Is Camp Carnival closed nights in port?

[IamMrsOz]

Looking at some Camp Carnival Capers it appears they close everynight from 4:45 to 5:45 or so. This is a problem for us in Puerto Vallarta as we have evening plans that are during that time. It seems this would limit anyone with children from participating in Rhythms of the Night, Sunset Cruise, Pirate Cruise or really most independent dinner plans as this is an hour later port time and current sunset time is 6:45 (5:45 ship time). We were really hoping to have a romantic terrace dinner at sunset at a local restaurant but I guess this may not work. I can't figure out how they can allow people to book these excursions online and then have them find out once aboard there is no childcare available during these adults only trips.

 

 

Cynthia

[adamsmom]

Wait until you get onboard to decide when to do what. There are usually kid dinners where they will eat together then go to Camp Carnival. And you never know what the schedule is until you get on that ship. It sometimes can change from cruise to cruise. There might also be private sitting available for a price during that time.

[sailinglisa]

FYI - Carnival does not offer private in cabin babysitting.

[adamsmom]

No--it's not in your cabin, they do it in the Camp Carnival facilities.

[crusinmama06]

Ok they don't "close at night"...they close for one hour to prepare for dinner. So your option can be to book the excursion when Camp reopens.

 

And Carnival doesn't advertise Camp Carnival as a great way for parents to leave their kids to go out to dinner on an island. ;) Camp Carnival is for the parents to get a few hours to themselves. They don't keep Camp open from 8am - 3am straight through because they don't want parents to drop their kids off in the morning and not come back till late at night.

 

So they do choose an hour here or there to close and make sure the parents get back with their kids. Not saying that this is what you are doing, obviously, but Carnival has to draw a line somewhere. And it happens to be the hour before dinner.

[IamMrsOz]

Of course, we will be with our kids all day that day at the beach in PV. We were just thinking of getting them back to the ship in the late afternoon so we could do one of the sunset dinners but Camp Carnival doesn't open back up until after sunset. I'm just saying I'm glad we didn't pre-book the excursion before we found out.

[crusinmama06]

Of course, we will be with our kids all day that day at the beach in PV. We were just thinking of getting them back to the ship in the late afternoon so we could do one of the sunset dinners but Camp Carnival doesn't open back up until after sunset. I'm just saying I'm glad we didn't pre-book the excursion before we found out.

 

That makes sense. :) You actually *may* be able to eat at sunset anyway. What time is sunset? I thought sunset was closer to 7pm or later. If they reopen at 5:45pm then you might be set.

 

Could you make your own arrangements and not go through the cruisline?

[ELECIA]

Perhaps one of the more experienced cruise people on here could confirm this for me, but I thought that if you were booked with a carnival excursion and the Camp is "closed" they still take care of your kids and feed them too. I can't remember where I saw this, but am pretty sure this is the case. Please get confirmation from someone else before booking; I am sure someone on here could let you know. :)

[crusinmama06]

Perhaps one of the more experienced cruise people on here could confirm this for me, but I thought that if you were booked with a carnival excursion and the Camp is "closed" they still take care of your kids and feed them too. I can't remember where I saw this, but am pretty sure this is the case. Please get confirmation from someone else before booking; I am sure someone on here could let you know. :)

 

I haven't ever seen that posted before. Maybe someone else can confirm.

[IamMrsOz]

Well, we are back so now I can answer my own question for anyone else who searches for this answer in the future.

 

First, because of the time difference between ship and port 5:45 was actually 6:45 and therefore the sunset did occur during the closed times (at 6:30 port time/5:30 ship time).

 

On the first night at the welcome activities we asked about it and they said when ships are in port and you have an excursion that will have you off ship during closed periods they will keep your child PROVIDED you bring them your excursion tickets. I didn't confirm but assume these would need to be Carnival excursion desk tickets and we actually really hate to book through the ship, Also, anytime you leave your children on the boat while you are on an excursion I would recommend you use the ships excursions as they will have all contact info for you and will make arrangements to have you immediately brought back to the ship if necessary. We have never left our children in Camp Carnival while we went ashore but if we ever do I think we would definitely use the ships excursions so things would be a bit more secure.

 

Anyway, in the end we decided it would be too much rushing around to head back to the ship, get ready for our excursion, get the kids settled and head back out on the evening excursion. So, we all took a taxi from our beach/pool/resort day down to the Malecon and looked at the sculptures, watched the sunset, had a terrific treat of seeing 2 whales doing huge leaps out in Banderas Bay and we were tired and chilly (should have brought sweaters for the girls) by 7 PV time (6 ship time). We headed back and got room service and went to bed to be fresh for Randi's Happy Horses in Mazatlan which was a fantastic excursion enjoyed immensely by the girls (ages 4 and 6) and us.

 

Hope this helps someone!

Cynthia