Camp Carnival - Be Warned!

[Cruise life]

I love reports like this. Just confirms our decision to not cruise until our youngest was 12.

 

 

Our twins have been cruising since age 3 and have been fine.

 

 

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[SUSIEK]

I love reports like this. Just confirms our decision to not cruise until our youngest was 12.

 

 

There were a lot of positives on this board. My son has been cruising on various lines since he was 3, he is now 8. He loves Camp Carnival!! We can't get him to leave :-) He actually liked it better than Disney, oddly enough.

[Badfinger]

Our twins have been cruising since age 3 and have been fine.

 

 

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Yeah the kids are fine, parents not so much.

[Cruise life]

Not sure I get your point in that, but if it made you feel better, good for you.

 

 

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[maritimecruiser]

We have been on several cruises, three with Carnival, the last cruise was on Sensation, the smallest cruise ship we have sailed on. My children LOVE Camp Carnival more so than other cruise lines' kids programs, that is one of the reasons we have been choosing Carnival. On the Sensation though, Camp Carnival was SMALL, basically small rooms where everyone is grouped together, there were 1600 children on my sailing, as you can imagine, it lead to a cramped camp experience. The free play times were the worst as you had many ages grouped together. On the few times my girls went, it was just WII or movie watching. They were disappointed. My 10 year old enjoyed some of the activities that occurred outside the Camp room. I as well, plan on some alone time with my husband but it ended up being a vacation all spent together which we could have done at any hotel anywhere. Camp Carnival is part of my reason for cruising, alone time for Mommy and Daddy as well as giving the kids fun times to remember with new friends, as well as giving us family time together, it is usually a nice blend.

 

So I would say size and age of the ship matters!!

[outdoors27]

Wow, reading this is making me a little nervous for my upcoming Breeze cruise next month! My son has participated in Camp Carnival on two separate sailings on the Dream and had a blast...I never saw the kids doing quiet time games or anything like that. I was less than impressed when we went on the Inspiration this summer and found the counselors very rude and not helpful at all. They seemed angry when I was dropping my son off when we were in port, despite them advertising them being open and available for kids if parents want to do an excursion off the ship, etc. When I picked him up 2.5 hours later, they had the kids parked in front of a movie :( That has really been my only negative experience with Camp Carnival.

 

Well if you are sailing on the Breeze have no fear the Camp Carnival staff is excellent on that ship. We are actually still in touch with a few of them as my daughters loved them. If Dragana, Melissa, Edina and a majority of the summer staff are there your son will have fun. We were so impressed at how we were treated by them that after our August sailing I sent an email to the CEO of Carnival mentioning their names as well as other great staff members on that ship. Believe it or not I received a call back from Carnival 5 days later thanking me and assuring me the people I mentioned would receive some recognition. We'll just last Thursday (9/11) I got an email from one of the names mentioned above thanking my family for what we wrote as it was good for them as well as the entire staff. Have fun

[travelplus]

we tried camp for a 5 year old-- being in a class witth many babies was hard for her. She said the babies all were crying-- and no one was taking care to get them to stop and she said theyw ould tell her she needed to be quiet.

So she never went back that week

 

We tried the actiivities the next cruise-- she was 7 and she did a better job with participating.

 

 

didnt you get an activitty sheet of what was happening at the given time?

 

From reading the boards it sounds like many people revolve the cruise around kids participating in the program-- some kids dont participate and others just dont like it.

 

Let alone having to smell the dirty diapers:D

[PlanningToCruise]

Sorry to hear that, our son always loved going (Has been in 2 of the age groups) . He didn't always like what they did but enjoyed spending time with other kids. He didn't spend a lot of time there though as it was family vacation. In December he'll be in the teen group & he can't wait.

 

 

Our whole cruise plan was changed by the fact that our kids did NOT like the camp. We thought we'd have time for relaxing, casino, 'couple time', etc. but our whole experience was shifted.

 

Our boys are 6 and 8 and their group activities (6-8 year olds) was very immature IMO.

 

They came out the first time and said "They made us sit down and listen to a story!!!". Even I thought that was ridiculous. They are not 3 year olds.

 

They are confined to a room - no outside or sports activities - and the most excitement I could imagine is the Wii and Playstation games for kids that like that kind of thing. My kids are active and love sports or age appropriate games. The camp seems geared toward girls who are generally more passive, enjoy crafts and things. They had Musical Chairs as one activity. Seriously?

 

Some kids were obviously fine with it or even really liked it, but we didn't imagine that our kids would hate it and so just wanted to plant that in people's minds so they could have a back up plan. Me and the hubby had to take turns going to the casino, etc. because the kids were with us most of the time.

 

The fact that it was cold weather and 3 days until we got to a port was very difficult. Not much to do as a family inside the boat for 3 days during the day. Nights were ok - by the time you ate there was a show or comedy show that took up your evenings.

[JinxyB]

Well if you are sailing on the Breeze have no fear the Camp Carnival staff is excellent on that ship. We are actually still in touch with a few of them as my daughters loved them. If Dragana, Melissa, Edina and a majority of the summer staff are there your son will have fun. We were so impressed at how we were treated by them that after our August sailing I sent an email to the CEO of Carnival mentioning their names as well as other great staff members on that ship. Believe it or not I received a call back from Carnival 5 days later thanking me and assuring me the people I mentioned would receive some recognition. We'll just last Thursday (9/11) I got an email from one of the names mentioned above thanking my family for what we wrote as it was good for them as well as the entire staff. Have fun

 

Thank you for telling me this-I wonder if this is the same staff that will be onboard in Oct. I also wonder if your child was in the same age group as the previous poster who had a child forced to participate in quiet time? My son will be in the 2-5 age group, so hoping I have a good group of counselors!

[Kristi Williamson]

Thank you for telling me this-I wonder if this is the same staff that will be onboard in Oct. I also wonder if your child was in the same age group as the previous poster who had a child forced to participate in quiet time? My son will be in the 2-5 age group, so hoping I have a good group of counselors!

 

 

Ages 5-11 are in the same room on the Breeze. My child was the one who was playing "the quiet game" and I'd say they have changed crew by now since contracts rotate the crew. We've only had that happen the one time in 10 cruises with our kids, so I wouldn't be overly worried. (we didn't bring them when they were very small) My daughter was 10 years old when this happened.

 

I only shared the story so that people would know to check your child when they don't want to stay. It could be that they really do have a legitimate complaint but simply don't know how to verbalize that something is wrong in a way an adult can understand clearly, especially at those ages. We're heading out on the Liberty this October and we have every intention of giving Carnival another chance because until that cruise on the Breeze, we'd always had great experiences with the camps and fully expect to again.

 

We did let Carnival know about what happened and how upset we were. We were clear that we loved the Breeze and had a great time, but that we fully expected the counselors to do their jobs and that doesn't mean forcing kids to sit in a circle on their vacation playing the quiet game, especially when that child was only there two evenings of a seven day cruise! They agreed, apologized and said they would take care of that issue immediately and it wouldn't happen again. I believe them and we were fine with that response.

[outdoors27]

Thank you for telling me this-I wonder if this is the same staff that will be onboard in Oct. I also wonder if your child was in the same age group as the previous poster who had a child forced to participate in quiet time? My son will be in the 2-5 age group, so hoping I have a good group of counselors!

 

My daughters were 5 and 8 so they were not together. I know Dragana is still on the ship as she has been writing to us on a few port days. The satff does rotate between age groups from time to time so Melissa who was with my 5 year old on the July sailing and was moved to the old kids on our August sailing but still visited the girls when she was able too.

[tkportersat]

Agreed. I don't know why these posts always turn into "I am a better parent than you tone". In my opinion people should do what works for them and not judge others. It is like when working moms and stay at home moms put each other down for their choices. Being a parent is equally rewarding and challenging and every child is different, would just be nice if people could be more supportive instead of trying to tear others down.

 

I love spending time with my child and I like having alone time with my husband, I don't think I should have to apologize for that.

 

So glad you have been able to utilize the club for a balanced vacation, I am hoping for the same!!

 

 

 

For many of us, the clubs on the ships allow us to have both couple time and family time- that is the best part of cruising for families like mine whose children enjoy camp. No need to take a special couples only vacation! Although we have done both, we prefer utilizing camp and showing the children new ports when they are interested. We have no problem leaving the kids on board and participating in an adult excursion at times if we so choose. It's win-win.

 

 

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[tkportersat]

Thank you :) I really appreciate it. I hope the same for you on your next trip!

 

 

Glad you had such a great time . We didn't cruise with our kids when they were that young , but I know mine would have had a ball too. They loved all those things at that age .

 

Its great he had a wonderful time with kids his age, and if it gave you and DH a little alone time, that's icing on the cake . :0

 

Hope you have a ball on your March trip too

[Athankfulheart]

I love spending time with my child and I like having alone time with my husband, I don't think I should have to apologize for that.

 

I agree totally. My husband and I have been married for almost 25 years and are raising 8 children together. When we take care of our marriage relationship we are better parents :)

 

We take on parenting with an "us against them" kind of attitude and make our relationship the priority. This means couples only vacations at times and family vacations at other times. Even during a family vacay we still take time to nurture our relationship. You know what ? Our kids feel very safe, secure and loved..... because of ( in spite of? :p) this.

 

Have a great time with your hubby and kids and don't apologize to anyone for it !

[tkportersat]

Congratulations! Wow, 8 kids :) That is amazing.

 

 

 

I agree totally. My husband and I have been married for almost 25 years and are raising 8 children together. When we take care of our marriage relationship we are better parents :)

 

We take on parenting with an "us against them" kind of attitude and make our relationship the priority. This means couples only vacations at times and family vacations at other times. Even during a family vacay we still take time to nurture our relationship. You know what ? Our kids feel very safe, secure and loved..... because of ( in spite of? :p) this.

 

Have a great time with your hubby and kids and don't apologize to anyone for it !

[Athankfulheart]

Congratulations! Wow, 8 kids :) That is amazing. QUOTE]

 

Its amazing and is crazy but I love it. I have 3 in college now and 5 at home. The college kids will all be home for winter break to stay with the younger guys so DH and I can spend a week in PR and a week on the valor for our 25th :) I love my kids, but I love to spend time with just my husband. After all, I have known him the longest ;)

[tkportersat]

And he will be the one there when all the kiddos leave the nest. Happy Early Anniversary, I hope you have a wonderful time.

 

Its amazing and is crazy but I love it. I have 3 in college now and 5 at home. The college kids will all be home for winter break to stay with the younger guys so DH and I can spend a week in PR and a week on the valor for our 25th :) I love my kids, but I love to spend time with just my husband. After all, I have known him the longest ;)

[cruisequeen4ever]

Activities aren't one size fits all, but I will say that as a 1st Grade teacher of 6 and 7 year olds, my students LOVE story time and musical chairs! Those are very age appropriate activities. I can see how the 8 year olds might not enjoy it as much, though.

 

 

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