kids at camp carnival while on excursions?

[L2C57]

Can you do excursions while leaving your kids at camp carnival? Me and DH are looking at doing something adventurous, but of course for safety reasons the age limit wouldn't allow our 2yr old son. This will be our first time using camp carnival so we aren't aware of their policies.

[DrLookGood]

Yes you can leave your child at Camp Carnival and go on excursion. On port days camp will open 15 minutes prior to time in port (if early arrival).

 

If you are not doing Carnival excursion and it is a tender port and you need to be on the first tender this arrangement might present a problem as you have to be in line for tender 15 minutes prior to port while simultaneously dropping the kid at the Camp.

[flyboyswife]

OY, you're going to get a lot of hate mail with this post (unless things have changed since I posted a similar question last year!). :)

 

We cruised last October, so this was the policy in place at that time....You can leave your kids at camp while you're off the ship. IF you book a CARNIVAL excursion, your child can stay the day (the camp typically closes for lunch and parents are to retrieve their kids - if you are on a Carnival excursion, you do not have to pick up your child for lunch.)

 

Lots of flamers on the board will challenge your parenting choices and skills - I'll let them explain themselves. We made the decision to leave our daughter in Camp during one port day b/c we were going on an all day excursion - tour of the Panama Canal - and knew she would be miserable stuck on a ferry for 8 hours (she was 3 at the time). It was a very good decision for us. We felt very safe with her there, and we were confident that the ship would not depart the port without our tour returning (this was a VERY POPULAR tour - I believe over half the ship was booked on it). We also had relatives not going on this tour who could pick her up, God forbid, we didn't make it back.

 

Leaving her there was definitely not a light decision on our part, but we weighed our options and made our contingency plans. As a result, we were able to weigh the flames that came in and feel comfortable with our decision. By the way, she had a blast in Camp!

 

You may want to consider posting in the family board. That group may have great advice. Best of luck!

[avandrie]

DD insisted that we leave her at Camp Carnival while we went into Freeport, and to be honest with everyone, I'm glad we did. We did not have any official excursion. That said, I would've felt a lot better if we had a family member on the ship while we were gone.

 

Thankfully nothing bad happened, and everyone had a good time.

[DrLookGood]

OY, you're going to get a lot of hate mail with this post (unless things have changed since I posted a similar question last year!). :)

 

We cruised last October, so this was the policy in place at that time....You can leave your kids at camp while you're off the ship. IF you book a CARNIVAL excursion, your child can stay the day (the camp typically closes for lunch and parents are to retrieve their kids - if you are on a Carnival excursion, you do not have to pick up your child for lunch.)

 

Lots of flamers on the board will challenge your parenting choices and skills - I'll let them explain themselves. We made the decision to leave our daughter in Camp during one port day b/c we were going on an all day excursion - tour of the Panama Canal - and knew she would be miserable stuck on a ferry for 8 hours (she was 3 at the time). It was a very good decision for us. We felt very safe with her there, and we were confident that the ship would not depart the port without our tour returning (this was a VERY POPULAR tour - I believe over half the ship was booked on it). We also had relatives not going on this tour who could pick her up, God forbid, we didn't make it back.

 

Leaving her there was definitely not a light decision on our part, but we weighed our options and made our contingency plans. As a result, we were able to weigh the flames that came in and feel comfortable with our decision. By the way, she had a blast in Camp!

 

You may want to consider posting in the family board. That group may have great advice. Best of luck!

 

I really don't understand why people judged you for your question. People really should not throw stones... Actually in some ports I would not feel safe to be out with a small child (Belize I am looking at you).

 

By the way, on all of our cruises our daughter CHOSE to stay at the camp on one of the Port days. She actually always complains that she does not spend enough time at the camp (we mostly use it after 10 to participate in adult activities).

 

 

One more thing: You only have to pick up your child for lunch during port day if you are not on the ship. Booking Carnival excursion is not a requirement.

[matj2000]

We used to leave our kids on the ship all the time when they were little and never had any problems.

It is a service that the cruiselines do and a big reason why we go.

This topic usually brings out the wacko, helicopter parents who cannot imagine leaving their kids with anyone else.

The same kids who cry when they leave their parents line-of-site.

I remember one person went as far as to say it was considered "neglect"...

[Wavesprite]

We left our children onboard while we went into Cabo for a little shopping and lunch at the pier. It was so HOT and they begged to go to camp instead. They had a great time, and so did we!! I know a lot of people do NOT think this is a great idea, but our thoughts were: If something happens, there are professionals on board that will make sure that our children are happy and fed (and clothed since they would have access to our cabin) until we could catch up with the ship.....or whatever.

 

It was GREAT, everyone was happy!! We probably wouldn't have done an independent excursion while leaving them on board, but I think it's very safe if you are going on a Carnival excursion, or just checking out the dock area....

[L2C57]

Great responses, thanks!

[beckyjohns]

Yes, you can leave your kids. We have done it. And, yes, many here will tell you you shouldn't. I'm of the opinion that the people in charge are professionals and are trained. If something should happen to you, I'm certain that the cruiseline would handle it with professionalism. I don't see it much differently than leaving your kids at a daycare at home. If you were to get in a car accident while the kids were at daycare, wouldn't they take appropriate actions?

 

I do have a question regarding excursions, though. One person above says that you must be on a CARNIVAL excursion to leave the kids for lunch. Another person says that is not the case. Does anyone know for sure?

[SnowWhiteNYC]

We left our son at Camp Carnival (he was 5) on our recent Miracle cruise when we visited San Juan. We had dinner together and then brought him to camp. We then got back off the ship and walked to Old San Juan. We were not on a carnival excursion, no problem....

 

We had a good time, he had a great time!

[Redsfan]

last year we brought our girls with us, couldn't imagine not bringing. I want them with us at all times and have them part of our vacation pics, etc. They are young yes, and we may have been able to do more if they were in camp but 10 yrs from now I want to show them pics of their vacation..

 

Now mind you we did beach days, no excursion so they are more geared to young ones. We didn't think of doing anything more interesting...

[serene56]

Can you do excursions while leaving your kids at camp carnival? Me and DH are looking at doing something adventurous, but of course for safety reasons the age limit wouldn't allow our 2yr old son. This will be our first time using camp carnival so we aren't aware of their policies.

 

 

as long as your child is 2 by the date of sailing they will allow you to drop him off.

 

Hopefully he is in day care so being in that enviroment he will be good to go.

Great thing about Carnival camps-- they change diapers-- (you have to supply them though

[spcopps]

This topic usually brings out the wacko, helicopter parents who cannot imagine leaving their kids with anyone else.

 

The same kids who cry when they leave their parents line-of-site.

 

 

 

 

First, just because I am protective doesn't make me a wacko helicopter parent!! My kids are 7, 3 and 3 and NONE of them cry when out of my sight, actually the 3 year old twins are in pre k and LOVE it..

 

NOW I can't say I wouldn't leave them in CC while I was on an excursion because I actually wanted to do this until DH (yes I am the mommy) talked me out of it. He wasn't worried about the kids getting hurt or us missing the ship as much as he pointed out what if one of US were to get hurt and had to go to the hospital!! I really never thought about this. I was however looking at some pretty active excursions :D. Yes the staff would take care of them until we caught up with the ship if we missed it and yes if one of the kids got injured they would take care of that also BUT what if one of the parent's get hurt and have to be in the hospital for an extended period of time? Could you contact the ship and have someone bring your children to you? (not being rude I would actually like an answer to this if anyone knows :o)

[Princesss]

I don't think Camp Carnival would offer anything that would contribute to "bad parenting" !

People are free to raise their own kids as they see fit, but there are always those that want to put others down with whom they disagree.

[pafam4]

We used to leave our kids on the ship all the time when they were little and never had any problems.

 

It is a service that the cruiselines do and a big reason why we go.

 

This topic usually brings out the wacko, helicopter parents who cannot imagine leaving their kids with anyone else.

 

The same kids who cry when they leave their parents line-of-site.

 

I remember one person went as far as to say it was considered "neglect"...

 

 

Its not necessary to call people "wacko" just because they make a decision different than yours in regards to the care of their children while on a cruise ship. Just because families decide to do things together on a family vacation does not make them helicopter parents. On the other hand, people who are comfortable leaving their children at Camp Carnival while they are on excursions are not neglectful. Each has made the right decision for their family. No need to be so defensive!

 

Our family is most comfortable spending most of our time together on family vacations. And my kids didn't suffer for it. Both are very confident and well-adjusted (well, as well-adjusted as teenagers can be;)).

[matj2000]

Its not necessary to call people "wacko" just because they make a decision different than yours in regards to the care of their children while on a cruise ship. Just because families decide to do things together on a family vacation does not make them helicopter parents. quote]

 

 

This subject has come up several times recently and if you read the comments people wrote about leaving kids at camp you might understand what I am talking about.

And as I have said before, just because it is a "family vacation", you don't have to be joined at the hip 24/7............

[shelkate1]

Our last "family" cruise, my son(9 at the time) all but refused to get off the boat. Obviously, if I had made him he would have done so, but I felt like it was his vacation as well. He preferred to stay at camp with is friends and I felt perfectly safe leaving him. My only issue in retrospect was worrying after the fact about the what ifs. What if his father and sisters and I had missed the boat, what if someone was injured, etc? But noone did and we were all able to have the vacation of our choice:)

[matj2000]

My only issue in retrospect was worrying after the fact about the what ifs. What if his father and sisters and I had missed the boat, what if someone was injured, etc? :)

 

 

Unplanned events can happen anytime & anywhere.

Although I don't know what they are, I am pretty positive the cruiselines have procedures in place for this type of unexpected situation and know how to deal with it.

Also, why do so many folks throw around the "missing the boat" all the time as if it happens all the time.

People missing the ship at a port is very rare and almost always because of passenger errors/booze.

[DrLookGood]

Yes, you can leave your kids. We have done it. And, yes, many here will tell you you shouldn't. I'm of the opinion that the people in charge are professionals and are trained. If something should happen to you, I'm certain that the cruiseline would handle it with professionalism. I don't see it much differently than leaving your kids at a daycare at home. If you were to get in a car accident while the kids were at daycare, wouldn't they take appropriate actions?

 

I do have a question regarding excursions, though. One person above says that you must be on a CARNIVAL excursion to leave the kids for lunch. Another person says that is not the case. Does anyone know for sure?

 

I know for sure. I was on Spirit on New Year cruise and we left our daughter on the ship in La Paz to go diving. I was on Legend in August and we left our daughter on the ship in Roatan (to go diving :)). None of the excursion were through Carnival.

 

I described the issues at tender ports above, so you have to consider them when booking early non-carnival excursions.

 

Also, in La Paz (which was not tender) we arrived 15 minutes after the ship docked to a closed door and many unhappy parents. My husband and other parents were working with guest services to locate the staff. Finally one hour after the ship docked, the camp counselor shows up. At this point we were very late for our excursion and after I informed her of that she told me that the ship did not really dock, we just arrived to port :rolleyes: - which of course was a lie. Anyway, we almost missed our excursion (by literally seconds - the bus was leaving and somebody from the bus recognized us and stopped the bus). So when you are arriving to port, do yourself a favor and try to drop your child off earlier than you need.

[pafam4]

Its not necessary to call people "wacko" just because they make a decision different than yours in regards to the care of their children while on a cruise ship. Just because families decide to do things together on a family vacation does not make them helicopter parents. quote]

 

 

This subject has come up several times recently and if you read the comments people wrote about leaving kids at camp you might understand what I am talking about.

 

And as I have said before, just because it is a "family vacation", you don't have to be joined at the hip 24/7............

 

I agree, you don't have to be joined at the hip 24/7 (and we aren't), but for some families, it is what they choose to do. Its not right or wrong, just their choice.

[LitchfieldParkCruisers]

The wife and I would never leave our son in Camp Carnival while we got off the ship for any reason. Nevermind the fact that we enjoy our 6 yr old being with us when we get off the ship..but we would not risk the chance of anything happening to cause us to miss the ship(ie: personal injury, sickness, late excursion, freak accident). The horrible thought of our son being left on the ship without us, far outweighs the thought of a fun couple of hours on an excursion.

 

LPC

[DrLookGood]

The wife and I would never leave our son in Camp Carnival while we got off the ship for any reason. Nevermind the fact that we enjoy our 6 yr old being with us when we get off the ship..but we would not risk the chance of anything happening to cause us to miss the ship(ie: personal injury, sickness, late excursion, freak accident). The horrible thought of our son being left on the ship without us, far outweighs the thought of a fun couple of hours on an excursion.

 

LPC

 

I don't think OP's question had anything to do with anyone's opinion regarding the propriety of leaving their child on ship while they participate in the excursion.

[discjoker]

I don't think OP's question had anything to do with anyone's opinion regarding the propriety of leaving their child on ship while they participate in the excursion.

 

No, but it was brought up much earlier on this thread already...

[DrLookGood]

No, but it was brought up much earlier on this thread already...

 

As a warning that posts like the one above will appear...

 

Why not surprise everyone and refrain from sharing their disapproval of OP's decisions.

[Raven Days]

This is a hard question to answer. At one point I said I would never do it. I guess it would depend on the situation. I dont think leaving them on board makes anyone a bad parent or even a bad decision maker. I think each parent would need to make their own decison. Like someone else pointed out, Carnival wouldnt allow it, if it created issues for the parents. I am leaving the decision to my daughter when we go. We have an excursion booked for Cozumel for the kids but not for Progresso. She asked me if she would be able to leave the kids on the ship for a couple of hours, so she can do what she wants....I told her she could and it was allowed. I will wait to see if she actually does it. The kids started PreK/Headstart this year and she has been having problems leaving them at school all day. She will learn to enjoy the time alone as she gets older. :)