Sailing with a two year old? Camp Carnival?

[tonijmccann]

Hello! I'm going on a cruise in May and we're considering taking our two year old. I know they can go into Camp Carnival. What if they aren't potty trained? Do they change diapers there? Have you had a positive experience with Camp Carnival for a child that young? We just don't want to miss out on a couple excursions and wouldn't be able to do them with her, so we're thinking Camp Carnival would be great for us but I'd love some info first. Also, has anyone done the babysitting services? How was that? Where do they go for it? Do they sleep? (It goes til 3 am?) How much is that an hour? I'm a little nervous about taking her just because I'm wondering how hard it's going to make it on us..

[ToddlerMom]

We're sailing on Carnival in March with our 2 year old DD. Camp Carnival accepts 2 year olds and does not require that they be potty trained. They will change diapers for you. I don't think Carnival offers any kind of babysitting service. I believe they only offer Camp Carnival which is free until later in the evening (I believe after 9?). I don't know what the hourly charge is for late nights.

[Jonah315]

We left our 2 year old in the program even though he was not diaper trained. They require you to bring a diaper bag with a change of clothes when you sign him or her in to the program for the day. It went really well until our DS got tired after a couple of days and wanted to simply lie in the room with his mommy, reading books and watching Wiggles on his portable DVD. My wife got to spend a few days reading all the books she brought and ordering room service for them so she still ranks it as the best vacation ever.

 

In terms of the program, you can leave them there until I believe 10 pm free of charge, then a nominal charge kicks in. They tend to have all the kids in one room at that point in the evening so some are going strong, and others are curled up under blankets asleep or watching movies. My son would go to sleep, my DD (5) would be going strong until 1:30 or so. Both loved the program on both our Carnival trips.

 

Bob

[nlt46]

My 3 year old enjoyed Camp Carnival; but she really wanted to stay with us more. When ever we took her, she had a good time, but she never really wanted to go. She was potty trained, but she is short. They would check to see if her diaper was dirty.. and she would have to explain that she didn't wear a diaper. She was a little insulted; I found it funny.

 

Nancy

[Kidsx5]

I'll be interested to hear your review after your cruise because I have the same questions! My son will be 2 next January when we are planning our next cruise and I am toying between Carnival, RCI and NCL.

[staceyeileen]

I am cruising with my just barely 2yo next month on Carnival, so I'll let you know how it goes! :) He turns 2 on 1/29 and we sail 2/5.

[Kidsx5]

I am cruising with my just barely 2yo next month on Carnival, so I'll let you know how it goes! :) He turns 2 on 1/29 and we sail 2/5.

 

Can't wait to hear your review! We will be cruising days after my son turns 2 as well!

[soozenw]

Hope to hear good things! We are cruising with our 2 year old in April. He turns 2 at the beginning of April. We'll have our 4 year old as well, so if they hate Camp, at least they can torment each other.

[Valor2005]

We'll be cruising with our granddaughter who will have just turned 2. Really looking forward to your report.

[hopesicle]

Hello! I'm going on a cruise in May and we're considering taking our two year old. I know they can go into Camp Carnival. What if they aren't potty trained? Do they change diapers there? Have you had a positive experience with Camp Carnival for a child that young? We just don't want to miss out on a couple excursions and wouldn't be able to do them with her, so we're thinking Camp Carnival would be great for us but I'd love some info first. Also, has anyone done the babysitting services? How was that? Where do they go for it? Do they sleep? (It goes til 3 am?) How much is that an hour? I'm a little nervous about taking her just because I'm wondering how hard it's going to make it on us..

 

My husband and I just got back from a cruise on the Carnival Dream and though our children (7 months and 2) weren't with us, we attended the Camp Carnival orientation and toured the facility in anticipation of future cruises. It is very clean and spacious and seems to have a lot to do for the little ones (obviously we focused mostly on the 2-5 age group) I think our DD would have a great time there. I have a copy of the cruise activity sheets for the week that tells you what's going on but am unsure how I would get it to you through this site.

 

To echo others, they will change diapers and the late night babysitting (10pm-3am) is $6 per child and all in one room with various activities.

[lesleyswimcoach]

Great experince with my 5 and 8 yo last year. They give u a phone when you have a 2-5 yo so they can call you with a problem. The process on the first night is annoying but if your child does daycare/preschool they shoud be fine. My daughter enjoyed it but I think the staff catered to the little ones so she didn't love it as much as my son who was in a different group.

[cruisinsassy]

We had a great experience on the Conquest when our son was 2. He wasn't potty trained, and we sent him to camp with a backpack of diapers and wipes which they changed for him. They wouldn't allow any outside snacks, for health reasons and made the kids wash their hands before touching anything in the room (which I loved!!) They also send a special kids "Fun Times" to your cabin with the days events at the camp. We did not use the babysitting service, which I believe begins at 10pm and lasts until 3 a.m. for 6$ an hour. We did utilize them though a couple of evenings during dinner time so we could dine in the dining room (DS did not like the waiting or the "experience" in there) and they took the kids to the lido buffet area upstairs and served pizza, chicken nuggets, etc. to them. They also gave us a pager in case they needed to contact us and we were more than welcome to call the camp on the ship's phones and check up on him. There are plenty of toys and activities. There are also plenty of counselors so if your little one gets "distracted" by the current scheduled activity (my son frequently did @ 2!) they will entertain them. :D They are really flexible and attentive, IMO.

 

He loved the program so much, he never wanted to leave! We cruised on the Legend in 2010, while our son stayed with Grandma and Grandpa that time - we did tour the camp area on that ship the first day and ran into one of the counselors that was on the Conquest! She remembered him and us - which made us feel really great! I noticed that you can fill out your orientation paperwork online now at Carnival's website, which I think will save some time at the orientation meeting (I agree, it is somewhat annoying -- especially while trying to entertain a 2 y.o. at the same time!! lol!! Ours was in a lounge area and many of the kids were on the stage playing during paperwork, questions, etc. -- My son happened to find a microphone that was turned on behind the curtain and gave a "startling" performance of Twinkle, Twinkle, little star!! :o)

 

Our son will be 7 on our cruise in June and he is really excited about the camp!

 

-Beth

[TheCalicoCat]

Hello! I'm going on a cruise in May and we're considering taking our two year old. I know they can go into Camp Carnival. What if they aren't potty trained? They will change diapers.

 

Do they change diapers there? YES

 

Have you had a positive experience with Camp Carnival for a child that young? YES, YES, YES We took our son when he was 2 & 2 days - just so he could have age appropriate activities too.

 

We just don't want to miss out on a couple excursions and wouldn't be able to do them with her, so we're thinking Camp Carnival would be great for us but I'd love some info first. Also, has anyone done the babysitting services? How was that? Where do they go for it? Do they sleep? (It goes til 3 am?) How much is that an hour? I'm a little nervous about taking her just because I'm wondering how hard it's going to make it on us..

 

During the normal hours, we went off the ship without our son for an hour or two...

 

We did not use the after hours, we are early birds, so we go to sleep early & we wanted to keep my son on his schedule as much as possible.

[Julienatul]

Your two year old does NOT have to be potty trained. They will change diapers. Just bring them and some wipes when you drop them off. They dont charge for camp activities until 10pm when it becomes $6/hr. Just remember its more of an "activity service" than babysitting. They will call you to come get your child if he/she is hungry, tired, cranky, sleepy, upset and crying etc. If they are happy and want to stay and do the activity they can. They are not the most nurturing with the younger ones. So plan on spending lots of time with your little one just in case.

 

As you can see from my profile we have sailed with our kids alot on many Carnival ships so we have plenty of experience with camps. They will issue you a phone or pager to contact you. It does not work off the ship though. Both my kids are daycare kids and have been since infancy but 2 is a really tough age to just drop them off with strangers and not have them "cry" or be "upset" to where they call you back to come get them.

[Showtune]

Just returned from the Carnival Pride on 1/15 with our 2.5 year old. We did not use the camp as often as I'd hoped for various reasons.

 

We wanted to keep our son as close to his normal schedule as possible, although it certainly would have been nice for him to sleep in at least once! Typically the schedule is: wake at 7 and eat breakfast, lunch at 12:00, nap 12:30-2:30 or 3:30, dinner 6:00, bedtime 7:00. Camp did not open for drop off until 10 am on sea days so we'd do that, then pick up just after 12 for lunch and nap. After naptime, there were frequently events that were parent required (talent show, scavenger hunt, etc) so we couldn't drop him off. And since we didn't think he would do well with the camp dinner, that meant he was with us from nap wake up until bedtime. We did not take advantage of the nighttime activities or paid group babysitting.

 

On port days, we kept him with us and choose activities that would be able to include him. In all cases, this meant going on our own and not with a ship excursion.

 

Also, although our son goes to daycare at home and was clearly interested in the newness and variety of the toys available in the camp, he was VERY upset when we left. We were upbeat and brief, leaving him with a quick kiss and a cheery "see you later!" but there were tears, screams, and desperate clinging each time. We were able to watch him out of sight on the monitors in the hall and after 5 minutes he was happily playing.

 

Overall, our experience was positive and if we sail Carnival again I would not hesitate to use the camp again.

[gerif]

I'm not sure I could advocate going off on excursions and leaving a two-year-old on the ship - there would be no way for them to reach you in case of an emergency or even if she had a melt-down and wanted you. I'd either plan family-friendly excursions where she can come with you or leave her home.

[YOWmom]

It really depends... We sailed on Disney last February for our DD's 2nd birthday and she was not at all keen on the nursery but would grudgingly go on occasion. So when we sailed on Carnival over New Years I had very low expectations for how much time she would want to spend in camp, but she actually loved it. However, another family we met on CC had a child the same age who hated it and would not go at all (and both kids are in full time daycare and used to being away from mom and dad). And on both Disney and Carnival our older DD (7) did not want to go to the kids programs either and just wanted to hang out with us. It's really hard to know until you get there, so my advice would be to manage your expectations accordingly :)

[tkportersat]

I am so hoping my 2 1/2 year old does well with this, I need a vacation! He goes to daycare at home and I am hoping he will be fine when we try to drop him off at Camp. Right now he gets upset every day when I leave but the teacher tells me he is fine after about 2 minutes. So for those that have used this you can drop off at 10am and have to pick up at noon and then what is the afternoon times? Looking to see more information about the topic! We booked and Inside cabin on the Vista deck on Magic just to be close to Lido and Camp Carnival.

[MYRN1]

We absolutely LOVED Camp Carnival for both of our boys(7&2). Our 2 year old was hesitant at first, and cried several times, the staff was amazing and had him asking for camp by day 4!! I can't comment on leaving him there for shore excursions as we planned them all that he was able to go with us. He is mostly toilet trained (he will be 2 1/2 mid February) and at first he wore his pull ups, but half way though he refused. He has been poop trained for almost 6 months, and as long as he doesn't have a pull up uses toilet to pee. He did have a pee accident there once. I was never called, they cleaned him up, put the clothes on I sent with him as a spare, bagged his wet shorts, and told us at pick up. We were given a phone to use, which actually was fantastic for my husband and I as well. We only used camp so DH and I could have nice relaxing, long quiet dinners, so when we weren't using camp, I usually still had the phone. It works from ANY ship phone. So when I had to unexpectedly take DS(2) to the ship's doctor when his hand got stuck in the elevator door, DH was able to locate me quickly and meet me there.

 

The staff was amazing. My 7 year old has seemed to have picked up a few bad habits from some of the other kids, but I figure in a couple of weeks, he will be back to normal. I would highly recommend it. We did keep the kids there til 11:30 one night. No issues at all. They set up William with blankets and pillows and he napped a bit there. There is a charge from 10pm on though. Also, the camp was not open all of the time we were there. It closed a bit, though not sure of the details, so you might want to check on that before booking your excursions.

[MYRN1]

As far as excursions go, there was at least 1 excursion at every port booked through Carnival he could go on. In Costa Maya we swam with dolphins and I have an amazing video of hi kissing the dolphins multiple times, so cute! In Cozumel we took a power catamaran to Passion Island, fantastic beach, great for him! In Roatan, we had a pirate ship boat ride ad treasure hunt scheduled, but we couldn't dock due to high winds and very choppy water. And in Belize we had an excursion to Goff's Cay, another boat ride followed by beach(actually booked privately DH and DS7 went cave tubing).

 

Just giving you ideas in case you decide to include him in excursions. It was pretty easy taking him along. GL, and I hope you enjoy it(and your child) as much as we did!!

[staceyeileen]

We were given a phone to use, which actually was fantastic for my husband and I as well. We only used camp so DH and I could have nice relaxing, long quiet dinners, so when we weren't using camp, I usually still had the phone. It works from ANY ship phone.

 

I was wondering if this would work! I think this will come in very handy since we are traveling with my parents as well, and it's always a pain to plan meet ups without a cell phone.

[MYRN1]

I was wondering if this would work! I think this will come in very handy since we are traveling with my parents as well, and it's always a pain to plan meet ups without a cell phone.

 

It's required for the 2-5 year olds, and I think you can sign one out for other ages as well. We brought two way radios and those worked as well, but the phone was a surprise bonus.

[staceyeileen]

Well, our experience with Camp Carnival was not as successful as we'd hoped. The first time we dropped off our 2yo we got paged by Guest Services to come pick him up shortly after (we were walking around by the pool and couldn't hear the phone ring - oops!). He was SO distraught when I picked him up. I can't say I am surprised, though. Even though he goes to daycare full-time and does fine, he seems to be going through a very clingy and shy phase right now when around people he doesn't know. My parents dropped him off once and he stayed for two hours, after about 10 minutes of crying while they watched on the video screen outside. They even got to change a dirty diaper while he was in camp. We did utilize the free play time for under 2yos on the sea days from 8-10am. They said it was ok since he is just barely over 2. He actually had a great time in camp as long as we were there to play with him! :) I have to say, I loved having access to the cell phone for calling cabins and receiving calls wherever we were. The counselors were great, too.

[soozenw]

Aw, that stinks that he didn't like it as much. But still sounds like you had a great time!

[MzShelle2U]

This is actually a great topic. I am traveling with my 2yr old this August on the Dream. He will be just 2 months shy of turning 3yrs old. He has no daycare experience and has only been left with relatives. I am hoping that he enjoys camp and that he takes a liking to the counselors there. He will not be alone. We are cruising in a group of 18 (9 adults, 9 children) I know he will have his cousin there to play with him and that he won't be alone. Hopefully, this will be enough to keep him happy and entertained.