Cruising with Kids Questions!! Carnival.

[Missjamis3]

Hello, my husband and I are planning on bringing our kids along for our next cruise. I have been on 3 without them, but they are getting older now. The ages will be 12, 8, 7, and 5 when we go next April. If the children have a different last name than you, do they need to have the other parents approval to go on the cruise? My 2 oldest have a different dad who is not involved, but still have his last name. That's the 1st question.

 

Next question....Camp Carnival....any details on that is greatly appreciated. Like age groups, hours, and such.

 

In general question.....waterworks a must? I was really hoping to go on a ship that has both Waterworks, ropes course, guys burgers, and the blue iguana cantina. From my research, the Sunshine and Breeze are the only 2 ships with all of these, unless after Freedoms dry dock, they have the water works as well. I've been on the Breeze, so leaning toward Sunshine.

 

Thanks for the help!!

[njmomof2]

I can't speak for the ship but I can offer this for the kids...

 

If you are in contact with their father, prepare a permission to travel letter and have him sign it and get it notarized so if anyone asks you to show that their father knows you are leaving the country with them, you have it. No one may ask, but the one time they do and you don't have it, it will be hard to get on board.

 

If you have sole custody, then you can bring your custody agreement to prove you don't need him to consent.

 

I brought one when I was still married to my ex and travelled without him, and now after the divorce still get it each time. My kids have their father's last name, and I changed mine back to my maiden name.

 

We just sailed Oasis and while I had the letter, no one asked. i always like to be safe rather than sorry.

[bunchesofun]

From Carnival's Web site

Camp Carnival

2 - 5 years old

6 - 8 years old

9 -11 years old

 

Circle “C”

12-14 years old

 

Club 02

15-17 years old

 

Age Policy

Carnival’s policy is to group children together according to their age. Our Youth Program age policies are in place so that we can provide participants with age appropriate activities and so they can mingle with other minors of similar age. The age is determined according to the child’s birth date which is provided from documentation received at embarkation.

 

A child cannot be moved to another age group as it is a strict policy set by Carnival and cannot be deviated from, regardless of the situation, such as moving into a camp of different age range so the child can be with a family member. There are many times that the different age groups are together so that those families with children in separate groups can be accommodated.

[AnnaBeth]

We just sailed on the Conquest and while we had a good time I would definitely recommend choosing a ship with waterworks for the kids! The Conquest had a slide and that was it. My girls are 9 and 11 and only used the pool a handful of times because it was always full of drunk adults. They even asked me why there were so many adults in the pool when there was an adults only pool too! We still had a great time, there were only two sea days so pool time wasn't a huge priority for us but I will definitely choose a ship with more water activities for the kids next time!

 

As far as camp carnival goes they thought it was "ok". Their words not mine! Even though they are 9 and 11 they were grouped with the 6-8 kids for everything. During the orientation/info session on the first night they were excited to hear about sport activities, dodge ball tournaments and the like, but there were none actually scheduled during sea days or evenings. They did enjoy the pj party one evening and the scavenger hunt, but otherwise we're not really drawn to or excited about most of the activities that they had.

 

 

 

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[Missjamis3]

Thank you guys!!! I will definitely have a notarized letter for the kids, don't want any problems there. Also, very nice to know Water works is a must. Will for sure be looking at Sunshine for them. They love the water stuff.

[lucigo]

We once were asked for notarized letters regarding dads by customs in New Orleans after our cruise. I had my husband's death certificate so went through fine, but my friend didn't have a letter, so the guy was trying to ask her son, is this your mom? where is your dad? what is your name, etc. He had autism and wasn't able to answer the questions. The guy scolded her but did let us go.

[CruisinCarps]

Our kids (11 and 13) went down once each slide and said it was enough for then (too bumpy). They much preferred the pool or the kids club activities. We spent a lot of time snorkeling in ports too though.

[bm6pm5]

Our daughter has done the Circle C program twice and has had a good time both times. In this program they are allowed to sign themselves out if they do not want to do the scheduled activity. Which she did but was nearly always hanging out with the others from the group that didn't want to participate either. I am usually wandering the ship and I would see her many times and she did not even know that I was there. They do have quite a few activities that they all did. She still talks, texts, some of them from both times.

You should really try to get them there on the first night for orientation as that is where they meet and figure out who they want to hang out with. Not saying they can't make friends the next day it's more of a first impression kinda thing.

We got her a soda card so she could have a drink when she wanted. We also put cash on her S-S card so that she could play video games. By putting cash on it it limits what she can spend and can't just run up the card in the arcade. Have read horror stories about this!! She knew her budget for the week and was very aware of her spending per day.

Hope some of this helps you.

I posted the Circle C activities for the week awhile back. Here is a link to it.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1934910

[Missjamis3]

Thanks!! I will make sure we are there the 1st night, she may never want to be with us if she enjoys it that much. Haha!! I checked out the activities, sounds very nice and exciting.

[klpalp]

I think you are making a good choice in choosing a ship with Waterworks. We have cruised 2x with our 4 kids, both on ships with Waterworks, and I would not do it any other way. We have a pool at home, so they spend all their time on the waterslides! We actually just cruised last month on the Sunshine and of course the waterslides were great, but the ropes course is right there when they want to take a break from the waterslides. I can't really comment on Camp Carnival, between all the activities on the ship and port days, they never made it there. We had just escaped a cold, hard winter in the Midwest, so they spent every minute outside either on the waterslides, ropes course, or our balcony!

[HoneyBeeGood]

If your 5 year old's birthday is within 6 months during your cruise, they might let him/her bump up to the 6-8 year olds. Just mention you want to keep the younger siblings together.We always cruise with our children, all 3 were hooked since they were 1-2 years old. :eek: The Breeze is our favorite and we sail Sunshine in July.