Children on Thanksgiving Cruises

[comeon530]

To those of you who have cruised on Thanksgiving: were there a lot of children on board? We are looking at an 8 day next Thanksgiving. Our other cruises have been in November, and there were a few kids, but we're hoping for more next time.

[alabamaprincess]

We have gone two years in a row for Thanksgiving week cruises. My daughter who is 13 is off for the whole week, so it seemed like the perfect time. Last year (2008) there were maybe 15 or 20 kids in Circle C (12 -14 year olds) on the Holiday. This year (2009) there were probably 30 or 40 kids in her age group on the Fascination.

[yesterdaystime]

We sailed on the Freedom this past Thanksgiving, and yes there were lots of kids on board. For the most part, they were well behaved. One group, I'd estimate their age between 11 and 15, were always in a hurry. No matter where they were going, they had to get there fast! Hence, a lot of fast walking, cutting in front of folks, etc... overall, not really that bad.

 

Camp Carnival took great care of the little ones, the big ones kinda took care of themselves, and the middle ones, well they appeared to have a great time too.

 

Overall, it was a fantastic cruise! Will we cruise again during thanksgiving - in a heart beat!!!

[MamaParrotHead]

We cruised the week AFTER Thanksgiving this year, and when talking with the counsellors, I think they said they had over 500 in Camp Carnival alone (not counting the older teens in Club O2 and Circle C).

[CWcruisers]

I've sailed on the Thanksgiving cruise on the Spirit for the last two years. There are plenty of kids and they are kept well entertained by Camp Carnival.

 

I expect even more this year since the cruise departs on a Saturday and a number of schools take the entire week off. Previous sailings have left on the Thursday before Thanksgiving which meant kids had to be taken out of school.

[mosaic_mom]

We cruised for Thanksgiving in 2008 and they told us there were a LOT of kids on our cruise, but you couldn't tell that. I didn't see many at all.

[Canagirl]

Our first cruise was this year - the Carnival Dream Thanksgiving cruise. Yes there were lots of kids - 1,300 out of 4,200 passengers.

 

We loved our cruise and can't wait to sail Carnival again (but will pick a different date)!

[CMM]

Legend November 22-29, 2009 there were 800+ kids. We sailed the Sunday before Thanksgiving.

 

 

 

Here is my review if you are interested. We had teens in Circle C and Club O2

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1098358

[Djptcp]

Yes -- too many!

[Colorado Beach Bum]

We have been on a Thanksgiving cruise three years in a row and all three have had plenty of kids. I'd say at least as many if not more than the one summer cruise we did. All of our kids have always found someone to hang out with for the week.

[BlueC5Kitten]

Sailed Thanksgiving week two years ago and there were quite a few children...most were well-behaved, but of course there were those few exceptions to the rule.

[comeon530]

Thanks for the replies. My son would love to have more kids aboard than on previous cruises.

[iceshots]

Went on the Ecstasy at Thanksgiving this year. Lots of kids of all age groups. My 16 year old said it was the best cruise she has had. She made a lot of friends.

[Mtn2Sea]

Never done a Carnival cruise during Thanksgiving week, but have been on at least 4 HAL Thanksgiving cruises and yes, there are a lot of kids that week. In fact, on one cruise the ship was "over" capacity by about 200 because of all the children.

[gacat93]

Wow...its amazing at the variety of answers. I always expected Thanksgiving week to be packed just as summer due to school being out. Our first cruise was in Sept. on the Glory with our daughters, 14 and 12. There weren't many kids on the cruise though they still had a great time. We're planning the 8 day Freedom cruise this year and they are hoping to have a lot more than before but not packed either. Guess it could go either way from the sound of it.

[jonbgd]

Our last turkey cruise had about 250 so about 10% of the cruisers

I find the week after is so much better and cheaper:D

[tinabinab]

We cruised this past Thanksgiving and there were a lot of kids on the boat (including mine.) It was a great trip, but there were definitely more shenanigans taking place. The entire ship had to endure the stern talking to from the captain after someone threw a life perserver overboard, and on the first night, someone or someones had taken all the room service tags from doors and marked every item on them... Other than that, it was pretty much like every other sailing.

[happy cruzin]

We sailed the Splendor Thanksgiving week of 2008. There were TONS of kids and Camp Carnival must have kept them busy - we had no idea how many there were until the end of the cruise when they announced that there were 800+ :eek:.

 

I did notice how many larger families (parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc....) were cruising over Thanksgiving compared to our other cruises. We had a group of 9 and there were plenty of family groups like ours and even bigger ;).

[Drew B]

I did a B2B on Valor in 2008. Thanksgiving week, there were over 800 kids (<18). The next week, there were less than 200. I barely noticed a difference, though, because Camp Carnival does such a good job of keeping the kids occupied and out of others' way...

[sjcruiser]

Sailed another line this Thanksgiving, and the only time I noticed the kids was when I was in the library, and they decided to run up and down the steps. Also, at lunch you would notice them, but nothing out of hand or misbehaving, at lunch that is.