Children programs/camps, which one?

[oreilly76]

We have sailed DCL with our oldest DD when she was only 20mos. Now we have a 6 and 3yo (they will be 7 and 4) and are thinking about taking them on a cruise with us. We are cruising in Feb by ourselves on Carnival Glory for our 10 year anniversary and are thinking about booking while on the cruise if they offer good deals like they did on our DCL cruise. Even though our DD was too young to participate in the children's programs on DCL at the time, we did go in there with her and spend time in the children's areas. I was very impressed with it.

I have looked at pictures of the children's area on Carnival and it seems to be one room with books, games, tables, chairs, etc... any 'play' area there? Like indoor park like DCL has?

So, which lines have nice children's areas and how does Carnival compare, in case we are offered a good incentive to book then and there?

Thanks! I am sure this subject has been talked about once or twice on here ;) but the search feature says it is down when I try and search it!!

[TanyaH321]

As far as we are concerned, we love Camp Carnival and our kids adore it. I can't say that it's the best because we have only experienced Carnival and no other children's programs. It might very well be the best but we can't say for sure, kwim? But, like I said, our oldest just loves it and would stay there all day. He was 4 on our last cruise. Our next one is in October and he will be almost 6 and we have a 3 year old as well. That is my opinion of Camp Carnival. I'm sure there is someone who can give you some insight to the other lines' kids programs. Good luck.

[KiddieKruzer]

My 4yo daughter LOVED Camp Carnival on the Liberty last year. She always wanted to go. We will be on our first Royal Caribbean cruise this weekend so I'm excited to see the difference in the kids programs. Everyone I've talked to says that RC has the better kids program - we'll see! We will have our 5.5 y/o and 3.5 y/o in the same program (which I like). I think with the Carnival program they wouldn't be together.

There are some threads on this board that give links to the RCL kids program "capers" - it already looks like more fun and more involved than Carnival.

[CeleBrat]

We've sailed a few different cruise lines with the kids, and can break down the kids programs as follows:

 

DISNEY--most extensive facilities, and unique opportunities to "play" with Mickey and friends while at the Club. Lots of fun arts/crafts and learning activities.

 

Carnival--vibrant colored facilities. Lots of fun activities: face painting, theme parties, arts/crafts, and t-shirt painting. Carnival also offers (for a fee) a Build-A-Bear program on board their ships.

 

NCL--fun facilities for kids, with mini-playgrounds that include bouncy see-saws, balance beams, and slides. Many of their clubs also include a ball pits (cage with a million balls to jump into) as well as rope climb/jungle gym/maze area. Our kids LOVED this. Similar activities to Carnival.

 

Costa--similar facilities and activities to Carnival. Costa is a "sister" line to Carnival.

 

Hope that helps your cruise search!

 

CeleBrat

[crusinmama06]

My kids have been on Disney, RCCL, NCL and Carnival. They REALLY love Camp Carnival. My youngest actually prefers it over all of the others.

 

They didn't need the slides at the Disney tree house to have a great time at Camp Carnival. There were so many acitivites, they didn't care about anything else.

[oreilly76]

Thank you all!

I am glad to know that before we cruise!! Hopefully we enjoy it enough to book another one on it!

Does anyone know if Carnival offers great rates if you book while on the ship? I remember from our Disney cruise they did!

Thanks!

[deladela]

can anyone tell me what cruise lines allow the kids to check themselves out of the kids activities and which ones require an adult for them to leave? I'm planning a group cruise with a lot of different ages and some friends said they had problems with their 9yr old leaving the kids area and wandering unsupervised on carnival.

[crusinmama06]

can anyone tell me what cruise lines allow the kids to check themselves out of the kids activities and which ones require an adult for them to leave? I'm planning a group cruise with a lot of different ages and some friends said they had problems with their 9yr old leaving the kids area and wandering unsupervised on carnival.

 

Your friends allowed their child the priviledge of self sign out. They could have removed that option. ;)

 

You are asked the first day at registration whether you want to allow your child to sign themselves in/out. If you answer yes, then that's what happens. ;)

 

Sign In/Out Policy:

Children 9 YEARS OLD AND OVER are free to sign themselves in and out of Camp CarnivalSM as they choose. Children are not permitted to sign themselves out after 10pm. Parents that do not want their 9- to 11-year olds to sign themselves in & out of our activities MUST sign their child in & out when attending Camp CarnivalSM. Camp CarnivalSM is not responsible for children nine years old and over once they have signed themselves out of a Camp CarnivalSM Activity. While most of the Camp CarnivalSM 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