LOTS of questions.. First Time Cruising with my 7 y/o DD..

[CruisinIsMyThang]

Ok, so I have been on a few cruises, however, this will be the 1st cruise that I'm taking my DD on. She is 7, and extremely excited! We are going on the Carnival Splendor on a 7 day in July 2011. I have quite a few questions:

- Do they offer Camp Carnival excursions for the kids to do while we are in port, or would she be too young for something like that?

- Do they offer Camp Carnival while I myself am in port? (I'm a little worried about this one, as I don't know how they would get a hold of me if there was a problem... but we are wanting to do a snorkeling excursion in Puerto Vallarta because we are there until 9 pm at night and I figured we could do the adult excursion and then come back get her, have lunch, and go back out again and do something with her and my DD has already made it very clear that she is not putting her body in the ocean, lol)

- Do you receive some type of pager, beeper for them to contact you on board if there is a problem? The only info I could find was that for 5 years and under on Carnival they do, but I wasn't sure.

- How many copies of the "Consent to Travel" (my DH is not coming, it's a 3 generation cruise.. Grandma, Me and my DD) form did you bring? Are you required to give it to them to keep on file, or do they give it back? Just want to make sure that I have enough copies of it.

- Anyone with children with very very fair skin, what SPF did you use for sunscreen? I use 45 SPF at home, but the last thing we want to do is ruin her vacation with a nasty sunburn. She's very fair with strawberry blonde hair and blue eyes, so you can imagine that poor little thing getting a sunburn.

- My DD does get motion sickness in the car... I have always used Scopalamine patches on myself, can they be used on children? I plan to visit the DR to discuss these things, but just wanted to know if anyone has BTDT?

- Are all meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, etc) provided in Camp Carnival? I don't really want her to be away from me all day, as this is our girl vacation and I want to enjoy it with her... but just wanted to see what the options were. And from what I understand there is a Kid's Menu in the MDR, but she can order from the adult menu as well, correct? She's not a big mac n cheese and hot dogs kind of girl.. she likes grilled chicken, broccoli, fish, etc.

- Early Dining or Late Dining? I currently have late dining but was reading in a previous post "The only time we do main seating is when we have DGS along. Don't love it, but with late seating, they miss all of the evening activities in the kids' club which starts at 7." Does that have merit?

- Oh and I've heard that the Splendor is famous for skipping the Cabo port because of the size of the ship and problems tendering to port, etc? Any validity to that?

- Any ideas for what to pack? Would you pack things like DSi's, books, games, etc? Or will they have all of that in Camp Carnival?

- Oh and what other types of excursions would you suggest with children? We hate the walking tours, bus tours, listen to them drone on about uninteresting things types of tours.. we like active tours doing something we wouldn't normally do.

Alright I know that's a ton of questions, and bless anyone that chooses to answer them, I appreciate it!

[cb at sea]

I can't help with the club/excursion thing....

 

As far as sunscreen, 45 should be ok, but it needs to be re-applied often...and 30 mins. BEFORE you're exposed to sun, to be effective. I certainly would limit "sun time" and use clothing to supplement !!! Tee shirt...hat, etc...you're right..a burn will not only ruin a great vacation, it can cause cancer later in life! For an adult, 1 oz (a shotglass full) is required to be effective....about 1/2 that should work for her, every 2 hours! Even if it says "waterproof"...it's not towel proof!!!!

 

Get a guidebook on your ports, and see what each place offers....let your daughter help choose...this can be good bedtime reading! I'm not much on "tours" either!!!

 

Main (early) seating is preferred if you have kids in the club....and yes, she can order from the adult menu and you can even order from the kid's menu...anything goes!

 

Talk to your pediatrician about motion sickness preventatives! I'm betting she won't have a problem....she'll be so busy, she won't think about it!

[A1SusieQ]

Ok, so I have been on a few cruises, however, this will be the 1st cruise that I'm taking my DD on. She is 7, and extremely excited! We are going on the Carnival Splendor on a 7 day in July 2011. I have quite a few questions:

 

- Do they offer Camp Carnival excursions for the kids to do while we are in port, or would she be too young for something like that? They won't take the children off the boat for an excursion with the camp.

 

- Do they offer Camp Carnival while I myself am in port? (I'm a little worried about this one, as I don't know how they would get a hold of me if there was a problem... but we are wanting to do a snorkeling excursion in Puerto Vallarta because we are there until 9 pm at night and I figured we could do the adult excursion and then come back get her, have lunch, and go back out again and do something with her and my DD has already made it very clear that she is not putting her body in the ocean, lol) Yes, she can stay in the camp while you are in port. There are a million posts pro and con your choice. It is totally up to you.

 

- Do you receive some type of pager, beeper for them to contact you on board if there is a problem? The only info I could find was that for 5 years and under on Carnival they do, but I wasn't sure. If you ask for one and they have enough, they will accomodate you. You can also tell the counselors your whereabouts, dining room show etc. You won't be too hard to find.

 

- How many copies of the "Consent to Travel" (my DH is not coming, it's a 3 generation cruise.. Grandma, Me and my DD) form did you bring? Are you required to give it to them to keep on file, or do they give it back? Just want to make sure that I have enough copies of it. I had 2 originals on me and 5 copies. Only wound up needing 1 original. I liked the security of having more.

 

- Anyone with children with very very fair skin, what SPF did you use for sunscreen? I use 45 SPF at home, but the last thing we want to do is ruin her vacation with a nasty sunburn. She's very fair with strawberry blonde hair and blue eyes, so you can imagine that poor little thing getting a sunburn. 50 and above should be good. Thats what I use on my kids. They have never burned.

 

- My DD does get motion sickness in the car... I have always used Scopalamine patches on myself, can they be used on children? I plan to visit the DR to discuss these things, but just wanted to know if anyone has BTDT? can't help. Never needed. sorry.

 

- Are all meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, etc) provided in Camp Carnival? I don't really want her to be away from me all day, as this is our girl vacation and I want to enjoy it with her... but just wanted to see what the options were. And from what I understand there is a Kid's Menu in the MDR, but she can order from the adult menu as well, correct? She's not a big mac n cheese and hot dogs kind of girl.. she likes grilled chicken, broccoli, fish, etc.

 

- Early Dining or Late Dining? I currently have late dining but was reading in a previous post "The only time we do main seating is when we have DGS along. Don't love it, but with late seating, they miss all of the evening activities in the kids' club which starts at 7." Does that have merit? My kids loved the buffet. I would feed them at the buffet, then send them to camp. Then I would eat a nice late dinner in the dining room.

 

- Oh and I've heard that the Splendor is famous for skipping the Cabo port because of the size of the ship and problems tendering to port, etc? Any validity to that?

 

- Any ideas for what to pack? Would you pack things like DSi's, books, games, etc? Or will they have all of that in Camp Carnival? The DSI is always with us but stays in the room. The TV in the room has a cartoon channel. Books are good for routine. No need for board games there is som much else to do.

 

- Oh and what other types of excursions would you suggest with children? We hate the walking tours, bus tours, listen to them drone on about uninteresting things types of tours.. we like active tours doing something we wouldn't normally do.

 

Alright I know that's a ton of questions, and bless anyone that chooses to answer them, I appreciate it!

 

 

Have FUN!!!!:)

[CruisinIsMyThang]

Thank you for the info! I definitely agree with you on the sunscreen.. besides ruining a vacation, a sunburn can have lifelong consequences. I'm thinking about trying the ginger candy for the motion sickness, as I think like you said, she will be having so much fun she won't even notice. As for myself, when I thought about it, it got worse (the motion sickness). So I think if I have the ginger with me, but don't say anything to her.. that she can just come to me if she doesn't feel well, which she would do anyways.

 

Oh, I didn't know I could order from the kid's menu! Although she doesn't really like mac and cheese, I LOVE Carnival's Mac and Cheese! :) I think I will be having some of that at dinner a few nights! :)

[CruisinIsMyThang]

I'll have to look over the stuff for the Pros and Cons of leaving her at Camp while we go in port. That's been a tough one for me. Some people have also said that while you can give them your cell number, they aren't always able to make phone calls from the ship, so that one will be a little troublesome. I think it will just depend on my daughter's comfort level, and not taking an all day excursion, maybe just a shorter one.

[FlaMommy75]

My kids are 5 and 7 and they absolutely LOVED cruising and the camp! We had 4 ports on our cruise and we took the kids off in every port except Belize. My husband and I went cavetubing and we left them in the camp. We did not feel nervous at all and the kids were happy to stay on the ship.

As for dining, we chose Your Time Dining and LOVED it. Reason being about 4 nights the kids ate with us and 3 nights we brought them for pizza at the deli and then camp OR they ate in the buffet with the kids camp. It was the best of both worlds because we liked having the kids with us on formal night in the MDP and the kids enjoyed the MDR but it was too long of a meal for them to be withe us every night. On the nights they ate with us we got there right at 5:45pm and were seated right away. On the other nights we dropped them at camp and the two of us went to the MDR about 7:15 or later (in case we stopped by the room for a few minutes after dropping the kids at camp....:eek:)

Have a GREAT time! We loved it so much we have already booked 2 more cruises for this year:)

[fisherhum]

We haven't sailed on Carnival before but here are some thoughts. The only time we have had food in kids club is when they are in port ( they take them for lunch etc) or sometimes they have had dinner programs with kids club.

 

My DD is very fair and DS somewhat. I bought sun suits for both of them. You can get really nice ones online at a site called coolibar. They specialize in SPF protection clothing. They are a bit expensive but ours have lasted for years. (I will try to find a picture)

 

We have always taken the kids with us so I can't comment from my experience but I know several people who have left the kids while in port. I agree that it likely depends on how comfortable your DD is with the club.

 

My kids love eating with us in MDR. They swap between pieces from the kids menus, the main menu and sometimes something completely different if you have a great waiter... My DD really wanted plain chicken one night so he managed to get it for her:D

 

We take toys for the journey to and from the port as we have to fly. Inboard they have DS /iPod but they don't leave the cabin. We have never taken toys to camp as they have lots of things plus there can be lots of kids so the risk of losing something or damage is quite high. The one thing we always bring are sand toys... Just a few pails and shovels, and some of the foam watershooters... These are always a big hit.

 

Have a great trip

[CruisinIsMyThang]

We haven't sailed on Carnival before but here are some thoughts. The only time we have had food in kids club is when they are in port ( they take them for lunch etc) or sometimes they have had dinner programs with kids club.

 

My DD is very fair and DS somewhat. I bought sun suits for both of them. You can get really nice ones online at a site called coolibar. They specialize in SPF protection clothing. They are a bit expensive but ours have lasted for years. (I will try to find a picture)

 

We have always taken the kids with us so I can't comment from my experience but I know several people who have left the kids while in port. I agree that it likely depends on how comfortable your DD is with the club.

 

My kids love eating with us in MDR. They swap between pieces from the kids menus, the main menu and sometimes something completely different if you have a great waiter... My DD really wanted plain chicken one night so he managed to get it for her:D

 

We take toys for the journey to and from the port as we have to fly. Inboard they have DS /iPod but they don't leave the cabin. We have never taken toys to camp as they have lots of things plus there can be lots of kids so the risk of losing something or damage is quite high. The one thing we always bring are sand toys... Just a few pails and shovels, and some of the foam watershooters... These are always a big hit.

 

Have a great trip

 

 

Great tip on the sand toys! I will definitely have to do that, as she is really looking forward to playing at the beach and looking for seashells!