First time cruiser with a few questions

[erinmomof2]

We're getting ready to book a cruise on the Legend for November. We're a family of 4 with two girls who will be 8 and 5 at the time, none of us have cruised before. I was wondering if there are activies for families to do together during the day? I don't think our girls would visit the kids clubs at all (both are very shy and we'd also prefer to spend our vacation time together), so I'm hoping they have some of the crafts and things available for the whole family to do. Also where can I look to find out about the dress code? Is there always a formal night or two? And is the entertainment in the evenings kid friendly?

 

Sorry for all the questions! I want to make sure the cruise is something we will all enjoy before booking.

 

Thanks so much!

[bumorgan]

Welcome to cruising. Your family will enjoy the trivia events, bean bag toss event, the pools, miniture golf if your ship has that. Don't forget to bring some of your own family games to play on lido.

[Angileyze1]

I know that there's sometimes a scrapbooking thing in the Library and a great towel folding class to learn how to make all the adorable creatures we love!

[bumorgan]

They will have a family comedy show each nite besides the main productions. If a 7 day cruise there will be 2 elagant nites. The dress code is spelled out on Carnival web site.

[bumorgan]

Oh and the girls will so love afternoon tea and sweets. A must for your wife and girls while you sneek off to gamble.:D Your family will have a blast.

[QLUVS2CRUZ]

I would encourage you to at least check out Camp Carnival for the kids. I too thought that my kids would spend a lot of time with us, since it was the family vacation, but really, the kids wanted to spend time at Camp Carnival, and in the end, I did come to realize that it's also their vacation too...so they went to Camp Carnival for certain things. CC has tons of planned activities for kids like scavenger hunts, game tournaments, etc., so your kids may enjoy it more than you think. CC will provide a list of activities and times, so you can kind of plan ahead and talk to the kids about the activities to see if they are interested.

[erinmomof2]

Thanks for the replies so far! I know there are things in the kids club they would enjoy but it's important to me for us to be together on our vacations. I also am pretty sure my younger daughter especially would want nothing to do with being left with people she doesn't know. Are parents allowed to stay and do the activities with the kids at the kids club?

[scooterpopsnana]

Be sure to do the "build a bear" workshop with the girls. It is either listed in the "Funtimes" or Camp Carnival schedules. The kids do not have to be enrolled in the camp to participate. They do it a couple of times on each cruise. The cost is approximately $20 per animal. My DGD made a hippo.

[askimdog]

I was on the legend last month with my 7 year old daughter. She loved it. She does not like Camp Carnival and we have never been pleased with it, so after giving it a shot one more time last month, we stopped the madness, she went the 2nd day and never returned. ( On the other hand, her 7 year old cousin adores it- everyone is different).

 

My daughter loved the pools, kiddie and big, she loved the shows, bright flashy and musical, and the early family comedy shows were just so-so, sometimes they step a tad over the line, but it is family comedy and not kiddie comedy. Plus going for ice cream or pizza is a major joy for her. You kids will have a blast, tuckered and out by 9 everynight, never a problem...must be the fresh sea air :)

[cruisinhogfan]

They do have Family time in Camp Carnival. It is to let the families with children under 2 who cannot attend CC, it is worth a shot to see if they would let you all do some activities or let the girls play.

 

My husband is gone a lot with work and so I can understand the importance of being together. I would at least take them by there. They may not stay (I have a very shy one myself:)) but it might give you and the husband a little adult time to relax a little.

 

I recommend the Build a bear too. My kids have always enjoyed it. Make sure to look for the Funship Freddy walking around for a photo op.