Disappointed - RCIs Adventure Ocean vs DCLs Oceaneers Club/Lab

[Onessa]

Does anyone know how strict RCI is on the age groups? We are traveling next month with our 3 children. Our sons are 15 and 14. The 14 YO will be 15 just a couple of months after our cruise, unfortunately. Will RCI allow him to go to the next age group where my other son will be at?

 

12YO and older is a different matter entirely on RCCI - it is not Adventure Ocean stuff, it is the teen club. Many of the teen club activities are open to all teen participants. Most of the kids in this age group simply get to know each other and then "hang out" rather than participate in formal activities.

[GatorMomInNC]

Disney just changed their policy on this and now parents can't hang out with their kids. For me, this is a bummer, but most people seem happy because of security issues. My kids do not adjust well to the kids clubs and I spent the first 10-15 minutes with them the first and second time I checked them in, then they were fine on their own. Plus, some of my best moments were watching them in the kids clubs - interacting with Stitch or Mickey, making volcanoes and flubber. Now I will have to hope they are okay with staying on their own. I did hear that they will have "open houses" when parents can come with their kids...

 

We've done the Magic and the Wonder. And you're right, the last time was 2009. So are you saying that the parents are NOT allowed past the gate now? Our last time (Wonder), when someone wanted to tour the kids club, all they had to do was to ask. Adults were allowed in. When I got back from our cruise, I had a HUGE discussion thread both here and on the Disboards about the safety issues (I felt) this caused.

 

So they could have changed it since then. I hope, for the kids sakes, they have.

 

On RCI, they are so strict, that one grandmother tried to step in to help take a child's shoes off and the counselors stopped her from stepping inside. And when another parent tried to step in to pick up their sleeping child (who was sleeping just inside the gate on a mat) - the couselors stopped the parent, picked the child up and handed her over the gate.

[alfaz]

We sail tomorrow on Radiance, yay! There are 7 kids in our group, the youngest being 6 and the oldest 12. The four little ones will go together and can't wait. We were told by a rci rep that the 12 yr old could go down a group to be with her brother (10) and my daughter (11), the ta also advised us this. We booked with rci and not p&o based on this advise. We have been worried we were given bad advise and I'm certain my friend will argue the point if they don't let her daughter go with her friends.

 

What is others experience with this? It is a school holiday cruise so will be overrun with kids on holidays.

 

This thread has been quite informative.

Leah

[sharktums]

Was shocked when we just did Jewel of the Seas that there was the archaic paper sign in/out book every time. Previously my daughter has done Adventure Ocean on Independence, Allure, and Freedom; all of which just swiped our Sea Pass cards.

 

Royal Caribbean has always been very strict about adults in the area which I appreciate and enjoy quite a bit, however on this most recent cruise I saw a woman freak out so much that they let her go in and play with her child which then upset and confused all the other kids. Quite annoying.

 

Several times I saw the Aquanauts combined with the Explorers. For my almost five year old, she LOVED moving up to the Explorers area and the only time they combined is when there were not a lot of kids.

 

We're trying out the Disney Fantasy in October and I'm VERY curious to see how the programs compare, both my perception of them and my daughters enjoyment of them.