Camp Carnival Help!

[NapTown Jim]

I’d like to take a family cruise vacation for my 40th B-Day. My sister thinks that a cruise would be a risky place to take her 3 and 6 year old kids. She thinks that the kids will be bored…that the cabins will be small and because of this that the munchkins will be bouncing off the walls in their boredom. She’s never been on a cruise, but regardless she has this misconception about cruising. I need help convincing her that Camp Carnival will be a great thing for her young children and that they will not be as bored as she fears. I need help convincing her that the ship will be a safe environment for her family and I need help convincing her that although the ship will carry close to 3000 people that she will not feel crowded in most places. As you can see, I’ve got some serious issues. Can you help a bruthah out?!?!

[truecruiser]

link her over to CCL camp carnival info.

 

http://carnival.com/onboardexp_home.aspx

 

and, do a search of this forum for camp carnival and link her over to the threads that address the age groups of her kids.

 

let her read up on it, then re-evaluate once armed with add'l info.

[As You Wish]

I can tell you that my 2 year old DD had a blast on our cruise this past December. She really wanted to spend every waking moment in Camp Carnival or "Camp TOYS!" as she called it. The staff there does a great job keeping the childred active and occupied. As to the cabins being cramped, I think your sister will find that she won't spend a whole lot of time in there other than sleeping and getting ready, and there's plenty of room for that. A cruise is great for families because everything you need is right there. It is truly a convenient and fun vacation.

 

You might want to try posting over on the family board where I'm sure you'll get a lot of first hand accounts from cruisers with experience using Camp Carnival.

[cruiz30]

I took my 3 and 5 year old on a carnival cruise. I packed legos, books, action figures and cars fearing they would be bored. I can honestly tell you that if they played with these toys for an hour total on a 8 day cruise that is alot. They were active at camp most of the day, if not at camp they were at the pool we returned to the cabin for an afternoon nap and they were falling asleep on the way to the cabin at night.

 

Tell her you only live once. Enjoy yourself!

[georgiacruizer]

Her 3 and 6 yo won't be bored. We cruised when my DD's were 4 and 7 and they loved the Camp Carnival program. The counselors require a parent to sign the children in and out (very safe) and they have wonderful activities planned for the children throughout the day. The Camps are broken down by age group: 2-5, 6-8, 9-11, 12-14. Hopefully her kids won't mind being in seperate groups. There is so much to do on the ship you'll find you'll be spending very little time in the cabin (hence no bouncing off the walls :) ). There are so many areas on the ship for people to 'spread out', you're right, most of the time it won't feel crowded. There will larger groups of people in the dining rooms and the shows, but not that different than a movie theater or large restaurant on land. The only time I felt crowded was enduring the long waits to get off and on the ship again in each port. (But you don't have to tell her that part ;) ).

[A&Jfamily]

Cruising is the ultimate in family vacationing. I took a 2 year old and a 8 year old last spring and they LOVED camp carnival. It is a first rate set up; pagers in case of emergency, and you can take advatage of as much or as little as you want. Also, the little one is FREE on shore excursions. It is the best bang for the buck.

 

If you can convince her, I suggest breakfast in the dining room: 1) not crowded at all 2) the same food, PLUS more yummy entrees for adults and 3) you don't have to worry about serving the kids and getting up for more of this or that.

 

The have a full kids menu every night, and even a separate kids dinner (if you don't want them in the dining room, but mine loved it - especially the nightly "performances").

 

The kids will be begging to go back to camp each day....promise.:)

[LHP]

As the mother of a special needs child that has a PhD in being overprotective, I can tell you the children will be well cared for.

 

We have been cruising with our boys since they were 5 and 8 and 10 years later...they have loved every age stage of Camp Carnival.

 

The youngest just finished his 21st cruise, so we have experienced the Camp Carnival on many ships.

[seashell36]

We took our kids on their first cruise when they were 4 and 9 - they were not happy at all when we took a year off cruising last year to do the theme park vacation thing. They both want to get back to the cruise ship and "that cool camp" as the 5 yr old says now. Tell your sister that she will get a pager for the younger child - just in case. My kids ate dinner with us each night, but the rest of the day and part of the night was Camp Carnival!

[CruisingMainer]

We leave in four days for my six year olds third cruise. He has never been bored a minute. In port we always head to the beach for some water fun. Plus digging in the dirt is always a good time. Then we go back to the ship for some lunch and he goes to Camp Carnival while we do some shopping.

 

On the ship, he usually goes to Camp Carnival for an hour during the day and after dinner for a couple of hours. It is our family vacation, so I don't feel that just leaving him at CC all day is a good thing -- but plenty of people do. They have activities scheduled throughout the day and night -- some crafts, stories, exercise, etc. During the day we are out on deck swimming, using the slide, exploring the ship. Even though he is six, I still make him take a nap while we are on the ship. Either my husband or I go back to the cabin with him about 2:30 and we watch tv for about 30 minutes to relax, then I turn it off and he goes to sleep (much to his dismay). Before I started making him nap in the afternoon, he was falling asleep during dinner.

 

My other advice is to either book a balcony cabin, so that while the kids are going to sleep you can sit outside and enjoy the night; OR book adjoining cabins with you. Then they can put the kids to bed in their cabin, and one of them can hang out in your cabin watching a movie or reading. We had a friend that always returned to her cabin by 10 or 11, so that is who we did adjoining rooms with. Luke was asleep and we left the inside doors open. She went to bed but would have heard him if he woke up. My husband and I got to go out alone for a couple of hours. Worked out great for all of us.

[A&Jfamily]

I ditto the balcony thing; especially if the kids are nappers. You get your own personal little bit of paradise while they snooze. And no, you don't have to worry about them falling overboard. The doors have latches at adult only height, and the balcony is solid (and I mean solid - you can't bend or move the thing!) plexiglass about 4 feet high. My kids loved being out there, supervised of course.

[lgerrish]

We will be taking a Family and Friends cruise next April and wondered about having our grandson (who will be 3 1/2) attend Camp Carnival. Maybe you can answer a few questions for me....how long is Camp Carnival opened in the evening, what is the staff to children ratio and how busy do they keep the children during the day and evening.

 

We'll be cruising on the Carnival Freedom this April and plan on checking out Camp Carnival too, but my son and my husband and I are wondering about the safety and leaving little Preston with "strangers". Any info you can give me would be appreciated. Thanks - you can email me off board at lmgerrish@gmail.com.

Lynn

[A&Jfamily]

Igerrish-

 

I can tell you from personal experience that the kids have a great time in Camp Carnival. They have plenty of staff to kids - but don't know the exact ratio; but my guess would be 5/1 with the little ones. You get a pager for any problems (went off 1 time to bring clean clothes - had a dribble accident:eek:) and when we got there, they already had him in a Camp Carnival t-shirt and he was happy as a clam - got to keep the shirt too! The know the kids by name after the first day or two.

 

My 2 yr 11 m old loved it last year. The have some free play throughout the day, but also plenty of crafts and activies. Basically, they have a morning, afternoon and evening session - approx. 9am-12pm, 2pm-5pm and 7-10 pm. After 10, you can have babysitting, but you pay like $6/hr. It really is akin to a first rate day camp/care. We were so comfortable, we even left him on the ship while we took our other son (8) one day for a excursions to the ruins.

 

They take GREAT care and have put as much attention to detail in the programs for kids as they have everything else.

 

Have a great one.:)

[matj2000]

Camp Carnival is the only reason we go on cruises..

[hubofhockey]

I’d like to take a family cruise vacation for my 40th B-Day. My sister thinks that a cruise would be a risky place to take her 3 and 6 year old kids. She thinks that the kids will be bored…that the cabins will be small and because of this that the munchkins will be bouncing off the walls in their boredom. She’s never been on a cruise, but regardless she has this misconception about cruising. I need help convincing her that Camp Carnival will be a great thing for her young children and that they will not be as bored as she fears. I need help convincing her that the ship will be a safe environment for her family and I need help convincing her that although the ship will carry close to 3000 people that she will not feel crowded in most places. As you can see, I’ve got some serious issues. Can you help a bruthah out?!?!

 

All of your sister's concerns are legitimate. If the cruise is time for you to get away from your kids but have someone watch them, then go on the cruise. If the idea is a great family vacation for everyone and to spend time with your kids, you're better off at a resort/theme parks/beach. I waited until my kids were 6 and 8 and I'm glad I did. I think Camp Carnival is great. But, for really young kids, does it compare to disney/resorts with nice pools or the beach? You know your kids better than we do and that's the big decision. Mine are now 8 and 10 and this is the first year that my wife and I will actually be able to go out at night by ourselves.

[NapTown Jim]

Thanks alot for your comments. Carnival's price can't be beat and I'm hoping some of your comments will help put my sister's mind at ease.

[mykro]

Camp Carnival is AWESOME!!!! Your kids will love it and so will you. our 4 year old had a blast as well as our 9 and 11 year olds. We asked them what they want to do for another family vacation and they all said to go on another cruise.