Carnival Late Night babysitting

[obx_fintoo]

Whew! One week til we cruise and I've got lots to do! In reading a review on the Carnival board, someone mentioned talking their 4 & 6 yr olds to the late night babysitting, which reminded me that I have a question about that. My DD is 3 1/2. Her normal bedtime is 8:30 but will go until 9:30 if stimulated! :rolleyes: However, there is no way she'll be awake at 10pm.

 

So, do people take drop off their kids if they are asleep? I am not sure if we'd use this service much as we normally aren't out too late, but just want to know what my options are. I appreciate your advice in advance!:)

[kitty9]

Lots of parents drop their kids off when they're already sleeping. Sounds like a perfect way to do this.

[Kerry's Girls]

I would bring one of my twins already asleep in her stroller, and they just let her sleep there. They also have mats and blankets for the kids to lay down and sleep on when they get tired.

 

Best,

Mia

[Cruisin' Chick]

Some of the kids will already be there for the evening activities. If they're signed up for the post-10pm kidsitting and they've fallen asleep by then, they usually won't be moved as the kidsitting usually takes place in the young kids room.

[obx_fintoo]

Thanks for the replies! Sounds like if we do take her there asleep it won't be a problem. I know we'll have a great time no matter what.

 

My husband and I are so excited to introduce DD to cruising! It's not long now!

[crusinmama06]

Since we just got off of Carnival and we did use Camp Carnival, including the "late night slumber party" I don't know how you would be able to drop off your child asleep UNLESS she is a VERY heavy sleeper.

 

This is why. On the one side (the 6-8 year old side) they are having dance parties. And the music is just blasting. Through the glass door is the 2-5 year old group. There...they have pillows and blankets set up, the kids can watch a movie on their multiple TV screens.

 

I could just imagine if I carried my sleeping child to the camp, they wouldn't be sleeping for long once they got there. BUT, if they went to camp at 7pm (after dinner), enjoyed the activities...THEN laid down when they got tired...that would work.

 

Now with that being said. We had 4 kids in our group. Two were mine. My kids are 3 and 7, the others are 5 and 7. Not one of those kids would fall asleep at the camp. They would lay down...but they would not sleep. And what we had were VERY cranky kids by 10pm. I would pick mine up between 10pm and 10:30pm. My friend would leave hers up until 11pm or midnight....and her kids were pretty much begging to go to sleep by then. :(

[obx_fintoo]

Thanks Michele! That's the kind of thing I was wondering about.

 

She is a very heavy sleeper, so it might work, but I won't be counting on anything. We are traveling with a couple of friends so we may just take turns hanging in the room with the sleeping kids (their DD and ours).

 

We'll be on the Sensation on Thursday! :)

[gracie65]

I have a 7-year old who is normally asleep everynight between 6:30 & 8:00pm & up by 6:00am. We just got off The Legend & he was awake every night we picked him up. They have so much for them to do that he didn't want to miss it. I think the latest he stayed was around 1:00am. The good thing was he actually slept till 9:30-10:00am which he never does at home even with going to bed late. The curtains are so dark on Carnival that 9:00am is like 6:00am.

[crusinmama06]

I have a 7-year old who is normally asleep everynight between 6:30 & 8:00pm & up by 6:00am. We just got off The Legend & he was awake every night we picked him up. They have so much for them to do that he didn't want to miss it. I think the latest he stayed was around 1:00am. The good thing was he actually slept till 9:30-10:00am which he never does at home even with going to bed late. The curtains are so dark on Carnival that 9:00am is like 6:00am.

 

Exactly! When I went to get my girls they were doing some dance and screaming "Ay AY AY"

 

lol

:D

[Robin & Dan]

We just returned from the Conquest with our 2 1/2 and 4 year olds. No way I thought they'd stay up until 10pm but boy did they surprise us. They were extremly stimulated the first day/evening with the new surroundings and when we brought them in at 10pm, they both went running off. Back to pick them up at 1am and they were passed out.

 

The next 2 nights they went to camp at some point after dinner but before 10pm so activities were still going on. Came back at 1am both nights and there they were, playing away, it even took an huge effort to get them down to sleep once back in the room (sorry neighbors).

 

Needless to say, the next night, NO CAMP and asleep in the room by 8:30.

 

One night they had dinner with camp and then off to activities, we picked them up at 8pm or 9pm or so and all the kids were crazy singing, dancing, playing loudly and there were our 2 passed out by the window, kids were even jumping over them.

 

It worked out well for us and they made up for the sleep in the mornings and sometimes a nap. And it worked well since the first three days were sea days because of the hurricane. Port days we'd have had a different approach to bed times.

[obx_fintoo]

Thanks for the feed back Robin & Dan!

 

We're thinking right now that we'll do the after dinner activities and see what happens after that. I can picture my DD passed out to the side like your's. She sleeps pretty deeply once she's out! I'll find out first hand tomorrow! :D

 

P.S. Once we're back, I plan to post a full "kid's stuff" review on this board!