Hi Gena!
Welcome back to planDisney! We're happy to have you as part of our clubhouse, especially because we get to chat about Disney cruises. “It’s the planDisney panel clubhouse, come inside, it’s fun inside!”
Speaking of fun clubhouses, to reserve a spot for your little buccaneers in
Disney’s Oceaneer Club or
Disney’s Oceaneer Lab, you will first need to complete the
Online Check-In to get them registered. The actual date you can do this is determined by your
Castaway Club status and if you have paid your cruise in full. Once that registration process has been done, you can then reserve a specific session time either online or via the
Disney Cruise Line Navigator app. The reservations for Youth Club sessions can be found under the Onboard Fun option for each day. As it sits right now, Guests can book one session per day per child on a first-come, first-served basis. Word on the street is that Guests have been able to find extra sessions available once onboard, so sending pixie dust that will be true for your kids!
Be patient if for some reason you don’t at first see this as an option. I know that Guests have encountered some technical obstacles making Youth Club bookings, so if that happens to you, then your next best bet is just to
call Disney Cruise Line and get some technical support help.
Once you do get those sessions booked, I hope you will take some time to explore the
Experience Updates page to see what you can expect on the ship. I think this is especially beneficial with little ones so they can both get prepared for the voyage and also get an idea of what they have to look forward to! In my opinion, setting expectations with them works WAY better than surprising them. For instance, close-up encounters and autographs with the characters have been temporarily paused. But I have it on good authority from the Big Cheese himself that the characters are appearing multiple times a day in the Youth Clubs! Frankly, kids are incredibly resilient and can adapt pretty quickly. So I hope your children fall into this category and will love every moment of their playtime in the clubs and with the characters.
As you wait for the curtain to rise on your Disney vacation plans, have an encore with planDisney if you think of additional questions. Our cast of characters is always happy to help!
SEA ya real soon!
Sherry