Safety when crusing with kids

[cmh1976]

We have never been on a cruise and we are thinking of going on a Carnival cruise in June after the kids get out of school. My main concern is when our youngest (8 yr old) is at the Camp Carnival and he wants to leave early or for any reason needs to get a hold of us. Do they have pagers? Do they have bathroom and snacks within the camp itself so we don't have to worry about our kids leaving and possibly getting lost. Do they have pagers for older kids as well (teens)? I've read that some people have tried to use walkie talkies but there is too much radio traffic and metal that they didn't work.

 

Thanks in advance for any help.

[RoadTripFanatic]

There are bathrooms in the camp. No worries about that. Also an 8 year old can not check himself out of camp. A registered adult is the only one that can check him out.

[chipmaster]

My one experience with Carnival was good. THey have a good program and it was well supervised.

 

I am not sure what age they allow selfcheckout, but on my last cruise my 9 year old was able to check herself out.

 

After several cruises, maybe not paranoid enough, but I've found the kids very quick at figuring out the ship and getting lost is actually very hard. Sometimes you might get a bit confused between starboard, port and forward and aft, but once you get on a ship it'll be clear you can't get lost. Its a seperate question to whether its easy to find someone as that can be more difficult.

 

And as another poster said, yes they have seperate bathrooms there for the younger clubs. If your child is in the program all day it includes meals and sometimes activities that include food / snacks.

 

I'm not a fan of walkie talkies but do see people use them on every cruise. IMHO they can be very intrusive to others, but suprisingly saw them on my last cruise but didn't "hear" them.

 

Enjoy

[A&Jfamily]

We have never been on a cruise and we are thinking of going on a Carnival cruise in June after the kids get out of school. My main concern is when our youngest (8 yr old) is at the Camp Carnival and he wants to leave early or for any reason needs to get a hold of us. Do they have pagers?

 

They do not have pagers for that age group. Typically, that age never wants to leave. We have had my kids look at the program and decide, in advance, how long they want to stay. If you are worried, you can always swing by and check.

 

Do they have bathroom and snacks within the camp itself so we don't have to worry about our kids leaving and possibly getting lost.

 

Yes. There is at least one bathroom for each age group. They make the kids wash their hands when they arrive at camp

 

Do they have pagers for older kids as well (teens)? I've read that some people have tried to use walkie talkies but there is too much radio traffic and metal that they didn't work.

 

Depending on where you are on the ship, they may or may not work. Our cheap ones do not work well - I am guessing more expensive ones with stronger signals might work better.

Really, it is pretty easy to find someone on the ship. The teens tend to meet up and travel in packs. You can set a plan, and then leave notes or messages on the cabin phone if plans change. When you consider that most of the ship is taken up with rooms, kitchen etc the common space is really very small: typically, people are either on the lido deck or the promanade. My 12 year old has no problem finding me - I will tell him things like I will be near the front of the ship on Deck X on the port side. Not hard to locate at all.

 

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

Love Carnival. It is a great, affordable, family vacation.

[cmh1976]

All the answers are very helpful. I was completely against cruising with the kids until I started researching message boards and talking with a few people. I'm looking forward to next June!

 

Thanks everyone!!

[MrKash]

My kids have been cruising since they were 4 years old and love it. I was very nervous about it at first, but now feel very comfortable with the kids ont he cruise. We had a friend whose 10 year old was able to check himself out when he wanted. He and others his age did a ship Scavage Hunt. They had a blast and he was even able to help his mom maneuver around the ship. Ha Ha

 

No worries. They will be safe and sound. But if your a Worrying parent like me, it will be a bit nerve racking at first.

[kjunea]

My DS is too young to check himself out, but my neice has been doing it for years. What my Brother and Sister in law would do was set up an area in the Lido restaurant and an area on the deck near the pool where they could "Usually" be found, as well as leave post-it notes in the cabin for putting notes on the mirror where they were. Worked pretty well!

[mass02703]

You choose wether you want your child to be able to sign themselves out or not. I was concerned during my daughters first cruise a couple of years ago (she was 11). I didn't feel comfortable at the beginning with her signing herself out, but also wanted her to have the ability to leave if she got bored. They gave us a cell phone that worked on the ship. She could call me whenever she wanted to leave and I would meet her. They kept my number right on their sign out sheet. The phones are really supposed to be used for parents that have younger children but because they were not all being used they allowed me to have one. It made me so much more comfortable. It is definitely worth asking about.

[kassimer1]

i know carnival doesnt have pagers at that age. but if you go on royal carribean you can actually rent text phones ( you cant call of fthe boat) but you can rent one for your daughter ond one for yourself incase you get seperated. they arew 17.50 each