New cruiser/mommy with a few questions

[sherease23]

We are going on our first Carnival cruise to the Mexican Riviera and April and I just had a few questions. I have been reading for a couple of weeks now so I feel pretty well prepared in this site is very helpful however I just want to make sure I'm clear on a few things.

 

1. Does it cost money to do your own laundry? If so is it quarters or do you use your s&s card for that?

 

2. Did I read correctly that the kids programs are available all day for free but if you want to utilize the babysitting services (night owl) after 10pm you pay 6.75 per hour plus 15% gratuity per child?

 

3. Is there a maximum amount of hours that they can be there during the day? Like for example if my 10 year old wants to participate in all of the activities would she be allowed to?

 

4. Now I have a concern about the nightly dinner. We have a two and a half year old and sometimes he gets loud. What if we are sat at a table with people that don't want to deal with that. Are they stuck with us through the whole cruise every night or would they be allowed to switch?

 

5. Those of you with toddlers have you found that it's better to go to the earlier dinner with your children or the later one? And I'm talking from the perspective of other people. I just don't want to ruin anybody's time if my son decided to throw a fit or even if he's excited and screams really loud from excitement.

 

6. Can children wear the Dramamine patch behind their ear or is that for adults only?

[klfrodo]

We are going on our first Carnival cruise to the Mexican Riviera and April and I just had a few questions. I have been reading for a couple of weeks now so I feel pretty well prepared in this site is very helpful however I just want to make sure I'm clear on a few things.

 

1. Does it cost money to do your own laundry? If so is it quarters or do you use your s&s card for that?Yes, Quarters

 

2. Did I read correctly that the kids programs are available all day for free but if you want to utilize the babysitting services (night owl) after 10pm you pay 6.75 per hour plus 15% gratuity per child? Yes

 

3. Is there a maximum amount of hours that they can be there during the day? Like for example if my 10 year old wants to participate in all of the activities would she be allowed to?Unsure, I believe all day

 

4. Now I have a concern about the nightly dinner. We have a two and a half year old and sometimes he gets loud. What if we are sat at a table with people that don't want to deal with that. Are they stuck with us through the whole cruise every night or would they be allowed to switch?Are they stuck with us? You have the ability to ask to be moved also.

Grandparent here. We recommend early dining. We also recommend that as a courtesy, that if Jr. starts to act up (which most likely will happen because they have had an exciting day) that one member of the party can excuse themselves with the child and step outside the dining venue. Either return when Jr has settled down, or just leave dinner and go somewhere more appropriate

 

5. Those of you with toddlers have you found that it's better to go to the earlier dinner with your children or the later one? And I'm talking from the perspective of other people. I just don't want to ruin anybody's time if my son decided to throw a fit or even if he's excited and screams really loud from excitement. Early for the childs sake. They have had a busy and exciting day

 

6. Can children wear the Dramamine patch behind their ear or is that for adults only?

Children are less susceptible to motion sickness than adults. Wait for it to become a problem rather than making it an assumed problem.

 

Hope this all helps

[jonesca2]

I can only answer to questions 4, 5 and 6 since I've traveled with my 4 year old grand daughter.

 

4. It depends on the temperament of your child. My granddaughter behaved very well with the group we were seated with.

5. We found early dining time was best since she is young and would be ready for bed by 8:30.

 

6. Get advice from your pediatrician about this. My granddaughters pediatrician told us that young children do not get sea sick and would not need anything. We did bring along some children's medication for this but I can say with two cruises under her belt she did not need it.

 

 

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[Manatee Mom]

 

1. Does it cost money to do your own laundry? If so is it quarters or do you use your s&s card for that?

 

2. Did I read correctly that the kids programs are available all day for free but if you want to utilize the babysitting services (night owl) after 10pm you pay 6.75 per hour plus 15% gratuity per child?

Camp is free extra for after hours but on Sea days camp closes for lunch so you will have to pick them up for a couple of hours. There are also some nights your child can have dinner with camp (no cost) so you can have a date night

 

3. Is there a maximum amount of hours that they can be there during the day? Like for example if my 10 year old wants to participate in all of the activities would she be allowed to?

Carnival is not like NCL, kids can come and go as they want no set time limit that they have to stay

 

4. Now I have a concern about the nightly dinner. We have a two and a half year old and sometimes he gets loud. What if we are sat at a table with people that don't want to deal with that. Are they stuck with us through the whole cruise every night or would they be allowed to switch?

the only times we have been sat with strangers, they are usually like us......when you go as a family with young children they seat you with a family with young children. Lately we have not been seated with other families just had a small table to ourselves

 

5. Those of you with toddlers have you found that it's better to go to the earlier dinner with your children or the later one? And I'm talking from the perspective of other people. I just don't want to ruin anybody's time if my son decided to throw a fit or even if he's excited and screams really loud from excitement.

We found when the kids were young to go to the early dinner because that was usually when they were hungry and then go to the early show with them so they could fall asleep on the couch while we watched the show

 

6. Can children wear the Dramamine patch behind their ear or is that for adults only?

 

I will say bring walkie talkies for your child while in the camp. so if your child wants to be picked up they have a way of contacting you

Bring a medicine bag with all the basics including a thermometer, they will charge to take a temp in the clinic.

[Supercrossfox21]

For question #5 early or late dinner, I pwrsinally think it has to do with where you live and where your traveling to bc of time change. We live in CA but always do cruises out of Florida which is 3 hrs ahead. So if we do the early dining at 6:00 thats like is eating at 3pm our time, so the late dining at 8:30 works better for us and even thats early bc we dont eat dinner at home till 7pm. So we usually have a healthy snack before bed. We have done this with our daughter who cruised at ages 1, 3 and 4. Our next cruise she will be 6 and we will have our son who will be 17 months.

 

Also you can always request to sit by yourselves at 4 top as to not disturb others at the table and they serve you at a quicker pace instead if waiting for others to finish at a big table. We ask when we book to be put at our own table and then when we get there if we are not, we just ask again. Have never had any problems.

[Nashmom2]

Camp Carnival does close at lunch time for a couple of hours (maybe 2-not sure). So if she is there in the morning you will need to pick her up for lunch, since they don't serve lunch, and then you can bring her back later. They are also closed from 5-6 I think to get ready for the evening so the earliest you can drop them off for dinner is 6.

[Naomi John]

Camp Carnival does close during lunch and for about an hour before dinner. Also, on some sea days, they have family activities in the afternoon, which means parents have to attend, or child does not attend.

 

Never had a problem with dinning, but never had a toddler, our child was 6 for her first one.

 

You can google camp schedules. Although they may not be for the ship you are on, they are very similar from ship to ship. I might have one for the 9-11 year olds in one of my reviews, (not the Magic, we graduated from Camp Carnival to Circle C for that one). If you want the 6-8, I might have those scanned some where on my puter.

 

Check the Family Board on CC, (special interests, Family board), they might have schedules scanned as well.

Edited January 10, 2016 by Naomi John
Add further information.

[Sooner-Cruisers]

Our lo was 2 on her first cruise. We did early dinner and I brought a different activity for her each night. I got some simple ideas from the family board, like Pom poms from the dollar store in a snack trap. We had grandparents with us, so it was the 5 of us at our own table.

[IPlayWithString]

One thing our favorite nurse practicioner (NP) told us before our first cruise when our son was about 9 was that you can give your child OTC allergy medication for seasickness.

 

Now, our son has never gotten seasick BUT...the transition from the ship back to dry land is always a tricky one. Usually at least once he ends up throwing up in the car (he's never carsick otherwise) and we've learned the hard way to keep either a large empty disposable cup (like from McDonald's or something) or a large Ziploc bag in the car for him to puke into when he feels he's going to get sick.

 

::edited because I forgot::

 

He did get seasick..or something..ONE time. He OD'd on milk and it kinda didn't go well. So keep an eye on how much your older one drinks if she's a heavy milk consumer typically (like my kid is). Since you're allowed to take on 12 cans of soda per person, we started bringing on some ginger ale for upset tummies after that incident.

Edited January 10, 2016 by IPlayWithString

[SadieN]

Talk to your pediatrician about sea sick meds. The patch is very drying and has lots of side effects. Talk with the doctor about other OTC meds, including benedryl.

Tart green apples, crackers, ginger (I bring Gins Gins), clear soda all help with nausea. Pressure wrist bands also help.

Edited January 10, 2016 by SadieN

[joeyancho]

I will say bring walkie talkies for your child while in the camp. so if your child wants to be picked up they have a way of contacting you

Bring a medicine bag with all the basics including a thermometer, they will charge to take a temp in the clinic.

 

Camp carnival will give you a phone. No need for walkie talkies.