Camp Carnival Questions - 5 year old

[mmbrad02]

We are sailing in a mere 12 days! Woo hoo! That being said, it's myself, my DH, and my daughter who just turned 5. She has attended daycare since she was 6 months old and is now in junior kindergarten. She loves to make friends and play with kids so I'm not too worried about her going to Camp Carnival from that perspective. However, I know five year olds are grouped with the 2-5 year old range, right? That is sort of where my concern lies. She just turned 5 but she is on a Kindergarten level and I'm worried that if it's just playing with toys all day she will get bored and maybe not want to go at all. Is there anyone that can chime in who has cruised with kids this age and how it went? I should also add that she is still quite small for her age so I don't think they would bump her up just based on size. I hear sometimes that five year olds can participate in the next level activities but is that something we would have to request?

 

Side note - I don't plan to drop her off in the morning and leave her all day. My plan was to look at the plans for the day and let her help pick out what she wanted to do. Do they stick pretty close to those plans?

[amyh13]

My daughter was 5 on our last cruise. She also goes to daycare was in Pre K at the time. She seemed to really enjoy it. She would go for an hour or so after breakfast so I could go to the gym and then in the evenings for dinner until closing. And if there was anything special on the schedule we might try to fit it in.

 

Sometimes I picked her up and she was participating with everyone and sometimes she was doing her own thing.

[klfrodo]

"Junior Kindergarten"? When did that happen?

I'm aware of pre-school. I'm aware of pre-K. Just never heard of Junior Kindergarten.

 

Either way, not that special.

If your cruising for vacation, you're in a socio economic group who almost all parents have their 5 and pre 5 year old kids in Pre School. So they are all special and ahead of the bell curve.

[cruizinisthebest]

They will not bump her. That's not going to happen. That said, we took our kids on their first cruise when the youngest was 5. Of course we think she's the brightest kid ever. All patents tend to think that. Anyway, she loved camp and made out fine. There were a variety of things for them to do. She only mentioned being bored just one night during night owls when they were showing a movie she had seen 100 times already. Other than that, she loved camp. Think positive. I'm sure your little one will as well.

 

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[cb at sea]

She'll be fine....the activities are perfect for the age groups...perfect. (And really..."junior" kindergarten ? Thought that was called pre=school!)

Edited November 9, 2015 by cb at sea

[cruizinisthebest]

Yeah Jr. Kindergarten is a new one to me. Lol

 

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[mmbrad02]

Sorry I did not mean to come across as her being any better than anyone else. That was not my intentions at all. Her school calls is Junior K, that is all. It can change it to preschool if that helps.

 

This can be removed/deleted. I do apologize, I may have not worded this properly and it obviously didn't come across as I had intended.

Edited November 9, 2015 by mmbrad02

[LaShea]

My daughter has been going to Camp Carnival since she was 3 years old. She was 5 and in Kinder this past May when we went and she loved it. They are with the small ones but, they do things for the 4 and 5 year olds also. I don't think you have anything to worry about. They had face painting, crafts, games, etc.:D

[cruizinisthebest]

Sorry I did not mean to come across as her being any better than anyone else. That was not my intentions at all. Her school calls is Junior K, that is all. It can change it to preschool if that helps.

 

This can be removed/deleted. I do apologize, I may have not worded this properly and it obviously didn't come across as I had intended.

I don't think anyone was offended. Just laughing at the term Jr. Kindergarten. No apology necessary.

 

What ship are you guys going on? Do you know if it has camp ocean or camp Carnival?

 

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[tkportersat]

My son is a daycare kid and refused to go at 2 1/2, last year when he was 4 ( a month from 5) he would go fairly easily and seemed to have fun other than "he didn't want to be with the babies". I am really going to have a challenge this March when we go as he will be 5 but only a month from being 6 so I am concerned if he thought he was with babies last year we might have a rough go. You honestly won't know until you get there how she will feel. A lot of it depends on the Counselors/activities and the kids that are there. I wish you luck in this area as I know how important it is to get "me" time every now and then.

 

 

We are sailing in a mere 12 days! Woo hoo! That being said, it's myself, my DH, and my daughter who just turned 5. She has attended daycare since she was 6 months old and is now in junior kindergarten. She loves to make friends and play with kids so I'm not too worried about her going to Camp Carnival from that perspective. However, I know five year olds are grouped with the 2-5 year old range, right? That is sort of where my concern lies. She just turned 5 but she is on a Kindergarten level and I'm worried that if it's just playing with toys all day she will get bored and maybe not want to go at all. Is there anyone that can chime in who has cruised with kids this age and how it went? I should also add that she is still quite small for her age so I don't think they would bump her up just based on size. I hear sometimes that five year olds can participate in the next level activities but is that something we would have to request?

 

Side note - I don't plan to drop her off in the morning and leave her all day. My plan was to look at the plans for the day and let her help pick out what she wanted to do. Do they stick pretty close to those plans?

[tkportersat]

There was nothing wrong with your post at all. You don't need to apologize, just ignore the snarky folks. We all know when our kids first start school they want to be "big kids". Hard to convince them they are when they put them in Camp Carnival with 2-3 year olds.

 

Sorry I did not mean to come across as her being any better than anyone else. That was not my intentions at all. Her school calls is Junior K, that is all. It can change it to preschool if that helps.

 

This can be removed/deleted. I do apologize, I may have not worded this properly and it obviously didn't come across as I had intended.

[obx_fintoo]

We are sailing in a mere 12 days! Woo hoo! That being said, it's myself, my DH, and my daughter who just turned 5. She has attended daycare since she was 6 months old and is now in junior kindergarten. She loves to make friends and play with kids so I'm not too worried about her going to Camp Carnival from that perspective. However, I know five year olds are grouped with the 2-5 year old range, right? That is sort of where my concern lies. She just turned 5 but she is on a Kindergarten level and I'm worried that if it's just playing with toys all day she will get bored and maybe not want to go at all. Is there anyone that can chime in who has cruised with kids this age and how it went? I should also add that she is still quite small for her age so I don't think they would bump her up just based on size. I hear sometimes that five year olds can participate in the next level activities but is that something we would have to request?

 

Side note - I don't plan to drop her off in the morning and leave her all day. My plan was to look at the plans for the day and let her help pick out what she wanted to do. Do they stick pretty close to those plans?

 

First - ignore the negative comments. :cool:

 

Next - they stick extremely close to the plans and it's not just playing with toys all day. They will have face painting, crafts, pirate parades, Dr. Suess parades. She can eat dinner with them if she wants (and you want an adult dinner). After dinner activities include bubble dance parties and movies, etc. etc. Your idea about letting her pick is a good one. You can pre-register before the cruise, then go to orientation and get all of the activities for the whole trip.

 

I saw you post on a Fascination roll call that you are on that ship. We do this one regularly. The 2-5 yo camp in on the Verandah deck. Go all the way forward and take those set of elevators. The mid and aft elevators do not go up that far. You will also be given a pager (they may use phones now), just in case and will need to show ID each time you pick up your child. Good luck on your first cruise and let us know if you have any other questions.

Edited November 9, 2015 by obx_fintoo

[sunnywithachance]

Actually Junior Kindergarten is a common thing here in Ontario. Has been for years.

[MsSoloTravel]

If a 2 or 3 year old is more interested in just playing with toys instead of participating with projects will that be okay?

 

I'm worried about getting a call to come pick up my son if he's not participating in the scheduled activity.

[Essiesmom]

The age group is 2-5. That does not mean there will be 25 2y/o and one 5y/o. there will probably be a god mix of all of the ages. She won't be the only five year old there. Funny...I see many posts from parents that worry that their 5y/o will be bored 'with the babies'. But I never see one who worries that their 2y/o will be overwhelmed by all of the 5 y/o. EM

[kidlessatsea]

We just got off the Miracle on Saturday. My daughter is 4 and participated just fine. I peeked in and there were a few young children (age 2) and more older kids (her age).

The entire room was filled with toys, building blocks, dolls etc that kids could play with at any time. In addition, there was a scheduled activity they could choose if they want.

My daughter colored a t-shirt the first day. Other scheduled activities included: Play-doh, Wii Just Dance, they brought in a magician, and there were several Dr. Seuss specific play activities.

 

In addition to all that, there was family time. In the evenings, they invited the kids AND families to attend together for arts and crafts. The Dr. Seuss parade and story time are family events (parents required).

 

My daughter did not go back to camp after the first day. She had a great time but simply preferred to be with us. We played mini-golf and hung out around the ship a lot. She liked the variety of environments we gave her. She had no complaints about the camp and when I picked her up she was busy playing and didn't even notice us there. Rest assured, your child will do great!

[cruizinisthebest]

If a 2 or 3 year old is more interested in just playing with toys instead of participating with projects will that be okay?

 

I'm worried about getting a call to come pick up my son if he's not participating in the scheduled activity.

 

They are not going to be forced to participate in the activities. And there may be more than one going on at once. There are other things they can do if they don't want to be part. The counselors are really great and will try not to boher you unless your child is really upset.

[tkportersat]

Those are not my words, that is straight from my 4 year olds sons mouth last cruise. And he refused to go at 2 1/2 so maybe he was overwhelmed by the 5 year olds. There should be a baby group 2-4, and the 5's should be lumped in with the 6-8 as they are in school already. My experience with Camp Carnival is 50/50 so far, so we will see what happens this trip. I wouldn't have even booked a cruise this year due to the timing if I hadn't gotten a ridiculous deal. We will have fun either way.

 

 

The age group is 2-5. That does not mean there will be 25 2y/o and one 5y/o. there will probably be a god mix of all of the ages. She won't be the only five year old there. Funny...I see many posts from parents that worry that their 5y/o will be bored 'with the babies'. But I never see one who worries that their 2y/o will be overwhelmed by all of the 5 y/o. EM

Edited November 9, 2015 by tkportersat

[Lerin]

Nothing wrong with your post or the term "Jr. Kindergarten".

Just shows how out of touch some people are. I did jr. kindergarten many, many decades ago. It's not new at all; quite common in some parts.

 

It sounds like you are taking a Thanksgiving cruise?

Those are usually full of kids so the chances of them moving a child are slim to none. However, sometimes the groups are combined for activities.

 

You may prefer to post at the Family board, you'll find more support there than on some of the main boards.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=49

[BeachyPeach]

We sailed in February and it was the first time with our children. My daughter is about the same age as yours. Carnival is very strict about ages. She won't be bumped. But, the activities are well run and there is an itinerary you can get for the entire cruise as soon as you get onboard. My kids would pick about two hours to go based on what the schedule was. Each of them, on different days, asked to stay longer because they were having so much fun.

[kayhold]

My son is 9 now but around age 5 when we went on a cruise he had just been tested by the Dept of Education and had an IQ of over 130.

He did just fine with the 2-5 year old group.

Advanced children sometimes do not get along well with children in their age group so I DO get your concerned, but CC is great at adapting. He begged to be there practically every chance he could.

Edited November 10, 2015 by kayhold

[averysmama]

We just came off the Carnival Fascination two weeks ago. We had my daughter (7) and our friends have two kids (6) and (5). My friend asked if the 5 year old could be bumped up to be with her brother and my daughter and they allowed it. So yes, it is possible. They said the only criteria was that she participate with the "big" kids. She did perfect and loved going. So it's definitely a possibility.

[kayhold]

Also, they told me as well that my son could be moved up if he was bored.

Their policy says ABSOLUTELY NOT but I was told we could. We didn't need to and I certainly didnt want my child thinking he was an exception to rules.

[2 cruzen]

Sorry I did not mean to come across as her being any better than anyone else. That was not my intentions at all. Her school calls is Junior K, that is all. It can change it to preschool if that helps.

 

This can be removed/deleted. I do apologize, I may have not worded this properly and it obviously didn't come across as I had intended.

 

Don't remove it, delete it, or apologize.

 

Our granddaughter turned 5 on the day of embarkation. She LOVED the cruise and enjoyed her time at Camp Carnival. We only dropped her off or picked her up occasionally as her parents were in charge, but she did seem to enjoy her time there. Lots of face painting. I know that don't bump kids up as previous people have stated.

[mmbrad02]

Thank you everyone to all your replies and encouragement! We will take her to the activities she picks out and hope for the best :) She loves face painting so I'm sure that will be a hit! 10 days and counting :)