Camp Carnival

[Briitini]

What changes or improvements would make Camp Carnival more attractive to you as parents and to your children?

[Malibubaby]

I wish that the camp was open for more than 2 hours at a time during the day. Even when it says it is open 11-3 they say pick up is at 1 for lunch. By the time you get to a lounge or in the hot tub you have about an hour sans kiddos and then it's time to get them again. I would even pay for a day party like they have at night once during the cruise if they would keep them for 4 or 5 hours during the day, take them to lunch and have fun activities planned for them. We are not night owls and never can stay up long enough to use the night owl day care even though we always say we are going to do it each trip. Also on our last cruise our son age 8 said he would rather go to camp then to Freeport. So they always advertise that they will watch the kids on port days so we went to check it out. They were very rude about it and said to our son that there are no video games and that he would be in the younger kid room all day and have to play with their stuff (trying to talk him out of staying & he is a

quiet kid not a brat) He said he wanted to stay anyway and he did have fun I was just a little surprised on how they tried to keep the Kidd from going by advertsing how boring it was going to be for them.

[NJoyCruise]

I wish they were open all the time, with no lunch/afternoon pickups. My son enjoys the camp and so did my DD. Shes in club O2 now. Never had any issues with the counselors. Always nice and very professional. My kids were always happy to be there and even begs to stay with the group for dinner in the Lido.

 

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[Seago2]

I wish sign up was not so crazy. Having it be during the insanity of embarkation day is just nuts. The lines are just too much after all of the stress of the whole day. They should really stagger the process- let you do it over a period of hours and include the next morning, too.

[Paul's_wife]

When we were on the Glory last summer the schedule sounded great. However they didn't always stick to it. Our granddaughter would go to one of the planned activities only to find no one else there including staff. Also, they sometimes changed the locations of the activities and we'd show up only to find that they switched them back to the original location. It made planning the day very difficult but she had fun anyhow.

She made a BFF and they pretty much did their own thing!

[cruisinbanddirectors]

I agree that I wish they didn't close for lunch like they do. It chops the schedule up. Not everyone eats on exactly the same schedule, and if you don't do lunch when they are closed for lunch, it limits the times your child can go. As someone said, it feels like you only wind up with an hour or so before you have to go back and get them. We don't leave our son there all day or anything, but it's hard to make the schedule mesh with ours sometimes.

[OneAnnM19608]

Yes, no scheduled changes with the planned itinerary would be great with Camp Carnival, open more hours, and BETTER communcation between staff and parents. We dropped off our child in one camp location, we were told where to pick her up, but they changed it and had no way to inform us- as we sat over 15 minutes in another location.

[Kingisacruiser]

My kids aboslutely love the counselors in Camp Carnival. But a schedule much like the one that they had when we sailed on the Dream out of NY is helpful. They were open virtually all day beginning at 9 am. We would feed them breakfast, take them to camp and we could choose when to pick the kids up for lunch. The camp then closed for an hour between 5 and 6, to prepare for dinner and then we could drop them off for dinner until pick up time.

 

If there is an issue with parents leaving the kids all day and not picking them up for lunch, the counselors can call those parents to pick their child up and also inform them that they cannot leave the child all day without feeding them or the child's participation would be limited.

 

Camp Carnival was so much fun for my kids that I did not feel like I was "dumping" them or "getting rid of them" because my kids kept asking to go to Camp.

[chipq]

Both my kids have had great times at the camp. Although I didn't mind picking them up for lunch, the kids did and would have enjoyed having lunch with their camp pals.

 

http://luv2cruise.blogspot.com

[Eiansmomma]

I wish sign up was not so crazy. Having it be during the insanity of embarkation day is just nuts. The lines are just too much after all of the stress of the whole day. They should really stagger the process- let you do it over a period of hours and include the next morning, too.

 

what can I do to make sign-up easier and not so stressful? I can't find times of when sign-ups are...should I go there as soon as I get on or are there specific times etc.

[sparkysj]

I agree w/those who say it would be better if not always having to go back every couple hours while they close for lunch, dinner prep, build a bear (have to pay if you want to do this and only open for those who do pay), etc. We also do not stay up late and always say we will but our dd is worn out from day as well and ready for bed by 10. We like to spend lots of time with our kids while on vacation- in waterworks, on shore excursions and etc but also one of the reasons we choose to cruise is because of CC- we don't have family around to give us much (any really) help w/our kids so the one vacation a year we take we like some grown up time too.

[Noel182002]

I don't think I dump my kids but on our last sea day I took my girls swimming and then cleaned them up and dropped them off around 1045.... Pick up was st 12 so it didn't leave much time.... So less restrictive of hours

[3dashers]

The first time sign up. Even if I do it online we are stuck in the line. I get that maybe some parents do the online check in but it's their first cruise therefore they may need a review, opportunity to ask questions etc. there are enough parents/kids who know the drill (like us) and really don't want to start vacation by starting inline.

[megann831]

we're taking our kids on their 1st cruise in April, my son will be about 2 weeks shy of 2. I know they do night time sitting, but I doubt any of us will make it up for that. I really wish they'd offer sitting during dinner time. I wouldn't mind paying extra at all to have a dinner or two in peace and quite.

[JinxyB]

I agree about the chaotic registration on the first day-I had pre-registered my son, but still had to wait in a long line during the orientation to turn the forms in and essentially re-register him. I wish camp was open earlier in the day-10AM is too late when you have to pick them up for lunch at noon. I would gladly pay for a daytime party on a sea day! I always say I am going to do one of the Night Owls party but I don't stay out too late and my son doesn't go to bed later than 10PM anyways!

[Lerin]

I wish they'd offer sitting during the day for under-2s

 

Other than that, we think they do a great job and are happy with the program.

[MichelleChell]

A day party would be great! Also wish they were open on embarkation day other then night owl. By after dinner time my kids have had enough of me and would rather go play at camp Carnival. They can't wait to go the next day but I hate the first day line!

New cruisers please do us all a service and turn in your paperwork the day before.

[luvsviola]

I wish it was open 5-6--when I'm trying to get ready for dinner. :)

 

Other than that, my kids loved it on Fascination. The hours were awesome--it was open most of the time, and we sleep in, so no one was up before 9 in our cabin anyway. Pickup was at 12:45 for lunch, then open 2-5, then 6-10.

[CruisingSoon88]

We are all night owls in our family so we utilize the program every night on our cruises. They love camp. Our kids have been on 3 cruises so far starting at the ages of 5 & 2. In April, on the Breeze, we picked them up at camp and was eating pizza and ice cream at 2AM. They love it! For those who do utilize the night owls the first night, you can turn in your papewrwork when you take your kids to camp. We never go to the camp party/sign up anymore. We just give it to them later that night. It has worked great on the Dream and Breeze.

[Almost Packed]

What changes or improvements would make Camp Carnival more attractive to you as parents and to your children?

 

I hate that camp is open for a couple of hours, then I have to go pick up my child, only to return him later...back and forth back and forth. It seems like it always happens in middle of trivia or something. Especially on the larger ships, that can take a while back and forth, back and forth. just open up and stay open. Close down for meals or whatever...but it's a real pain sometimes.

[luvsviola]

Thought of something....

 

Make it free to leave your kid there til the 9:00 evening show is over.

 

Frustrated me to no end this last cruise. We would go to the show at 9, and had to pick the kids up at 9:45 when the show is done at 10/10:15. Let kids who's parents are at the main show for the night come a little late to get their kids when the show lets out. My husband missed the end every night picking them up.

[Tapi]

we're taking our kids on their 1st cruise in April, my son will be about 2 weeks shy of 2. I know they do night time sitting, but I doubt any of us will make it up for that. I really wish they'd offer sitting during dinner time. I wouldn't mind paying extra at all to have a dinner or two in peace and quite.

 

I wish they'd offer sitting during the day for under-2s

 

As a parent of a child under the age of 2, I also wish they had better offerings for children in this age group.

 

Carnival should take a cue from other cruise lines who offer a program for children as young as 6 months of age (and they could make money doing so).

 

For example, Royal offers the Royal Babies an Tots Nursery for children starting at 6 months of age. It's open from 8am until midnight so you can drop your children off at any point in time during those hours. They have Fisher-Price and Crayola sponsored activities and they will also feed your child during meal times. The program isn't free (I believe the charge was $8/hr) but it was money that we gladly paid.

 

We would drop our 17 month old off at night for a few hours so that we could enjoy dinner at one of the alternative restaurants, go see a show, or just relax at the Solarium.

 

I'm sure many families on Carnival would be glad to have this option and, as mentioned before, Carnival could generate extra revenue in the process. It would be a win-win situation.

Edited October 30, 2013 by Tapi

[Naomi John]

I wish sign up was not so crazy. Having it be during the insanity of embarkation day is just nuts. The lines are just too much after all of the stress of the whole day. They should really stagger the process- let you do it over a period of hours and include the next morning, too.

 

You do not have to attend the orientation/registration meeting if you complete and print the forms on line. I drop mine off during the Open House from 1-4 (or muster) on embarkation day. Haven't attended an orientation in 9 cruises. You can also drop off the forms the first sea day.

 

I also agree the times in camp need to be extended. Paticularly in the evening. I think it should be free until Midnight or until the end of the last show.

[jcearth]

I don't have a problem with the hours - as long as they are posted in advance, so that I can plan out a schedule for the day. My main issue has always been check in/check out efficiency. Every child is checked in and out by hand, and this can take forever. We were on Disney this year, and the kids clubs handled a lot more children in and out a lot faster, because they had a card swipe/password/bracelet scan system. Also, children were registered for the club during embarkation, which was so convenient. The employees I have spoken with at Camp Carnival said that they would love to have a swipe or scan system.

 

Also, an information desk at camp on opening night or opening day would be very helpful, and would keep the check in/check out lines moving. The lines often get bogged down because of parents who have many questions. A separate area to answer these parents' concerns would really go a long way to ease the flow.

[DobberDog]

i agree with sticking to the schedule and posting where the kids are going to be if they go to a different part of the ship. Many times last cruise we went to pick up DD and they weren't where they said they would be. Or oldest DS went to Circle C for a scheduled activity and it was closed. I wish they didn't close for lunch on sea days too. It made it really choppy for the kids. I didn't really get to utilize CC for my then 2 yr old because every time we would leave him, they would call within 15 min for us to come get him because they couldn't make him stop crying. Several of those times, we showed up and he was playing, happy and not crying, the counselors saw us and announced loudly that we were there and of course he wanted to go with us. :( I thought that was a little crappy on their part.