Carnival babsysitting, 1 yr old-NEW QUESTIONS!

[kfinfam]

So I have read nothing but GOOD things about Camp Carnival for all ages. But naturally when I've never used their services I still am a little nervous and would like to ask as many questions as possible. Our son will be 11 months at the time of our cruise.....here are my questions:

 

1) What is the ratio of kids to caregivers?

2) How many little ones have you seen at once in the room?

3) What is the atmosphere like in there during the day, during the night? Noise level?

4) Do they have age appropriate toys for the kids and did you see caregivers playing with and holding the kids?

5) Since evening care is 10p-3a, will they have cribs for each individual baby?

6) Did the late night environment seem conducive to a baby getting good sleep in there?

7) Is it true that they give us phones or pagers each time we leave a child in their care, whether we stay on the ship or get off?

 

Thanks so much to anyone who can help ease my mind about this. I realize this will be harder on me than my son, lol....but I do want to feel comfortable leaving him to have some free adult time :)

[MamaParrotHead]

So I have read nothing but GOOD things about Camp Carnival for all ages. But naturally when I've never used their services I still am a little nervous and would like to ask as many questions as possible. Our son will be 11 months at the time of our cruise.....here are my questions:

 

1) What is the ratio of kids to caregivers?

2) How many little ones have you seen at once in the room?

3) What is the atmosphere like in there during the day, during the night? Noise level?

4) Do they have age appropriate toys for the kids and did you see caregivers playing with and holding the kids?

5) Since evening care is 10p-3a, will they have cribs for each individual baby?

6) Did the late night environment seem conducive to a baby getting good sleep in there?

7) Is it true that they give us phones or pagers each time we leave a child in their care, whether we stay on the ship or get off?

 

Thanks so much to anyone who can help ease my mind about this. I realize this will be harder on me than my son, lol....but I do want to feel comfortable leaving him to have some free adult time :)

 

I'm assuming since you used "babysitting" in stead of "Camp Carnival", you realize that they'll only care for your son after 10 p.m., right? The normal Camp hours are for kids 2 and up.

 

That being said, by the time that time of night rolled around on our cruise, most of the kids were all worn out and there wasn't much "playing" of any kind going on, of any ages. They combined the age groups at this point and there were maybe a total of a half a dozen kids (on our cruise) and they were all sacked out on the floor, with their own blankets and pillows, and were sleeping or vegging. The staff were sitting quietly at some tables doing some paperwork and supervising.

 

As far as the atmosphere, since you'll only be able to take advantage during the evening, it was quiet and relaxed when I went to pick the kids up.

 

Unsure on the general pager policy- I know we had a pager for our then 6 YO because he has asthma and severe food allergies. Ours never, thankfully, went off. I'm unsure of the range, but as I said, since you'll only be able to take your son to Camp at night it won't be a problem (unless you're in port at night, like a San Juan stop, in which case I have no clue).

[kfinfam]

Thank you! I'm glad to hear that things seemed in control when you left your little one :) My understanding is that babysitting for ages 2 and under is available from 12-2 and 1-3 on at sea days, where parents can either stay or go, and also on port mornings from the time we arrive until noon. I've read this on several threads and also got the information directly from our cruise specialist, so I HOPE they are right!!!

 

(If anyone has had a different experience with this babysitting for this age range PLEASE let me know!!)

[MamaParrotHead]

Thank you! I'm glad to hear that things seemed in control when you left your little one :) My understanding is that babysitting for ages 2 and under is available from 12-2 and 1-3 on at sea days, where parents can either stay or go, and also on port mornings from the time we arrive until noon. I've read this on several threads and also got the information directly from our cruise specialist, so I HOPE they are right!!!

 

(If anyone has had a different experience with this babysitting for this age range PLEASE let me know!!)

 

 

Camp was closed from 12-2 and 4-6 on our sea days. We were required to pick up our kids so the staff could have breaks, lunch, etc. It's my understanding that babysitting is only in the late evenings, when they take young ones. I could be mistaken, but that's what I've read.

[MamaParrotHead]

Here, from Carnival.com's FAQ section:

 

"Is Camp Carnival available for children under 2?

Camp Carnival is unable to accept children UNDER the age of 2 during activity times. THERE ARE NO AGE EXCEPTIONS TO THIS POLICY. We do not offer in cabin babysitting. We do offer babysitting services for Under 2's each evening from 10:00 pm - 3:00 am. All babysitting services for Under 2's are charged at the babysitting price of $6.00 an hour. Check onboard for specific ship details."

 

http://www.carnival.com/cms/faq/default.aspx?faq=camp+carnival#q-217

[MamaParrotHead]

Here's the deal on the beepers as well:

 

"What are the beeper/phone policies onboard?

Parents with CHILDREN 3 or UNDER will be provided with a beeper/phone for the duration of the cruise. Beepers/Phones will be provided for those parents with children 4 and 5 years depending on the ship’s availability. Beepers/phones must be returned to Camp Carnival BEFORE 10:00pm on the last night of the cruise or you will be charged for it. There is no charge for this service, but there will be a charge for the beeper/phone on your Sail and Sign if the beeper/phone is lost or not returned in good condition.

Parents will be beeped/called if the child is misbehaving, ill, seriously unhappy, asking continuously for their parents and in case of an emergency. The beeper/phone is used for ship-use only; the range does not extend beyond the ship. Parents should have the beeper/ phone with them each time they sign their children into camp activities."

[Kerry's Girls]

I don't remember seeing cribs, but there may not have been babies when I was there after 10. My 2 year old slept in her stroller with a beach towel over the hood to block the light.

 

Best,

Mia

[Seraphine]

We did two Carnival cruises with our 11 month old in April. I'll do my best with your questions!

 

 

1) What is the ratio of kids to caregivers?

 

At night (after 10), there were usually 2 staff on.

 

 

2) How many little ones have you seen at once in the room?

 

On both the Glory and the Freedom cruises, our daughter was usually the only infant in babysitting at night, with anywhere from 3 - 8 older kids. We also have a 5 year old son so he'd be part of that number.

 

 

3) What is the atmosphere like in there during the day, during the night? Noise level?

 

During the day, generally really fun! Lots of activities, and the staff (which are higher in number during the day) do their best to keep the kids happy yet to maintain some sense of order.

 

At night, very peaceful. A movie night is set up on the big screen, with low level lighting and pillows and blankets on the floor. When we'd drop off our two kids at 10, our son would go watch movies while our daughter (the baby) would be set up in a playpen with a few age-appropriate toys, which they had LOTS of! I would leave a bottle for her, and they would give it to her at either 10:30 or when she started to rub her eyes. She'd just cuddle into her blanket and go to sleep with her bottle, and we'd put them in bed after we picked them up (usually around midnight/1am).

 

 

4) Do they have age appropriate toys for the kids and did you see caregivers playing with and holding the kids?

 

Yes, lots of toys, and a big section of under-two toys. And our girl got cuddled and spoiled rotten (several of the staff had babies near that age at home, and I think they loved to have a wee one to cuddle. As a mom, it was hard to know that they had to be so far away)

 

5) Since evening care is 10p-3a, will they have cribs for each individual baby?

 

From what I saw, each baby got a playpen (pack and play?)

 

 

6) Did the late night environment seem conducive to a baby getting good sleep in there?

 

Well, our baby can sleep through a tornado, but nonetheless, both kids slept well when they were there (low lighting, quiet volume for the movies while they were on, the staff using quiet voices). They helped us gather the kids up so we could get them back to their room.

 

 

7) Is it true that they give us phones or pagers each time we leave a child in their care, whether we stay on the ship or get off?

 

We've been on 4 Carnival cruises, and were issued a phone each time. BUT the phones don't work off the ship! We've only left the ship for short times, but this inability for communication scares me a bit (although I suppose you could use a "home" cell phone and leave the number with them?)

 

 

We've had excellent experiences with the Camp and the Babysitting. The staff seem very involved and caring, and many of them are parents themselves. Also, most of the Camps are set up with video camera access that can be seen just outside of the Camp - you can stand outside at the door (where your child can't see you!) and have full view of what's going on in there, and see how things are. Is your child happy? Are the staff paying attention? Any safety issues? We've never seen anything to concern us.

 

The staff have been very supportive and helpful, and one terrible afternoon (when I'd received very distressing news from home after my friend died suddenly), the staff took both kids for me for a few hours so I could get myself together even though it wasn't official babysitting hours. I was so grateful for the help as I didn't want the kids to see me like that, and I owe them so much for that (I of course paid for the time and tipped heavily, but they didn't have to do it).

 

I would use the services again in a heartbeat.

 

Have fun on your cruise!

[YOWmom]

My understanding is that babysitting for ages 2 and under is available from 12-2 and 1-3 on at sea days, where parents can either stay or go, and also on port mornings from the time we arrive until noon.

 

You are correct - there are very limited hours where you can either leave your under-2, or you can stay and play with them for what's called "Family Playtime". On our cruise (Carnival Glory last January), the hours were 12 to 2 on sea days, or arrival til noon on port days. Babysitting is also available after 10:00 p.m. every night. The fee is $6/hour. We used the daytime service twice - the first time we stayed and played, and the second time we dropped our 11 month old off for about 1.5 hours. Overall, I'd have to say it was so-so. When we dropped her off she was fine but when we picked her up, she was strapped in her stroller and they were wheeling her around the playroom. She was happy enough, but I was kind of annoyed as she spent A LOT of time in her stroller during the cruise and the whole point of bringing her to Camp was so she could move around freely in a relatively safe environment.

As for your other questions:

 

Not sure what the "official" ratio is, but when we dropped DD off, she was the only kid there, so the ratio was actually 3 caregivers to one child!! On the day we stayed and played, there was one other family there with an 8 month old, so in our experience, the daytime service was not widely used, so the ratios were great, but I don't know if that's the norm or not. I guess one thing you have to consider, is that if you drop you baby off, in addition to the Camp staff, there may be other parents there with their own children - so you have to decide if you're ok with that. Normally, they are very strict about not letting anyone in other that staff and children EXCEPT during the hours open for under-2s when parents are allowed into the playroom.

 

We never used the nighttime service (for either the little one or our 5YO) so I can't really comment on that, but I do recall from picking our older daughter up at 10:00, it did seem much busier at night than during the day (in fact, sometimes during they day our 5YO didn't want to go as there was no one to play with, though she loved going at night). However, even though there were more kids there at night, they did seem to do more "quiet" activities the later it got, like storytime or movies - so at least on the 2 to 5 YO side, it wasn't a wild crazy free for all.

 

Re age appropriate toys for the kids - since the club is mostly used by ages 2 and up, they did not have a lot of toys for younger ones, but there was certainly enough to keep her entertained, and they did seem to make sure that most (though not quite all) of the toys that I would consider choking hazards were packed up and put away. I seem to recall they had a box or two of toys for babies that they only bring out during the playtime for under 2s so they were clean, and kept separate from the toys used by the older kids...

 

And yes, the caregivers did seem to play and interact well with the kids (notwithstanding the stroller issue above - though they explained that she was a bit upset at one point and they used the stroller to try to calm her down).

 

And yes, they will give you a phone or pager (newer or recently drydocked ships have phones, older ships have pagers) each time you leave a child under 3 (we did not have one for our 5 YO). However since we never left the 11 month old while we were off the ship, I'm not sure if they work on shore or not. Also, one lesson I learned is that you may want to have them try calling the pager as soon as you pick it up just to test it out. They tried paging me when DD was crying but the ringer was either turned down very low, or not working so I never got the page... However, it all worked out fine (as it turned out, DH and older DD were playing in the kiddie pool just outside the Camp, so he actually heard her start crying and was just about to go in and "rescue" her when she calmed down.)

 

Overall, the Camp Carnival experience for both girls was ok, but not great. Maybe, I'm just spoiled as our kids go to a truly excellent daycare centre, but I wasn't overly wowed by the experience, but that said, it wasn't awful either... For our next family cruise, we're trying Disney, and it'll be interesting to see how it compares...

 

Anyway, sorry this was so long-winded, but hope its helpful...

[cherishrwil]

Camp was closed from 12-2 and 4-6 on our sea days. We were required to pick up our kids so the staff could have breaks, lunch, etc. It's my understanding that babysitting is only in the late evenings, when they take young ones. I could be mistaken, but that's what I've read.

 

 

I can't find the link right now but I know that I've read you can either drop off your child under 2 for babysitting at a fee during the 12-2pm time when CC is closed or you can come in with your child so they can play with the toys. This is for at sea days. For port days, I believe you can drop your child off for babysitting for a fee before noon or later if you arrive at port later so you can get off the ship for excursions. I believe they give pagers to the parents of children under 5.

[MamaParrotHead]

Yes, you can go in WITH your child to use the toys and facilities in Camp during those hours on sea days. I have no idea on port days.

[crusinmama06]

Yes, you can go in WITH your child to use the toys and facilities in Camp during those hours on sea days. I have no idea on port days.

 

You don't have to go with the child. They have babysitting times during the day for Under 2's. This is from the Carnival TA site...

https://www.goccl.com/irman/bookccl/shipboard_knowledge/PoliciesActivities_AgesUnder2.htm

 

Activities

Children under-2 may not participate in the scheduled activities we offer to the other age groups. THERE ARE NO AGE EXCEPTIONS TO THIS POLICY.

 

 

 

Hours on Sea Days

• Under-2 time is scheduled from 8:00am-10:00am. Only parents and their Under-2 child are permitted in the playroom to use the facilities that we have to offer in Camp Carnival.
  
• Parents have the option of leaving their child in the care of the Youth Counselors. Note: There is a $6.00 per hour charge for this service (see “Babysitting”).
  

 

 

Hours on Port Days

• Care for children under-2 is considered "Babysitting".
  
• Note: There is a $6.00 per hour charge for this service (see "Babysitting").
  
• On port day mornings, care for children under-2 begins from port arrival until 12:00 noon (or until 5:00pm for ships arriving in port after noon time).
  

 

 

Evenings

• Babysitting is provided for children under-2, nightly, from 10:00pm to 3:00am. Note: There is a $6.00 per hour charge for this service (see "Babysitting").
  
• Babysitting: From 10:00pm-3:00am each evening of the cruise.
  

[MamaParrotHead]

I stand corrected. ;)

[kfinfam]

Wow! You all provided such GREAT information, I appreciate it VERY much!! The links were especially helpful, and I can see where there might be some differences in the FAQ's versus the actual policies that are very detailed. I will be prepared for some variation of course because each cruise can be handled differently.....but overall I feel much better about this whole babysitting thing :) You mamas are awesome!

[crusinmama06]

I stand corrected. ;)

 

You were just trying to help. :D And the Carnival site states one thing while the TA site states another. Carnival needs to revise the member site to reflect what they practice on their ships (or maybe vice versa :))

[cherishrwil]

 

You don't have to go with the child. They have babysitting times during the day for Under 2's. This is from the Carnival TA site...

https://www.goccl.com/irman/bookccl/shipboard_knowledge/PoliciesActivities_AgesUnder2.htm

 

Activities

Children under-2 may not participate in the scheduled activities we offer to the other age groups. THERE ARE NO AGE EXCEPTIONS TO THIS POLICY.

 

 

 

 

Hours on Sea Days

• Under-2 time is scheduled from 8:00am-10:00am. Only parents and their Under-2 child are permitted in the playroom to use the facilities that we have to offer in Camp Carnival.
  
• Parents have the option of leaving their child in the care of the Youth Counselors. Note: There is a $6.00 per hour charge for this service (see “Babysitting”).
  

 

 

Hours on Port Days

• Care for children under-2 is considered "Babysitting".
  
• Note: There is a $6.00 per hour charge for this service (see "Babysitting").
  
• On port day mornings, care for children under-2 begins from port arrival until 12:00 noon (or until 5:00pm for ships arriving in port after noon time).
  

 

 

Evenings

• Babysitting is provided for children under-2, nightly, from 10:00pm to 3:00am. Note: There is a $6.00 per hour charge for this service (see "Babysitting").
  
• Babysitting: From 10:00pm-3:00am each evening of the cruise.
  

 

 

It used to be during the lunch break 12-2pm when you could bring in the under 2's but I don't see it on the Carnival website anymore so maybe they changed it? How can they do it in the morning though, isn't Camp Carnival open at that time?

[Julienatul]

I was wondering the same thing. I have used the 12-2pm a few times on sea days but the 8-10am is a better time since lunch/nap time is 12-2pm. Camp usually opens at 9 so I am wondering if now it opens later. I hope not. It would be wonderful to have both kids in there for an hour this next cruise. DD is 5 and DS will be 22mo. Forunately he will be turning 2 in Dec so are cruise after that he can participate all day. I am going in Oct so I will share the updates when we get back

[cherishrwil]

I was wondering the same thing. I have used the 12-2pm a few times on sea days but the 8-10am is a better time since lunch/nap time is 12-2pm. Camp usually opens at 9 so I am wondering if now it opens later. I hope not. It would be wonderful to have both kids in there for an hour this next cruise. DD is 5 and DS will be 22mo. Forunately he will be turning 2 in Dec so are cruise after that he can participate all day. I am going in Oct so I will share the updates when we get back

 

We are also cruising in Oct. I wonder if anyone has been recently that may know? Hmm, I might have to start another thread and ask. I am curious because the morning time would probably not work for us since we all tend to sleep a little late.