?? regarding Camp Carnival

[jkls14]

I've been reading these boards like crazy preparing for our upcoming cruise and am thrilled with all the knowledge I've gained from you all THANKS!

 

From reading various posts, I figured out that there will be a meeting the first night to get to know the counselors, but can anyone tell me what time it is held at and how long it goes? Also, my ds is 5 1/2, and I believe he would be better suited with the 6-8 y/o group rather than the 3-5 y/o's. How easy is it to get him in the older group or should I just see how he does with the younger kids before I think about seeing if I can move him?

[I&MsMom]

Hi! We've only cruised from the east coast, but it's always been pretty similar: Meeting at 7-ish, I think designed to be after early dinner and before late. Party in the disco after, followed by make your own sundae at the buffet (never made it that far! LOL)

 

The meeting lasts maybe 30 minutes or so. Time enough for all of the counselors to be introduced and for them to go over the general rules while you fill out the paperwork. The party in the disco is 45-60 minutes. By then, my kids are usually pretty tired, so we've skipped the ice cream.

 

As to the 2-5 year olds, they keep the 2 and 3 year olds pretty much separate from the older kids. So, your son won't have to spend much time with the toddlers. I'm not sure about going up a group. I've read it's possible to go down, but I'm not sure about joining an older group. However, DS was 5 on our first cruise, and he turned 6 mid-week during it. He was in the 2-5 year old group and was fine with it. The real difference between the 2-5 and 6-8 is that the 6-8 group has activities all over the ship, and the 2-5 group stays in the camp area.

 

Hope you have a great cruise and your son has a terrific camp experience!

[jkls14]

Sounds like a good way to start the cruise - disco and ice cream! DS is very excited about that! LOL - and I have no doubt that we will make it to the ice cream - he goes to bed late anyway.

 

I'm satisfied with them separating the younger toddlers - although ds does like playing with them sometimes, I think he'd get bored/frustrated if he had to spend too much time with them! :D I like the idea of him being in one place rather than all over the ship anyway (I didn't realize the older ones did that). He'll have enough time to explore the ship with us anyway.

 

Thank you so much for your reply!

[marquez305]

I didn't know they separated the 2-3 yo's...is this always done? My DD is 3.5, and is one of the youngest in her montessori class of 3-5 yo's. Her 2 best friends are both 5. Is she going to be bored? I was thinking she would get to make friends with kids on her level. I hope she won't be left out of some of the activities because she is 3.

[snista]

You will hear people say that they will, in no case, move a child to another age group. It's not true. If your child is more mature, and developmentally advanced for their age group..they WILL move them up. I had it happen twice now. On our June cruise was the latest. My 5 year old son was moved up to the 6 - 9. The counselors actually approached us about it and said that he was just so far ahead of the others in his group, and that he was bored. They asked if we cared to move him up. Once we did..he had a blast and never one problem.

 

Oh also to answer op's question....Our last orientation for CC was at 5:00.

[wmsherwood]

Although it varies by ship and staff, all the ones we've been on have gone by the comfort level of the child rather than strictly sticking to the age groups. They will generally allow the edge ages (i.e. a 5yo up to the 6-8 group or a 6 down to the 3-5, as necessary). The staff will work with you particularly if there are children travelling together.

The activities are geared by age group and as others have said, the older groups meet at different places around the ship and do activities that range all over the ship (we've found it a great place for our kids -now older).

 

Also as stated above, the meet and greet party is generally around 7-7:30, we usually have early dinner and have had to leave it to take our DD to the meeting and get her settled (now she is older and just takes off on her own - she's pretty self-reliant). It's a good way for the kids to meet others in their age group, and to get comfortable with the counselors. More kids will show up the next day as many tend to skip the first meeting (probably due to dinner schedules, sticking to parents, etc.).

 

ENJOY the cruise! Your DS will have a great time with his new friends!!

bill

[serene56]

You will hear people say that they will, in no case, move a child to another age group. It's not true. If your child is more mature, and developmentally advanced for their age group..they WILL move them up. I had it happen twice now. On our June cruise was the latest. My 5 year old son was moved up to the 6 - 9. The counselors actually approached us about it and said that he was just so far ahead of the others in his group, and that he was bored. They asked if we cared to move him up. Once we did..he had a blast and never one problem.

 

.

 

The difference in your case-- at least he tried the younger program first.

If the counselors see that the child is bored they can and will move them up. But you have parents who just believe their child should be moved-- no matter what it takes.