few months and he will be 12, and we fully expect to lose him to Oceaneers / Edge.

All that said: He is on the spectrum (high functioning), and loves going to after school activities, community center stuff, etc. But he will also happily sit and game all day with his friends.

 

[sadiecatie]

Thanks for your experiences! My daughter really is a toss up, because she can sometimes get anxious in new settings but she’s also an only child that will readily run up to other kids on the playground and make new friends. I guess we’ll just have to see! I like the idea of making sure she knows she has the option to go or not, and it’s not an all-or-nothing thing (she can come do stuff with us whenever she wants).

 

[lklgoodman]

First time my dd cruised she was 6 yrs old. I was worried, but she ended up liking it. We would look at the navigator(daily schedule of activities) to see what activities she would like to go to each day. I would then take her to the club about 5 mins before it would start. If you take her for a specific activity, let the cms at drop off know that she wants to do the activity because there will be a lot of different things going on at the same time. Ask them to tell her where to go for it, or see if another cm can take her to the spot if she doesn't know where to go. If your cruise is 7 nights or longer they do a Pluto's pj party. Sometimes they do it more than one night. My dd absolutely loved going to it and made sure she'd do it on every cruise we did. They got a pillow case with Pluto on it that they got to color. They'd watch cartoons, Pluto would come to dance with them. One time she said the cms gave them marshmallows and they got to throw them at the cms. My dd is now 14 yrs old and anytime we talk about our cruises she always says the Pluto pj parties were one of her favorite things. The kids wear their pjs to it. She also loved the tracing table that they had. Every cruise, we'd come home with a ton of Disney art.

 

[blabbermouth]

I am also very curious about how my daughter will do as well! She will be 5 1/2. I'm hopeful she'll want to go for a bit on some days at least, but we are also used to vacations with her 24/7 since she's an only child and we don't travel with grandparents or anything so we can handle that too. I'll take her to the open house on the first day and try to make friends with the cast members. I think if she finds one she likes she'll want to go.

 

[NEGeekymama]

With both our kids (now 9 and 17), we basically never see them while we're on the ship with the exception of dinner. They'd live in the kids clubs if they could.

 

[Sarah Fallon]

I’m wondering if anyone’s kids were too nervous to do the kids clubs on their first sailing, or if they all loved it once they got to get in there. We’re going on our first sailing in June, and my daughter (8) can get herself a little anxious with anticipation of new experiences. I think she’ll see what fun the kids clubs are and be all about it; my husband wonders if she’ll just want to hang with us the whole time because she’ll be too nervous to go on her own. What have your kids’ experiences been?

My daughter was 4.5 when she did her first kids club. She was definitely nervous but once she was in there she had a blast. She had us pick her up and every now and then but once she found a friend with our tablemates, they went to kids club together the rest of the time. They have open houses where you can go in kids club with her, especially in the beginning of the trip. One she meets other kids her age she'll probably adjust really quick and have a blast.

 

[crauen]

My experience might not be typical but we have an only child (he is 9) and he literally cannot wait to do the kids club on every cruise. (we have done 3 with two more planned this year). He is an exceptionally social and independent kid thought. His first day of school rather than tears his response was "bye Mom, bye Dad!". The one other thing I would say is that we have sailed with adult friends who have a somewhat shy, comparably aged kid. They had cruised before and their kid had a hard time in the kids clubs and did not want to spend expended periods of time there. My son decided to show him how to have fun in the kids club and the adults barely saw our children on that cruise. So if you have a shy kiddo but can find an outgoing kid to be their buddy and guide for the kids clubs they can have a great time.

 

[Anna131517]

We went on our first DCL cruise in 2019 (7 day eastern Carribean on the Fantasy) and my kids weren’t a fan of the kids club or nursery. They were 2, 4, and 6. The oldest two would have us called for pick up within 30-60 minutes of being dropped off. My youngest wouldn’t play or sleep. We just ended up hanging out together, which was fine with me. We’re going on another cruise in February and I’m hoping for more success now that they’re older (6, 7, 9) but knowing their personalities I’m not really expecting it to be much different. For context - we both work full time and our kids do go to camps over breaks and during the summer so it’s not like they’re never away from us.

 

[kmedina]

My teenager was in Vibe most of our two December 2022 cruises, but my 11 year old only went twice to Edge on the Wish and 0 times on the Fantasy. That's how they are at home, too. The older one is always out with friends while the younger one is always home with me.

When they were younger, they both did the clubs. I guess I did not really give them a choice, because I dropped them off and picked them up. They never protested though, and it is not like I sent them there a lot. We like family time. Now, I let them do whatever they want as long as they join us at dinner and on excursions.