Camp ocean and Club O2

[jgraham625]

I have sailed many times but never with kids.  First time ever I am taking my grands age 11 and 14.  Does anyone have any insight or program flyers they would want to share to give me an idea of these programs?  I don't even know if they will want to go.  Whats your experience?

Edited March 24 by jgraham625
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[kctwinmommy]

Our son went on his first cruise when he was right around that age and he always went. It was a good way to meet other kids. He didn't always do the programs they had, but the kids would at least meet up there and hang out. Maybe hit the pool together, or get pizza. We always set rules about checking in with us occasionally, and of course, always together for meals. And also, no going into other's rooms, and nobody in ours, staying in the standard public places, etc... But it gave him a chance to have some fun with other kids on sea days. The activities are pretty much the same from cruise to cruise and fairly standard type things. You want to go on the first night as well, to complete the paperwork and meet kids right away. And then after that, if they don't want to go, they don't have to.

[cacruisin]

I too suggest mandating them to go the first night, on the first night none of the kids know anyone and that's when they form their little "groups".  Go visit their clubs then you get on ship, to check them out and get an idea of their activities etc.  For the 11 year old (I think) you will need to decide if you will give them "sign out" privileges so they can come and go as they please or only with an adult etc.  I believe the 14 year old will be able to come and go (if I remember correctly).

[anastasia3939]

     My son took his first Carnival cruise when he was 2 years old, so I'm very familiar with the different stages of the kids programs.  The 11 and 14 year old will be in two different programs.  The 11 year old is in Camp Ocean, Sharks program, and the 14 year old is actually in Circle C (12-14 year olds).  Camp Ocean is more structured and opens in the morning. They play games and do a lot of craft based activities. They also have parades and some events for the parents/grandparents and children to do together.  My son always went to Camp Ocean as soon as it opened and wanted to stay until the lunchtime close. Then he'd go back after dinner.  In the Shark age group (9-11), the adult has the option to sign a permission form to let the child sign themselves in or out, or just keep it where an adult needs to sign them out. 

     Circle C is more free form and activities start at noon. My son just had his first cruise as a Circle C'er so that is pretty fresh in my memory.  They had video gaming tournaments, foosball and basketball competitions and also played a lot of hide and seek on some chosen deck (yes, sometimes the kids running around "unsupervised" was a Carnival sponsored activity!) They also had their own silent discos and parties on several nights.The 12-14 year olds can come and go as they please and the timing of the activities was posted in the Hub app.My son often came back to the stateroom after 11:30 pm, wiped out, but I think they have a 1 am curfew. Like previous posters suggested, it's a good idea to have them go the first evening when they have the get to know you activities because they might find a buddy that they get together with and hang out the whole cruise.    

[jgraham625]

Thank you all for the info and advice!!  I really hope they have a great time!

[MistyRo76]

We took our 9-year-old daughter on a cruise last fall and she would be in the same age group as your 11-year-old. We took her the first night of the cruise for their welcome aboard event just before our dinner. We were hoping she would meet a couple of kids her age that she could play with throughout the week. She did make a couple friends, but she did not enjoy Camp Ocean at all. It was too regimented for her. If they would have just let them play as they wanted to, she would have enjoyed it more. But they seemed to have limited "free play" times. It was usually structured activities. And it was very chaotic in there. Maybe that settled down later in the week?? She only went back one other time during one of their late night "Night Owls" parties. But again, she only wanted to stay for an hour or so and then she was over it. Again, this was just her experience, and your kiddos may feel completely differently about it. 

 

I will also say that on the Sunshine, the pick-up/drop-off was a challenge as well. When I went to pick her up the first night, there was a huge line of people dropping kids off. I waited in line close to 10 minutes, then finally just made my way up to the front to see if I could just grab my kid. She had privileges to sign herself out and I could see her in the back. She kept telling me they wouldn't let her go. Finally, i got the attention of one of the staff and told her that she's allowed to sign herself out and they finally let her go. I would have been in that line an hour if I hadn't just gone up front. They need to have a better system for differentiating between people dropping off and those picking up. We also did the Halloween Trick or Treat Scavenger Hunt. We had to go to the check in desk to get our map for the hunt. It was a zoo again! Just a bad layout for an area that can get really busy. This aspect will likely vary by ship though. 

[elcuchio24]

our kids always love it. If you can just get over the hump of the first day, to get them to go, should be clear sailing!

[DukeASUGirl]

When we sailed last year, we had an 11.5 yr old and a 13.5 yr old, so they would have been two different age groups. However, when we went the first day to sign the younger one up for the kids club, they said they were allowing 11 1/2 yr olds the choice between staying in Sharks or moving to Circle C. If Sharks, then we would have the choice whether he could sign himself out or not, but if Circle C, then he would be able to sign himself out.

 

He was allowed to check out both spaces before making the decision, and he decided that the 12-14 group was way cooler. He didn't actually end up doing any of their activities, but he loved the video games and met some kids there he hung out with. 

 

They don't always let the older 11-yr-olds make this choice - they said it was because there was an abundance of younger kids on that cruise, bringing down the ages of each of the clubs. The older 11-yr-olds would be going into middle school that fall anyway, so age-wise it just made a lot more sense to allow them to be with the older group rather than the younger group, which apparently was skewing very heavily towards the 9 yr old end of that range.

[DukeASUGirl]

A big difference between the two clubs was that the 9-11-yr-olds had structured activities and you could only do a certain activity if it was on the schedule, whereas the older ones could join in the scheduled activity or just sort of hang out (either in the club or on the ship) and make their own activities.

 

Also, the older group could play video games at any time that the club was open, whereas the younger ones were only allowed to play video games if that was on the schedule - and typically was only 30 minutes per day.

[vswan]

Took my 14 year old grandson on another cruise line last summer. Told him that he had to agree to go to the kids program the first night to meet other kids otherwise he was going to be hanging out with grandma for the week. Although he had cruised before he had never gone to the program.

 

Fast forward. Just got back from a spring break trip on Carnival with my daughter and same grandson. He asked to be signed up for the kids program and could hardly wait to go the first night. I don't think any of the kids his age actually spent much time at the program but they met others to hang out with throughout the cruise and we would see him occasionally on sea days and of course dinner. He had a great time. I will say the kids were all pretty well behaved and there was a lot of security out and about.

[mjkacmom]

My 5 have been in all age groups on cruises. They loved the little kids clubs, loved the teen clubs (mostly to meet others), every single one of them hated the tween clubs and refused after the first time. I think it’s just an awkward age with vastly different maturity levels.