Camp Carnival and 9 year old

[lyttleone1977]

I was on Carnivals site the other day with my kids, trying to get them familiar with some of the stuff my 6 and 9 year old can do in there, when I got to the part about how 9 year old scan sign themselves out. I also read that a part can say no to that, which I plan on doing.

 

"Children 9 YEARS OLD AND OVER are free to sign themselves in and out of Camp Carnival as they choose. Children are not permitted to sign themselves out after 10pm. Parents that do not want their 9-11 to sign themselves in & out of our activities MUST sign their child in & out when attending Camp Carnival.Camp Carnival is not responsible for children 9 years old and over once they have signed themselves out of a Camp Carnival Activity. While most of the Camp Carnival activities for this age group are supervised, there will be times when they are divided into teams for a scavenger hunt or other such activities, and will not be accompanied by a member of the youth staff. "

This is my thing. My 9 year old is a high functioning autistic child. He is very smart, but does not always pay attention to things. He has the social skills of a 6-7 year old. I am curious as to what I need to do. Do I need to pay close attention to what his schedule will be and take him out when they do "team" stuff? There is a reason why I want to put him in Camp Carnival - to ensure he is going to be safe. Any thoughts?

[nybumpkin]

My understanding from our last two cruises was that 9-11s whose parents did not want them to sign themselves out would be unable to participate in activities like the scavenger hunts. I'm not sure whether this means that you would have to pick up your son before those types of activities begin - I would check with the counselors on the first night at registration.

[Jacky4]

The first day you drop your child off you sign a piece of paper saying they cannot leave the camp unless you sign them out. That means the camp will be responsible for them at all times, even group activities. You will get a caper which list all activities and times. If you decide that you don't think an activity is good for him you would have to go get him and sign him out or he will be included in the activity. You will get an opportunity to talk to the staff on the first night and explain your concerns. They deal with all types of children. I am sure your not the first with this concern and they will come up with the best plan for your situation.

[scotts82705]

I have a nephew who is 13 that has the mind of a 9 year old do any of you guys think that camp carnival will let him in the class with my 9 year old daughter so they are together?

[Rowan555]

You can ask that they put your 9 year old with the 6-8 group; there was a 9 year old in my kids' 6-8 group on our last cruise. Her parents put her in that group because they didn't want her in the group that could sign itself out. As it turned out, there were VERY few kids on board, so the age groups were rather flexible. The older kids were in the room with the younger ones most of the time anyway, so it really didn't matter.

[Rowan555]

I have a nephew who is 13 that has the mind of a 9 year old do any of you guys think that camp carnival will let him in the class with my 9 year old daughter so they are together?

 

Carnival is great at handling special needs, both in Camp Carnival and throughout the ship. I would address this with the Camp Carnival director at the orientation the first night. If you're sailing at a time when there aren't tons of kids on board, they will probably be able to honor your request. When the groups are packed with kids, they get much stricter on the age group rules.

[Leighpast]

In our experience they don't allow kids to go down or up in age level.

[Rowan555]

In our experience they don't allow kids to go down or up in age level.

 

That's not been my experience at all. A few cruises ago they allowed my son to stay in the younger group even though he had turned 6 a few months before. He wanted to be in the group with his sister. On the next cruise a 10 year old autistic girl was in the 6-8 year old group with my son. Her mother had spoken to the director on the first evening and made arrangements to place her in the group best suited for her. As I said above, on our cruise last week a 9 year old girl was in the 6-8 year old group simply because her parents didn't want her to have sign-out privileges.

 

Perhaps if you cruise during spring break, summer, or other major holidays, the flexibility isn't there due to the huge number of kids. But cruising off season, you're much more likely to encounter flexible counselors who are willing to work with you. I've also noticed that bumping kids DOWN to a lower age group is a lot more easily accomplished than bumping them up to an older group. That would be very difficult to do unless there were extreme circumstances.

[Illinoisgal]

I was on Carnivals site the other day with my kids, trying to get them familiar with some of the stuff my 6 and 9 year old can do in there, when I got to the part about how 9 year old scan sign themselves out. I also read that a part can say no to that, which I plan on doing.

 

"Children 9 YEARS OLD AND OVER are free to sign themselves in and out of Camp Carnival as they choose. Children are not permitted to sign themselves out after 10pm. Parents that do not want their 9-11 to sign themselves in & out of our activities MUST sign their child in & out when attending Camp Carnival.Camp Carnival is not responsible for children 9 years old and over once they have signed themselves out of a Camp Carnival Activity. While most of the Camp Carnival activities for this age group are supervised, there will be times when they are divided into teams for a scavenger hunt or other such activities, and will not be accompanied by a member of the youth staff. "

 

This is my thing. My 9 year old is a high functioning autistic child. He is very smart, but does not always pay attention to things. He has the social skills of a 6-7 year old. I am curious as to what I need to do. Do I need to pay close attention to what his schedule will be and take him out when they do "team" stuff? There is a reason why I want to put him in Camp Carnival - to ensure he is going to be safe. Any thoughts?

 

 

What what are you doing with my child? Mine is 8 almost 9 though :). I have the same concerns but last cruise in June they let him stay with the 5's while the older kids went to the shows as he cannot take loud noise, music etc. They have no problems working around your needs within their capabilites. We usually cruise off season so there are usually not many kids on board so he REALLY gets spolied! Im sure he will have a blast. Maybe call the special needs number and see if they can help you

[Cruise Doctor]

In our experience they don't allow kids to go down or up in age level.

You are 100% correct....

Carnival doesn't allow this anymore...They used to be flexible, but now they are very strict regarding the age of the children.....

[lyttleone1977]

What what are you doing with my child? Mine is 8 almost 9 though :). I have the same concerns but last cruise in June they let him stay with the 5's while the older kids went to the shows as he cannot take loud noise, music etc. They have no problems working around your needs within their capabilites. We usually cruise off season so there are usually not many kids on board so he REALLY gets spolied! Im sure he will have a blast. Maybe call the special needs number and see if they can help you

 

Thanks for all of the help!! I am sure Carnival is used to kids with this disease now, especially since 1 out of 200 kids are born with it. Most people would never think that he is autistic, until they spent some time with him. He really is my precious angel. But dont let him read this, he would say "Come on mom, thats icky girly talk!"

[Rowan555]

You are 100% correct....

Carnival doesn't allow this anymore...They used to be flexible, but now they are very strict regarding the age of the children.....

 

Well, except for the fact that they DO still allow it. We witnessed it last week on the Fantasy (and on just about every other cruise we've been on).