Athankfulheart

I agree with what the other folks mentioned. We are a family of 10 ( mom, dad, 8 kids) PLUS we have other families traveling with us. Even with all of us, we only have 2 in each age group of camp. Where we do kind of create a "crowd" is in the teen club. We have 4! LOL . Luckily these are kind, outgoing and inclusive type teens, so they shouldn't contribute to any clique issues. I bet your daughter will be just fine. Heck, I would need some time to warm up to a room full of strangers. I am just not a "people person".

8 :d

I appreciate your post since I was always curious of those who cherish these times away from their kids. I understand with crazy schedules vacation is the only time some families have, while this time is the only time I have away. I work in my kids school district so I am off during their break. DH gets one Thursday per month off. I am not sure why (furlough) but he seems happy so he takes our DD out to breakfast on those days. I take them out to lunch on days I work on their campus and always eat dinner as a family.

 

19 and home would be like 16 and pregnant, there would not be enough tears left to express my sorrow. I want to be 'home free' or home alone with my beloved.

Like I said, We spend ALOT of time together as a family. Most of it is myself and my children because my husband works. After work and on weekends we are always all together because so much of our extra curric activities are family based. We have to be purposeful about our ( mine/Dh) time together. The goal is to raise healthy, productive adults who love the Lord and still be the best of friends when we get the last one out of the house :D So far, so good.

Our marriage is the foundation of our family. Keeping our family strong by keeping it strong. My kids are not the love of my life (my DH) or the center of my universe( God). Heck, they aren't even my entire world but a very nice and important part of it, because eventually they will choose our nursing home. When my son moved onto campus, my first thought was, that's going to cost, followed by one down, one to go. I was so proud of the young man leaving home. I might be eating crow when I have to take my baby girl (15) on campus, so I have a recovery vacation planned. We don't have to tell them we are not home, oh dear:)

 

Travel is a big part of our lives, not to bond but to experience different things and places. We bond better at home or taking my kids to to trampoline world to play. Sometimes we throw in a pedicure after a long hike.

My youngest is 11 years away from college and everyone tells me " wait until your baby leaves" I don't know.... I'm kinda lookin forward to being "home free" LOL. I love my kids dearly.... and I agree with every word you wrote above ;)

Ps. I'm with you on limiting the activities. In our family, we have always tended to gravitate towards 2 things. One is very demanding of our time but everyone is involved. The other is not and only one is involved. We do a lot of community theater. The nice thing about that is there is something for every member of my family to do/learn/enjoy. We've done everything from directing to stage, tech, guest services, set building etc etc... and the younger kids are never made to feel "in the way". Its a pretty unique place where they learn a lot and keeps me from driving the taxi of doom and having an insane schedule.

Well if you are a bad parent, then I am in big trouble. We have left our kids 4 times in the past 5 or 6 years for cruises. Twice with caregivers and twice with just the kids. They were old enough and most capable to do so. Besides cruising, we do short trips almost every year. We don't go far because we don't want to spend a ton of money. We date often and make the most of our time together. Our children lead secure and peaceful lives, due in part to the attention that we give our marriage relationship.

My marriage is the second most important relationship in my life and its health matters to my entire family as well as many people around me. Don't you ever let anyone make you feel guilty for nurturing yours :)

I never went in the outter spa locker rooms but I understood that there was a steam room that was accessible from the free locker rooms. I believe that there was also a coed dry sauna. Pretty sure it has a window too. The Magic and Breeze may only have the dry sauna. Here is a pic that I found for the free steam rooms on dream. http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a1d725b3127ccefe5d092cc4f100000030O18AaMmzJk5bNAe3nwM/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D1/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/ Edited to add that I will be on the dream again in 16 days and can look specifically for this.

I have 8 children ages 21 down to 7. We left them alone and went on a cruise for the first time when the oldest were 17 and 18. They were completely capable to run the house while we were gone, but I still had the normal, natural feelings of concern that a mom would have about her kids. We did the same when they were 20 and 19 and had much less worry because we had done it before. By that time they were coming home from college to help with their siblings for the week. I did NOT miss my children while I was gone an neither did my husband. We spend LOTS and LOTS of time together because we home educate as well as do alot of volunteer work together. After all the practical concerns were taken care of, we didn't have anything to worry about. We kept in touch ( both times) via the free page at Carnival's website. We saved texts for emergencies and never made a phone call. Our children had a wonderfully fun time while we were gone and talk about it often. We are cruising with all 8 of them in a couple of weeks and look fwd to a great time :)

My college kids travel for chorale and other things and my high schoolers have traveled completely alone to attend special functions with Civil Air Patrol. Sending your 16yo on a cross country flight alone to a place you have never seen is much harder than leaving them in my sleepy town amongst friends while you cruise :o

Equip your daughter with what she needs and then go and enjoy your trip :)

Sounds like you have a good plan, but hopefully your mom will behave :o

If it was my mom, I would have her switch the CC to hers and then if I knew she was smoking in her cabin, I would probably rat her out myself.... :eek:

I did not have a "group" related problem, but rather an individual problem while working through my travel agent. I asked for help at JH's FB page and he had someone contact me. Her name was Vernisha Williams and she is with groupsales@carnival.com Vernisha went out of her way to resolve a problem for me and was very pleasant to deal with. Her supervisor is RGarcia@carnival.com so perhaps you could try that address. I have her supervisor's email because I felt that she deserved recognition for doing such a wonderful job on sorting out the issue that we had.

Good luck on resolving your problem.

That's the second time I have "found" a great brand from this board. Also got a couple of dresses from ModaSOS last year based on a recommendation here :)

Thanks to the poster who mentioned Fresh Produce for dresses. I delayed a bit but recently ordered 3 from an ebay seller ( I think "bumper crop"). All 3 fit so nicely and look and feel great ! I love them :D The maxi is even short enough for my daunting 60" self :p

I agree with the poster who suggested that connecting rooms would offer the most choices and the best prices.

It would definitely be our preference to have 2 cabins nearby. We are with most of our children 24/7 though so that may affect our input ;) If we were to cruise with just our 2 college aged daughters who do not live with us, I would still choose 2 cabins.

I found this at Carnival's FAQ page under "babysitting" . Maybe its helpful ?

Besides the complimentary Camp Carnival® activities that are available every day, we also have a little thing we like to call Night Owls. It’s the late-night way for kids ages 11 and younger to stay up late and have a blast! It runs from 10:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. and includes video games, movies, board games, snacks and drinks. It’s $6.75 USD per hour per child. And we make it easy by charging it to your Sail & Sign® Card.

We also have three different Night Owls parties your kids can partake in, all geared toward their age group to make sure they’re having the time of their lives. Owl Jams from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m. is where kids from 2 to 11 can get their arts and crafts on, beat their high score on a video game or just dance to newest and hottest tunes for $13 USD per child.

We also have Fun ‘Til One from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. for kids ages 6 to 8 which is loaded with dancing, singing and video games for $20 USD per child.

And finally, we have Fun at Sea …’Til 3:00 from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. for $33 USD per child — the go-to party for sporting events, competitions, plus pizza and ice cream eating competitions! Perfect for kids’ ages 9 to11.

Party fees for all parties includes cool giveaways and yummy snacks. Please note a 15% gratuity will be added to all Camp Carnival Night Owls program fees.

All Night Owls activities take place in Camp Carnival. There are NO in-stateroom services available. Daytime services are available for infants 2 and under on port days for the same price. Contact the Camp Carnival Staff on board for specific times of these services as they vary by port.

Comparing to my recent experience with moving cabins around on 3 ES bookings, I think that the OP is being led correctly that a simple, same category cabin change won't effect the booking the same as a price matching.

I'd wind this up with the fine print " Of course, I am not a Carnival employee" but these says, that's no guarantee :p

We are cruising with our 8 children on the Dream in January. Its our second cruise on the Dream. They are 21,20,18,16,13,10,8,7 years old. We are driving from SW Missouri. Its way more stressful for us to fly than to drive. I would definitely recommend the Dream. :)

Is anyone able to tell me what an agent commission (%) would be on travel insurance ? Specifically Travel Guard, if that matters. Thanks.

My kids consider a vacation to be a gift and neither a mundane yearly experience nor an "entitlement", so a vacation as a Christmas gift would make perfect sense to them. Our good friends bought their children a cruise for Christmas and joining us on our January one. I'm so excited for them ! They have never been on a cruise and will be thrilled. The only "gifts" they will get on Christmas from their parents are cruise reveal and related items.

No offence but I've always found it odd that folks give trips as gifts to their children. To me it's not a gift to your child it's a family vacation. Does that mean it's the main gift for mom and dad too?

Our friends did that multiple times while their children were growing up and there were definitely times that they took the kids places that they certainly would not have chosen. They would plan a trip for the family and then that became their kids' Christmas gift. We travel with our daughter every year, and it's never occurred to us that that should be our daughter's gift. Once the kids are grown up I get it.

 

I would wait until the day of the cruise to tell her.

If you are cruising Carnival and can get their booking number ( under the guise of sending a BV gift?) then you can go to Manage my Booking > Quick booking access and input that number, last name, birthdate, ship and date of sailing and it will pull up their booking for you. That will show the cabin number. You wont be able to link dining without knowing the last 4 of the credit card that they booked with. If you can link dining then there are no worries because your linked dining does not show up anywhere on the website when you sign in. Have fun :)

I was doing a lateral move ( categorically) and what I did was put a free 24 hour hold on the cabin that popped up (online). Next, I asked my TA to call carnival and move us over. It was no problem. I suppose that you could do the same thing and then call your PVP ? It doesn't make any sense that they "can't" put a hold on the cabins , seeing as they do this all the time :(

The dining room was opened for embarkation lunch on the Dream. They mentioned that they do this when the ship is very full , to alleviate the crowding. Not sure if this is a ship specific type thing.

I have home schooled now for five years. Early on, I felt more like I had to 'justify' our time off by making it educational if that time off occurred when other kids were in school. Not anymore. We are schooling almost the entire summer while all the neighbor kids are off. I don't see their parents pressured to make their kids' summers educational! Lol. :D BTW, I also no longer fall all over myself to explain to strangers our decision to home school nor do I allow my child to answer questions designed to 'test' him.

YES ! :D

We do year round as well with 1 and 2 week breaks and the odd an exceptional 3-4 week break. I just find that 4 weeks gets ALL of us out of our good routine. I felt the same way as you for the first years. I began homeschooling in 2001 when my oldest had just finished 3rd grade at a Montessori school. I only had 2 in school at the time. She is now a junior in college. My how time flies :( We have never taken school on vacation. Not once :p

We are a home schooling family :D

We cruise with and without our children. When we cruise alone, they do school under the direction of the oldest "kids". When we travel together, we mostly vacation with a little enrichment thrown in, depending upon where we travel.

We "do school" for about 180 days out of each year, spread pretty evenly and with no "summer break". The rest of the time is used for volunteer work, rest, projects and travel.

We are cruising in January with ports in Coz, Belize, Roatan and Costa Maya. We plan on 2 beach days ( one with good snorkeling and an animal preserve and the other with a speedboat and lazy/fun time) , cave tubing and Mayan ruins.

I feel that is an adequate balance of fun and enrichment ;)

We have 8 children, including a junior and freshman in college, a senior, sophomore, 7th,5th,3rd and 1st graders. We don't cruise altogether very often due to costs and proximity from ports as well as our busy schedules.

Here are the exact rules from the Carnival website. I'm intimately acquainted with them because I book for a family of 10 ranging in ages from 6-45. These are for guests traveling with parents or grand parents.

Guests under the age of 13

• Minors can be booked in separate staterooms, only if booked next door or directly across the hall from the Parents/Grandparents stateroom.

Note: Minors 13 and under may only be booked in a balcony stateroom with the Parents/Grandparents"; this also applies to connecting staterooms.

Guests 13 - 17 years of age

• Minors can be booked in separate staterooms, by up to 3 staterooms in between the minor stateroom and the Parents/Grandparents stateroom.

Note: Minors age 13 may only be booked in a balcony stateroom with the Parents/Grandparents; this also applies to connecting staterooms.

Guests 18 years of age and older

• Minors are 18 and older not required to be booked within close proximity nor on the same deck as the Parents/Grandparents. However, we will place you as close together as possible.