I am recently off a
DCL cruise and joined because I feel like people should know what is truly going on on-board the ships before making decisions about their cruises. Shoreside guest assistance is giving out incorrect information and there seems to be a lack of communication or clear guideline regarding this change.
For context, this was our 6th DCL cruise, but first since the pandemic. Our children are 16, 13, and 11. We planned this cruise, at this time specifically because they are all VERY different and we wanted them to have their own space and own activities. I have spent years telling people that DCL is the best because there is something for all ages, AND you can also have quality family time. Our youngest is an 11 year old immature boy who was completely happy that he could still go to Oceaneers, and his sisters were thrilled to have their own spaces. He does not have a phone yet, and there are no longer wave phones on board, so there is no way to communicate. And he needs to still have some supervision.
Several weeks before the cruise, my son asked about some Edge activities, and we emailed to see if he could be in both Oceaneers and Edge. We were told he did not have to commit to one club and could do whichever activities he wanted. We talked to him about going to Edge only for short periods of time, but going to Oceaneers for longer periods (like when we would be at Palo brunch) so we would know where he was. This was our plan at the time we received an email about the change, which was less than a week before we cruised. It was too late to cancel or change, so we emailed again, attaching the response from the original email. We were told there was no longer any flexibility, but that Edge would offer secure programming, similar to Oceaneers.
This was a complete lie, and we only found out when we boarded. There is no secure programming for Edge, they can come and go as they please. The CMs said they would watch him and message us when he left and where he was going, but they rarely followed through. On the second night of our cruise, they told us he left, and when we went to find him, Edge was closed and locked with no note posted. We went to Oceaneers to look for him because it was listed on the Navigator and were not allowed in because it was secured programming. We searched the ship and finally ended up at Guest services for help. It was 10 at night, everything was shutting down on deck and youth activities CMs that we spoke with would not help us out. Guest services tried calling all the kids clubs and was told he wasn't there. Concierge also started calling the youth activity CMs, but no one would answer their phones. It was over an hour and security had been called and was searching for him when someone finally answered concierge and they found him. He had left Edge, but come back and they went to take over Oceaneers, but no one notified us or even let us in to search for him. He says he asked them to message us that he was back, but there was no follow through. All they had to do was answer their phones or at least send a message through the app. I truly felt terrified and like no one cared about my son or my family. I was asked so many times if he had a phone, and even told that he shouldn't go to Edge without a phone. That should not be a requirement for an 11 year. There seems to be no guidelines on how to supervise the younger tweens who don't have a way to communicate with family.
Obviously this affected the rest of our cruise. I didn't want to let him go back at all, but that didn't seem fair to him. He is immature, but was able to follow some ground rules that we came up with so we would know where he was. We cancelled some adult only activites because we constantly had to be checking in to be sure we knew where he was. I never really got the relaxing vacation I was hoping for. If we had known ahead of time, we could have had time to make a plan or reschedule. I truly never would have booked this cruise if I had known he would not go to Oceaneers. I pay a premium for Disney to know that my kids are safe and happy. That was definitly not the case.
In addition, my 13 year old felt pushed out of Edge because of the amount of younger kids there. She tried doing ice breakers the first night, but felt out of place. We signed a wavier for her to go to Vibe, but she felt out of place there as well. There is a trickle down effect of pushing so many younger/immature kids into the Edge space. I'm also not sure why I can sign a waiver for my younger child to go to an older club, but can't sign a waiver to send one the other direction.
There were many other ramifications from this whole situation, but that was the start of our problems. Honestly, if anyone is on the fence about sailing with an 11/12 year old, just don't do it, especially if they are a bit immature. Disney has failed this age group. I understand if there needs to be changes, but this was pushed through with no notice and no planning. Not all kids can handle the freedom. There is a huge range of normal development in tweens and parents know their kids the best. And at minimum, parents should know that they can depend on the services that are offered at the time they book the cruise. Disney took our money and then changed things at the last moment with no apologies.