Ahoy, Brian!
Welcome aboard planDisney! With your sailing on the horizon, this is a great time to sort out whether a DisneyBand+ makes sense for your crew or if the classic Key to the World card will do just fine. Youth clubs, age groups, bands, cards—it can feel a bit like trying to decode a Disney treasure map, so let’s chart the course together.
You’ve heard correctly when it comes to the younger kiddos. Kids ages 3 to 10 who participate in
the Oceaneer Club or Lab (and even “it’s a small world” nursery!) are provided with an Oceaneer Band for the duration of the sailing. This band is designed specifically for youth spaces and is used for checking children in and out and accounting for which kids are currently in the club. It’s important to know that these bands do not track kids around the ship and can’t tell you where they are outside of the youth areas. A refundable deposit is charged to your onboard account, and as long as the band is returned on the final night, that deposit sails right back to you. If your family chooses to purchase a DisneyBand+ instead, those can be used in place of the Oceaneer Band for the younger kids.
Now here’s where
Edge enters the story. Kids ages 11 to 14 (10 with signed consent) who hang out at Edge are not provided with an Oceaneer Band. Instead, Edge access works a bit differently and participants are given a sticker that’s placed on their Key to the World card, which signals that they’re cleared to enter.
On our recent sailing on the Destiny, my kids did have
a DisneyBand+, but they still needed their Key to the World cards with the Edge sticker to enter the space.
My pal Rana just disembarked the Treasure and confirmed this is still the process. Because of that, purchasing a DisneyBand+ specifically for Edge-aged kids may not provide as much added value right now, since it doesn’t replace the card for Edge access.
To help put it all together: the Oceaneer Band is strictly for our younger sailors to access the youth clubs, while DisneyBand+ is the multi-talented option that can unlock stateroom doors, make onboard purchases, access youth spaces, and interact with select onboard experiences like the
Haunted Mansion Happy Hunt on the Treasure and Destiny. For Edge, though, the Key to the World card remains the star of the show.
Since you are traveling from outside the US, the ships do typically carry three or four different DisneyBand+ designs to choose from, though styles and quantities can vary by ship and sailing. Another great option, if your travels happen to take you through Walt Disney World before your cruise, is to pick one up there. Each resort usually has a few designs available in their gift shops, and Disney Springs offers some great options as well.
I hope this helps as you decide which option fits your crew best and keeps embarkation day running smoothly. No matter which route you choose, your kids will be free to focus on the important things like making friends, staying up late, and creating stories they’ll be telling long after the ship comes back to port.
Sea ya real soon as the adventure continues into a bright new year,
Dustin