Camp Carnival - Concerns

[Havingfun2010]

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?

 

A few reasons. First, when I was 10, I had free reign of my neighborhood, (with some restrictions). My kids were allowed to go to friends houses in my neighborhood. So why wouldn't Carnival let the parents decide? Unfortunitly, you can't keep kids locked up forever, without giving them some responsibility. On the other hand, you still must monitor it, and make sure they are within the rules set by you. Every parent should decide to what extent they will allow certain things.

[Traveling Gram]

We'll be cruising in 3 weeks with 6 kids - ages 5-13 ( my grands). As it stands now none of them will have permission to ck. out but it sounds like the 13 yr. old can do it anyway. Right? Will she be the only one not allowed to roam? She hasn't always made the best choices so we all felt it would be better if she had some restrictions. I want her to have fun but also want her to be safe and not get caught up with a group. Help. What do some of you suggest? 3 of the grands will be with the 9-11 group and the others are younger.

[LHP]

To the OP:

 

You know your child better than anyone. Ultimately you need to do what is best for them.

 

I have two boys....when they were 9-11...we did not allow either one to sign themselves out...for no other reason than we had a routine.

 

I can not imagine having a little girl. While the staff and crew are thoroughly checked out...you have no idea who is in the cabin next to you....

[lillian marie]

Early in my career I worked with mentally ill individuals including sexual deviants. And by the way these folks look just like anyone else. The op is not being paranoid but simply wise. A cruise ship is like any large city and is not a totally safe environment. Both passengers and crew have been arrested in the past for crimes against children. Our eldest is 8 in this family, we have adult kids too. On our next cruise he'll be a young 9 and I hope I can keep him with his sister who is a year younger in the 6-8 yr old group. They are really like twins. I do not want him to be able run the ship with other kids. I've met folks on cruises who seem to think the cruise ship is this perfectly safe place for kids. I've noticed these people usually come from small towns where they may not even lock their doors. One woman told me she'd hate to live in a place where she had to lock doors. It's simply not the real world and a cruise ship is a real world situation where very bad people may roam.

[sassy5683]

the walkie talkies we have are uniden and were bought about 10 years ago.....give or take.....at Lowes (local hardware store) I think. They have worked for us but the further away we were they didn't work. But they worked when we needed them most.

[serene56]

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?

 

email me Serene56@aol.com with camp papers 9-11 and I will send you them

 

scavenger hunts are done in groups- NOT alone. they are in public areas.

[mintee]

I want to chime in- I am a child protective services social worker and the mom of 9 year old twins-- I would not consider this ever for my preadolescent girls.

Do you know how easy it would be for someone, anyone, to grab your young child and pull them into a room? How would a walkie talkie help if they grabbed it out of their hands? Would you allow your 9 year old to be dropped off at your local mall by themselves?? This is not only safe, but not appropriate and in fact, if I got a call about a 9-10 year old at the mall unsupervised and without parents present, I might be looking at neglect charges on the parent-- I am not even clear why Carnival would give the option for 9-10 years when it is unsafe ...and,.yes, parents should know their children, but it doesnt matter how responsible your child is, you never know about the people around you and what their motives, thoughts and mental well being are.

Ok- whew, just had to get the social worker in me out LOL

[Bandman]

I want to chime in- I am a child protective services social worker and the mom of 9 year old twins-- I would not consider this ever for my preadolescent girls.

Do you know how easy it would be for someone, anyone, to grab your young child and pull them into a room? How would a walkie talkie help if they grabbed it out of their hands? Would you allow your 9 year old to be dropped off at your local mall by themselves?? This is not only safe, but not appropriate and in fact, if I got a call about a 9-10 year old at the mall unsupervised and without parents present, I might be looking at neglect charges on the parent-- I am not even clear why Carnival would give the option for 9-10 years when it is unsafe ...and,.yes, parents should know their children, but it doesnt matter how responsible your child is, you never know about the people around you and what their motives, thoughts and mental well being are.

Ok- whew, just had to get the social worker in me out LOL

 

How many people cruise every year? And somehow I have missed all the news stories about abducted children on cruise ships. :rolleyes:

[LitchfieldParkCruisers]

Valid concerns..you have 3 choices....put your child in camp carnival and hope for the best..do not put your child in camp carnival and be responsible for entertaining your child....take all the precautions mentioned here and hope that your child will respect the ground rules that you lay down for attending to camp carnival...

If you ask me....there are a few things I will do when my son is a bit older(he is 6 now and getting ready for his 5th cruise!!)

explain the rules to my kid, discuss my concerns with the cc counselors, always be aware of what activities are going on while my kid is at cc, utilize 2-way radios, make sure my kid carries some sort of identification, attempt to bring a friend or family member (another child) for them hang around with (safer in pairs)or go to the roll call and find another family with kids to interact with and maybe the kids will make friends once onboard..try giving a little slack the first night, then a little more, etc. and see how the child handles it, then when the child behaves, praise and reward....

finally, if anyone even looks at your kid cross, belt them right in the chops...(just trying to lighten' the mood)

 

Now go have a great cruise!!!

[serene56]

We'll be cruising in 3 weeks with 6 kids - ages 5-13 ( my grands). As it stands now none of them will have permission to ck. out but it sounds like the 13 yr. old can do it anyway. Right? Will she be the only one not allowed to roam? She hasn't always made the best choices so we all felt it would be better if she had some restrictions. I want her to have fun but also want her to be safe and not get caught up with a group. Help. What do some of you suggest? 3 of the grands will be with the 9-11 group and the others are younger.

 

 

the 13 year old will be in a group of 12-14 year olds. Tehy go to the meet and greet that first night-- and hang out together all week. This age group is way too cool to particiapate in group activities-- come on-- you remember?? didnt we know more then anyone at that age???

 

With the 13 year old-- pose your rules and consequences BEFORE you sail. That way she knows what to expect-- and what can happen if she screws up.

One rule we had in place for our 13 year olds-- NEVER go to another persons cabin for any reason- no one goes to her cabin either-- even if its to pick something up.

 

Telephones in the cabin are equipped with voice mail - Have her call in and check in say every hour- there are public phones all over the ship.

You will find this age group playing cards, eating pizza, listening to music.

 

Set a curfew. (on the last night they tend to want to stay out longer to say goodbye- ) depending on how well with the rules she does if you want her to do that.-

[tylerdad]

Maybe we should lock our kids up until they are 40

 

Our son was 9 last year when we went on the Splendor ( just turned 9)

 

After at lot of discussion we let him sign himself out but with a lot of rules.

 

He knew the rules and abided by them . We will do the same when we head to Alaska in 2 weeks.

[CruiserinCarlsbad]

When my daughters were younger, 10 and 13, they didn't even want to go to Camp Carnival and spent a lot of time with us around the pool, where they met other kids. We were able to keep an eye on them spend time with them as well. So not all kids need to go to Camp Carnival. It's a good way to meet other kids their ages, but if you really want a family vacation, don't send them off to camp. They will do just fine with activities you can take them to around the ship.

[blorkiemom]

We'll be cruising with our 10 year old daughter in a couple of weeks and have the same concerns. I originally wasn't going to let her sign herself out, but I'm in the process of reconsidering that. We have walkie-talkies (which I hope work on board!) and I'm thinking the rules will be something like--you must let us know before you check out; you must be in a group; and you must be going to a specific destination for a specific activity (getting ice cream and going back, not "I dunno, maybe go to the pool"). If the walkie-talkies don't work, or if it feels weird, or if a dozen other "ifs" we'll revoke it. However, given that we expect her to be at the MDR with us each night and that there are only 2 days at sea on our cruise, I suspect it will kind of turn out to be a non-issue.

 

This is one of those situations where I tell myself that although terrible things can happen, statistically I'm taking a bigger risk every time I let her get into a car. We live in a scary world, but I try very hard not to let fear get the best of me.

[sassy5683]

I want to chime in- I am a child protective services social worker and the mom of 9 year old twins-- I would not consider this ever for my preadolescent girls.

Do you know how easy it would be for someone, anyone, to grab your young child and pull them into a room? How would a walkie talkie help if they grabbed it out of their hands? Would you allow your 9 year old to be dropped off at your local mall by themselves?? This is not only safe, but not appropriate and in fact, if I got a call about a 9-10 year old at the mall unsupervised and without parents present, I might be looking at neglect charges on the parent-- I am not even clear why Carnival would give the option for 9-10 years when it is unsafe ...and,.yes, parents should know their children, but it doesnt matter how responsible your child is, you never know about the people around you and what their motives, thoughts and mental well being are.

Ok- whew, just had to get the social worker in me out LOL

 

 

I see pre-k/k students walk home from school all the time.......how is that any safer than letting your 9/10 year old check themselves in and out?? I see this to be the equivilant of walking home actually less so becuase this is usually for 7days max...and it isn't the same pattern everyday....when a child is walking home from school they typically take the same pattern everyday for the whole year....and aren't most abductions done by family and friends and not strangers??? At least that is what I have heard...not saying I trust the strangers....but it does happen. Also when you have pairs or multiple children together you have less chances of an abduction...becuase they aren't going to be able to grab both or all kids so the one(s) not grabbed will run/call for help. And my almost 10 year old looks to be about 12 or 13 which is the age at least in my state that he can stay home alone.....

 

I worry...but I will still be doing that when they are 50....that is if I am still alive by then! I can't keep them pinned up for all their life...or I will have a social worker down my back for that....so yeah I will keep doing what works for me and my family! I learned a long time ago.....I will do what works for us and be fine with it because no matter what I do SOMEONE will not be happy.....so I might as well do what works for my family so that we are happy rather than stressing what others think about my parenting.:D

[Catrin]

Like so many here....

 

At 9, we did not allow it.

 

At 10, we allowed it only for the schedule activities like Scavenger Hunts and Pool Time.

 

At 11, we allowed it ONLY when pre-arranged by us. To get ice cream, to meet us, etc.

 

For Circle C - we allow a LITTLE MORE freedom. But the deal is, he has to be with the group at the activity. If not, he must find us and let us know EXACTLY where he is going. We are lucky... for most part, our boys just like hanging in the Circle C or Club 02 Clubs. Easy enough.

 

Catrin

[CimW]

We just sailed on the Splendor. We were lucky to have my son's friend come along, they are 12 and 13.

The rules were:
They had to be together always.
Not to go in to anyone's cabin.
They had to tell me where they were going, if plans changed, they had to tell me.
Be in the cabin at 10pm. The Circle C did have activities going unitl 1am, which I thought was very late. But if there was an activity at 10 and they wanted to stay to call the cabin.
If anyone approached them to yell and run away.

And the big consequence was, if you do not follow the rules you will be stuck with me for the rest of the cruise.

They followed the rules and had a great time. I did check up on them from time to time and they were where they said they were going. Except one night they said they were going swimming, could not find them at the Lido pool, then realized there was another pool, they were in the pool by the slide.

When I would go to the Circle C room, there were always kids in there. The night I found them at the other pool, the Circle C bunch was up there.

At this age for one child, I would let them go alone but it would be directly to activity or area, they have to tell you where they will be. Or if more comfortable you could always escort child to and from activities or areas.

I let my son go out in our neighborhood and we don't know everyone here plus all the people driving in and out of our neighborhood. They just have to be cautious. And if they do not follow your rules, then they have to face the consequences.

[Alwaysundecided]

Being careful about one's children is justified. Making comments such as not leaving the house if you are that paranoid are unnecessary.

I have an almost 11 year old and she has never participated in Camp Carnival. We thought about letting her go this year, but she absolutely will not be able to check herself in and out of the camp.

People tend to forget that being on a cruise ship is like being in a mini-city. Not everyone has good intentions. If you monitor your children closely when you are at home, why wouldn't you do the same on vacation? If an adult can be assaulted on a cruise, why couldn't a child?

Trust your instincts and do what is right for your family.

[readytotravel44]

Been there. Done that. Soooo agree with you!

We have NEVER allowed our daughter to walk around the ship unaccompanied. When she was your daughter's age, she used a walkie talkie to call us to let us know she was ready to leave and one of us walked up to meet her. We did allow her to do the scavenger hunts (age 12 I think) because she was with a group of girls.

We are leaving on a cruise in July. Our daughter will be 15, and we will keep the rules the same (though I'm sure we will get some complaints this time!) She will be allowed to walk with a friend but never alone. We are also paranoid. Oh well.

I wrote to Carnival several years ago, complaining about this policy. They haven't changed it obviously.

[luv-my-kids]

We were just off the Dream in March and my daughter was in that age group. On our next cruise she will be in the 12-14 year old group. But I did NOT allow her to sigh her self out at all. There is no way I am letting my daughter walk around a mini city with a bunch of strangers unsupervised. Just Like I would not drop her off at the local mall unsupervised. We dropped her off to the activities she wanted to do and would always come back and check on her. I don't think you are being paranoid, I think you are being smart. She always had friends in there to play with. She was one of the only ones in the group that did not have sign out permission. But I am not going to change my parenting skills to keep up with the others. It is my job to make sure she is safe, and that's what I did.

[bplazo]

You can never be too carefull and at that age I would not allow a sign out. I did allow my daughter some freedom at 14 and 16 when she had a friend with her but I checked every hour to make sure she was where she said she would be and behaving.

[avandrie]

It seems like the majority would allow their children to sign themselves in and out. DH and I are always preaching to our DD not to be pressured into do something because everyone else is doing it - and I think we're going to take our own advice on this. I've been able to solidly relate to a lot of responses supporting my concerns - especially the social worker's insight (thank you for that).

The above said, I am certainly not saying that anyone that allows their child the ability to sign themselves in an out are making a grave mistake or are bad parents - it's definitely a personal decision based off all factors.

The walkie talkie solution would give my husband and I a false sense of security. If someone wanted to take my daughter, it wouldn't be difficult for them to remove the talkie from her hands and then where are we? As for statistics being supportive of the cruise ship being a safe environment, where are these said stats? And if the ship is registered in a different country, their standards of reporting could be very different - so whose to say they report those instances? My DH (again, ever the law enforcement officer) says that a sad number of crimes/violence goes unreported - I believe that.

To that end, the final decision will be not to allow herself the ability to sign in/out. The world is a very different place since I was her age ([I]which sadly wasn't that long ago[/I]). Yes, as she gets older and proves to me that she can listen to my simplest of requests, I will allow her to stretch her wings and fly. I just hope there will be a few other parents sailing that same week with similar feelings as mine - then DD will have someone to play with (as she loves Camp Carnival).

Thank you to all on both sides of the fence for your input... well almost all sides of the fence (I enjoy leaving my home). :D

[meatloafsfan]

[quote name='avandrie']
To that end, the final decision will be not to allow herself the ability to sign in/out. The world is a very different place since I was her age ([I]which sadly wasn't that long ago[/I]). [/quote]

While I don't care what your decision is (I have no pony in this race), the world is not a very different place than it was 20, 30 or even 50 years ago.

Child molesters have always existed but it was kept quiet - no one talked about it and certainly, the media would never have reported on it.

Now with world wide media, child molestation and obduction are big news. It's a shame that sensationlistic journalism has changed peoples perception of the world so drastically.

[avandrie]

[quote name='meatloafsfan']While I don't care what your decision is (I have no pony in this race), the world is not a very different place than it was 20, 30 or even 50 years ago.

Child molesters have always existed but it was kept quiet - no one talked about it and certainly, the media would never have reported on it.

Now with world wide media, child molestation and obduction are big news. It's a shame that sensationlistic journalism has changed peoples perception of the world so drastically.[/quote]

Always a fan of metaphors.... Perhaps you're right; however, that in my humble opinion would still make the world a very different place. :(