Camp Carnival - Flexible with age?

[spottythecat]

Hello..going on Carnival for the first time in March...on the GLORY.

 

My boys are 5 & 7. My 5 year old is more like a 6 year old...I would hate for him to be stuck with the 2-5's...any luck moving him up?

 

What else is there to do on days at sea with these ages besides camp?

 

Thank you,

Pam

[silentbob007]

From memory, age is one thing that is not very flexible, but that could've changed or may vary on the staff.

 

On sea days, besides camp, there are also pools, an arcade, television, and whatever alse you bring along ... besides endless softserve ice cream, of course. ;)

[dwell]

No they are not flexible. They cited insurance reasons for us not being able to move a child into an older age group. We had someone that was 3 months from being in the next age group and they would not let her move up. :mad:

[spottythecat]

Thank you...I guess we willl see what happens once we get on the ship.

[bucket_O_beer4john]

Watch out for the arcade - they can get credits from their sail & sign cards! See my post on the Dangerous Arcade.

 

My son always had more fun hooking up with other kids in camp carnival , then going and doing their own stuff.

 

Two way radios work great on the boat with kids, 'cause you can keep track of where they are and what they're doing, while still giving them some freedom. Not sure if I'd let a 5 & 7 year old run free, but letting them go down to the cabin once in a while, and calling to let you know when they get there could be cool.

[Scoutcat]

Watch out for the arcade - they can get credits from their sail & sign cards! See my post on the Dangerous Arcade.

 

My son always had more fun hooking up with other kids in camp carnival , then going and doing their own stuff.

 

Two way radios work great on the boat with kids, 'cause you can keep track of where they are and what they're doing, while still giving them some freedom. Not sure if I'd let a 5 & 7 year old run free, but letting them go down to the cabin once in a while, and calling to let you know when they get there could be cool.

 

 

Couple of comments on this.....

 

Regarding the Sail and Sign cards. If you don't want your kids to have unlimited charging privileges on the cards, you can ask the purser to issue them cards that will strictly act as ID cards and room keys....no S & S privileges attached to them.

 

We saw a lot of people using two way radios when we were on board the Valor in December. I know that some were available for rent on the ship...and I had heard that some of the ones that people brought from home didn't always work in that area....so worth checking out. I am sure there is more info on this subject available elsewhere on these boards.

 

Regarding the kids going off by themselves....technically any child under the age of 18 (or maybe it was 16) is supposed to be in the company of an adult in any of the public areas. I would have to say that that rule is definitely not enforced on a regular basis. Both of our kids (boy-girl twins, just shy of 17) had no problems being on their own on board. I would say, however, that young children should not be off on their own. The judgement and perception of most kids that age is that the cruise ship is one big playground. These ships are huge (even the smaller ones are still pretty impressive), and there are lots of ways kids that young could get themselves in trouble without even trying.....not to mention the whole "stranger danger" issue. There are people from all over the place on these ships. The crew have all had background checks......but the passengers haven't!

 

"Scout" aka Carol

Dayton, OH

 

Carnival Valor December 2005