Night time kids program and sleeping

[ignutzz]

Hi,

 

We're beginning to think about a cruise for next winter and my main concern is night time sleeping arrangements. Our daughter will be 4, and is not much of a fan of new, unfamiliar settings and people. Though she'll be old enough for all the kids clubs, I'd wouldn't be surprised if she wasn't wild about participating in them. I know with RCCL and Celebrity you can have an in room babysitter. My question is, for NCL, Carnival, etc., what is the setup of the night time kids club? If she wanted to sleep around 8pm in the club, would that even be possible given noise, lights, activity? Do any of them have a seperate quiet area with cots and blankets and such? Or, should I make sure we book with a cruise line that had stateroom babysitting?

 

Thanks for your help!

[firedisney97]

Hi,

 

We're beginning to think about a cruise for next winter and my main concern is night time sleeping arrangements. Our daughter will be 4, and is not much of a fan of new, unfamiliar settings and people. Though she'll be old enough for all the kids clubs, I'd wouldn't be surprised if she wasn't wild about participating in them. I know with RCCL and Celebrity you can have an in room babysitter. My question is, for NCL, Carnival, etc., what is the setup of the night time kids club? If she wanted to sleep around 8pm in the club, would that even be possible given noise, lights, activity? Do any of them have a seperate quiet area with cots and blankets and such? Or, should I make sure we book with a cruise line that had stateroom babysitting?

 

Thanks for your help!

 

I am going to say first you might be surprised how much fun she has in Camp Carnival if you do a Carnival Cruise, we had a hard time dragging my 4yo out of there and he was begging to go back before they opened in the mornings:D. However at 8pm they are still very active. I did not see any "quiet areas" in Camp. Around 10pm when they babysitting time (paid time) kicks in they lay out pillows and blankets on the floor around the TV and the kids lay around watching cartoons (and in the 2-5 age groups especially) going to sleep.

[brenderlou]

The 1st question I want to ask is this...Is your child now in a preschool so that she is use to being around others w/out you there? If so, she will have a BLAST at the kids camp. When we are on a cruise, the 1st thing our daughter asks when she wakes up is if the kids camp is open.

The counselors are super friendly and will put her at ease. Maybe the first day you can stay w/ her for a bit and they usually have an "open house" on the first day so the whole family can go and see the facility.

As far as sleeping, this is what we do. Our daughter is 5 and has pretty much given up on naps but when we are on a cruise, we take a late afternoon (3:00/4:00ish) nap. She goes out pretty quickly from all the activities (and I think the motion of the boat) and then she is able to stay up until 10:00 when we pick her up. We have sailed on Royal Caribbean, Princess and Celebrity and there were no "quiet areas" for sleeping.

We've done this for a few years and it works like a charm. I've have never seen a sleeping child at the kids camp but we always pick her up at 10:00pm.

 

Enjoy!!

[cb at sea]

On vacation, you will have to adjust their schedules some...and let some things "slide"...kids know it's a "one time" deal and quickly readjust when you get home!

 

Most kids quickly get involved in the program and love it. Some don't! Just try it and go with the flow!

[Kerry's Girls]

On our NCL cruise, there were always kids sleeping in bean bag chairs in the evening. I think they get so tired that the lights/noise make no difference.

 

I'll also back up everyone else - every cruise one of my girls cries on the way to the kid club the first few times and says she doesn't want to go. I tell her she's going to stay for 10 minutes and then I'll come back and get her if she doesn't like it. After 10 minutes she's so caught up in things, she won't even take the time to come give me a kiss goodbye.

 

Best,

Mia

[jam82]

Camp Carnival really doesn't quiet down until after 10pm. They bring out pillows and blankets so the kids have a slumber party, watch a movie and sleep on the floor. Some ships will have an interior quiet room where the younger kids go to sleep while the big kids are having their party in the outer room. That said, we once picked up our 2 year old at midnight and he was dancing with the big kids having a great time and he didn't want to leave. We really thought he would be asleep. He didn't go to daycare and had very limited experiences with other children in large group settings.

[A&Jfamily]

blankets and pillows on Carnival often come out around 9:30-10 when they put on a movie. I always get my son by 10, and have often found him laid back on the pillows watching tv.