Camp Carnival vs Princess kids programs

[Gaprofitt]

Hey All,

 

How does the two compare? I have a three year old son.. What other kids activities are available on say Crown Princess? Do they have a playground and or splash area for kids?

 

Thanks.

[helenb]

I have no experience with Carnival, but I can tell you about Princess kids' clubs. For the 3-5 age group they have toys and also 'soft' areas for active play. Many ships also have an outdoor area. I was last on the Crown a few years ago, but at that time they had a nice outdoor area for the youngest kids to play with some ride on 'Big Wheels' type bikes and such.

 

A couple of Princess ships have 'splash pools' for the little ones, but I have never seen them used. The kids' counselors don't use them and a parent has to be present if a child uses them.

 

Activities in the club include a lot of arts and crafts and movies and theme parties (at night). They usually don't take the 3-5 year olds out of the club (the 6+ groups will sometimes go on 'field trips' to the sports court or galley or theatre or some such) however they do host a 'kids dinner' in the buffet on formal nights, so parents have the option of dropping off their kids before going to their own dinner. On cruises 7 days or more they often host a 'talent show' and invite the parents to come see the performance.

 

One nice thing about Princess is that they give you the kids' schedule for the entire cruise on Day 1, so you are easily able to pick and choose the activities that interest your child.

 

Hope this helps!

Edited December 16, 2014 by helenb

[Cruisin' Chick]

My daughter's first few cruises were on Carnival at 23 months (too young for Camp Carnival), 3 and 4 years. She enjoyed the program, even though I think the ships we were on didn't have the waterslides (at least I don't remember, but I could be wrong), etc.

 

At age 5 she (and us) went on her first Princess cruise and she preferred Carnival -- seemed to be more to do. But our cruise was in mid-February when most school-aged kids were in school (we got a great deal so we took her out of kindergarten for a week). Only two other 5-year-olds, and not too many kids in total. So not as many activities (the science program didn't happen on that cruise because of the numbers), but the rooms were open during the same times they would be on a kid-full ship.

 

No complaints when she was 7 and 8 -- those were during summer and winter breaks and there was a full program.

 

It seems for the most part the actual kids' program is very alike on the two lines. I think the one difference happened after we stopped going on Carnival in 2002 -- before post-day kidsitting didn't have an extra fee, and I believe there is one now. On Princess, you're not being charged if your child uses the kids' facilities while in port -- you just have to sign up ahead for this. Both lines have the post-10pm kidsitting and the kids' dinners in the buffet. Both have movies for the kids and video games in the kid rooms. Plus jungle gym set ups for the little kids. One big difference is that Carnival has equipment by the pool (the waterslides -- again, I don't know if all of their current ships have them) while Princess doesn't. But I think for both, parents need to supervise any pool time. And on both, the ships have to follow health codes per swim diapers (a no no in pools).

[SadieN]

Our kids were in Carnival's clubs but never on Princess. From reading the above posts the clubs are very similar.

 

99% of the activities for the little ones takes place in the club area. There might be a dinner for the little ones ( I've seen it for the next age up.)

 

You'll get the schedule for the week the first day. There are phones available for parents to keep with them during the cruise. Carnival allows diapers/pull-ups in their clubs. Carnival does a very good job with allergies. You'll always know if food is being served, do not know if the little ones have any snack time.

 

Carnival also has the club operating for a limited time in ports and has a late night 'Night Owls' program ( extra charge).

 

Carnival has water slides, one would be suitable for your child on ships with the water parks. Also there are pint sized water parks. People wearing diapers/pull-ups/swimmers are not allowed in the pools or water areas.

[shredie]

Thanks for this thread. I had been wondering about the differences. I haven't taken the kids on Carnival yet, but we do Carnival occasionally. The kids love Princess kids' club.