Cruise Experts - Children's Programs?

[MJS]

We just booked our first cruise, and we are trying to figure things out! We have a 4 year old, and were wondering how to make arrangements for her to participate in some of the many fun offerings for little ones on the cruise. How and when do we register her? Is there a chance that the programs could fill up and she could miss out? What did you and your family think of the kids programs? The CMs working there?

Thanks! Any and all information is greatly appreciated!

 

[Masonpips]

Our DD is 4 and was 3.5 last year on our trip

You register her during the afternoon of the 1st day. You can go an at anytime and sign her up, meet the counselors, ask questions, see the facilities, etc. It's a GREAT way to introduce her to the club with you there.

The club officially opens at 7 pm on the first night and your best bet is to have her there at some point that first night. It's the most upbeat night, everyone is new, they let them run around and explore the pirate ship (huge slide, huge hit with the kids).

They will give you a pager at registration and page you anytime your dd wants you. We never told our kids that, thinking they'd abuse it, but the only time we got close to a page was when Captain Hook was scheduled to come visit the 5-7 year olds. My DS 5 hates him so we went to pick him up. HOwever, we knew he was coming in advance as they give you a children's program guide and it tells you what every activity is and whether or not a character will be there.

Mickey surprised the kids the first night (my DD LOVED this) and the cutest one in the Club (4-7) is when Snow White comes. She talks with everyone, then they sing/dance together - TOO cute - a huge amount of parents showed up to take pictures.

The counselors were EXCELLENT. Just incredible and my kids loved the clubs.

Another tip - find some folks on your cruise (roll call thread) and link up with them. If you can meet at the terminal or at the sailaway party your DD might meet some kids in her age group and it helps for them to have a friendly kid face there when they go in.

 

[DVC4US]

Hi MJS,

Since I just answered another post from you I know you are in a Cat 3 with concierge. You will be able to register your child when you meet the concierge staff. You can also go up to the club and register there. Disney only allows as many children on the ship that they have room for in the clubs, so there will be a space for your child.

On our first cruise our DD's were 10 & 4 and they both loved the clubs. When we went in March they were 13 & 7 and again it was hard to get the little one out of the club every night. You will recieve a navigator showing what the clubs are doing each day and your child can choose to participate or not. Barb & Tony have sample navigators on their site www.castawayclub.com

We really like the kids clubs and have always been very happy with the CMs. I don't know exactly how much you know about them, but you will recieve a pager when you register your child and the CMs can page you should they ever need you. When she was 4 we just made sure our DD knew that if she should need or want us all she had to do was tell the CMs. We had no problems at all.
LeiLani