Camp Carnival - Concerns

[avandrie]

On our last cruise our daughter comfortably fell into the 6-8 year old camp carnival group and she loved it. This go around she'll be 10, and graduating to the 9-11 camp.

 

The fact of the matter is - we're absolutely too paranoid about allowing our daughter to check herself in/out of camp. Perhaps I'm biased, paranoid, and cynic but my daughter is beautiful, gullible and I'm not going to allow the opportunity that some freak might snatch her up, do terrible things to her and then throw her overboard. Did I mention that I'm paranoid and cynic? Perhaps it's because I'm married to a cop and hear awful stories every day. :rolleyes:

 

So here are my concerns - it looked like (from our April 2010 cruise) the majority of parents aren't crazy-paranoid like me and allowed their children to run the ship. Is that the standard for kids in the 9-11 class? Will she be all by her lonesome with nobody to play with? Will she still get to go swimming - or is that even supervised? We'll be on the Pride and they don't have a pool nearby. Will this limit the time we have that Camp Carnival will watch her because they only cater to activities (scavenger hunts) that allow the kids to run a muck? :confused:

 

Thanks for entertaining my questions, and for not thrashing me too hard about being a teensy bit over the top. :D

[obx_fintoo]

I wish I could help, but we haven't made it to the 9-11 yo CC yet. I too am not crazy about the checking out option. Hope you get some good advice.

 

You may also want to post your question on the Family Cruising boards. Good luck!

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=49

[tammi0916]

When my daughter was on our first cruise she was 10 and I DID NOT allow her to check herself in our out. She new the reasons and was okay with them, she did not participate in activities like the scavenger hunt as they go all over the ship even knocking on cabin doors and that was not working for me!

 

There were times that I was at the event when it was over and she was the only kid there since the rest checked themselves out but their was always a counseler with her. It worked but she did not do too many activities.

 

I reviewed the camp on the C. Glory in my review on my signature line if you want to read it.

 

Hope that helps.

 

Tam

[suszq]

We just cruised on Sensation with grand daughter 10 yrs old. I agree with you about being careful. Some kids do run wild. We did not allow 10 yr. old to leave with out us picking up. She loved the camp, but somethings did not want to do. First if i had known we would of got walkey talkeys. That way she could of contacted us. Hope this helps...:rolleyes:

[tonit964]

We have an 11 yo daughter and do not allow her to roam the ship. We do let her sign in/out so she can attend the scavenger hunts and other activities.

She decides how long she wants to stay. We drop her off, she signs in and once inside, we leave.

We come back at the time she decided and she signs out. If she wants to stay longer we agree on a time again and come pick her up.

 

It's alot of walking back and forth for us but so worth it and this works great for us.

 

We have decided she cannot roam the ship by herself until she's 40 or so. :D

Good luck and have a great cruise!

[mykiddiewinks]

We have an 11 yo daughter and do not allow her to roam the ship. We do let her sign in/out so she can attend the scavenger hunts and other activities.

She decides how long she wants to stay. We drop her off, she signs in and once inside, we leave.

We come back at the time she decided and she signs out. If she wants to stay longer we agree on a time again and come pick her up.

 

It's alot of walking back and forth for us but so worth it and this works great for us.

 

We have decided she cannot roam the ship by herself until she's 40 or so. :D

Good luck and have a great cruise!

 

We have the same rule, only we insist that if our son is signing out for scavanger hunt etc that he is in a group of 4 or more and they MUST stay together!

 

He will be almost 12 when we sail at Christmas but the rule will stay the same, I too am paranoid when it comes to our children. Our daughter is 13 and in the older group now and is allowed to sign herself out as long as she is with others, NEVER alone. At midnight when it is time for her to be done with camp she meets us very close to the camp, I would never allow them to wonder around alone.

 

Even if we are by the pool and they want ice cream we make them go together!

[melli_fera]

I can't believe they allow 10 year-olds sign themselves out of a supervised program. I don't even have kids, and that sounds like a liability waiting to happen. WHY would they allow that?

[bunchesofun]

We cruised in May on the Pride. Our daughter is 11 and we chose to allow her to sign herself in and out, but only for the scavenger hunts. She knew she was to wait for one of us to come and get her. However one plus of her having that ability was that i could send my 16 year old son to meet her and bring her back to our cabin. Other than one time when we let her go to the cabin to get shoes and socks so she could do laser tag she was not allowed to be out and about by herself. She was also told the rules like you are not to go to anyone's cabin, nor allow anyone in our cabin.

 

We will be cruising again when she is 12 and the 12's are allowed to sign themselves out without needing parental approval.

[stressedmomof3]

my husband used to work at a federal prison. i am as paranoid as you probably are.we have also had the midsfortune of someone trying to coax one of my children into their car by offering chocolate too.( thank goodness we taught all of our kids early on about stranger danger)

 

there are all kinds of people out there- other children luring kids away to do harm, luring kids away to kidnap them and sell them in another country, and noone has a certain look to know who the bad people really are.

 

it's a shame to have to think about it all of the time, but when you have kids-you need to go into the situations with your eyes wide open.

we will be going on a cruise with our 3 children and my 10 year old will NOT be able to sign out. as for my 12 year old i know we have to give some slack- but not too much. it will have to be in a group of 4 or more or it just won't be allowed.

 

it may be strict by other people's standards, but they are my kids and we have heard and experienced much more than many of our friends can fathom. it's just all about safety, really.

 

good luck in whatever you decide:)

[prattmom]

... Our daughter is 11 and we chose to allow her to sign herself in and out, but only for the scavenger hunts. She knew she was to wait for one of us to come and get her. However one plus of her having that ability was that i could send my 16 year old son to meet her and bring her back to our cabin. ... She was also told the rules like you are not to go to anyone's cabin, nor allow anyone in our cabin.

 

We will be cruising again when she is 12 and the 12's are allowed to sign themselves out without needing parental approval.

 

Exactly our situation.

[justanothermommy]

On our last cruise our daughter comfortably fell into the 6-8 year old camp carnival group and she loved it. This go around she'll be 10, and graduating to the 9-11 camp.

 

The fact of the matter is - we're absolutely too paranoid about allowing our daughter to check herself in/out of camp. Perhaps I'm biased, paranoid, and cynic but my daughter is beautiful, gullible and I'm not going to allow the opportunity that some freak might snatch her up, do terrible things to her and then throw her overboard. Did I mention that I'm paranoid and cynic? Perhaps it's because I'm married to a cop and hear awful stories every day. :rolleyes:

 

So here are my concerns - it looked like (from our April 2010 cruise) the majority of parents aren't crazy-paranoid like me and allowed their children to run the ship. Is that the standard for kids in the 9-11 class? Will she be all by her lonesome with nobody to play with? Will she still get to go swimming - or is that even supervised? We'll be on the Pride and they don't have a pool nearby. Will this limit the time we have that Camp Carnival will watch her because they only cater to activities (scavenger hunts) that allow the kids to run a muck? :confused:

 

Thanks for entertaining my questions, and for not thrashing me too hard about being a teensy bit over the top. :D

 

 

We just got back 2 weeks ago. My daughter is 9 and we allowed her to check herself out. I know I felt uneasy about it at the time but my neice (13) was with us and they did not even see anyone in their camp. Okay sorry back to the topic. We made each girl carry a walkie talkie and check in with us every 15 mins. All my girls did was walk around the shops and go to the cabin or to the slides. It took a good day to get used to it but they stuck together. I am not sure I would feel as comfortable had it been only the 9 yr old. The scavenger hunt had kids running around in pairs. I do not recall them taking the camp kids swimming though, but we were at the pools and slides with the kids during the day. Hope this helps a little.

[avandrie]

Thanks for all the input!

 

Does anyone know if it's just the scavenger hunts that they do unsupervised? Does it feel like there's enough to do aside from that?

[suzinva]

So here are my concerns - it looked like (from our April 2010 cruise) the majority of parents aren't crazy-paranoid like me and allowed their children to run the ship. Is that the standard for kids in the 9-11 class? Will she be all by her lonesome with nobody to play with? Will she still get to go swimming - or is that even supervised? We'll be on the Pride and they don't have a pool nearby. Will this limit the time we have that Camp Carnival will watch her because they only cater to activities (scavenger hunts) that allow the kids to run a muck? :confused:

 

Thanks for entertaining my questions, and for not thrashing me too hard about being a teensy bit over the top. :D

 

I let my son sign himself out, as he didn't choose to participate in every activity. He carried a walkie talkie at all times, he had to check in every 30 minutes, he had to let us know where he was going, when he got there, when he was leaving, etc. He knew that if he didn't follow the rules, he lost the privilege. For the most part, when he wasn't at camp, he was with us. A few times he went to play video games with a group but that was about it. Camp Carnival doesn't take the kids swimming at all. They have plenty of activities but that's not one of them. And yes, the kids can do a scavenger hunt. In groups, only. They are told to stay in the public areas and they are not to knock on cabin doors, enter any cabins (except their own), etc. For my part, I didn't notice kids "running amok."

 

And, you have to give Camp Carnival permission for your child to sign themselves out, at that age anyway. If you don't, they can't. Whether you do or not is your family choice, there's no right or wrong about it.

[StormingtheCastle]

I am also nervous about this. What type of walkie talkies do you use? Do they work well on the ship?

[arpie05]

Welcome to the club! I have a 15 year old son and this will be his first trip to Club O2. I still go by the teen room and make sure he's there. He knows if he isn't, then he can hang out with me the rest of the cruise and we won't cruise again.

 

What I did was, we picked the activities he was going to and I knew what time they ended. I would meet him there when it was over. I would go by once in a while and make sure he was still having fun and didn't want to leave.

 

Depending on the ship, there can be a window or seat right by their area or at the bottom of the stairs and I would say I would meet him there at 3:00. That way if he was embarassed about me picking him up, it didn't seem as obvious. I would get more comfortable a day or so into the trip.

 

---He has his driving permit and we almost got in an accident Saturday - NOT his fault and he did an awesome job handling it. He kept us from being in a pile up on the interstate - But I ended up still crying (because he could have been hurt) and making him let me drive, so I understand. :rolleyes:

[arpie05]

I am also nervous about this. What type of walkie talkies do you use? Do they work well on the ship?

 

I haven't had success but maybe yours will work.

[avandrie]

Welcome to the club! I have a 15 year old son and this will be his first trip to Club O2. I still go by the teen room and make sure he's there. He knows if he isn't, then he can hang out with me the rest of the cruise and we won't cruise again.

 

What I did was, we picked the activities he was going to and I knew what time they ended. I would meet him there when it was over. I would go by once in a while and make sure he was still having fun and didn't want to leave.

 

Depending on the ship, there can be a window or seat right by their area or at the bottom of the stairs and I would say I would meet him there at 3:00. That way if he was embarassed about me picking him up, it didn't seem as obvious. I would get more comfortable a day or so into the trip.

 

---He has his driving permit and we almost got in an accident Saturday - NOT his fault and he did an awesome job handling it. He kept us from being in a pile up on the interstate - But I ended up still crying (because he could have been hurt) and making him let me drive, so I understand. :rolleyes:

 

Your note touched my heart - I am already stressing her getting behind the wheel and we still have years before that! Need I even get into the panic of her going in to middle school??? ::sigh:: Being a parent sure is a lot more stressful than I ever imagined - even though I knew it all then and said "Oh I know it'll be tough" - ye---ah. :D

[LisaH0922]

You are justified in being cautious. My daughter is a few months away from turning 9 but there is no way I'd allow her to roam free throughout the ship. We just returned from the Legend last week and we traveled with my husband's family. They have a 9 year old. They wouldn't allow him to sign himself in or out by himself except for the scavenger hunt. She allowed him to sign himself out on that day for the scavenger hunt because the kids were in groups of 5 or 6 together. But then she changed her approval to not allow him to check himself out after that activity. He loved the camp and didn't miss out on anything by having to be checked in and out by my sister-in-law.

[asb2164]

If you are that paranoid maybe you should not even leave the house.

[StormingtheCastle]

I haven't had success but maybe yours will work.

 

I don't have any walkie talkies which is why I asked. Before I buy some I would like to know what others have had good luck with. :confused:

[ricker10]

Your parental concerns are understandable but not so sure they are necessary, in my opinion.

 

We just got back from our first cruise and let our 9yo BB and 11 yo DD sign themselves in and out. We put a few ground rules, but basically they could only leave together. During the scavenger hunt, they all went with their friends in groups of 4 (girls and boys separate.). Seeing 4 girls walking together in the scavenger hunt getting ice cream cones does not worry me in the least. Frankly, the cruise ship is probably way safer that most of our environments our kids are in.

 

Overall it was a great experience for them and helped them learn some responsibility. We used some Motorola Talkabout EM1000's Walkie Talkie's and they were great. We also used the signing in and out as a way to keep good behavior between themselves.

 

My wife was worried on the first day when they were roaming together alone on the boat, but by day 2, it was adios to the kids! They came and went and picked the Camp Carnival activities they liked and bailed on the ones they did not like.

[tonit964]

If you are that paranoid maybe you should not even leave the house.

 

There's always one in every crowd. :rolleyes:

[sassy5683]

When my son got to the age where he could sign out...just on our last two cruises....I was hesitant to let him do it...for the same reasons you....not that I don't trust him...its that I don't trust the world...anyway we had taken our walkie talkies with us and found that they did work on the Ecstacy and the Conquest...for us anyway.....We got the kids schedule as soon as they had one out and we all sat down and highlighted the things they wanted to do. The camp staff asks them where they are going when the check out...lido, room, pool.....etc...so that if you go there and they say your child isn't there you have an IDEA of where they might be...for us this wasnt enough. We told our son when he left us to go to his activity exactly what room we would be in and we would wait for him there. He also had the Walkie talkie to tell us he was on his way or that he was at his activity. It worked out great for us and I told him that if he was supposed to meet us in the room an he took a detour without permission that he would lose his checking out privlages.....so far he hasn't messed up. On our next cruise DD will be in the same group as him and they will have to go together and check out together becuase well I don't want DD roaming...the poor thing would get lost going to the mail box.....(just like her mama lol) DS is the one with the map in his head after being on the ship for 30 minutes....DD still wouldn't have it figured out by the end of a 7day cruise....But DD is the one that will make sure they don't stop to get ice cream or some other detour first...she will make sure they get to where they are supposed to be. They also know what to do if someone tries anything and they know our rules....ie..no friends in the cabin no going to another person cabin..friend or adult or anything....etc....I also make sure that I try to do the meet and greet so that I know some of the people from my roll call....and make sure they know my kids...and I tell them if they see my kid do something they should be....running wild being rude....etc....to let me know....that will be the end of that.....I will sometimes go meet them if I know they are going to leave at say 11....then I will be there a little before so that they check themselves out but Im there to get them.

 

You do have to be careful....this is just a small city on sea and ANYTHING can happen...they don't turn away child molesters that I know of.....I want to be careful but at the same time I don't want to shelter my kids so much that they are afraid of everyone either. You have to do what works for you and your family..not what works for me and mine or the others on this board. Its a great place for advice and ideas but when it really comes down to it you have to know that you are gonig to be at peace with your decisions. And make sure your child knows EXACTLY what will happen.

[Bandman]

Our recent Dream cruise was my sons first time in the 9-11 group. He is 10. We allowed him to check out but we had rules for him. He was allowed to be only at the putt putt, ice cream machine, pizza buffet, or other buffet areas unless he was on a CC activity.

 

They did take the kids swimming as a group. They were supervised.

 

The 9-11's cannot check out after 10 pm even with parent permission.

 

He handled it well. The location of CC on the Dream helped. It was right up 1 flight of stairs from the buffet.

[bunchesofun]

I am also nervous about this. What type of walkie talkies do you use? Do they work well on the ship?

 

We bought two sets of 35 mile range Motorolas, and the furthest they would work was about 100 feet. Totally useless. I did however see other people using them successfully, so it's hit and miss as to whether yours will work. They do sell them in the gift shop so don't know if they are "guaranteed" to work.