Camp Carnival on last sea day

[momtogo]

Hi everyone,

 

This will be our first family cruise and we are so excited to have our kids experience cruising. We are traveling on Carnival which offers a "Behind the Fun Tour" which DH is very interested in. This is offered on the last sea day and lasts for approx 4 hours. I thought I had read that on the last sea day there are also alot of family based activities offered through Camp Carnival. Can anyone confirm this for me? Do you know what time the family activities are at? Thanks for any help you can provide.

[kidsfun]

We were on a 5-day in December and did not experience any closures on the last sea day, other than the usual mealtimes/before dinner. Have a great tour!

[seashell36]

I pulled out the Camp Carnival Capers for my DS's group from our last cruise. Basically, on the Inspiration, the last day camp was open from 9-12. They closed from 12 until 2 for lunch. Then opened the club back up from 2 - 3:30 and then closed again from 3:30 until 6 for family activities. I know that on a couple of our cruises the kids had a talent show that was held on the last day, too.

 

You could check out Michelle's web page. She has other camp capers. Here's a link to her page:

http://photobucket.com/cruisekidpages

[jam82]

We cruised two weeks ago on the Freedom. On the last sea day Camp Carnival for ages 2-5 was open from 9:00am-11:45am, from 2:00pm-4:45pm and from 7pm-10pm with babysitting after 10pm. They also had kids dinner at 6:00pm.

 

We did the 'Behind the Fun' tour and it was well worth it. It started at 9:15 and lasted until about 1:00pm. Our son was in the 2-5 age group which closes at 11:45am. However, we arranged with Camp Carnival to babysit him until the tour was over. They were very nice about it. They said something like, "Since you are doing a Carnival excursion and we want you to enjoy your vacation, we will babysit him for no charge until the tour is over." They did need to verify our tickets and checked to make sure we were actually we attending a Carnival excursion. If my son was in an older age group, I don't know if that would have happened because those counselors have other duties assigned during the time camp is closed, like the talent show which is a family activity. (They also have teddy bear making during that afternoon, but that is offered all the time so there is not really an issue of missing it.) However, in the 2-5 age group, the counselors do babysitting for the under 2's from 12pm-2pm so they were there anyway. Also, another counselor may have given us a different answer. We were lucky.

 

We really enjoyed the tour. Do it if you can. It is a whole different world 'Behind the Fun'. They let us bring the ship cell phone on the tour without question. You can't bring your own phone. They did scan us down before we left. If you both can't go, I would say that one of you should go or one of you could leave early to pick them up.

[crusinmama06]

I am going to say YES it is closed on and off throughout the day that day. Below are capers from 3 different ships. All of them show the LAST SEA DAY and they all show closed for the family activities. The "Family Activities" is the Talent Show. But if what Jam says is correct and they will watch him because you are on a Carnival tour -- then you should be ok.

 

 

 

[nybumpkin]

We did the "Behind the Fun" tour last month on Conquest. Our tour started at 8:45 - there was a later tour that started at 9:15. Our sons are 14 and 10, so we did not have sign-in and sign-out issues for them - we just asked our 14 YO to walk with his brother to Camp Carnival when it opened at 9:00 and instructed the 10 YO to sign himself out at the end of the morning activities and go back to the cabin - we'd meet him there after our tour and go to lunch. The only downside with this arrangement was that one of the perks of the tour is a plate of chocolate-covered strawberries delivered to your cabin while you are on the tour. Well, when 10 YO went back to the cabin at the end of Camp Carnival, what should be waiting for him but a plate of chocolate-covered strawberries?:p

 

I would talk to the Camp Carnival staff about the tour early - the tour books quickly (we booked it as soon as we boarded) and they do not allow anyone under 13 to participate. (For good reason - it is a lot of walking and climbing stairs in areas of the ship that are not really designed for passengers.)

[momtogo]

Thank you everyone so much for all of your help and your feedback! Michele, thanks for posting the capers. DH still isn't sure whether he will do the tour or not but at least we know what else might be going on that morning. If the kids enjoy Camp Carnival then I am sure they will be there that morning then I will be around to pick them up when camp closes.

 

Thanks again!

[crusinmama06]

Well, when 10 YO went back to the cabin at the end of Camp Carnival, what should be waiting for him but a plate of chocolate-covered strawberries?:p

 

:eek::eek::eek::eek:

 

Ohhhhhh, did you make him walk the plank for that? That's at least worth a month of doing his own laundry as punishment. ;)

 

Those strawberries are incredible! Maybe TWO months of laundry!

[nybumpkin]

:eek::eek::eek::eek:

 

Ohhhhhh, did you make him walk the plank for that? That's at least worth a month of doing his own laundry as punishment. ;)

 

Those strawberries are incredible! Maybe TWO months of laundry!

His appetite for lunch certainly was limited.;) He did leave us one for ourselves. DH and I each had a bite!

[cruisinbanddirectors]

I know this isn't related to the family aspect, but was there a cost for the tour? I'm sure there was...this is Carnival :p...but I'd just be curious to know. I'd love to do it if we could work out the Camp Carnival thing and it wasn't toooo pricey.

[jam82]

We paid $95 per person. We also received carved soap, chocolate covered strawberries, six 8x10 pictures of us on the tour, a carnival baseball cap, a carnival tote, and a glass of champange. It's expensive, but we felt the experience was worth it. Ever since reading Cruise Confidential we wanted to see I-95. We really felt that the bridge was really the most exciting part.

[crusinmama06]

We paid $95 per person. We also received carved soap, chocolate covered strawberries, six 8x10 pictures of us on the tour, a carnival baseball cap, a carnival tote, and a glass of champange. It's expensive, but we felt the experience was worth it. Ever since reading Cruise Confidential we wanted to see I-95. We really felt that the bridge was really the most exciting part.

 

Great book huh? Now if he ever did a group cruise, I wanna go! :D Now that reminds me, I wonder if he came out with his second book yet, have to go look. :confused:

[cruisinbanddirectors]

Hum...$95 is a little more than I would like to spend this time...maybe some other time!

 

Is that book really good? I'm looking for something to read after I finish my current book (which might be after the cruise :p ).

[jam82]

It was a fast read and we found it very interesting. Let us know if you find his second book.

[chapps]

I am going to say YES it is closed on and off throughout the day that day. Below are capers from 3 different ships. All of them show the LAST SEA DAY and they all show closed for the family activities. The "Family Activities" is the Talent Show. But if what Jam says is correct and they will watch him because you are on a Carnival tour -- then you should be ok.

 

 

 

 

thanks for sharing the images from the program....WOW! that's A LOT of stuff for our kiddos to do. i'm planning our first cruise (june '11) w/ carnival since they now ship out of charleston (hopefully, they'll stay...june '11 schedule is still not out (hurry up already!!!:D)...and it will be nice to just DRIVE to port). our son will be 4 when it comes around and i'm now reassured that he will not be bored nor will i feel "guilty" when i want to grab some time with the DH...

[crusinmama06]

It was a fast read and we found it very interesting. Let us know if you find his second book.

 

Just checked and its not out yet. :(

[jam82]

Thanks for the update. I'm a big fan of used books, but I might actually have to pay full price for that one when it does come out.

[Naomi John]

We paid $95 per person. We also received carved soap, chocolate covered strawberries, six 8x10 pictures of us on the tour, a carnival baseball cap, a carnival tote, and a glass of champange. It's expensive, but we felt the experience was worth it. Ever since reading Cruise Confidential we wanted to see I-95. We really felt that the bridge was really the most exciting part.

 

Find it on the Family board. Thanks for the info on what is received for the tour.