Camp Carnival

[outdoors27]

Folks,

 

Happy New Year first of all. My wife and I are sailing with our kids for the first time this July. We are experienced cruisers when its us but this will be our first cruise with the kids and I'm looking for some insight or opinions on the Camp Carnival program. Our girls are 3 and 6.

 

We checked it out prior to our sailing last summer on the Freedom and liked what we saw and also pick-up the daily schedules, but I would like to hear from anyone on here what your expereince was with it. The good, bad and ugly.

 

Any advise or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance

 

Rich

[LibrarianBecky]

We used camp carnival when my son was almost 4 on the Fantasy. He loved it. He is not the kind of kid who always enjoys new experiences, but he would beg us tolet him go to Camp. Staff was always nice, and he loved their activities. For us, camp carnival was 2 thumbs up.

[Manatee Mom]

My boys who are now 13 & 11, started with camp carnival at age 2. They have been on about 20 cruises now on 4 different cruise lines. They love camp CCL! Out of their 12 cruises on CCL we have only had 1 problem with a camp counselor and that was years ago.

 

My best advice would be to look at the camp schedule and see what activites they want to do. bring walkie talkies, so if they are not enjoying at that moment you can come get them. Go to the family dance party with them the 1st night so they can meet other kids.

 

Just remember that no 2 sailings are alike even on the same ship because it depends on the passangers on that sailing. Just go and have fun!

[onegroundcafe]

We absolutely love Camp Carnival. Our daughter begs us to go to Camp Carnival. They offer a large variety of actvities and seem to have enough staff to camper ratio. I don't know what we would do without Camp Carnival....our dd is our her eighth cruise and she is seven. Children can eat dinner there....so you can eat dinner with your spouse. There is a time limit...I think four hours for each session. Pick up for children is at 9:45pm after 10 they charge for the hour. I am not sure when the camp opens in the morning. If your child is under five they give you a telephone you must carry with you. Typically there is no Camp Carnival on Embarkation Day. There is a registration thing at 5pm on Embarkation day, but you can also register online before the cruise and just turn in your documents once on board. For the children they offer face painting, coloring Carnival tee-shirts, scavenger hunts, movies, legos, a build a bear activity and a talent show and more. I cannot rave enough about camp carnival.

[lglancy]

Our daughter has used the kids camp on 3 different lines at ages 4,5 & 6. Carnival, at age 4, was her favorite. She begged to be at camp every minute it was open. She loved the activities, and received some great gifts to bring home, like a t-shirt, pencils, and all kinds of great crafts. We are loyal Royal Caribbean cruisers, but honestly, DD enjoyed Carnival's kids club the best. We found out midway through the cruise that she could have dinner with the camp each evening, and once we started letting her go to that, it completely changed the tone of our dinners. She had a great dinner (menu changed nightly and was always food my picky eater liked) and DH & I had a peaceful dinner for 2. We also let her have lunch at camp, where the counselors take the kids to the buffet. We never worried about her & even felt safe leaving her at camp while we were off the ship, which I was nervous to do. The one evening she had an upset stomach while at camp, the counselors called us on the cell phone they provided, and we picked her up with no problem. I think your child will love it, and you as parents will too!

[UATLB]

our dd & ds ages 4 & 8 love camp and never wanna leave. they usually stay till 12 or 1 we pay the 7 dollars an hr for them to have fun. one nite they have a party that is 15 per child and they wanna go every cruise because they give out a little stuffed owl and they have fun at the party. we just got off the esctasy dec 31st and the kids asked to stay on the ship while we went home. your kids will mostly be in 2 different camps until 10pm after that theyll be in the same room

[outdoors27]

Thank you everyone for your fast replies. It's nice to read that your kids had positive experinces. I haven't had much doubt about my 3 year old who will turn 4 at the beginning of the cruise, but its my 6 year old who will turn 7 at the end of the trip that I've been worried about.

 

The older one heard me talking about Camp Carnival to some friends and was already saying no way, but I think once she meets other kids she'll be fine she just likes hanging with us.

 

Our girls are well traveled and I just want this cruise, since it's their first, to be positive. I'm definitely optimistic after reading your replies so thanks again.

 

Rich

[serene56]

your kids will be in two different camps but these are located next to each other.

 

orientation in 5:15 the first day.

have each ofmyourmkids'go there to meet the kids.

 

no camp activities'the first night.

 

there will be a family dance at night after dinner.

 

you will be given the activites for the entire week.

 

activities are in 30 minute increments

 

camps'open at 10 on sea days and closed at 12:45

open at 2 and closes at 5

opens at 7 and fee after 10pm

 

your 6 year old could be worried that you will have a better time the she will

 

i suggest at going over the activity pager for the camp before bed. then going over the fun times. show her the activites she will be doing compared to what you will be doing

[Almost Packed]

We took our ds-7 (he was 2 months after his 7th b-day) on his first cruise and he really enjoyed camp.

 

before the cruise, i showed him pictures, and went over some of the activities that MAY be available for him to do.

 

https://www.goccl.com/irman/bookccl/sections/shipboard/Camp_Carnival.html

 

i found a ton of info on this site that.

 

he was happy to go play with his new friends. we had made it a rule that all meals would be eaten as a family, but he had so much fun, we let him eat dinner with the camp and his friends one night too....'cause he begged us lol.

 

have fun and enjoy the time away from the kids.

the counselors are fantastic! and i'm a picky person-i'm an ex nanny (years ago) and i owned my own daycare so i've got keen eyes on daycare structure and situations. it was structured just enough to be managed and have fun.

[roxiebarclay]

8 yr old loved Camp Carnival.

We actually had to the limit the time she was there so we could have some family time. The funny thing is she is always complaining that she wants "family time" but on the cruise she was complaining that she wanted to go to camp. Seems there is no pleasing this one.

 

The nice thing was she met other kids and then would run into them at the pool and she would have a great time playing in the pool while we read. Or they would arrange to go for a swim together after dinner.

 

I bought walkie talkies based on reading the threads so she could call me, but stopped using them.

I looked at the schedule of activities and would plan when to drop her off and pick her up- often letting her stay for 2-3 activities. Sometimes after a long shore excursion, if I wanted a couple of hours of peace after dinner she would go to camp for an hour and half after dinner, then we would go for a swim or watch the outdoor movie.

 

On the christmas cruise the kids were part of a Holiday Show with all the singers and dancers. The kids loved it. Too bad I had to go to watch it. :)

 

So I loved it and she loved it.

I have no doubt you 7 yr old will. Don't talk about it too much, so then he/she won't be overthinking it and get anxious. Just spring it on him/her- hey I am going to take you down for "whatever game/activity is on the schedule".

[outdoors27]

We took our ds-7 (he was 2 months after his 7th b-day) on his first cruise and he really enjoyed camp.

 

before the cruise, i showed him pictures, and went over some of the activities that MAY be available for him to do.

 

https://www.goccl.com/irman/bookccl/sections/shipboard/Camp_Carnival.html

 

i found a ton of info on this site that.

 

he was happy to go play with his new friends. we had made it a rule that all meals would be eaten as a family, but he had so much fun, we let him eat dinner with the camp and his friends one night too....'cause he begged us lol.

 

have fun and enjoy the time away from the kids.

the counselors are fantastic! and i'm a picky person-i'm an ex nanny (years ago) and i owned my own daycare so i've got keen eyes on daycare structure and situations. it was structured just enough to be managed and have fun.

 

Thank you very much for the link and your suggestions. My wife and I are so excited to finally bring the girls but now I'm just worried about them having fun. I'm sure they will my oldest just takes a little while to warm-up our little one tends to forget us quickly. lol Thanks again

[outdoors27]

8 yr old loved Camp Carnival.

We actually had to the limit the time she was there so we could have some family time. The funny thing is she is always complaining that she wants "family time" but on the cruise she was complaining that she wanted to go to camp. Seems there is no pleasing this one.

 

The nice thing was she met other kids and then would run into them at the pool and she would have a great time playing in the pool while we read. Or they would arrange to go for a swim together after dinner.

 

I bought walkie talkies based on reading the threads so she could call me, but stopped using them.

I looked at the schedule of activities and would plan when to drop her off and pick her up- often letting her stay for 2-3 activities. Sometimes after a long shore excursion, if I wanted a couple of hours of peace after dinner she would go to camp for an hour and half after dinner, then we would go for a swim or watch the outdoor movie.

 

On the christmas cruise the kids were part of a Holiday Show with all the singers and dancers. The kids loved it. Too bad I had to go to watch it. :)

 

So I loved it and she loved it.

I have no doubt you 7 yr old will. Don't talk about it too much, so then he/she won't be overthinking it and get anxious. Just spring it on him/her- hey I am going to take you down for "whatever game/activity is on the schedule".

 

Thank you

[wranglerguy]

Our 3 yro loves it. She asks to go. She say "I want to go to camp and play". If we say no she would throw a fit.

 

 

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OIIIO

[SteelerCruiser]

the past few cruises we have taken with my Son he has loved Camp Carnival......he is there when they open and absolutely loves it!

[momoftwinboys09]

We're sailing on the Fantasy next month and have twin boys age 3 and I'm anxious to see if they like camp. I've seen a lot of

 

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[momoftwinboys09]

Posts saying the kids begged to go! Sorry I hit submit by accident lol:)

 

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[sea*siren]

My daughter loved Camp Carnival! She attended every evening so my husband and I could "date night" every night. :-) Day time and port time were family time. They had plenty of great activities, and when we picked her up each evening, she was worn out and ready for bed.

[chipq]

Definitely go the first night to the welcome 'party'. Both my kids have been since they were 5 and 7; they are now 10 and 12. My daughter is a social butterfly and met a few girls each of the first nights that she played with at camp for the whole cruise. My son a shy analytical kid hangs on the fringe and watches the activity for half the party before finding the right moment to jump in. It has been like have two cruises in one; a family cruise for meals, in port and when just hitting the pool but was also a couples cruise since both kids stayed late at the camp in the evenings. The angry looks when we would show up to collect them at night! Have a great cruise.

 

http://luv2cruise.blogsspot.com

[birdistasty]

I guess my kid is in the minority here...

 

My normally outgoing four year old who loves craft activities at the local library absolutely hated Camp Carnival on the Pride a few weeks ago. I took her Monday morning for a three-hour playtime that included everything from art to games to TV time. She begged me not to take her again. I convinced her to try again on Tuesday for half an hour since they had facepainting and Funship Freddy-related activities (two things she LOVES), and that was it for the week. She absolutely refused to go back. The only thing I could get out of her was that it was too regimented - when they were doing coloring activities, that was ALL they were allowed to do at that given time. During movie time, they weren't allowed to play with the toys in the room. I understand why; it's easier to keep an eye on all of the kids if they're all doing the same thing, but for young kids that have the attention span of a fruitfly, it just doesn't keep them interested.

 

Talking with another family on the Ecstacy during our Freeport stop, and their 3 year old son had the same feeling about Camp Carnival.

 

Your results may vary, of course :D

[adamsmom]

My kids have always loved it. One was 7 on his first cruise and the other was 5 on her first cruise. My 5-year-old daughter cried a little when I first dropped her off the first day, but I left her anyway, and as soon as I got around the corner she stopped crying. When I went back to pick her up for lunch, she cried because she didn't want to leave. lol After that, every morning this NOT-a-morning-person child would wake up early and say, "I have to get to my class!" She has always been there whenever the doors are open. She is 13 now, and is a bit disappointed that the teen activites aren't nonstop all day long. ;)

 

My son loved the kids clubs too, but he sometimes preferred to hang around the sports deck and play ping pong or basketball or whatever was going on at the time and pick-and-choose which kids activities to show up for. Now that he's 17, he spends all his waking moments between the sports deck and the buffet. :D

 

I vaguely remember one NCL cruise where one worker was a bit snippy with the kids. I saw her when I picked up and dropped off, and she just seemed impatient. But my kids didn't seem to mind. I asked them about her, and they didn't even know who I was talking about, so they didn't notice. Other than that, the workers are all terrific.

 

I always tip them too. Take along some envelopes and some cash to give them at the end of the cruise if your kids spend a good deal of time there. The workers work really hard, and many people don't think about tipping them.