Camp Carnival and an immature 9 y/o

[AUTUMN SUN]

I have a 9y/o son who is very immature. Also he is unable to swim. Im very nervous about him being able to sign himself in and out. I really dont want them to take him to the pool either. He was very upset when he found out he wouldnt be in the same group as his 7 y/o sister and says he will not go to camp carnival. Has anyone had any luck getting their child moved to a different age group? Also can I not "allow " him to sign in and out?:confused: Thanks.

[blackdawg]

I don't know what to tell you about how to get him to go. I can tell you this much: we just returned last weekend from a week on the Triumph. I have 2 children - a 7 year old daughter and a son, who just turned 5 on our cruise. When my son found out that he would be in a different group than our daughter, he didn't want to go to Camp. But the second time we tried to get him there, it was a movie night and they combined the groups of kids. So he was there with his sister. After just getting him there that one time, he had no problem going back - even without his sister. All in all, it worked out very well.

 

Initially, my wife did try to get him moved into my daughter's group, but they wouldn't do it.

 

Granted, I don't know your son (or even what 9 year olds like to do for fun...), but it might just be an issue of getting beyond going for the first time. The other key was that both of my kids made new friends in Camp pretty quickly, so that made it easier for them as well.

 

As for the signing himself out part, I didn't know they even do that. That would be a little disconcerting to me. Camp will give you a pager to carry with you, so if your child has a problem or they need you, they can page you.

 

Good luck and enjoy your trip.

[PaulMedik]

.......... Also can I not "allow " him to sign in and out?:confused: Thanks.

 

 

Autumn Sun,

 

Yes, you have the option of not permitting him to sign out. Camp Carnival is very strict about their policy in terms of signing children out; whatever parent signs them in is the ONLY parent that can sign them out. If you opt not to allow him to sign out, they will not allow him to do so.

 

They're also very good about keeping a close eye on their campers and if they take him near a pool, they'll be watching him closely.

[jean0151]

I have 3 boys 17,15, and 7. We started cruising with Carnival about 5 years ago. The little one loves it and he looks forward with time with us and time there. We usually feed him early and the camp will open at 7 and we do the late seating so as to have an adult dinner. T he older boys love Club O2 and having dinner with us. Something for everyone. Never had a problem or complaint about the Camp. Good Luck... We leave on the Legend on 2/20.... can't wait.

[buddyjo143]

How tall is he? The pool is about 4 feet deep across the whole pool and is small compared to pools at hotels and other venues.

 

I would recommend you bring him to the Camp room before the other kids are there so he can check it out. Then show him the schedule of activities for his age group.

 

He can hang out with you by the pool but as he starts to "get bored" you could remind him that in Camp right now they are....playing games, movie, contests, whatever.

 

I thought our nieces and nephew wouldn't like it. We ended up dragging them out at 10 or 11 each evening. ( I kid you not, there were temper tantrums when they had to leave.)

[buddyjo143]

double

[pnjkeith]

Leave him home

[steveaaaa]

I have a 9y/o son who is very immature. Also he is unable to swim. Im very nervous about him being able to sign himself in and out. I really dont want them to take him to the pool either. He was very upset when he found out he wouldnt be in the same group as his 7 y/o sister and says he will not go to camp carnival. Has anyone had any luck getting their child moved to a different age group? Also can I not "allow " him to sign in and out?:confused: Thanks.

 

We were allowed to move down a group a few years back.Trying to move a child up is not allowed as the bigger kids do not want the "babies" in their group.After you board,go straight to the camp,look at the activities for each group and talk to the staff.He might want his own age group after seeing the activity sheets.

Steve

[LHP]

Our youngest son is a special needs child. We cruised one year when he had just turned 9 and I was more comfortable with him being in the 5 -8 age group. I asked and they did allow him to be in the younger group. However, you have to understand that these kinds of requests are literally handled on a case by case basis.

 

Go to orientation that night and ask. But be realistic and since this is a Spring Break cruise, there are going to be a lot of kids on board and they may not be able to accommodate you if the 6 -8 is already packed.

 

As for the pool, my youngest son did not swim, but loved the "Swim Parties" Camp Carnival had. I always marked no swimming on the orientation sheet and then I could take him myself to their "swim parties". They would have taken him for me (even though he can not swim) but I felt that was putting an undue burden on the counselors with all the kids they had. So I just always went with him.

 

http://www.webshots.com/search?query=Camp+Carnival+Capers&new=1&source=chromeheader

 

This page has the Camp Carnival Capers for several ages groups. Show him the 9-11 and let him see now what he can expect.

 

It won't be EXACTLY but it will give him a good idea.

 

Good luck~!

[AUTUMN SUN]

Thanks everyone for all the info and advice.

Buddyjo143 my son is about 4'5. We will be on the Ectsasy and the slide goes directly into the pool. Do you know if the pool is deeper by the slide?

Pnjkeith leaving him at home wasnt exactly what I had in mind.:D Its a family trip and everyone is payed for.

We will play it by ear and make the best of it. Im sure it will all turn out wonderful. He has cruised before and did go to camp carnival but was in the 6-8 age group with his sister at the time. Thanks again.:)

[sea_u_onboard]

I don't recall what the age is that they can sign themself out but I "think" it was at least 11 - someone else may be able to tell you exactly. That being said you can request that they not be allowed to check themselves out. My son is special needs and even at 14 we asked that he not be allowed to sign himself out and they were fine with it.

 

If you don't mention it to him he won't even know it's an option.