Camp Carnival

[The Canuks]

My wife and I have taken a break from cruising, while we had our 2 DD's. We are now ready to get back onto the ships!

 

Our DD's are 2 and 4 years old. Looking at the different lines we have narrowed it down to NCL and Carnival. We are leaning more towards the Carnival Dream, due to what we seem to think is a better itinerary.

 

I was hoping that those of you who have sailed with Carnival could answer a few questions:

 

1. Can we take the kids in and out of Camp Carnival throughout the day. Is there a limit or do you take a chance of losing your space?

 

2. What did you think of Camp Carnival, overall?

 

Any insight would really be appreciated!

 

Tha Canuks

[russianmom]

When I sailed CCL in Aug (pretty busy time for sailing with kids) there was no limit to the amount of time your child could be there (during operating hours- there is a charge after 10 or 10:30pm) or how many times you could take them in and out. The only restriction were that they closed for lunch and dinner.

 

My son (5 years old) has been on CCL and NCL. He was pretty unhappy with Camp Carnival. He called me frequently to pick him up as he said it was boring. It also appeared from the schedule that they didn't have as many planned activites and there was a lot of "free play time"

 

On NCL he never called me to pick him up, couldn't get there fast enough in the mornings and didn't want to leave at night.

 

Just my son's opinion- your mileage may vary!

[NatalieL]

We went on the Carnival Inspiration this past Sept. I have 2 kids: boy 5 years old and girl 3 years old. My kids LOVED camp. The loved all the activities and were sad to leave at 10pm bedtime. They had so much fun with the games, dance parties, coloring, etc. On several nights they even ate dinner with the camp people because "it was more fun than fancy dinner with us". :)

 

There is no time limit. They never turn you away at the door. They would get get an extra counselor if too many kids are in the camp.

 

I loved the camp during the cruise. It was so mice to have parent time and my kids had a blast. We did pull them from camp for swimming and the waterworks. (The camp does not do that for the younger kids).

[gottogetaway2]

Another thing to consider is Carnival takes 2 year olds, NCL they have to be at least 3. We are taking our kids(5,5,3) on the Splendor in Feb. and they are really excited about camp:)

[nessz79]

No limits in how often you drop off/pick up your kids at CC. You are asked to pick up your kids for meals, but if you are not able to (in port, etc), they will take them to lunch or dinner and return afterwards.

 

The first time my kids did CC they were ages 5 and 6 and both had a good time. My 5 year old DS wasn't hugely impressed but he was also at the top of his age group (2-5). He was almost 6 so doing the same activities as 2 year olds was a bit boring to him. My 6 year old DS was in heaven in his age group (6-8), though. He was often asking to go to CC while the 5 year old DS could take it or leave it.

 

They are now 7 and 8 (soon to be 9) years old. My youngest DS still isn't thrilled by CC, but it's just the nature of his personality. He would rather be with us. We encourage them to go at least once during sea days so DH and I can have a little adult time, but otherwise we have them go when they want to or we have time to. Port days tend to be too busy for CC.