2 Questions about the Conquest?

[stonecruisers]

We are leaving in May and my son is wondering what kind of arcade facilities will be on it? He is 7 (and thinks he is too big to go to Camp Carnival)-do they have games he will enjoy or is it more of a teen hangout? Or is there a cool kids playroom? Also, does this ship have a "chocolate buffet" one night that I keep hearing people talk about?;)

 

Thanks,

T. Stone

[baf]

Hi-You son is definetely not "too big" for camp carnival. My 17 year old son always has been going whenever he gets a chance every since we take a carnival boat! He will love the activities. I guarrantee it. The arcade is more of a teenager hangout place yet it is VERY VERY EXPENSIVE. Did I mention it was very expensive?:D

[Top-Cat]

The Conquest Arcade is very large. We saw kids of all ages in there (including hubby's). There are also game tables on one of the upper decks, like pin pong. I saw tons of kids on the slide. They all looked like they were having a blast!

 

Also, my brother boys loved camp carnival. Age 7-9. They didn't want to leave. They made a lot of friends.

 

Have a great cruise!

[jleq]

Also, does this ship have a "chocolate buffet" one night that I keep hearing people talk about?;)

 

It does

[enjoyinglife]

My son has enjoyed camp carnival (on other ships) in the past. In fact, the first few times, he would beg to go or stay longer. Your son will probably love it, and may not want to leave it. It really is a good program.

 

My son is now 12 and we will be going on the conquest for the first time. I am not sure what camp carnival offers for a 12 year old. I know that for the last two years, CC (camp carnival) had a late night party (we had to pay extra for that) where the C Carnival counselors stay out with the kids that sign up for it. He had a blast the first time, but the second time, they cancelled the party. He was disappointed and so, we are hoping that they will have something similar for his age group on the cruise. Does anyone know what are some of the activities for the 12 year old bunch on the conquest?

 

I am assuming that the 12 year olds can sign themselves out on the conquest. Does anyone know about this?

 

Does anyone know how expensive the arcade is?

 

Any input would be greatly appreciated!!

[sea_u_onboard]

The chocolate buffet was during the daytime when we were on.

[GoinCruisin]

My son is now 12 and we will be going on the conquest for the first time. I am not sure what camp carnival offers for a 12 year old.

 

This is from the Carnival website...

 

Camp Carnival makes sure teens have lots of social events with kids their own ages, like dances, talent contests and sports tournaments.

 

Carnival even has a special shore excursion program designed just for teens. Now your 12- to 15-year-olds can choose from a selection of Camp Carnival recommended tours; they can go as a group to explore many of our exciting destinations with a Camp Carnival chaperone.

 

If your teen loves to dance, we have great news for them. Every night aboard a Carnival cruise our 12- to 15-year-old guests will have the opportunity to "mix and mingle" at our shipboard dance club from 9:30pm to 10:45pm. After 11:00pm, teens 15 and under can join the youth staff for a variety of activities, such as a late night movie, karaoke or outdoor games.

 

Other activities for teens include:

 

 

 

• Playstation 2 and IMac time
  
• Board games
  
• Talent show
  
• Trivia games
  
• Dance parties
  
• ExerSeas - Competitive indoor/outdoor games
  
• Ping-Pong tournaments
  
• Karaoke
  

[cali-croozer]

GoinCruisin........where'd you find that on the website??? Serene56 recently posted camp papers and the age groups have been changed to 12-14 and 15-17; won't affect "enjoyinglife's" son, but does affect mine.....in a good way.:) Anyway, just curious where it is on the website because it just seems like another example of Carnival's website not keeping up with changes, whether it's their minor's policy, or camp carnival changes or shore excursions...... Just hard to get the facts when there are conflicting statements on their website!!;)

 

Enjoyinglife.....yes, your son can sign himself in/out. The arcade is expensive; have him bring his own money so he can decide how important the arcade games are. My boys love video games......one spent $5 (his own $) in the arcade on our last cruise, the other one $0! There's just so much happening on the ship, they didn't even miss playing games.:)

[serene56]

Carnival does NOT do a good job with keeping their web page up to date.

The capers I have is from this past February from the Miracel..BUt someone just got off the Miracle and posted there were NO activites for their older teen.... (so I dont know what to say about that one)

 

Kids in Carnival from ages 9 on up can check themselves in and out. A parent still needs to register them on the first night.

 

To the Original poster... even though your child may think they are too old to particiapte I hope they at least give it a chance. They dont have to particiapte in all the activities but it will break up their day..or that arcade will cost you a pretty penny.

[GoinCruisin]

Here is a link Cali, it is under the Onboard Experience

 

http://www.carnival.com/CMS/Onboard_Activities/Generic-Camp_Carnival.aspx

 

Hope that helps!!!

[enjoyinglife]

goincruising

 

thanks for the infomation. I really appreciate it. I am more nervous about this cruise rather than the other ones he has been on. The first two cruises he went on, he knew no one else and spent alot of time with camp carnival and enjoyed it thoroughly and even begged to stay longer. My apprehensiveness is that on the last two cruises he went on (he's been on 4) he had cousins and friends going on it also. I also allowed him some freedom on the last two since he had friends and the ship was the Celebration and holiday which is much smaller than the Conquest. This ship is so big and I am not sure that I will feel comfortable with him having any freedom since there is no one to use the buddy system with.

 

I know things will work out, but I hope that I will be able to be totally relaxed, since it is vacation.

 

Thanks again, out of the things you listed they will have for his age, I know he will love any sports and or contests. Dances, well, he went to his second school dance this weekend and loved it. I think it had more to do with a single girl being at the dance, even though they never danced, talked, etc.

[cali-croozer]

goincruisin........thanx. You know, they list teens 12-14 and then, when you click on that for details, it starts talking about 12-15's! I'm going nuts!:eek: LOL

 

serene56.....I showed my boys the camp papers you posted for the 15-17 year olds and they were very interested. I hope the Conquest will offer something similar in June.....About that poster that said there was nothing for the older group on their cruise; I'm wondering if they just didn't know about it or if their teen didn't want to participate so they thought there wasn't anything for them.....??? Also it could have been because it was off season and not many teens were on board or wanting to participate.....

[enjoyinglife]

thanks cali-croozer - that is a great idea! I might factor a certain amount of spending money for the arcade if he chooses.

 

I hope he is learning the value of money - his class just went to Chicago on a field trip. He was alotted about 100.00 spending money from the money we paid for the cost of the trip. I told him that whatever amount he came home with, I would double and he could use it for summer camp or on our vacation. He came home with about 73.00. I am hoping to give him some money for the trip and making the same bargain - maybe I can teach him that saving money pays off.

 

Thanks again

[cali-croozer]

thanks cali-croozer - that is a great idea! I might factor a certain amount of spending money for the arcade if he chooses.

 

Thanks again

 

 

He's going to have a great time! This will be my boys third cruise (they are now 15 and 17). The first time, they were 11 and 13. They were in different camp groups and each met several kids to hang out with the entire cruise. I was a little worried about giving them freedom, but with frequent check-in times and just bumping into them on the ship (my older one "lives" at the ping pong table! LOL), I was able to relax. Of course, we ate dinner together each evening. At night, their camp activities ended around 10pm and that's when we would all meet and either enjoy some deck time together or grab a snack and then head down to the cabin for the night........sometimes we'd order rooms service cookies and milk--YUM!

 

Anyway, just make sure he goes to the first night's meet and greet for his age group and, if you have to, encourage some friendships (I had to do this on our first cruise as my older son didn't really connect with anyone the first night......I was talking to him the next day by the pool and saw a boy looking at us and I just did it--I asked him his name and introduced him to my son...instant friends; and they were able to add a few more once they got over the shyness.) With a couple of friends and some ground rules you'll be able to feel more comfortable with him having a little freedom around the ship in the daytime.

[Runner Girl]

Hi! We were on the Conquest in February. It had an arcade but since we didn't have kids with us, we didn't even go in. I don't know what kind of games they had. There was a chocolate buffet but it was on Saturday at noon. They should've done it at 2:00. It made lunch time pretty chaotic.

[enjoyinglife]

Thanks cali-croozer

 

In my mind, it would be hard to run into someone on a ship soooo big! There are more pax on there then the town I work in! (but not live in!)

 

Again, thanks

[Momw/4boys]

My boys are 13, 16 and 17 and we were on the Conquest 040305. You must sign up your child on the first day even if he thinks he's not going to participate as apparently you can't sign up later in the week. The older teens do not have to sign up. All 3 boys made new friends just by hanging around the arcade and they all had a great time. I don't think any of them did any official Camp Carnival activities but the teenagers all walked around, ate alot of pizza and ice cream and stayed up half the night!