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Camp Carnival- What did your kids like the most?

MaiTaiMary

By MaiTaiMary,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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cruizinisthebest

cruizinisthebest

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Last year our kids were 5 and 10 when we took them on their first cruise. They loved Camp. My son loved the nighttime parties. They enjoyed eating dinner in camp. My 5-year old and her dad did the build-a-bear workshop. We utilized camp more in the late afternoons/evenings, and I was very worried about the whole idea. Especially for my son who isn't very outgoing. But they made out fine and can't wait to get to camp again. They've already expressed that they don't want to eat in the MDR every night.;) Your kids should all be in the same group given their ages.

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CatlinSTJ

CatlinSTJ

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My daughter will be bumping up from the little kids group this year, but she loved Night Owls and all of the themed parties. She was begging me the other day not to make her spend so much time with us this year...lol

 

 

Next cruise: Carnival Breeze June 2014

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cruizinisthebest

cruizinisthebest

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My kids love the Night Owls. Being able to stay up later than mom and dad and party. Hubby and I love that the camp counselors bring them back to our room when its over.

 

Yes. That made us feel a lot better about my son hanging out until 2am one night during the Glow Party. Otherwise we would have picked him up. The counselor asked for his s&s card when we took him to camp. And when they dropped him off, they asked for my ID at the door and I had to sign. Can't get much better than that.

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tanyaewa

tanyaewa

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My kids 7 & 9 liked NOT going best. Lol

They really didn't enjoy the whole CC experience. I was surprised because they are easy to get along with boys. You really just never know. I think they love being outdoors, exploring, hanging at the pool, basketball, ping pong, ice cream, and mini golfing with us better than stranger kids

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maritimecruiser

maritimecruiser

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I have girls the same age as your children, they can never stay up late enough for the evening activites, they are tired after dinner but they can't wait to start in the mornings, counting down the minutes until CC opens, they love crafts and just the free time play. They love meeting with Freddy but there doesn't seem to be much of this. He should be there at least once a day for an activity with the children! We've sailed on different lines including Disney but they prefer Camp Carnival!

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mousey

mousey

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Everything depends on your kids. My DS was one of those that hated the kid's club. At 5 he loved the kid's club. We didn't cruise with him again until he was 9 when we first started cruising with him every spring break. He thought the kid's club was for babies and didn't enjoy any of the activities. He went one night and then never went to a kid club again until he was 15. Then he started going to the teen clubs but just to check in and meet kids. They'd hang out by the pool, play ping pong (he won two ships on a stick on different cruises in teen competitions), card games, etc. mostly on their own. He's 18 now and still wants to cruise with us this summer! He loves cruising just like his mom and dad!:D The DS has always been a very independent guy so the organized kid's clubs just weren't for him. You know your kids best.

Edited by mousey
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festivalfrau

festivalfrau

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My DD is 5.5 and has been on 4 CCL cruises and 2 with MSC. She LOVES coloring her own shirt!

 

She usually only goes for the mornings on sea days, and only if I see from the program that there is something organized for them, not just free play (cause that happens too once the "activity" is over).

 

She has eaten dinner with the camp a couple of times when the menu is something she LOVES and not offered in the MDR (like grilled cheese). I think she would eat there more often, but she also loves all of the attention from the waiters in the MDR.

 

She is never awake for the Night Owl stuff and while she would probably enjoy the build a bear, we've never gone (or mentioned it).

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GrandmaHofmann

GrandmaHofmann

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We took our grandsons (8 and 6) on two Disney cruises and they had to be torn away from the club, but Carnival-- not so much. Paper ball wars were not that interesting. We looked at the calendar and they picked a thing or two to go to like the Magic Show. Though we were sent 3 different places to see that. the FunTimes was wrong and so were the workers. Anyhow, I think they spent a total of 4 hours in 4 days in the camp. They did, however, LOVE THE SLIDES. And that is the only reason we are going on another Carnival cruise. If there were no slides, there would be no Carnival Cruise for us.

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maritimecruiser

maritimecruiser

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What time DOES Camp Carnival open?

 

Opening time varies. On port days it was an hour or so after docking, usually around when shore excursions start. On sea days it would be 9 or 10 if I recall. I have early risers, they never deviate from their sleep schedule. We end up getting up at 5 AM ship time due to time zone differences, so by 9AM they're ready to get rid of the parents!

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disneyfan68

disneyfan68

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My kids 7 & 9 liked NOT going best. Lol

They really didn't enjoy the whole CC experience. I was surprised because they are easy to get along with boys. You really just never know. I think they love being outdoors, exploring, hanging at the pool, basketball, ping pong, ice cream, and mini golfing with us better than stranger kids

 

Same here :rolleyes:

 

First trip at ages 12 and 10 and second trip ages 14 and 12 - both really didn't like it at all. Maybe its the older ages. They tried more this last time because they were in the same age group. Seems some kids go in already knowing each other. My kids tend to be a little quiet so some other kids come across loud and obnxious. They are glued to us. Only saving grace for us was we had 2 cabins.

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  • 4 months later...
mommyto3girls:)

mommyto3girls:)

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So when they have things that are an additional cost, like the Build a Bear, is there an alternate activity the kids can do? Or if you want to be at CC during that time, it's Build a Bear or nuthin'??

 

If I remember correctly there is not an alternative for build a bear. There are a few times that parent must be there or kid cannot go to camp( BAB was one of those)

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mjoymarshall

mjoymarshall

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The BAB was only $20 on the Sensation - why not build a memory with your child for 20 minutes or so?

 

It was really that cheap???? We just got off the Pride on Sunday. We were going to let both our kids do this, but it would've been $64 for both of them, for one animal and one outfit (the cheap outfits at that!).

 

OP- Here's our take on Camp Carnival - THE BEST THING EVER CREATED. lol

We have a 3 year old and 4 year old. They begged to go every day! On our ship, CC opened at 10am on sea days (a lil late in my opinion). On port days, it opened an hour before docking so parents could drop off kids if they had an excursion. We always brought them off the boat with us, because there's no way I could see us doing anything fun without them! Sea days, we'd drop them off at 10 and hang out around the pool. We picked them up at 12:30 for lunch and then just did family activities (swimming, mini golf, games) and "quiet time". We dropped them off at kids' dinner at 6, had our dinner, and we kept them in CC for night owls. There were theme parties most nights. I think the pirate one was their favorite. They loved it because it was a "slumber party". After dinner, I always went down and they let me change the kids into their jammies. My kids always go to bed at 8:30 but with the excitement of vacation, they were usually up until midnight and slept until 8am(usually they are up at 6!)

I know your kids are older but maybe this will help other parents. Our kids are also in full-time daycare, so I'm sure that also helped them. The counselors are great! They would greet the kids by name any time they saw them around the ship.

We booked another cruise for next year and both kids are excited about going to camp already!

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