Kids club on Carnival vs RCCL??

[AnnaP]

Hi all,

 

A bit of a newbie. I have only cruised twice and both times on RCCL, most recently on the Mariner. I happened to do a check into the Carnival Dream versus the Freedom for next March and suffice to say the price difference (over 1000 even with obcs on RCCL) was pretty mind boggling. This is just for a single room for 3! It is me, dh, and my son who will be 5.

 

The Mariner was AWESOME. What really did it for us was their kids club which my son adored. He would stay there way past his bedtime which gave us lots of time to hit the casino ;) On RCCL the kids club was open from 9 to noon and 2 to 5 and then 7 to 10. He had a blast there and would want to go all the time.

 

While the ice rink and stuff was cool we never techinically used most of the amenities short of one round of mini golf and watching the ice show (which was great btw!)

 

So my question is what can I expeect from the Carnival kids club? I am a little worried they are not as attentive in the lower age group since they do take kids in diapers but maybe I am being unreasonable. I would gladly pay the extra 1k if it meant a better experience for my son (and therefore more me time!).

 

Does anyone know where I can see daily activities for the 3-5 age group? Something like the compass on RCCL. What has been your experience if you have done both?

 

Any help is MUCH appreciated. I like the movies by the pool idea which would really suit us better than ice skating at this point.

 

Thanks in advance!!

 

Sincerely,

Anna

[crusinmama06]

Hey Anna, welcome to the Family Board. :D

 

Yes, you can see the "Carnival Kid Capers" at the link in my signature.

 

I think you are making a wise choice. I LOVE Royal Caribbean. But when the prices come down to a $1,000 difference and you would be sailing on a brand new ship (Dream), it makes it alot easier to choose Carnival.

 

I think Camp Carnival is a wonderful program. You son will love it just as much (if not more) than Royal Caribbean. In the RCCL program, there is alot of sitting for the 3-5 year old group. Sitting to do crafts. Sitting to do stories. Sitting to science experiments. In camp carnival, they are more physically active. So my youngest actually does better in Camp Carnival than in RCCL Adventure Ocean because she likes moving around.

 

Feel free to ask any questions and we will try to help you. :D

[AnnaP]

Michele thanks you so much! You were such a great resource to me before we sailed the Mariner. I really appreciate all the work you did putting up the kids club daily’s :)

My son is very physically active so it sounds like we will be a good fit with Carnival. And the water park looks awesome on the Dream!

 

A few more questions!

 

For the pool side big LCD do they ever show family friendly movies?

Do they let kids order from the main dinner menu? (my son LOVES shrimp!)

What are the hours of operation for Camp Carnival?

Is there an extra cost for the lunch with Camp Carnival?

Is there an age requirement for the water slide or a height requirement?

Will an inside stateroom with two twins pushed into a king be a good fit? We are on the cheap here!

 

 

Thanks again so so much!

 

Anna

[RENMama]

We are sailing on Dream in December. Im not sure what the plan is for the outdoor movies but I can let you know by Christmas.

 

Yes the kids can order off the adult menu. At least they let us do it on our last cruise. My children have more adventurous palates.

 

Camp Carnival hours are similar to what you posted about RCCL.

There is no lunch at Camp Carnival (at least not on our last cruise with the kids) but they would take your kids to dinner up at the buffet for free.

 

Not sure if the Dream is going to have a height/#person requirement on the waterslide. It doesnt go into deep water so it looks like younger kids should be safe on it.

 

My oldest son cant wait to get on a cruise again just to do to Camp.

[crusinmama06]

Michele thanks you so much! You were such a great resource to me before we sailed the Mariner. I really appreciate all the work you did putting up the kids club daily’s :)

My son is very physically active so it sounds like we will be a good fit with Carnival. And the water park looks awesome on the Dream!

 

A few more questions!

 

For the pool side big LCD do they ever show family friendly movies?

Do they let kids order from the main dinner menu? (my son LOVES shrimp!)

What are the hours of operation for Camp Carnival?

Is there an extra cost for the lunch with Camp Carnival?

Is there an age requirement for the water slide or a height requirement?

Will an inside stateroom with two twins pushed into a king be a good fit? We are on the cheap here!

 

 

Thanks again so so much!

 

Anna

 

Yes, the LCD movies are often Family Friendly. Just depends what new movies are popular then.

 

Kids can order off of ANY menu on Carnival. Friends that we travel with order LOTS of shrimp cocktails for their kids.

 

Camp Carnival hours - they are generally the same as Royal Caribbean's. They open early in the morning. On Sea Days they will shut down for lunch time. They reopen for dinner every night. On Port days, they stay open all day long. The babysitting charges (like RCCL) start after 10pm ($6 per hour). And no, they do not charge for the camp carnival dinners. I have never seen any charges associated with meals at all, including lunch.

 

Slides - yep, they have height requirements. The ones that end in a pool are 48" tall. The slides that do not end in the pool, just end in a little splash of water, 42" tall.

 

Cabins - did you have an inside on Mariner? If the answer is yes, and you were happy with that, then you will be ecstatic with the Carnival insides...they are generally larger. I have stayed in an Outside cabin on a Carnival ship and we were fine. ;)

[AnnaP]

We actually had two conencting promanade rooms on the Mariner as we had my 18 year old nephew with us as well. If the twins push into a king I will be happy. The TA I was talking to says the room for Cat 4B is 185sqft. Each room on the Mariner was 153sqft so I imagine we will be happy with the size.

 

Does it include a small couch or the like?

 

I am getting exicted already! If I could just confirm the spring break for next year in Oregon I will be booked!

[Julienatul]

Michele thanks you so much! You were such a great resource to me before we sailed the Mariner. I really appreciate all the work you did putting up the kids club daily’s :)

My son is very physically active so it sounds like we will be a good fit with Carnival. And the water park looks awesome on the Dream!

 

A few more questions!

 

For the pool side big LCD do they ever show family friendly movies?

Do they let kids order from the main dinner menu? (my son LOVES shrimp!)

What are the hours of operation for Camp Carnival?

Is there an extra cost for the lunch with Camp Carnival?

Is there an age requirement for the water slide or a height requirement?

Will an inside stateroom with two twins pushed into a king be a good fit? We are on the cheap here!

 

 

Thanks again so so much!

 

Anna

 

1) Yes the pool side LCD shows family friendly movies during the day, everyday.

 

2) Yes kids can order from the main menu or kids menu (hamburgers, pizza, chicken nuggets, PB&J, hotdog)

 

3) Camp Carnival hours are 9-12 ,2-4 ,6-10 and babysitting from 10p-2am

 

4) The age is 6 and height is I believe 42in (check with Carnival on this)

 

5) Yes, an inside will work great, carnival has the largest cabins an inside is 180sq ft. and can easily fit 4. We have done it many times.

 

Julie

[kabecca]

We took our 5 and 2 year old girls on a Carnival Cruise and they LOVED it. Neither wanted to leave the ship and my 5 year old was almostin tears that we had to EVER go home. Everything was perfect to sail with them. We are going to Europe this year on NCL because Carnival cancelled the dates we picked, I am interested in trying another line, but Carnival was so good I am sad. When the kids are happy the parents are happy :)