Confused about nursery.

[mividajp]

According to DCL the nursery is for kids 0-2 and OC is for 3-12 as long as they're potty trained.

I've been reading through threads and some say DCL is very strict on ages and which club the kids can be in. I read another thread that kids that are three and not completely potty trained will be encouraged to go to the nursery.

Sooooo....what age is too old for the nursery? My daughter is 3 and potty trained but not to the point where she can go all by herself. She still needs a little help. We'll be on the Fantasy with my nephew that's 4 and still isn't potty trained.

Will they let them both in the nursery or both in OC? We don't plan on having them spend a lot of time in the clubs but we were hoping to maybe do the dine and play so the adults could eat at a leisurely pace and the kids wouldn't be upset having to wait for us to finish eating. Thanks for any help or suggestions.

[Ex techie]

Seems a new policy was put in place with no exceptions.

There is a discussion here about it:

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2166268

 

HTH's!

 

ex techie

Edited February 13, 2015 by Ex techie

[moki'smommy]

The reason you are seeing different posts is that the policy seems to have changed very recently.

 

While I cannot verify this from personal experience, it appears that the cut off for nursery is now the day a child turns 3 (this is similar to the teen turning 18 policy). For a LONG time, parents have taken kids who were trained but not able to handle the matters themselves to the Oceaneer's Club. You have them go before they go to the OC. Then you check in on them every 60-90 minutes and escort them to the toilet each time. That appears to be the new policy, but it has been a reasonable practice since DCL launched!

 

Note--untrained 4 year old will NOT be allowed in any pools. This might be an incentive for training prior to the cruise. Swim diapers are not allowed in the pools per US public health regulations.

[mividajp]

Thanks for the info. We're definitely hoping nephew will be potty trained by then but if not we're not really worried about the pools. We're not into "people soup" so we aren't really planning on spending time in the pool if we can help it.

 

We're mostly looking for them to be able to go to the club after they eat for an hour or so while we finish eating. Sounds like we might be ok. Thanks again!:)

[Ex techie]

They will both be fine, if they cannot do it themselves, it will just require you checking in on them periodically and to take them out of the club to use other restrooms elsewhere

If they have an accident, the YAC's will call you on your Wave phone to come pick them up and take them to be changed. They cannot help them in the restrooms to go, or be dressed again.

 

ex techie

[mividajp]

Thank you ex techie! I appreciate the assurance!

[Tagong]

Hey mividajp - DW, DD and I are just off Magic (three weeks ago). DD is 2.5 and fully potty trained. We thought she'd be better off in OC vs. nursery but when we got there we realized that at home we wouldn't want her in daycare with 12 yr olds so why all of a sudden were we comfortable with her being in OC with 12 yr olds. We put her in the nursery which she loved despite being one of the oldest in that room. As a bonus we still got to enjoy OC during the many Open House hours they have throughout the cruise. Didn't think we'd take advantage of the open houses but some of our best times with our DD were during those times. We had a blast. Disney Difference makes a difference for parents.

Edited February 14, 2015 by Tagong

[Stephylynn02]

When we went on our first DCL my DD was almost 3, 2 months shy and she was potty trained. They let her in and she actually did really well! The staff was great with her, really watched out for her and made good friends. There are open houses, go to them and get her acclamated with the club and staff. Make sure she knows where the potty is and how to open, close, wash hands, etc. Good luck! :)

[Shmoo here]

When we went on our first DCL my DD was almost 3, 2 months shy and she was potty trained. They let her in and she actually did really well! The staff was great with her, really watched out for her and made good friends. There are open houses, go to them and get her acclamated with the club and staff. Make sure she knows where the potty is and how to open, close, wash hands, etc. Good luck! :)

 

Are you saying that your daughter was allowed in Oceaneer's Club/Lab? If so, those days have passed.

 

DCL's policy now is that a child must be 3 to participate in the Club/Lab. Except for Open House times in the Club/Lab, a child not yet 3 must use the nursery, regardless of potty-training status.

[moki'smommy]

The above posts contain some good information but also contribute to the confusion. My understanding of the new policy is that it is a strict 3 year old cut off--no more "almost 3 and trained." Under 3 go to nursery, 3 and up go to the OC with the understanding that parents are responsible for the toileting and will be called if there is an accident. Untrained kids are allowed in diapers or pull ups; again parents are responsible for changes as needed.

 

Open house hours are open to kids of all ages--a great time to go to the OC and play with younger ones while YOU supervise.

[kitkat343]

Could anyone let me know about how difficult it is to book hours in the nursery? I know there is a limit to how many hours you can book ahead of time, but did people have trouble adding hours to that limit? What hours is the nursery open?

[moki'smommy]

Could anyone let me know about how difficult it is to book hours in the nursery? I know there is a limit to how many hours you can book ahead of time, but did people have trouble adding hours to that limit? What hours is the nursery open?

 

It is very easy to book, and at least on the Magic, the CMs are super about allowing you to change what you have booked. Whether you can add time or not depends on how many babies are on the ship and how many hours are left. 3/4 night cruises you can book 10 hours in advance. 7 nights = up to 18 hours in advance and 14 night cruises = 35 hours in advance.

 

In our experience, you can add time on the second day of the cruise. The first day is so people who did not book in advance still have a chance to get the time they might want. On day 2, any times remaining can be booked by anyone--no limit that I've ever been aware of. BUT on some short cruises, they did not allow booking additional hours.

[Host Mick]

The reason you are seeing different posts is that the policy seems to have changed very recently.

 

While I cannot verify this from personal experience' date=' it appears that the cut off for nursery is now the day a child turns 3 (this is similar to the teen turning 18 policy). For a LONG time, parents have taken kids who were trained but not able to handle the matters themselves to the Oceaneer's Club. You have them go before they go to the OC. Then you check in on them every 60-90 minutes and escort them to the toilet each time. That appears to be the new policy, but it has been a reasonable practice since DCL launched!

 

Note--untrained 4 year old will NOT be allowed in any pools. This might be an incentive for training prior to the cruise. Swim diapers are not allowed in the pools per US public health regulations.[/quote']

 

You may be intereted to know that there are no laws or regulations in this regard. The Disney ships are Bahamian so there are few US laws that they are obligated to follow.

The pool rules and in fact most of the sanitation rules are a part of the CDC's Vessel Sanitation Program that is completely voluntary. Cruise ships can opt out of the entire program but would be foolish to do so.

[moki'smommy]

The regulations exist. The ship may or may not be exempt from them based on being a foreign flagged vessel (I don't know whether this is true or whether docking in the US makes them subject to US regulations). As you noted, any ship opting out of the CDC regs would be foolish--there are many ships one may choose to spend his or her money to sail. A line that chooses to not comply with US health standards would not be one that many would knowingly choose to sail.

[sunset@sea]

I can't speak to which US regulations are applicable to foreign flagged ships, but some are. The US requires ships that dock in the US to follow certain regulations. If they refuse,the US can refuse to let them dock in US ports. One set of regulations is the ADA. I'm not sure if it is applied in whole, in part, or if it has special provisions for ships but my understanding is that complaints can and have been filed.

 

We were able to get our three year old daughter into the kids club in pull-ups on Celebrity with these provisions. (She has an intestinal condition that delayed training. For all we knew she might have been 10 before was completely trained.) We found a well hidden Celebrity ADA form online - not on their site- and presented that at the kids club. This was after speaking with their special needs group before boarding. We carried pagers and checked on our daughters every hour or two. No problems.

 

It sounds like Disney has taken this approach now without any kind of special condition or request needed. It really makes sense with the communication devices available. It's not like it's a big deal for parents to pop in and change the child and/or take them potty.

[kitkat343]

NCL allows children in diapers to attend the kids club, and issues beepers to the parents to let them know when they need to be changed. Our son was fully potty trained, but they were worried he might have trouble wiping himself so they gave us a beeper and told us they'd call us if he looked like he needed help since they aren't able to help him. It seems like a really reasonable compromise, assuming the parents are responsible and will immediately respond to a pager requesting assistance.

[moki'smommy]

On DCL, the wave phones eliminated the need for beepers several years ago. the wave phones can be used not only by the OC, but by anyone wishing to contact a guest. A wave phone can be dialed from another wave phone or any house phone.

[chengkp75]

You may be intereted to know that there are no laws or regulations in this regard. The Disney ships are Bahamian so there are few US laws that they are obligated to follow.

The pool rules and in fact most of the sanitation rules are a part of the CDC's Vessel Sanitation Program that is completely voluntary. Cruise ships can opt out of the entire program but would be foolish to do so.

 

I've got to disagree somewhat, Mick. While the VSP was created by the USPH using CLIA cruise line's input as to what was accomplishable and what was economic, and could be considered voluntary, the USPH's mandate is not. They are tasked with preventing the introduction of disease into the US, and are mandated, and allowed under international law, to inspect foreign ships (of all types) to ensure that no diseases are present onboard when the ship enters US waters. The VSP is used as a means to determine whether the ship is doing "best practices" to prevent disease onboard. If a cruise line were to opt out of the VSP, they would be liable for inspection by USPH every time the ship enters the US, including screening of disembarking passengers.

[CruisingCamper]

So can we email DCL and get a copy of what the current policy is regarding three year olds not yet potty-trained?

[moki'smommy]

So can we email DCL and get a copy of what the current policy is regarding three year olds not yet potty-trained?

 

You can try, but don't be surprised if someone punches a few computer buttons, finds the old policy, and send that to you. Happens all the time that shoreside doesn't know what is happening on the ships.

[chengkp75]

Not to get the thread sidetracked, but just to clarify some statements made by previous posters:

 

US laws, in this case the USPH mandate and the ADA, only apply to a foreign flag ship while in US waters (out to 12nm). For the USPH, as stated the VSP is a sort of quid pro quo, where USPH says "if you follow this program, we won't inspect your ship every time it enters port". For the ADA, while in US waters, the ship cannot discriminate against a disabled person by for instance charging more or denial of boarding. However, the Supreme Court has ruled that without further Congressional action, the ADA does not apply to the "internal operations" of the ship or require additions or alterations to existing ships. Both statutes lose their effectiveness once the ship leaves the US territorial waters, but most companies continue to follow them rather than have to train the crew to switch back and forth.

 

US criminal law will extend, in some cases, out into international waters, if the crime affects US citizens, but once in the territorial waters of another country, it all then depends on the treaty status between that country and the US as to whether US law or law enforcement will be followed.

 

Also note that the USPH VSP is not designed to protect the health of cruise ship passengers. It is to prevent introduction of contagious disease into the US.

Edited February 17, 2015 by chengkp75

[CruisingCamper]

You would think that they would only have access to the current policy and not the old. Surely, they are required to replace the old with the new...and not have both for them to use.