Question about Aloft or The Stack...Teen area - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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I was just wondering if someone would be able to tell me if the drinks and snacks that are available in the teen areas are included or do you have to pay for them?? I haven't given either of my kids charging privledges but Im thinking maybe I should give my older one privledges just incase they need to pay for drinks and snacks.
Is there anyone who can tell me what they did with their teenagers. Mine are 13 and 15.
Hello
I'm a fourth time Disney cruiser (teen cruiser). In all my cruises, The Stack offered sodas 24 hours a day 100% free (all you have to do is ask them for one). They also offered smoothies to all the teens every other hour. The smoothies are free also and you get to choose the flavor. I don't ever remember them having food in there, but they do let you bring in food from Pluto's Dog House, Pinnochio's Pizzeria, Goofy's Galley etc. Hope this helps!
Thank you so much. Im glad to have heard from an experienced teen cruiser.
If you wouldn't mind....maybe you could let me know what your favourite things, from a teen cruiser, were to do....or just from your perspective what was the cruise like, things not to miss, etc....
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Hello
I'm a fourth time Disney cruiser (teen cruiser). In all my cruises, The Stack offered sodas 24 hours a day 100% free (all you have to do is ask them for one). They also offered smoothies to all the teens every other hour. The smoothies are free also and you get to choose the flavor. I don't ever remember them having food in there, but they do let you bring in food from Pluto's Dog House, Pinnochio's Pizzeria, Goofy's Galley etc. Hope this helps!
My son seconded this. He loved the smoothies the counselors made and he often ran down to get food and brought it back up to the club to eat it. He said he liked "just hanging out" and enjoyed playing rock band with other kids. He didn't tell me, but he told his younger brother and he told me that he liked the evening dances because the dance area was so small and there were so many kids that you could just go out there and dance and didn't really need to ask a girl to dance. One thing to know, your kids probably aren't going to want to come back to the cabin until the clubs close at night, which is usually midnight or 1 a.m. They are just having too much fun. My son had never stayed out that late at home so that was a new thing for me. Our cruise was really laid back, we let the kids stay out late because we knew they were safe and we all slept in the next morning. All our excursions were planned for LATE morning or around noon so the kids never really got overtired. Can't say the same for me, as I really only dozed until he was in at night (early morning ) and was always up early cuz I was excited and couldn't sleep!
Thanks so much for the info. This being our first cruise I didn't really know what the kids could expect. Im sure they will be staying out until the last possible moment and since they have their own room....they won't wake us up. Im sure I'll be waiting up for them anyway.... Sounds from what you have said that they will have a blast.
Definitely plan on late nights (or rather, early mornings! ) for your teen! Many of the planned activities don't start until 11:30 PM or later. It wasn't unusual for our teen to come back to the stateroom at 2 in the morning! As Michelle said, you do feel safe in letting them stay up and enjoy themselves.
__________________
Lynn
Yes, I am a Disney Addict... and I'd rather be cruising!.
My son is 14. We have a cruise at the end of May. He insists he's not going to the teen club. Although he won't admit it, I know it's because he doesn't like to do those things alone; he'd rather have a friend with him...and his brother is too old to go in there (18). He's also very shy when it comes to meeting new people. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, but I just can't get him to understand that sometimes you've just got to do it and you'll find you'll be glad you did. Any suggestions? Do the teen counselors encourage the kids to go?
My oldest doesn't make friends easily (this is the one who now loved the teen club on his second cruise). The first time we cruised he was 11, I went online here and tried to find another child the same age, so they could get to know each other. I couldn't find anyone the same age, so went to another board. I found lots of kids and moms who were all trying to do the same thing. I started emailing with some of the moms and found two who had values/beliefs the same as me (as in, kids couldn't be in the rooms alone when no adults were there, 11 pm curfew, etc.) and whose boys liked the same things as my son. We got to be really good online friends before the cruise and our kids started emailing back and forth. We set up a meeting in the arcade after the sail away party. The kids had sent pictures of each other prior to the cruise. So in the arcade, the moms and kids met for the first time. My son spent almost the entire cruise with one of the boys. (The other boy didn't go into the clubs that often.) It was so great for me to have piece of mind that he was having fun, too.
Even if you don't do this, try to talk you son into going to the clubswith you during the open house that first afternoon. Go there as soon as you can. It'll be really quiet and he can meet the counselors. They are so good about engaging the kids. We met one counselor, Jenny at open house. In private, away from my son, I told her that my son doesn't make friends that easily and she said she'd keep an eye out for him. I kind of thought "yeah, right" . So my son went to the club that first night. He didn't come home til it closed! The next morning, in a part of the ship totally different from the kids clubs, my son was walking with my husband. Jenny walked by and told my son hi and used his name. So she totally remembered him. I think that's amazing if you think of the number of kids they must see. I would ask him on and off throughout the cruise if he thought the counselors were nice and he always said Jenny was the best. I really do think she was watching out for him. If you can get him to go to open house and then go the first night, that'd be great. I've heard other people say friendships form early on. Now in my son's case, he didn't really hang out with anyone in particular. He just hung out. I think it's set up with enough for them to do that even if kids don't find a friend/friends, they have fun. My youngest (age 12) was in Ocean Quest. He makes friends easily, but never really a friend or group of kids he did things with. They just really hang out and all do things. I think as it gets closer to sailing, if you can get your son to give it a shot, he'll do just fine. If you'd like to send me a PM with your email address, I can send you some pics from the teen club and you could show them to your son. It's really a cool area to hang out in. If your son is comfortable, he could even email my son who is 16 and my son could tell him about the clubs. Hope you don't think I'm being too forward, I just saw how much my son loved the clubs and I'd feel bad if your son missed out on that. Some kids just need more reassurance than others. I understand that. Plus, from a mom's standpoint (or maybe I should say wife's standpoint), it was nice to have some alone time with my husband. I think the DCL is the perfect vacation. Lots of family time but also time built in for everyone to enjoy what they like. I loved sitting by the pool with my husband and going for couples massages and even having a few meals alone together with him, like a date night! We never seem to get those at home.
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that he liked the evening dances because the dance area was so small and there were so many kids that you could just go out there and dance and didn't really need to ask a girl to dance. 
One thing to know, your kids probably aren't going to want to come back to the cabin until the clubs close at night, which is usually midnight or 1 a.m. They are just having too much fun. My son had never stayed out that late at home so that was a new thing for me. 
Our cruise was really laid back, we let the kids stay out late because we knew they were safe and we all slept in the next morning. All our excursions were planned for LATE morning or around noon so the kids never really got overtired. Can't say the same for me, as I really only dozed until he was in at night (early morning 
) and was always up early cuz I was excited and couldn't sleep! 
Michelle
Sounds from what you have said that they will have a blast.
. So my son went to the club that first night. He didn't come home til it closed! The next morning, in a part of the ship totally different from the kids clubs, my son was walking with my husband. Jenny walked by and told my son hi and used his name. So she totally remembered him. I think that's amazing if you think of the number of kids they must see. I would ask him on and off throughout the cruise if he thought the counselors were nice and he always said Jenny was the best. I really do think she was watching out for him. If you can get him to go to open house and then go the first night, that'd be great. I've heard other people say friendships form early on. Now in my son's case, he didn't really hang out with anyone in particular. He just hung out. I think it's set up with enough for them to do that even if kids don't find a friend/friends, they have fun. My youngest (age 12) was in Ocean Quest. He makes friends easily, but never really a friend or group of kids he did things with. They just really hang out and all do things. I think as it gets closer to sailing, if you can get your son to give it a shot, he'll do just fine. If you'd like to send me a PM with your email address, I can send you some pics from the teen club and you could show them to your son. It's really a cool area to hang out in. If your son is comfortable, he could even email my son who is 16 and my son could tell him about the clubs. Hope you don't think I'm being too forward, I just saw how much my son loved the clubs and I'd feel bad if your son missed out on that. Some kids just need more reassurance than others. I understand that. Plus, from a mom's standpoint (or maybe I should say wife's standpoint), it was nice to have some alone time with my husband. I think the DCL is the perfect vacation. Lots of family time but also time built in for everyone to enjoy what they like. I loved sitting by the pool with my husband and going for couples massages and even having a few meals alone together with him, like a date night! 
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