Aoumd

Will be on board with my family (me, DW, DS7, DD20mos) and brother in law to celebrate my wife’s birthday.  Catch you all on board!

M502 QM2 TATL 03-11 JAN 2025

03 JAN - Smart

04 JAN - Gala - Black and White

05 JAN - Smart

06 JAN - Smart

07 JAN - Smart

08 JAN - Smart

09 JAN - Gala - Masquerade

10 JAN - Smart

Thank you everyone!  Our plans changed and so we ended up on a different cruise and line for next year but this is great info to have if we can make things work with my wife’s cousin on NCL in the future!

8 minutes ago, stobe1 said:

We were on the Miracle 10 day to Alaska from SFO this past June. There were lots of kids on board. My 7 year old niece was with us and made lots of friends and we literally had to peel her away from the kids club every day to get her to come to dinner or go to bed. They do a good job of keeping young whippersnappers engaged.

Excellent, thank you!

Thanks this is reassuring!  My concern was basically whether or not my son would be the only kid in the Stingrays group (ages 6-8) at Camp Ocean for many of the programs, or if there would be at least a few other kids on a typical day in the program.

So I'm looking at my cruise options for next year, and in addition to the usual suspects, see some 10-day and 11-day cruises from San Francisco to Alaska in August.  My son (will be 7) LOVES playing with other kids in Camp Ocean and also is very social.  My question is: Have any families done this cruise before, and are there more than a handful of families on these longer Alaska itineraries?

On the one hand, the 10/11-day length and smaller Spirit Class size of ship might mean fewer families and kids on board. On the other hand, in early-to-mid August, many schools across the US are still on summer vacation (ours doesn't start up again until the last week of August), so it's still a school break week (or two). Curious what to expect in terms of passenger mix if we decide to make this our family vacation next year.

Thanks for any advice you can provide!

After 10 cruises on Carnival and Royal Caribbean, my wife asked me about joining her cousin's family on NCL Bliss for the kids' spring break week next year.  My son (will be 7) LOVES Camp Ocean on Carnival and will thus probably want to spend as much time in Splash Academy as possible -- especially with the reviews I have seen. 

When doing some homework on sailing NCL, I saw some comments about Splash Academy filling up quickly, sometimes turning away kids just 5-10 minutes after opening.  Is this commonplace?  Or was this a temporary issue due to staffing that has been resolved?

Thanks in advance for any info!

Thanks for the info...I seem to recall a place within the port complex that overlooked the water and the ships.  But good to know Chankanaab also is a possibility!

Do the waitstaff do their performances every night, or just certain nights?

Also, does anyone have recent experience with the massage place in the port on Cozumel?  When I was there in 2019, you could get a massage outside by the water in the Carnival port area for significantly less than on-board.  Curious if that's still the case, as I tend to like to get my back un-bricked during vacations :-).

2 hours ago, jsglow said:

Right off the website......

 

'Traveling with Minors
When traveling with a minor where one parent or both parents or legal guardians are not cruising, we strongly recommend bringing an original signed letter from the absent parent(s) or legal guardians authorizing the minor to travel with you. If there is no second parent with legal claims to the minor (due to sole custody, deceased, etc.) other relevant paperwork, such as a court decision, death certificate, birth certificate naming only one parent, would be useful to bring in place of a signed letter. This will expedite processing by the Department of Homeland Security.'

Thanks for finding that from the website.  Sounds like the letter must be signed but doesn’t have to be notarized.  Makes things a little easier.   

Thank you everyone for your feedback and experiences!

4 hours ago, Homosassa said:

You do not say where you are cruising to.

 

Some countries, Canada for example, requires this documentation for minors not traveling with both parents.

 

 

Tampa to Cozumel and return.

Sailing with my DS6 later this month on a father son cruise.

I remember reading in the past some parents got notarized letters from the parent not traveling, indicating permission for the child to leave the country with the parent traveling, for their cruises where one parent but not both were traveling.

I asked my PVP who I booked through and she said it is not necessary.

Can anyone share experiences with needing the letter or not?  We’re US citizens on a closed loop cruise from and returning to a U.S. port, so the only time we clear a border formality will be coming BACK into the US.  We’re traveling with our passports.

Thanks!

Thanks for the info, sounds great!

Just registered my son for Camp Ocean as part of the cruise check-in process, and was curious when the activities start.

In the past I recall embarkation day being when kids would get registered on board, with activities starting the following morning...but this was in 2019 on a six-night cruise.

My son and I are sailing on a four night cruise on the Paradise in a few weeks, and I was curious if they do the kids' dinner or evening activities on the first night of the cruise.  My son will be a Stingray this time, he was a Penguin in 2019.

My son has fond memories of Camp Ocean from 2019, so I was curious when that fun could start for him.

Any info would be great.  Thanks!

2 hours ago, May1cruiser said:

i think they ask you to leave your room aroun 730 ish- 8 at the latest. Seems like everyone off ship by 10.

Aquarium shares parking lot, so this we be easy way to enjoy some down time before flight home. 

 

 

 

Thanks for the info!

First cruise since 2019, taking my son on the Paradise for four nights.  Memory is a little rusty on a few things and I know others have changed, so wanted to ask the experts here...

1. For a four-night cruise, when do the Camp Ocean activities start?  I recall in the past signing my son up for Camp Ocean on the first day, but programs not starting until the second morning.  Is that the case on a four night cruise?  And what were the program hours on the sea days and port days (e.g. all day port call in Cozumel)?
    
2. Do any families here have recent experience with (or programs from) Camp Ocean on the Paradise or Elation?  My son LOVED Camp Ocean on the Vista in 2019, but I realize we're on a smaller ship this time and I want to manage expectations accordingly.  My son would be in the Stingray group.  Curious how similar vs. different the activities and experience is in Camp Ocean on the smaller vs. larger Carnival ships. 
    
3. If one "only" has Gold VIFP and does not purchase FTTF, but selects a check in right at T-14 days when check in opens, any odds on getting an earlier (i.e. 11am or 12 noon) boarding time?  Debating going to the Tampa Children's museum before boarding if we get stuck with a late embarkation time, will make a decision once we know our actual boarding appointment time.
    
4. Conversely, if one is doing self-assist debarkation, what is the latest time one can get breakfast and get off the ship?  Our flight home is not until 7pm so I am thinking of taking my son to the Aquarium after, but we're not going to be in any sort of rush.  And my son likes to get his beauty sleep until 7 or 8am...

Any info would be great, thanks in advance!  Looking forward to getting back on a ship!

On 11/26/2022 at 1:37 PM, bigcstyle4 said:

I am happy to report that kid's dinner was back every night besides embarkation day 🙂 

 

You would drop the kids off/sign in directly at the Family Harbor Lounge for dinner, and they would take them to Camp Ocean after dinner. Assuming this is back on Magic I would guess it's back on Lido like before.

Glad to hear!  Thanks for checking back in!

2 hours ago, bigcstyle4 said:

We were on Magic back in March of this year and at the time, it was only open for short stints of a couple hours at a time then closed for cleaning (or whatever), no Night Owls, and you had to make a reservation on Hub. However, in July we were on Liberty and everything was pretty much back to normal, Night Owls included, and no reservations. Still no dinner at Lido though. We’ll be on Mardi Gras next week and I’m hoping they’ve brought back the dinner. 

Thanks for the info!  Would be interested in hearing if anything has changed when you're on Mardi Gras regarding dinner!

14 minutes ago, PrincessArlena'sDad said:

I don't have any info for you, but anything can change between now and August. Not sure how helpful recent updates would actually be.

 

Hopefully, anything not running yet will be by then.

I agree there’s lots of time for change, but if things are back to where they were pre-2020 already, it’s a lot more likely to remain that way by next summer, versus the odds if something hasn’t come back yet.  Just curious where things stand now!

Just booked a father-son cruise for next August on one of Carnival Magic's new sailings out of Norfolk (got a GREAT deal).  My son LOVED Camp Ocean on his first Carnival cruise in 2019 on Vista (he was in the age 2-5 Penguins group back then), and he's looking forward to going back to Camp Ocean as a Stingray (age 6-8) this time.

Does anyone have recent kids' program schedules or experiences to share from Camp Ocean on Magic?  I saw posts from March indicating that the Camp Ocean dinner in the buffet had not yet resumed, the sessions on Sea Days were shorter to allow for cleaning, and the late night program (after 10pm for a fee) had not yet resumed.  Is this still the case?

Many thanks for any info you can provide!

A few thoughts...

1. The concentration of Caribbean port calls around Grand Turk and Amber Cove probably reflect Carnival's stake in the properties the ships call at on each island; they get to keep more of the land revenue (like at Half Moon Cay) but there's a local population they don't have to pay to get to the island. 
2. Conversely I'm amazed at how few Carnival port calls St. Maarten, Martinique, Barbados, etc. get now.  A lot of places that were staples back in the day with weekly port calls year-round.
3. I'm curious if this is a post-COVID sign of the times with the itineraries in Carnival's current booking window reflecting decisions made a year ago that emphasized drive-to-homeport cruises, and thus call at the ports that can be easily reached in 7 days from mainland homeports versus the Southern Caribbean ports that used to be reached by ships homeported in San Juan.
4. If Carnival CORPORATION's focus is to have Carnival CRUISE LINES be the "entry-level" brand, and then have people go on to HAL, Princess, Cunard, etc. when they want more robust port itineraries, then it would behoove them to merge VIFP and the other lines' programs into a single loyalty program across the corporation.

5 hours ago, PrincessArlena'sDad said:

I think it's pretty standard that height requirements include the footwear that will be used on the attraction. As the ropes coarse requires sneakers, that is what they will be measured in. 

 

If he is on the borderline, you could take him first thing in the morning.  He'll be slightly taller then than in the afternoon or evening - enough to make a difference! 

6 hours ago, Elaine5715 said:

They will be pretty strict.  Their measuring stick isn't calibrated daily so figure room for error.   

Thanks for the info and reminder on height over the course of the day!

7 hours ago, MichiganFisherman said:

Put some napkins in his shoes if he's close.

Thanks for the tip 🙂 but I am not looking to cheat the system.  With the world returning to normal I envision plenty of future cruises in my son's life, and I can tell him he can do it next time.  I just got curious when I realized how he'd be right on the border...

47 minutes ago, Sailin_Pirate said:

Would Carnival make a kid remove their shoes to measure just to have the child put the shoes back on? I doubt it

 

I don't recall a measuring sign , but I'm well over 4ft.

 

Can you give me the lotto numbers since you know your child will be hovering around 4 ft in 10 months.

 

I was more curious if the measuring sign/stick/etc. is another inch or two higher, or if a 4'7.5ish" kid in sneakers is going to pass as 4'8" (in regular shoes, not stilts, not doing anything to cheat the system).

Obviously I don't know EXACTLY what my son's height will be next summer, but based on his current height and typical child growth charts I know he'll be somewhere around that ballpark, and it got me curious as to how they measure height :-).

Hope you had better luck than I had on tonight's Powerball drawing since it sounds like you play!