Welcome aboard, Kim! Your family must be getting ready to set sail with Disney Cruise Line! Disney sure knows how to entertain and educate our children! I say educate along with entertain, because so many of the exciting activities in the Youth Clubs are also super educational! Your kiddos are in for so much fun!
Children as young as eight years old can check themselves out of the
Oceaneer Club and Oceaneer Lab, but only with parental permission. Each child is different, as is each family, so you, as the parent, get to make that call. Our son is eight and he does not know that it's an option for us to allow him to self check out of the clubs. We choose not to allow that for him just yet. Our daughter is ten, and we allowed her to self check out of the Oceaneer Club and Lab for the first time on our last cruise. It worked out really well because she kept a Wave Phone with her so she could check in with us when she left to go to the stateroom or to get ice cream with new friends.
Any child can check themselves INTO the clubs. This is for safety reasons. If my eight year old son got separated from us, I love that he could go to Deck Five and check himself into the club. They can then contact us on our
Wave Phones or text us through the
Disney Cruise Line Navigator App to let us know he's there. Once the kids turn 11, they can begin hanging out in
Edge, the tween club. There, they do not require parental check in and out, so kids 11 and up can check themselves in and out. I hope that helps as you count down to the big sail date, Kim! Have so much fun on your cruise!
Marcy