Kids in Camp while in Port for the day?

[NJsharon]

This will be our first cruise that the kids are basically old enough & will probably want to be in Camp most of the time.

 

We are wondering, when we are in port, if the kids can stay in camp & if so, do they do lunch with them, or do we need to come back on for lunch.

 

We may want to take advantage of at least one day to go on shore without the kiddos in tow!

[TxChick]

Just my opinion, I would not leave my children on the ship while I'm in another country - you could miss the ship, child could have an accident, etc. That being said, Camp Carnival closes from 12-2 so I would assume you would need to be on the ship during those hours

[Scrapchick]

I think whether or not you choose to leave your child in the kids club on the ship on a port day is up to you and no-one else. People have strong opinions about this, but you did not ask for them to be shared, so I'm going to stick to answering your question....

 

Almost every ship will provide port day supervision and they don't expect you to rush back from a tour to be on ship during lunchtime. They will usually take the kids to lunch and keep them in the kids club till you return. Each line does it a bit differently so you should check with Carnival when you board. They appeal so much to families that it's hard to believe they would do it any differently.

 

Some lines require you to tell them ahead of time whether you need port day care or if you will be back for lunch or not, so they can plan staffing needs accordingly.

 

We just got off the Millennium and they did lunch time cover if you booked it by 9AM that day, and they were open during regular club hours regardless of whether or not the ship was in port.

[Camlott]

Can't speak for Carnival... we just did this last week with Royal Caribbean when we stopped in Falmouth. They took the kids to the buffet for lunch and our 5 year old had a blast touring the ship and getting to play in the show lounge with her group. We only got off the ship to do some local shopping and not excursion. Not sure how we would have handled it if we wanted to do an excursion (especially an active one with potential for accident).

 

After our experience doing this, we would leave the choice up to our children in the future. We gave her the option of coming with us so she didn't feel like we were abandoning her. She didn't even hesitate when make her decision, she wouldn't even let us tell her what our plans were before she exclaimed she wanted to do the kids club for the entire day!!!!! Everyone was happy with that choice. ;)

[milton333]

I just did a quick search and found the schedule for Camp Carnival on one of the ships: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1137544

 

It looks like, on port days, they have "lunch with your friends," but "please collect your children IF onboard."

[seashell36]

Camp Carnival will take your kids to lunch at the buffet on port days if you're not on the ship. You don't have to book by a certain time for the kids to have lunch.

 

When you board or when you sign the kids up the first night of the cruise you'll recieve a schedule of camp activities. This will have the times that Camp will be open on port days.

[NJsharon]

Thanks everyone for your answers, helps a lot!

[sarahc78]

I think whether or not you choose to leave your child in the kids club on the ship on a port day is up to you and no-one else. People have strong opinions about this, but you did not ask for them to be shared, so I'm going to stick to answering your question....

 

Almost every ship will provide port day supervision and they don't expect you to rush back from a tour to be on ship during lunchtime. They will usually take the kids to lunch and keep them in the kids club till you return. Each line does it a bit differently so you should check with Carnival when you board. They appeal so much to families that it's hard to believe they would do it any differently.

 

Some lines require you to tell them ahead of time whether you need port day care or if you will be back for lunch or not, so they can plan staffing needs accordingly.

 

We just got off the Millennium and they did lunch time cover if you booked it by 9AM that day, and they were open during regular club hours regardless of whether or not the ship was in port.

Hey Scrapchick would you mind elaborating a little on your experience w/ the kids club on the Millennium for me. We will be on the Summit in Bermuda for 3 days and I had planned on taking our 4 year old w/ us each day to the beach, but would like to have the option to leave him onboard if he is tired or doesnt enjoy the beach like we think he will. Also if your children enjoyed the camp...basically any info you can give me would be very much appreciated!

 

Thanks

[Scrapchick]

Happy to help... We have been on the Summit and Constellation and they are sister ships to the Millennium. The Fun Factories are all the same on these ships. I have pictures of the facilities I can e-mail you if you want to give me your address. I took pictures specifically in case anyone asks, as it's always something I usually think about after I get off the ship...

 

I have a 9 year girl. She absolutely loved her time on the Fun Factory and had a blast. She's been a bit hit or miss lately on kids clubs as she's got older and more selective, but this time we barely saw her as she was off upstairs as soon as she could. There weren't that many kids on board but it worked well because she made friends with several other girls her age and they all hung out together and went to the Fun Factory as a group a lot of the time.

 

The staff are excellent, very friendly and accommodating. Typical Celebrity Fun Factory staff. Can't say enough good things about them.

 

The Fun Factory itself is at the very back of the ship on Deck 11. It's not a huge space but it's well laid out, packed with things to do and brightly colored. What I love about the Millennium class ships is the ball pit/slide are they all have. Great for burning energy and having fun. One activity was sumo wrestling in the ball pit. There is also a play frame and slide outside as well, plus a kiddie pool. I actually prefer these facilities to those on the Solstice class ships.

 

The kids are broken down in tight age groups 3-5, 6-8, 9-11 etc but this can be flexible depending on the child and the number of kids on board. Activities change very half hour and allow for choice as well. There are counselors for each age group. The activities are different for each age group and all the kids do a talent show together at the end of the cruise. The older kids in the Ensign 9-11 group got taken to several of the evening shows as a group and sat on the upper deck of the theater like little adults. They loved it!

 

The Fun Factory is open 9-12, 2-5 and 7-10. They do quiet time from 12-2 and a dinner party from 5-7 but you have to sign up and let them know you want that so they have the staff available. There's no charge on sea days, except for late night babysitting from 10PM-1AM, which is $6 per hour.

 

Port days... The Factory is also open the same hours and they do lunch time supervision from 12-2 at a $6 charge. They asked that we sign up for it by 9.30 that morning for staffing purposes, if interested. We didn't do it but in past experiences I have found them to be really flexible about this wherever possible. My daughter used to live in the kids cub but now she's older she comes off the ship with us a lot more because we feel she can get more out of it now and she should see where we are. We were usually back on the ship in the early afternoon and she would disappear till 5PM to see her friends.

 

I can't imagine a 4 year old not loving the Millennium Fun Factory... the ball pit/play frame/ slide alone is a huge draw for the little kids, and it's a great program. We have been on several Celebrity ships now and have nothing but good things to say about their kids programs.

 

Hope that helps. Let me know if you want me to send you pics of the Fun Factory. I'm not sure how to add them here.

[sarahc78]

Happy to help... We have been on the Summit and Constellation and they are sister ships to the Millennium. The Fun Factories are all the same on these ships. I have pictures of the facilities I can e-mail you if you want to give me your address. I took pictures specifically in case anyone asks, as it's always something I usually think about after I get off the ship...

 

I have a 9 year girl. She absolutely loved her time on the Fun Factory and had a blast. She's been a bit hit or miss lately on kids clubs as she's got older and more selective, but this time we barely saw her as she was off upstairs as soon as she could. There weren't that many kids on board but it worked well because she made friends with several other girls her age and they all hung out together and went to the Fun Factory as a group a lot of the time.

 

The staff are excellent, very friendly and accommodating. Typical Celebrity Fun Factory staff. Can't say enough good things about them.

 

The Fun Factory itself is at the very back of the ship on Deck 11. It's not a huge space but it's well laid out, packed with things to do and brightly colored. What I love about the Millennium class ships is the ball pit/slide are they all have. Great for burning energy and having fun. One activity was sumo wrestling in the ball pit. There is also a play frame and slide outside as well, plus a kiddie pool. I actually prefer these facilities to those on the Solstice class ships.

 

The kids are broken down in tight age groups 3-5, 6-8, 9-11 etc but this can be flexible depending on the child and the number of kids on board. Activities change very half hour and allow for choice as well. There are counselors for each age group. The activities are different for each age group and all the kids do a talent show together at the end of the cruise. The older kids in the Ensign 9-11 group got taken to several of the evening shows as a group and sat on the upper deck of the theater like little adults. They loved it!

 

The Fun Factory is open 9-12, 2-5 and 7-10. They do quiet time from 12-2 and a dinner party from 5-7 but you have to sign up and let them know you want that so they have the staff available. There's no charge on sea days, except for late night babysitting from 10PM-1AM, which is $6 per hour.

 

Port days... The Factory is also open the same hours and they do lunch time supervision from 12-2 at a $6 charge. They asked that we sign up for it by 9.30 that morning for staffing purposes, if interested. We didn't do it but in past experiences I have found them to be really flexible about this wherever possible. My daughter used to live in the kids cub but now she's older she comes off the ship with us a lot more because we feel she can get more out of it now and she should see where we are. We were usually back on the ship in the early afternoon and she would disappear till 5PM to see her friends.

 

I can't imagine a 4 year old not loving the Millennium Fun Factory... the ball pit/play frame/ slide alone is a huge draw for the little kids, and it's a great program. We have been on several Celebrity ships now and have nothing but good things to say about their kids programs.

 

Hope that helps. Let me know if you want me to send you pics of the Fun Factory. I'm not sure how to add them here.

Wow thanks so much for all the info. I was nervous that it might be boring for my older kids and they might not enjoy it. Glad to hear that they also will keep the kids while in port that will be fantastic if our little one is to tired to make it out w/ us one day.

 

How about in the evening while in port? Would we be allowed to leave the ship to visit the dockyard in the evening while our 4 year old is in the fun factory?

 

Do they have video games (x box, ps3, wii) or things like that for the older kids?

 

My personal email is on the fritz so I may not be able to get the pictures but here it is sarah c 78 at gmail dot com

 

To attach pictures on this site you would go to reply to a post then scroll down to the manage attachments area.

 

Thanks again!

[Scrapchick]

I sent pictures to your e-mail address so hope they come through. I also sent you the Ensign program for the last day. I played with uploading an image to CC but I think I need to resize them all first, as the files are too big....

 

If the ship is in port in the evening and you want to go off the ship while your child is in the Fun Factory I don't see why you can't.... They don't grill you and want to know where you're going to be. You drop your child off and pick them up before closing and that's it. They never ask me where we're going or what we're going to be doing. However, my DD is older and able to sign herself in and out now.

 

Yes, there is a games room with machines etc and there is an area in the Fun Factory where they have X-Box and PlayStations etc as well.

 

HTH!

[bouncedesign]

Our family of 4 was on Celebrity Equinox this winter and we left our kids, 9 and 7 years old, on the ship when we stopped in Colon, Panama and Cartegena, Columbia because they were not interested in these ports and because we felt these ports were a little more on the 'dangerous' side and felt that the kids would be safer on the ship. Needless to say the kids had a great time. We just booked our cruise for next year's Transatlantic on Celebrity Silhouette! Not going to leave the kids on the ship next time because I do not want them to miss any of it!

[sarahc78]

I sent pictures to your e-mail address so hope they come through. I also sent you the Ensign program for the last day. I played with uploading an image to CC but I think I need to resize them all first, as the files are too big....

 

If the ship is in port in the evening and you want to go off the ship while your child is in the Fun Factory I don't see why you can't.... They don't grill you and want to know where you're going to be. You drop your child off and pick them up before closing and that's it. They never ask me where we're going or what we're going to be doing. However, my DD is older and able to sign herself in and out now.

 

Yes, there is a games room with machines etc and there is an area in the Fun Factory where they have X-Box and PlayStations etc as well.

 

HTH!

Great thanks! I am so happy to hear how nice it is. I am going to try and access the pictures now. Thanks so much again!

[roe2ship]

Happy to help... We have been on the Summit and Constellation and they are sister ships to the Millennium. The Fun Factories are all the same on these ships. I have pictures of the facilities I can e-mail you if you want to give me your address. I took pictures specifically in case anyone asks, as it's always something I usually think about after I get off the ship...

 

.

Can you please e-mail me those pictures too? It is roe 606 @ yahoo dot com.

[sarahc78]

Checked the email and they arent there yet. sarah102878 at gmail.com

[Scrapchick]

Just sent them to you too.

[Scrapchick]

Checked the email and they arent there yet. sarah102878 at gmail.com

 

I've sent them to both gmail addresses that you gave me. Hope they get there!

 

Please check your junk folder too.... I often seem to end up in there...

[roe2ship]

Just sent them to you too.

Thanks so much.:)

[sarahc78]

I've sent them to both gmail addresses that you gave me. Hope they get there!

 

Please check your junk folder too.... I often seem to end up in there...

Ok I got them in the gmail account but it wont let me see the pictures they show up as x's... i forwarded it to my work email but it hasnt come through yet.

 

thanks so much again fo rthis I really appreciate it :hugs:

[sarahc78]

Got them scrap chick thanks again! I am going to post these in the Celebrity forum for others who are interested!

[Scrapchick]

Great! Glad they came through in the end.

[Cuizer2]

I think whether or not you choose to leave your child in the kids club on the ship on a port day is up to you and no-one else. People have strong opinions about this, but you did not ask for them to be shared, so I'm going to stick to answering your question....

 

Almost every ship will provide port day supervision and they don't expect you to rush back from a tour to be on ship during lunchtime. They will usually take the kids to lunch and keep them in the kids club till you return. Each line does it a bit differently so you should check with Carnival when you board. They appeal so much to families that it's hard to believe they would do it any differently.

 

Some lines require you to tell them ahead of time whether you need port day care or if you will be back for lunch or not, so they can plan staffing needs accordingly.

 

We just got off the Millennium and they did lunch time cover if you booked it by 9AM that day, and they were open during regular club hours regardless of whether or not the ship was in port.

 

Now that is a quality answer that I can respect.