Camp Carnival question

[rebecca.sarge]

Hi, just a quick question about Camp Carnival. I have a mature 8.5 yr old who I think would do better in the 9-11 group rather than the 6-8 group. Does anyone know how strict they are with the age requirements? Thanks.

[mrdood]

Strict! They have no choice, one exception leads to two, two to three, three to four... and then an immature 12 year old punches a very mature 8 year old in the face and someone gets sued.

[MTruvillio]

We just cruised on Carnival Conquest and had a 9 year old and 11 year old who is turning 12 in two weeks. We debated if the 11 year old should be with his brother in th 9-11 year group or go to the 12 -14 year olds. We quickly discovered the 12-14 year olds were out of hand and most had gone through puberty and were alot bigger than my son (although my son is very tall for his age), heck some were taller than me and I'm 5'8. He decided he would prefer to be with the 9-11 year olds.

 

I inquired if he could switch between the two groups based on the activities and was told no. Your child may have some of the same issues (more mature acting....not always in a positive way, bigger kids, etc.) as my son encountered but if you/he feels that he wants to be with the 9-11 just put his age down on the form as being 9.

 

BTW, we were really disappointed with Camp Carnival on what was otherwise a fantastic cruise. Too often the canceled activities or lumped the 9-11 yo's with the younger kids and did the younger kid activities (so your child may end up being with the 6-8 year olds anyway). Plus they seemed liked they closed alot when my kids wanted to go.:mad:

 

Hope you have a better experience.

Mary

[casmichele]

Hi, just a quick question about Camp Carnival. I have a mature 8.5 yr old who I think would do better in the 9-11 group rather than the 6-8 group. Does anyone know how strict they are with the age requirements? Thanks.[/quote

 

We cruised on the Valor last year when our daughter was 8. She met a girl who was 10 and wanted to switch to the 9-11 group. We had no problems switching her at all. When she wanted to go with the other group, she was allowed to do that too.

[CruiseHobbit]

I am just off the Miracle. It seems that the age rules can vary from ship to ship. We were told that any kid can age up to the next group if their birthday was in the next three months. My daughter who is 11(12 in Nov.) was allowed to go to the 12-14 age group.

 

Of course this could change depending on which ship you are on.

 

They did lump some of the 9-11 activities with the 6-8s. I did not see any problems from this though.

 

I can tell you that my son had a blast in the 6-8 year old group though. He had just turned 8 and was the biggest kid there(most of the boys were 6 and 7 it seemed). They all looked up to him, and he really enjoyed being the 'big' kid.

 

My 9 yo daughter is the social one. She had a great time with her group. She had a great time at the sleepover(she was walked to our room at 3:00). She was also allowed to sign herself out when she wanted.

 

We allowed my 11 yo daughter to move up, even though we knew she would fit in with the younger group better. She was not interested in the social aspect, she just wanted to be in a different group than her 9 yo sister. She did the arts and crafts activities, and did not really care for the dances, or hanging out with the other teens. She still had a good time.

 

None of the kids did everything, or even wanted to. They went to the things they wanted to do the most. I did not consider Camp Carnival as babysitting. I saw it mainly as a way to meet other kids, have a break from the sun, and just take it easy.

 

 

As a side note, if they do let an 8 year old join the 9-11 group, they will not be allowed to sign themselves in/out. You will still have to take them to the event yourself and sign them in and out.