Circle C for 12 y.o. on Carnival

[withthesignal]

Hello Everyone,

Does anyone have children age 12-14 who have been to Circle C on carnival cruise lines. Wondering what they thought of it . My son is 12 y.o. and will be the only child traveling with us, so I was thinking he might get bored without other kids. I figure may be he can go for a while after dinner to hang out with some kids his age.

I appreciate your opinions:D

Jason

[nybumpkin]

My son (13) has done Circle C on our last two cruises. He's really enjoyed it. Some of the ships have dedicated Circle C areas with computers, video games, etc.; others use lounges or the Camp Carnival area when the little kids aren't there. I would recommend that your son go to their meeting on the first day to meet other kids and pick up a schedule. My son picks the scheduled activities that interest him, skips some of the ones that don't quite hit the mark (the jewelry making class didn't make the cut:p). Other times he does something else with the kids he meets in Circle C (playing basketball was a hit with him on our cruise last month). Hope this helps!

[withthesignal]

thank you, it does help alot. I am curious, can kids go there at night during the adult shows? did you or would you feel comfortable leaving him there at night while you were watching a show???? thanks for you opinion :)

[nybumpkin]

I absolutely felt comfortable with having him go at night. The counselors are very good with the kids and the nighttime activities have been things our son has really enjoyed. Since they come and go as they please, you do need to set some "ground rules" ahead of time (e.g., no going to any other cabins, he needs to let you know he's doing for the evening, and you may want to set a curfew).

[withthesignal]

hi bumpkin,

thanks for all the information. so i think that will be good for him while we are at the after dinner shows. if i am understanding you, he can just leave circle c while we are at a show? i will have to do what you say and set some ground rules. thank you very much:)

[Correia_Cruiser]

I have a 12 year old daughter (my oldest of 4) who will be at Circle C for our cruise on the Elation next month. There seems to be a lot of info on the boards about the Camp Carnival, but not as much about the 12-14 year old group. Can anyone tell me if it's structured like the kids' camp? How "involved" are the counselors, and does anyone have a ball park for the ratio of adults to teens? It makes me a little nervous to drop DD off at a club where she doesn't know anyone, especially if there's little supervision... :(

[withthesignal]

hello correia,

we just got back from the carnival victory on april 12, with 12 year old son.

i don't know much about camp carnival, but i can tell you that we only saw 1 counselor in the room, which contained mostly ps3, xbox etc. they schedule other activities which take place elsewhere on the ship, so i am not sure how many counselors there would be.

just to let you know.... the children are able to come and go freely without adult supervision i.e. they do not need to be signed in or out.

i was concerned about this and discussed it with my son. we set boundaries and walked him around the ship. i let him go back and forth to circle c on his own. he was back early every time. he didnt get lost or take advantage. so this is a personal decision you have to make. if you have any more questions you can email me at jsexton75@hotmail.com:)

[Correia_Cruiser]

Thanks for the info! This will be a good "test ground" for us... all of our 4 kids are homeschooled (my 12 year old is the oldest), and so we tend to be a little more conservative about what our kids watch/do. Interestingly enough, I didn't think much of letting her and my (almost 10 year old) son pal around the ship together unsupervised (until I started reading the boards), but I am concerned about the influence of other kids and media in the groups. I have a feeling the Circle C won't really be her "thing" anyway, except when they're doing crafts or scavenger hunts. We've already started talking a lot about expectations and open communication, so we'll just have to play it by ear and see what happens, I guess!

 

How did your son like it?

[withthesignal]

Hi Correia,

My son loved it. I was concerned he would not like it or that he wouldn't be able to find his way back to our room. He did not have a problem. They do have crafts, scavenger hunts, design your own pizza night, t shirt design that they got to keep etc. He looked forward to going there every night after dinner. When you get on the ship the first day you have to go there to sign her up they also have an activities sheet for the entire week. When you first walk on the ship there are usually counselors there explaining what it is about. She can pick and choose which ones she wants to go to, she does not have to stay there all day if she doesn't want to. Anyway good luck and enjoy. If you have any other questions....:D

[Roxy112]

Hi! So normally you only get the perspective from parents and since they aren't actually there with you they can only give you info on what they heard. Last summer I was 14 and went to circle c. I thought it was going to be too young and i wanted to hang out with the older kids. I went on the first night and found great friends. I didnt go to many of the activities but my brother did and they were fun and age appropriate. On show nights normally the camp takes the kids to the show. There were 2 counselors with my group and kids could come and go as they pleased. Make sure they go the first night because that is where they will meet friends. Hope this gives you a different perspective. :)

[Correia_Cruiser]

Roxy and Signal... thanks for your input! I'm only concerned about the 2 of us (parents) trying to make 4 age groups of kids' programs... but we'll figure something out! I know we're all looking forward to the cruise!

[2-laner]

My 13 year old daughter LOVED her camp experience. The first night meeting led to a group of them, boys and girls, really bounding for the rest of the cruise. They had usually 2 adults at the activities on average. Yes, they did come and go at times, but for the most part they hung out at the camp. The activities appeared to be entertaining, and she couldn't wait to leave dinning with the family to run up there. We let her stay until midnight when it closed for the night. I really felt comfortable with her out on the ship, but we went over rules a few times just to make sure they were will set in her head. I think who they meet up with and how the kids bound with each other makes a big difference as to the experience they have in the camp. My 11 year old just didn't find anyone to really hang out with, so she was happier with the family. I had to 'drag' my 13 yr old off the ship and away from her friends.

[jasak]

We'll be on the Splendor for 7 days in July.

We have 2 daughters ages 9 and 14.

Does Camp Carnival and Circle C have the same hours?

Are the activities for the kids the same on all the Carnival ships?

Anyone have experience on the Splendor with Circle C? I read that it's small.

 

Thanks.