The Oceaneer Club is Disney Cruise Line’s club for kids ages 3 to 10. We didn’t start cruising until our older daughter was 11, so she didn’t spend much time in the club. Our youngest daughter, however, loved the clubs and had to be dragged out of them a few times.
Kids have to be registered to use the kids clubs. You can register them online in advance of your cruise, which will allow you to get them enrolled and set their check-in/check-out privileges. The privileges relate to whether the child can leave the club when they want versus the club Cast Members calling you when your child wants to leave. When our daughter was younger, we would have them call us. Once we had been on a few cruises, we would let her check herself out and come back to the room (we always told her where we would be so she could easily find us). You can also give a list of people that are authorized to pick your child up from the club. We always authorized our older daughter so she could run and get her from the Club in case we were busy.
Once you have them registered online, you will have to get them a Magic Band. These Magic Bands are similar to the ones now used in Walt Disney World. When you get the band, your room will be charged $12.95 per Magic Band. This money will be refunded if you return the band before the end of the cruise. The Magic Bands are used to scan the kids in and out of the club. I believe they have some way to tell where the kids are in the club based upon the band as well, so maybe they are have RFID chips in them. The kids will also have to wash there hands before entering the club. This is the best part of the club, at least in my opinion. Look at the hand washing machine:
The Club on the Fantasy is composed of a large room with a “Magic Dance Floor” and several rooms that connect to it. Each room has a different theme to it. The rooms are Andy’s Room, Pixie Hollow, Escape Pod, and Monsters Academy. The main room has more engaging activities that take place in it, including characters coming out to play with the children (Goofy, Pluto, etc), and cast members leading the children in various games and activities. They have boot camp (where Soldiers from Toy Story teach them to March), Pluto’s Pajama Party (where they get to color and keep pillow cases) and other interactive activities.
Andy’s Room seems to be designed for younger kids to crawl around and just play. It is obviously designed to look like an enlarged version of Andy’s Room from Toy Story. It has a number of obstacles that can be climbed over, on and through. There is a large slinky dog that has a tunnel as his body that the kids can crawl through. There is a remote controlled car that the kids can sit in and pretend to drive. Kids can sit on Andy’s bed and watch the TV as well (playing Disney movies, of course).
Hamm the pig, Rex the dinosaur, and Mr. Potato Head are also present for the kids to play with. Hamm has money that can be deposited in his back (and come out his stomach) and Rex can be climbed on. I don’t recall if Mr. Potato Head can be broken down into his component parts.
Escape Pod
The Escape Pod is a semi enclosed space filled with computer terminals that kids can use to play games. The outside is themed as a submarine you might find in Finding Nemo. Each of the computers is loaded with a ton of games that should keep most game playing kids interested for hours.
Pixie Hollow is setup for slightly older children than Andy’s Room. It has an area to play dress up and a story area where Tinker Bell will come out occasionally to read stories to the kids as well. There is an area as well for the kids to work on crafts as well.
Monsters Academy is themed on the Monsters franchise. It has a small playground structure on it, as well as a few computers loaded with games for kids to play on. This room also has some strange lighting effects in it and other than the theme, seems to have to least interesting things to do in it.
The back of the club contains the restrooms, including smaller facilities for the little cruisers. There are more hand washing machines. There is a long hallway that connects the club to the Oceaneer Lab. The children are free to go from the Club to the Lab here without asking, which must they do on the older ships where the Club and Lab are completely separate facilities.
Our younger daughter has recently been heading to the Edge, but enjoyed going to the Club for many years. She was always able to find stuff to do and loved the activities. There is also less of an emphasis on finding a group of friends here since the activities are led strictly by the cast members and they include everyone that wants to participate. Its a very inclusive environment and one we highly suggest you let your children enjoy.
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