Carnival Freedom with 4 yo Twins

[carpathia]

Hi all,

 

We sailed the Carnival Freedom last week with my just turned 4 yo twins. I was a little worried if they would have fun and go in the Camp Carnival since they tend to be on the shy side. For weeks up to the trip they had been claiming they would not go. Well, the first day we were allowed to go tour the Camp Carnival and they were immediately in love with the place. It's a great room at the front of the ship with lots of window to let in natural light. There are tons of toys and always a project that they can take home with them. So I had no problems dropping them off every day. We did not leave them in camp during the excursions, we took them with us, so I can't speak to how that went.

 

They gave us a cell phone to use the entire trip, the phone is free and you can also use it to call other staterooms at no charge. My parents were travelling with us and we lost them a few times on the ship. So the phone came in handy for finding my parents. Haha!

 

Usually we left the kids in the Camp for 2-3 hours in the morning on sea days. Then again in the afternoon for a couple of hours on both docking and sea days. They had dinner with us every night except the last night when they wanted to have dinner at camp (I couldn't believe it!!) and then after dinner we dropped them off until 10pm and roamed the ship.

 

They were always super tired and asleep the second their heads hit the pillow. So sharing an inside cabin with them was no problem. The room was small, but the setup with the bunkbeds was great. If anyone wants to see a picture of what the inside cabin with two bunks looks like, I can post it.

 

Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

Best,

Carpathia

[BO HANSON]

Hi all,

 

We sailed the Carnival Freedom last week with my just turned 4 yo twins. I was a little worried if they would have fun and go in the Camp Carnival since they tend to be on the shy side. For weeks up to the trip they had been claiming they would not go. Well, the first day we were allowed to go tour the Camp Carnival and they were immediately in love with the place. It's a great room at the front of the ship with lots of window to let in natural light. There are tons of toys and always a project that they can take home with them. So I had no problems dropping them off every day. We did not leave them in camp during the excursions, we took them with us, so I can't speak to how that went.

 

They gave us a cell phone to use the entire trip, the phone is free and you can also use it to call other staterooms at no charge. My parents were travelling with us and we lost them a few times on the ship. So the phone came in handy for finding my parents. Haha!

 

Usually we left the kids in the Camp for 2-3 hours in the morning on sea days. Then again in the afternoon for a couple of hours on both docking and sea days. They had dinner with us every night except the last night when they wanted to have dinner at camp (I couldn't believe it!!) and then after dinner we dropped them off until 10pm and roamed the ship.

 

They were always super tired and asleep the second their heads hit the pillow. So sharing an inside cabin with them was no problem. The room was small, but the setup with the bunkbeds was great. If anyone wants to see a picture of what the inside cabin with two bunks looks like, I can post it.

 

Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

Best,

Carpathia

We'll be cruising first time with 5 yo twins. My wife has gotten paranoid about the safety of the ship concerning younger kids. I'm not worried, but plan on setting ground rules etc....

Watching that Deadly Honeymoon movie the other night wasn't such a good idea. I just need to reassure DW that there isn't a vaccuum at the railings of the ship sucking people out to sea. How did you approach the edges of the ship with your children etc....

[carpathia]

We'll be cruising first time with 5 yo twins. My wife has gotten paranoid about the safety of the ship concerning younger kids. I'm not worried, but plan on setting ground rules etc....

Watching that Deadly Honeymoon movie the other night wasn't such a good idea. I just need to reassure DW that there isn't a vaccuum at the railings of the ship sucking people out to sea. How did you approach the edges of the ship with your children etc....

 

 

It was totally fine having them at the rails, I just watched them closely and made it clear that they weren't allowed to stick their heads through the top opening or climb. But they weren't near the rails all that much, only when we sailed off and they wanted to watch. And we were always with them, so it was ok. Tell your wife not to worry, but be alert since they may try to climb a little bit. Also I didn't pick them up all that much near the rails cause they would grab onto the railing and I was worried they'd throw me off balance.

[flyboyswife]

This is so timely as we've booked the Freedom for Sept and will have our 3.5 year old with us. What types of excursions did you take your twins on? Did you have to pay for them? I've read that if the excursions are not booked through Carnival, you can't leave your child in Camp over lunch...do you know if that is true? Thanks again!

[floridian1]

yes I want to know what excursions you want on?? We are sailing carnival Freedom next week with my 2 year old. We are doing Chanakanub in Cozumel, River boat Banana Plantaion in Costa Rica and 8 Hour panama canal excursion. I will let you all know how it goes...lol

[carpathia]

This is so timely as we've booked the Freedom for Sept and will have our 3.5 year old with us. What types of excursions did you take your twins on? Did you have to pay for them? I've read that if the excursions are not booked through Carnival, you can't leave your child in Camp over lunch...do you know if that is true? Thanks again!

 

 

We didn't do any excursions through Carnival just because they are so pricey and also my parents wanted to do their own thing. We just paid for taxis/buses when we got off the boats, it was much cheaper especially since a lot of drivers let the twins ride for free (they charge per person).

 

In Key West, we walked down to the southern most tip, spent some time on the beach near there and then walked back. It was a 3 mile walk roundtrip, with numerous stops along the way to get drinks, look at the random roosters, etc. The kids enjoyed it and did great.

 

In Grand Cayman, we had a bus take us to the 7 mile beach and spent he day there. The kids were in heaven. My parents did a tour of the island instead, they said the Turtle Farm on Grand Cayman was so expensive and they skipped it. So did everyone else on their tour. That's the only other thing that sounded like it may be fun for kids there.

 

In Jamaica, we had a bus take us up to the Dunn River Falls. We had to pay admission to the falls for everyone, even though only husband, dad and I hiked the falls. It was on the pricey side, but still a lot cheaper than the per person rate through the Carnival excurision. I think in total it cost us $120 to go the falls and back for 4 adults and the twins (this included the ride there and back and the park admission). We were also provided with a guide that took us up the falls safely. My mom waited on the side with the kids, they watched us climb up. After doing that, we took the bus back down and they dropped us at the beach. We hung out there and then walked back over to the boat.

 

I didn't hear anything about the childcare only being available to people who did the excursions through Carnival. It was not mentioned anywhere, it only said if you were on the boat on the port days to pick your kids up for lunch otherwise they would serve them lunch.

 

Hope that helps!

Carpathia

[thekings23]

Hi all,

 

We sailed the Carnival Freedom last week with my just turned 4 yo twins. I was a little worried if they would have fun and go in the Camp Carnival since they tend to be on the shy side. For weeks up to the trip they had been claiming they would not go. Well, the first day we were allowed to go tour the Camp Carnival and they were immediately in love with the place. It's a great room at the front of the ship with lots of window to let in natural light. There are tons of toys and always a project that they can take home with them. So I had no problems dropping them off every day. We did not leave them in camp during the excursions, we took them with us, so I can't speak to how that went.

 

They gave us a cell phone to use the entire trip, the phone is free and you can also use it to call other staterooms at no charge. My parents were travelling with us and we lost them a few times on the ship. So the phone came in handy for finding my parents. Haha!

 

Usually we left the kids in the Camp for 2-3 hours in the morning on sea days. Then again in the afternoon for a couple of hours on both docking and sea days. They had dinner with us every night except the last night when they wanted to have dinner at camp (I couldn't believe it!!) and then after dinner we dropped them off until 10pm and roamed the ship.

 

They were always super tired and asleep the second their heads hit the pillow. So sharing an inside cabin with them was no problem. The room was small, but the setup with the bunkbeds was great. If anyone wants to see a picture of what the inside cabin with two bunks looks like, I can post it.

 

Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

Best,

Carpathia

 

 

Thank you so much for posting this, the wife and I were on the freedom as well, we left our boys with grandma. We felt guilty and missed them big time, we booked another cruise for next April, the boys will be 4 and 2, and its great to read about your success.

[Maryscooking]

Hi all,

 

If anyone wants to see a picture of what the inside cabin with two bunks looks like, I can post it.

 

Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

Best,

Carpathia

 

I would really like to see that pic if you could post it!

Thanks

Mary

[carpathia]

I would really like to see that pic if you could post it!

Thanks

Mary

 

 

HI Mary,

 

Sorry about the delay, I was having trouble posting a pic earlier, let's see if it works this time. As you can see the bunks are pretty sturdy, they held up to my monkeys. :)

 

Carpathia