Cruising with a 5 year old!

[cfralc]

I've been on several cruises with hubby but this time I'm booked with my daughter and granddaughter (turning 5 during cruise)  we're excited for family time and also adult time! Granddaughter will love kids club but I'm not finding info on the "nominal fee" for night owls.  Anyone with experience cruising with littles???  Would love your input!!!

[Shaded Lady]

I'm taking my 10 YO grandson on his first cruise and he's fighting us on going to Camp... unlike your granddaughter he thinks he's 'too old' for it! The advice I've gotten here, which could apply to your granddaughter at 5 if she's prone to making strange in new circumstances, is to enroll her in camp regardless, and to make sure she goes to the welcome party they host the first night... that is the time that most kids make friends they say...

 

(I'm bribing my grandson- the terms of being able to cruise is he WILL register for Camp and WILL attend the first night party- if he chooses not to participate in any other activities, then that's his choice!)

 

Since this is the first time I've cruised with kids, I can't help you with the Night Owl prices...

[Palmetto Pilot]

We took our 3 year old on the Magic last year. It was his first cruise, he fought us tooth and nail going to the kids club but after he went he had a great time. I believe it was around $8 an hour after 10pm. Incredibly reasonable for us!

[JaxsMama]

Night owls is either hourly (cant exactly remember but something like $6.75 an hour plus 18% grat) or it's a set price for the night when they have a theme party with gifts to take. My son loves it. Register online before you go and then go on the first day (a time range will be in funtimes) to look around and get the schedule. Boarding day it opens at 10 PM for pay, no free day one.  Also at that age there is no welcome party/mix and mingle as referred to in above post...that is for the older kids. 

[DukeASUGirl]

She'll love Camp Ocean! I cruised with an almost 7-yr-old and an almost 9-yr-old. Next time we cruise, they'll be in different clubs, and they're actually pretty sad about that. But they loved the activities and loved meeting new friends.

 

Then again, they both do Kids Club after school (aftercare) and day camps all summer so my husband and I can work, so this is normal for them. We didn't keep them in it all day -- just when there was a fun activity they wanted to do and when we needed some alone time.

[Shaded Lady]

22 minutes ago, JaxsMama said:

Night owls is either hourly (cant exactly remember but something like $6.75 an hour plus 18% grat) or it's a set price for the night when they have a theme party with gifts to take. My son loves it. Register online before you go and then go on the first day (a time range will be in funtimes) to look around and get the schedule. Boarding day it opens at 10 PM for pay, no free day one.  Also at that age there is no welcome party/mix and mingle as referred to in above post...that is for the older kids. 

Ahhh- thanks for the correction JaxMama- is the party for the 10 and up age?

[cfralc]

Thanks so much for the replies!  My granddaughter is very social and thrives on structure so I think she will want to go to camp ocean a lot.  I seem to remember on previous cruises when I didnt have a little that the kids club staff were on the Lido deck when we embarked getting kids fired up and registering them etc.  Do they still do that?

Edited March 24, 2019 by cfralc

[JaxsMama]

23 minutes ago, Shaded Lady said:

Ahhh- thanks for the correction JaxMama- is the party for the 10 and up age?

I'm not sure what age that starts.  I've only done penguins age 2-5  and stingrays 6-8.  I don't even want to think about my kid being old enough to sign himself out or teenage years lol.

[Shaded Lady]

8 minutes ago, JaxsMama said:

I'm not sure what age that starts.  I've only done penguins age 2-5  and stingrays 6-8.  I don't even want to think about my kid being old enough to sign himself out or teenage years lol.

LOL! My daughter has already said that there's no way my 10 YO grandson is signing himself out! He'd get lost and end up on the bridge telling the captain how to run the ship!!!

 

As for the teenage years, I shudder to think about it- my daughter was bad enough!

[jjcruiselover]

Night Owls is $8.00 an hour or for special parties a flat fee. 

 

Our granddaughter couldn't wait to be able to sign herself out and was only allowed to do so to participate in the scavenger hunt.  The group she went with on the scavenger hunt decided to go off track so she knew she would be in trouble and she decided to go back to camp.  She got lost trying to find it and sat by an elevator crying until a nice couple helped her find her way back to camp.  Her first and only time she signed herself out in two years of being old enough to do so. 

[tinkr2]

5 hours ago, JaxsMama said:

Night owls is either hourly (cant exactly remember but something like $6.75 an hour plus 18% grat) or it's a set price for the night when they have a theme party with gifts to take. My son loves it. Register online before you go and then go on the first day (a time range will be in funtimes) to look around and get the schedule. Boarding day it opens at 10 PM for pay, no free day one.  Also at that age there is no welcome party/mix and mingle as referred to in above post...that is for the older kids. 

 

So I have not done Carnival in years with kids but there used to be a big get together the first night where all the kids got to know each other and make friends. Are you saying that does not exist anymore? I am sailing with 2 grandkids and I assumed it was the same as in the past and on Royal and NCL currently. The kids are 3.5 and 10.

[Shaded Lady]

8 minutes ago, tinkr2 said:

 

So I have not done Carnival in years with kids but there used to be a big get together the first night where all the kids got to know each other and make friends. Are you saying that does not exist anymore? I am sailing with 2 grandkids and I assumed it was the same as in the past and on Royal and NCL currently. The kids are 3.5 and 10.

It sounds like the party would apply only to the 10 YO, not the 3.5 YO... 

[JaxsMama]

5 minutes ago, tinkr2 said:

 

So I have not done Carnival in years with kids but there used to be a big get together the first night where all the kids got to know each other and make friends. Are you saying that does not exist anymore? I am sailing with 2 grandkids and I assumed it was the same as in the past and on Royal and NCL currently. The kids are 3.5 and 10.

As far as the small kids go (2-8) your first chance to drop them off that first night is at 10pm when night owls (fee) begins. I dont know about the older age groups. I've heard they have a meet up for older kids the first night but I cant say for sure bc my kid isn't that old yet. 

[tinkr2]

I have just never heard of not having a get together on the first night for all ages. And I have cruised a lot, with a lot of kids😄

[tinkr2]

1 minute ago, JaxsMama said:

As far as the small kids go (2-8) your first chance to drop them off that first night is at 10pm when night owls (fee) begins. I dont know about the older age groups. I've heard they have a meet up for older kids the first night but I cant say for sure bc my kid isn't that old yet. 

Thanks, thats odd. There used to be like a 2 hour get to know each other session for at least the school age. Never cruised with my kids when they were toddlers  but makes 3rd with this wild boy.

[JaxsMama]

3 minutes ago, tinkr2 said:

Thanks, thats odd. There used to be like a 2 hour get to know each other session for at least the school age. Never cruised with my kids when they were toddlers  but makes 3rd with this wild boy.

From my last cruise. Open specific times for registration and then camp opens at 10pm.

[tinkr2]

@JaxsMama thanks . So are there different pages for different age groups? Or is that 0-11? I haven't actually looked much at the kids camp yet. I have a cruise before this one on Harmony and all my focus has been on that. But July will be here soon so I am making plans now. 

What are the age cuts? And at night are all the little kids together?

[JaxsMama]

Camp ocean has penguins 2-5 on one side and stingrays 6-8 and sharks 9-11 on the other. The schedules are available outside camp ocean and they have one for each age group. At night during night owls all kids are on the older side. Then on the younger side they usually have the kids that fell asleep. The older kids have separate venues...circle c 12-14 and club o2 15-17. 

[crusinpsychRN]

When I traveled with my kids we would put clothes together, shirt, pants, underwear etc., in a bundle and it was ready just to grab and put on. No need to look for something that matched as it was already done.

[lcpagejr]

We cruised when our grandson was 5....We went with our son and his GF . Our Grandson didn't show much interest in the kids program (we didn't force him) and usually stayed with us and played in the water park area (we cruised on the Breeze). In the evening he would watch the movie on Lido deck with his dad and /or retired early with my wife (who is not a night owl). This worked out perfectly as it allowed my son and his GF to enjoy the nightlife each evening . However...if young and old like the night life...fingers crossed your granddaughter takes to the evening program and night owl offering!!

[cfralc]

18 hours ago, crusinpsychRN said:

When I traveled with my kids we would put clothes together, shirt, pants, underwear etc., in a bundle and it was ready just to grab and put on. No need to look for something that matched as it was already done.

My granddaughter will ONLY wear dresses for about the past year, so that's easy when it's warm!  Not so much when it's winter and we have to deal with tights or leggings under those dresses :-) 

[cfralc]

15 hours ago, lcpagejr said:

We cruised when our grandson was 5....We went with our son and his GF . Our Grandson didn't show much interest in the kids program (we didn't force him) and usually stayed with us and played in the water park area (we cruised on the Breeze). In the evening he would watch the movie on Lido deck with his dad and /or retired early with my wife (who is not a night owl). This worked out perfectly as it allowed my son and his GF to enjoy the nightlife each evening . However...if young and old like the night life...fingers crossed your granddaughter takes to the evening program and night owl offering!!

I'm hoping she will like the kid's club, and I think she will.  This is a Premier cruise for my daughter and I so it sounds like my daughter may miss out on the cocktail reception on the first night, and maybe some of the drawings in the casino.  I'll have to compare the Premier schedule and the Kids Club schedule once we get onboard.  We will have to plan out our "family time" and our "adult time" lol.