How crazy is the kids club on the Dream (Noise, organization, etc)

[kohlby]

My 9 year old has some sensory issues and does not do well in loud environments. He does okay in new situations if it's very controlled so he can figure out what to expect. He also doesn't seem to trust other kids to behave so he likes controlled while the adults are monitoring well. I am really hoping he can handle the kids club though. Did your sensory-sensitive kids handle it okay? Or if you don't have a sensory-sensitive kid, did you feel it was loud and chaotic or calmer and organized or somewhere in the middle? We will be on ship labor day week so I'm not sure if that will make a different too. His older sister will likely spend her time mainly in the tween club so he will be without anyone he knows which might be difficult for him.

 

[mickeymom22]

There will be times that the kids club will be more rowdy...during the dance party etc. My daughter chose to not participate in those activities, but she loved to go to the kids club. I would often find her with one of the CMs coloring or doing a craft. The only time I saw her participate in a group activity was I came in to get her and a CM was reading a story to a group of 4-5 kids. She went in every day for about two hours and I can honestly say I never saw kids running around out of control...can't say if the kids were just well-behaved, or well-supervised, or both! My daughter tended to be there about the same time every day, so she had a favorite CM!

I bet you could talk to them on your first day and explain his situation and they would be happy to work with him and you to make his time there magical!

 

[MSPeeler]

Honestly, I would avoid open house on the first day. Otherwise, my son and daughter (who were 9 and 7 at the time of our cruise on the Dream) said that the clubs were well organized with activities but also had free play that wasn't overly chaotic. My daughter does not like chaos or loud noises. She said it wasn't QUIET, but it certainty wasn't crazy with kids screaming and running around everywhere. I've been told that there are other open house times that you can go with him to get a feel of the clubs that shouldn't be as busy as the first day, given everyone being registered who doesn't register at the port.

Does your son use ear plugs at all? I use one in my right ear for my sensory issues when I am at the movie theater or theme parks when needed.

I hope that helps!

 

[bumbershoot]

He also doesn't seem to trust other kids to behave so he likes controlled while the adults are monitoring well.

My son hasn't noticed much monitoring during most of the time in the Club/Lab.

But if you ONLY go during/for specific activities (the ones named on the schedule) there will be more CM involvement, which I bet he'd like.


(FWIW, my son preferred Royal's kid club program b/c the counselors are MUCH more present, and they are involved the whole time...)

 

[kohlby]

Honestly, I would avoid open house on the first day. Otherwise, my son and daughter (who were 9 and 7 at the time of our cruise on the Dream) said that the clubs were well organized with activities but also had free play that wasn't overly chaotic. My daughter does not like chaos or loud noises. She said it wasn't QUIET, but it certainty wasn't crazy with kids screaming and running around everywhere. I've been told that there are other open house times that you can go with him to get a feel of the clubs that shouldn't be as busy as the first day, given everyone being registered who doesn't register at the port.

Does your son use ear plugs at all? I use one in my right ear for my sensory issues when I am at the movie theater or theme parks when needed.

I hope that helps!

He has headphones he wears for things like fireworks and thunder. (I live in FL so noise cancelling headphones are essential in the summer!) He only wears them when he absolutely needs to though - he won't wear them if people are just talking too loudly. We will take them with us for the muster drill. Good tip to stay away from that open house. He's an extremely observant child so I'd rather him not think that's what he's getting into.

 

[kohlby]

My son hasn't noticed much monitoring during most of the time in the Club/Lab.

But if you ONLY go during/for specific activities (the ones named on the schedule) there will be more CM involvement, which I bet he'd like.


(FWIW, my son preferred Royal's kid club program b/c the counselors are MUCH more present, and they are involved the whole time...)

Good idea. I'll initially try during an activity. He may or may not do the activity. He does so much better with a sibling but I don't want to make her go to that younger group too much. Maybe I'll bribe her for the first time. Are there many kids at the very top of the age range in there? My middle child is 12 so I'm thinking she'll be all about the tween club instead. But - she is of the age that she's allowed to go to the same group as my 9 year old too.

By Royal, I'm guessing you mean Royal Carribean Cruise Line? This Disney cruise is booked and our last chance to really go on one with kids due to my eldest child eventually heading off to college. (And us moving to China next summer). We have relatives taking us on a Carnival cruise over Christmas break which I'm thinking will be insane so I'm hoping the Disney kids clubs are a good step for him. (For that one, my middle child cannot be in the same room with him at all and his cousins are all in different rooms as well).

 

[MSPeeler]

Are there many kids at the very top of the age range in there? My middle child is 12 so I'm thinking she'll be all about the tween club instead. But - she is of the age that she's allowed to go to the same group as my 9 year old too.

My son will be 10 on this coming cruise we are taking in November and he will be in the Oceaneer Club a lot I guarantee! My 12 year old will go with him maybe once... but like yours, she wants to "grown up", unless she finds a good friend to go with to the younger Club.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

Honestly, if you go when school is out, it is a madhouse. Our kids are fine with this, but I do not know how the CMs deal.

 

[keaster]

When they combined the age groups of the Oceaneer Club/Lab I found that the chaos was notched up a bit. When we began sailing with DCL our daughter was 5 - the age separations worked well and the spaces were less crowded (younger kids in the Club, older kids in the Lab). When they combined it did seem more like a free for all to us, but our daughter was older by then and didn't have to deal with it for very long before aging up into the Edge.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

My 9 year old has some sensory issues and does not do well in loud environments. He does okay in new situations if it's very controlled so he can figure out what to expect. He also doesn't seem to trust other kids to behave so he likes controlled while the adults are monitoring well. I am really hoping he can handle the kids club though. Did your sensory-sensitive kids handle it okay? Or if you don't have a sensory-sensitive kid, did you feel it was loud and chaotic or calmer and organized or somewhere in the middle? We will be on ship labor day week so I'm not sure if that will make a different too. His older sister will likely spend her time mainly in the tween club so he will be without anyone he knows which might be difficult for him.

My DS10 sounds very much like your DS. He does not like loud, chaotic environments. He did very well on the Magic when we sailed in Europe. There were far fewer people on that ship and the kids club was much less hectic. We have now sailed on the Dream once and the Fantasy twice and he simply doesn't like those clubs. Yes, you can expect lots of kids, lots of noise and chaos. On our last trip on the Fantasy in March, he and I attended one Marvel, open house together and he went a few hours one evening while DH and I went to Remy. When I went to pick him up, he was playing chess with a counselor in one of the smaller rooms and wanted to leave as soon as his game was done. I would suggest avoiding the club altogether on the first day and then, perhaps, on the second day, go to one of the organized, open house activities with him. If it's quieter at that time, you may also want to ask a CM for some suggestions for quieter activities he could do during general kids club hours. DS10 spent a lot of time hanging out with me on our cruise and we certainly found plenty to do, but I didn't get a lot of "me" time which was fine!

 

[gotomu212]

My 9 year old has some sensory issues and does not do well in loud environments. He does okay in new situations if it's very controlled so he can figure out what to expect. He also doesn't seem to trust other kids to behave so he likes controlled while the adults are monitoring well. I am really hoping he can handle the kids club though. Did your sensory-sensitive kids handle it okay? Or if you don't have a sensory-sensitive kid, did you feel it was loud and chaotic or calmer and organized or somewhere in the middle? We will be on ship labor day week so I'm not sure if that will make a different too. His older sister will likely spend her time mainly in the tween club so he will be without anyone he knows which might be difficult for him.

In general I don’t think the Clubs are ever very controlled, I’d describe it as controlled chaos unless it’s a very quiet down time or smaller cruise. There are several rooms so one particular room may be a more quiet controlled activity, but there’s usually a lot of activities going on simultaneously (some scheduled and others just on the fly) and kids running from room to room. If he needs a setting where he can figure out what to expect that may be hard-as an adult I went in to pick my son up a few times and even I was like what in the world is going on here and here and then someone would walk by yelling out that another activity would start... my son does zone out on the computers and simulators and that does seem quieter with the kids all engrossed in their games. There are times it’s quieter and calmer, but on the shorter Dream cruises it does seem like there are a lot of kids in there without downtime.

Good luck, I really hope you can find a good fit (I agree with PP that going during scheduled activities might be helpful).

 

[cruiser21]

Honestly, if you go when school is out, it is a madhouse. Our kids are fine with this, but I do not know how the CMs deal.

It's a mad house all year. I was on the Dream last year the beginning of May and there were 1300 kids on board.

 

[Quellman]

I agree with other comments that if you show up for organized group activities, it can help. They will be part of that activity and other kids will just still be off doing their own thing.

 

[bumbershoot]

By Royal, I'm guessing you mean Royal Carribean Cruise Line?

Yep. Just telling you for future cruises.

Good idea. I'll initially try during an activity. He may or may not do the activity. He does so much better with a sibling but I don't want to make her go to that younger group too much. Maybe I'll bribe her for the first time. Are there many kids at the very top of the age range in there? My middle child is 12 so I'm thinking she'll be all about the tween club instead. But - she is of the age that she's allowed to go to the same group as my 9 year old too.

Kids can stay in the club/lab until the day before their 13th birthday. We didn’t cruise Disney after my son was 11, but he enjoyed the kid clubs on royal (didn’t like the teen club he was forced to move to at 12) and I’m sure he would have been one of the older kids in the club/lab if we’d gone on Disney. He likes activities and not just sitting around. (Which is how we started having him go strictly during activities) Plus, as a dancer he loves the dance floor in the Lab.

But some kids just don’t want to be around the youngers.

If she IS the oldest in there, well, there won’t be any age peers in there to see her, so it wouldn’t matter.



But, fair warning...it’s possible your son simply won’t enjoy it there.

My cousin’s oldest son is autistic, and the two times they cruised with their kids they had...unrealistic expectations for what he could handle. At one point (on a shared cruise with them) his parents were off somewhere not answering their phones, and his grandma was in the stateroom with the boy’s sleeping sister and couldn’t leave, and he wanted to leave the club/lab but couldn’t.

We hadn’t thought things through enough to have them put our names on the list of people who could sign him out, so when we came to pick up our son (who grew bored once his cousin did) we couldn’t help him. It was rotten.

And he never went back to the club/lab.

Given that you’re already asking these questions I have high hopes for him, and know that you’re ahead of the game. My cousin never really recovered from their expectations vs reality moment.

 

[kohlby]

Thanks all. We want to do a Mixology class so I really want him to be able to handle the kids club. Otherwise, we may have to enlist one of our older kids as babysitter. I did write down that my teen had permission to pick him up from the kids club too. I figured the more people, the better.

 

[Spiffy MacSpiff]

FWIW, DH is a school psychologist so our DCL cruises are limited to dates with the highest percentage of kid cruisers. We've found that on embarkation day the open house is insane, so I'd avoid that for sure; however, after that things settle down. Activities aren't strictly controlled but little kids gravitate to little kid areas, big kids gravitate to big kid areas, and there are quiet activities for anybody who is interested. Our DS11 has some sensory issues; he uses special headphones for things like thunder, fireworks, and the muster drill, but he's never wanted them in the clubs. He'll be 12 for our next cruse in August and although he's been to Edge and likes it there, he adores the Club/Lab and plans to spend every waking minute there that he can on this last cruise before he ages out. We always do late dining so that helps, he likes to do Dine N'Play and a lot of the littles are back in their staterooms by that time.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Thanks all. We want to do a Mixology class so I really want him to be able to handle the kids club. Otherwise, we may have to enlist one of our older kids as babysitter. I did write down that my teen had permission to pick him up from the kids club too. I figured the more people, the better.

If he can’t handle the club, perhaps one of the older kids can do the Midship Detective Agency with him while you’re in the class? My DS and I did all the cases together on our last cruise and had a blast.

 

[cruiser21]

Yep. Just telling you for future cruises.




Kids can stay in the club/lab until the day before their 13th birthday. We didn’t cruise Disney after my son was 11, but he enjoyed the kid clubs on royal (didn’t like the teen club he was forced to move to at 12) and I’m sure he would have been one of the older kids in the club/lab if we’d gone on Disney. He likes activities and not just sitting around. (Which is how we started having him go strictly during activities) Plus, as a dancer he loves the dance floor in the Lab.

But some kids just don’t want to be around the youngers.

If she IS the oldest in there, well, there won’t be any age peers in there to see her, so it wouldn’t matter.

Actually the Edge and Vibe have scheduled activities all day. It's not just a hangout place unless that's what you want it to be. My son is big on activities. It's what he left the Lab at age 10. He loves the organized activities in the Edge. There also a lot less kids and he gets to know the counselors pretty well.
I would recommend any kid old enough for the Edge to try it. The lab is just mass chaos similar to the kids pool. My kids have no sensory or social issues and they did fine in the lab, but I can certainly see how it could overload a sensitive child.
On our last cruise our room was right over the lab..never again. The thumping and bass from the music drove me batty.