In general girls enjoyed the kids club immensely on our Disney Magic cruise. The Oceaneer club and Oceaneer Lab are spectacular areas for the children to socialize and have fun. There is a insulated hallway between the two areas so children are able to travel back and forth to activities. The kids club is included and is open all day from 9am-12midnight! One difference I noted, in comparison to other cruise lines, was that the staff served lunch and dinner to children who were in the club during designated meal times; they served these meals inside the kids club, instead of taking the kids to the buffet. On our last cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Enchantment the club closed for 2 hours during mealtimes. Since we homeschool and get more than enough of each other on a daily basis (LOL), on certain days our kids enjoyed staying at the club for lunch or dinner (on the days Hubby and I went to Palo, the adults only restaurant).
I loved the kid-sized bathroom amenities (note the lowered height of the sinks)
There was a great daily schedule of activities (easily found on the Disney Castaway App) throughout the entire day. There were cooking classes and science experiments a few times during the week long cruise. They had game shows, character/themed parties, crafts, sing a longs, dress up parties, pajama parties…. The list went on and on. There were so many unique activities, my kids didn’t get to do everything. The security was top notch and very well organized; when picking up my girls the staff first would pull up their names and check the approved pick up names (and faces) that had been registered when we were boarding. We were also required to give a verbal family password before the children were released to our care. The children also scanned their wrist bands when they entered and departed the club/lab. So at any time the staff could tell you exactly where your kids were (club vs. lab).
My only concern was the age groupings. The Oceaneer Club/Lab is designated for ages 3-12. That is a huge age group and my 3 year old often felt overwhelmed when we initially dropped her off. If she was near her 7 year old sister she was ok, but anytime they became separated she would become a little anxious and ask for her parents. The staff were wonderful and few staff members went out of their way to keep an eye out for her and make her feel comfortable, but there just weren’t enough staff members to provide close attention to all the little ones. I understand that concept behind Disney’s unique kids area, allowing free movement and play, but I think, at least in our case, it was occasionally overwhelming for younger children. Despite all of that, the girls had a lot of fun! By far the intentional planning and execution of the Oceaneer Club and Lab was on par with everything that Disney does and our girls still talk about it to this day!
The princess sightings (as well as most of the character greetings in general) were managed quite well. As soon as we boarded on our first day we went to the guest services desk to request tickets for meeting Anna and Elsa and The Princesses. These tickets were complimentary but you had to obtain tickets beforehand in order to meet these characters at the specific times. You can obtain these reservations online prior to your cruise (I believe) but we were still offered a selection of times when we had boarded. The tickets give you a window of time to join the line to see your chosen characters.
The lines move pretty quickly as the staff are super helpful, moving people along, showing them where to stand and wait in between visiting princesses. I’ve even heard the the cruise photographer will take pictures with your own personal camera after he has taken the professional ones.
Most of the character meet and greets do not require tickets, though. There are characters to be found all over the ship at the most surprising times. You can also find greeting times in your daily newsletter; there will be a time and a location listed, making it easy to plan your day. If you are totally in love with meeting and taking pictures with characters Disney cruises are the perfect opportunities for this. No waiting in LONG, hot lines in a Disney Park for a simple picture and autograph! With our tickets it took us about 15 minutes total to wait and see Anna and Elsa; in the Magic Kingdom park, stand by lines can be as long at 120 minutes!! If your kids love filling up cute autograph books with character signatures a Disney Cruise is a great stress free way to get it done!
You can read more about our experience on the Disney Magic here.
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