First Time Carnival/Splendor Q's/Kids

[theox]

We are first time Carnival cruisers sailing on the Splendor with 7 yo/3yo. We've only sailed Disney and we're looking forward to a new experience. Lots of silly questions, but I'm a planner. :)

 

Questions:

1. My son is a very picky eater. Do they have chicken tenders/mac and cheese available throughout the day? How about plain white rice from Mongolian Wok?

Does the ship have plain vanilla yogurt? How about Nutella?

 

2. Camp Carnival--Obviously it is smaller than all the areas of play on Disney, but do they keep them pretty busy with structured activities? Wondering if they will be bored. Just trying to figure out how much they will want to be in the kids club. Do they have Legos?

 

3. Family activities--we bring our kids everywhere with us at home. Are there fun activities for us to do together? We love trivia and scavenger hunts and the kids would have fun being with us. Is this going to be a problem?

 

4. Are there any theme nights? Disney has Pirates' night and we dress accordingly. Anything like that on Splendor 8nt caribbean? I guess there are 2 elegant and a Suess breakfast but anything else I should plan for?

 

5. We chose my time dining for flexibility with kids. Is it always Black Pearl dining room and will we miss out on anything by doing this?

 

Thank you in advance for any thoughts or tips on our upcoming cruise!

[092306]

We took our 3 year old son last October and had a great time. Ours is a picky eater too. I didn't find chicken tenders during the day. They used to be available at the grill, but not on this cruise so maybe they stopped serving them, not sure. You can get them at night from the MDR kids menu. You can find mac n cheese at the rotisserie (up the stairs from the lido buffet). You can get it at night as well. DS ate a little of the rotisserie chicken too as well as cheese slices from the buffet. I don't recall seeing vanilla yogurt. I remember plain, berry and peach. They could have it, just not positive. Never saw Nutella. I'd bring that just to be sure if that's what he likes. There is an Asian station, separate from Mongolian wok and they had white rice.

 

DS didn't spend much time in camp. They do have structured activities and things that seemed very fun, but he wasn't very interested. He likes Legos and free play and I don't think he liked sitting and watching a movie or the art. Plus, there were some very upset kids missing their parents and that made him want us too. Chain reaction I guess. We're hoping he'll give it more of a chance this upcoming cruise. I believe they had Legos.

 

We went during Halloween so there was a family scavenger hunt for that, but not sure if there is one otherwise for families. We played mini golf together and there's build a bear for families and towel folding. That's about what I remember for activities suitable for him. No theme nights ship wide unless there's a holiday, but the camp does have a night owls party and they do face painting and have themes for that within the camp. Probably parents whose children attended would have info on that. Looking forward to trying the Seuss breakfast.

 

I would suggest flexible dining. We had a wonderful waiter team who really catered to our son. Every night his meal was ready for him and they gave us great, personalized service. It's always in the Black Pearl and I don't think you will miss anything. We usually went around 6 and got the same table. Two nights we went a little later because of ports and we saw the waiters sing and dance which was fun. Liked having the time flexibility.

 

Hope you have a great time!

[theox]

Great info. Thank you!!

 

 

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[092306]

You're welcome! Also, if on the first night at dinner you find your waiter team lacking, try a new section the next night. We found a great team on the 2nd night and requested them every night of the cruise.

[serene56]

 

2. Camp Carnival--Obviously it is smaller than all the areas of play on Disney, but do they keep them pretty busy with structured activities? Wondering if they will be bored. Just trying to figure out how much they will want to be in the kids club. Do they have Legos?

 

 

First let me say that any other cruise line you sail will be NOTHING like the disney cruise. So when you take this cruise treat it like this is the first time.

 

camp-- your kids will be in two different age groups. (those camps are next to each other and these kids do not leave the rooms to go elsewhere.

 

the activities are structured into 30 minute increments.

you can look at the daily sheet to see what your kids want to do and only let them go for those particular activities.

 

Camps open at 9:30-10am on sea days close again at 12:40

open at 2 and close at 5 open at 7 paid fee at 10pm

 

the 3 year old will be with kids ages 2-6 and the 7 year old will be 6-8 year olds.

 

There is no theme nights. The first night camp is NOT opened but they will host a family dance party after dinner. it was fun and kids got some type of trophey

Edited June 6, 2014 by serene56

[serene56]

5. We chose my time dining for flexibility with kids. Is it always Black Pearl dining room and will we miss out on anything by doing this?

 

you picked the dining where you just show up??

I did both- I prefer the traditional.

 

The last cruise the waiter got to know the kids-- had stuff set up for them-- juice and choc milk. and got the kids to eat their dinner with the promise of the table side magician ONLY if they ate their food. That waiter was top notch. Find out if your cruise has the table magician-- its worth the wait

[irishnyc]

Ditto what everyone else said pretty much. No Nutella. Don't remember vanilla yogurt.

 

Like serene I'd go with traditional dining. We did it on the Splendor last year with five kids. The waiters knew us, had the kids drinks ready, danced with them, celebrated a birthday, etc. I also think it's preferable to the wait there can be with any time, especially if you're waiting for a particular section.

 

 

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Edited June 6, 2014 by irishnyc
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