Camp Carnival Daily Activities Guides for ALL Ages

[wencel]

Here are scans of the Daily Activities guide for all ages groups. I obtained these during our Jan 18/07 8-night Mexican Riviera cruise on the Carnival Spirit. While I presume activities differ from ship to ship, these guides should provide you with a good idea of the types of activities offered.

 

Camp Carnival Policies (applies to all age groups)

http://www.box.net/public/ln8a613rso

 

2 - 5 Year Old

http://www.box.net/public/yvcbcrb20v

 

6 - 8 Year Old

http://www.box.net/public/ra1bj3szeb

 

9 - 11 Year Old

http://www.box.net/public/ovqxyxo9tu

 

12 - 14 Year Old

http://www.box.net/public/qu6f9b7uu1

 

The links will take you to a PDF file stored at www.box.net. You should be able to click on to the file name to open and view. Apologies for this clunky setup. This is my first attempt at doing something like this. If someone can tell me a better way, I'll be happy to re-post.

[CWNNP]

Wencel,

Did you enjoy your cruise?

How was your child's camp carnival experience?

 

:)

[vetgirl]

Wow! Thank you so much for taking the time to post that great information! I'm sure it helped many of us. This is the first time I had actually seen a "real" schedule and it gives me a better idea of what my daughter will be doing next month--that is if she decides she likes CC!;) I know I would!:p

 

Thanks again--greatly appreciated!

[wencel]

Camp Carnival was a bust for my DD. She's 28 mos and very social with kids and adults. I was sure she'd love Camp. Problem is we were traveling with family and her lil 2nd cousin (same sex and age) has separation issues and tends to prefer playing alone.

 

We signed both girls into Camp together on the first sea day around 10a. By 11a our cousins were beeped to pick up their DD. I picked up my DD at noon and she seemed happy. That night both girls were dropped off at Camp around 7:45p, dressed in their PJs. The adults enjoyed a leisurely dinner in the dining room. When we returned to fetch the girls around 10:15p we found two neat rows of about 10 kids sitting or lying on the floor in front of the enormous flat screen completely engrossed in some movie. Again, DD seemed happy. She had cookie crumbs on her face and chocolate stains on her shoes:). However the next morning, when her lil 2nd cousin said vehemously she didn't like Camp and didn't want to go back, DD decided she felt the same way. Upon further questioning later, DD also said she didn't like the 'teacher' changing her diaper.

 

The cruise turned out far different than I had hoped. On the second to last sea day, we talked DD back to Camp. After some hesitation, she went in and I stayed by the door chatting to the Camp director. Soon it became obvious DD didn't even notice my presence so I was able to escape for an hour. I chose not to leave DD longer and again when I picked her up she seemed happy. The last sea day, DD returned briefly, just long enough for funnel hats & face painting.

 

In talking to various parents, it seems most of the young kids fell into two groups: those who couldn't get enough of Camp and those who cried whenever they were brought anywhere near Camp's door. I saw a 4 yr old girl race into Camp while her 2 yr old sister clung to the parent in fear.

 

As for Camp itself... at first I questioned if all the activities listed actually happened. I had read CruiseCritic postings complaining of cancelled activities. The two hours DD spent at Camp the first day included collage fun, bubble painting and t-shirt art yet she had absolutely nothing to show for it. In observing her during her funnel hat & face painting session, I realized that she was too young to understand what was going on. She had been given a paper hat to draw on, which she did because she could see a group of kids doing so on the floor. She didn't understand that after she was done drawing, she should have taken the hat to one particular counsellor, who was fitting the paper hats to each child and stapling it together. And DD didn't understand that she had to sit in a specific chair where another counsellor would paint her face. All that happened only because I stood at the door and repeatedly yelled directions at her until she walked to the right people. Also because the counsellors could hear and see my yelling, they made a point of giving her directions. Overall I found the counsellors ok with the kids but not as proactive as I would prefer.

 

On first impression, I was actually a little dismayed that the counsellors didn't seem as warm with the young kids as I hoped. Parents are not allowed into Camp at all so you don't get to see more than a very brief moment of your child's interactions with any one counsellor. But since I stood at the door for almost half hour to reassure DD, I was able to see that the counsellors are fairly decent with the kids, although still not ideal - basically, they didn't seem to really enjoy being with the kids:( . I had a chat with Sally, the youth director, who has had tons of great experience with children working in various countries and various settings. Again, my very brief initial impression of her was a little doubtful but in the course of a 15 min conversation, I came to see that she's more caring with the kids than I thought.

 

DD took a strong liking to some older kids we met, a bunch of girls ranging from 6-12 yrs old. Fortunately the girls took an equal liking to DD. That made the cruise more fun for us all. In talking to them, I learned that they didn't spend a lot of time at Camp. Mostly they roamed the ship together. They were a great bunch of young girls, some American, some Canadian and some Australian and they were all very well brought up. Clearly, kids know how to, and do, make new friends easily in a cruise setting. It does seemed that even at that age, they found some of the Camp activites a little too young and 'uncool'. But they did love their cruising experience. They weren't bored and they often availed themselves of some of the supplies offered by the Camp (such as board games, etc).

 

You'll notice in the activities guide that counsellors will take the kids to dinner. I noticed the counsellors were not very hands on at these dinners. The counsellors didn't do much to encourage the children to eat. If a child needed some prodding or just plain help to eat, the counsellors weren't much use. Another challenge (at least on the Spirit) is that dinner options are extremely limited. The kids are taken to the Lido at 5:45p at which time the only option is burger, hot dogs, pizza and fries. The Playa Grille, which serves a very small selection of hot food for dinner doesn't even open until 6p. Actually, dinner options for anyone who doesn't eat in the dining room is extremely limited on the Spirit. There are many food stations during lunch serving all kinds of dishes but not for dinner. My original plan was to feed DD dinner at the Lido buffet around 6p and drop her at Camp while we had our late seating dinner. Of course that didn't happen since DD refused Camp so we ended up taking her to every dinner in the dining room (and most breakfasts, too!). But even if my plan worked, it would have been a challenge since there was such MINIMAL food selection, especially non fast-food type for dinner outside of the formal dining room. Another warning is that we found almost all foods, esp soups and sauces, extremely salty. While I'm conscientious about salt intake, I am not a fanatic - my kid knows McDonald's! But I was shocked by how salty dishes were both in the buffet and in the dining room - parents be warned!

 

As for the late night extra charge babysitting (referred to as Slumber Party), I was initially concerned (get the feeling I was initially concerned about lots of things :p ?) how DD would be able to sleep. Well she wasn't. As already mentioned, they play movies on their giant (probably 60"+) flat screen. The volume is low and the room lighting is low (but you can imagine how much light a large flat screen gives off!). Each child is given a pillow and blanket and arranged in rows about 5 ft in front of the TV. I was surprised by how orderly and quiet the room and the kids were. But at 10:15p, there wasn't a single sleeping child.

 

Lastly, the youngest age group are never taken out of the Camp's Funhouse by the counsellors (except dinner). I agree with that security measure, but I was very disappointed to learn that the Funhouse on Spirit doesn't provide any outdoor play area. On the Diamond Princess, the kid's indoor area provided access to an outdoor area with toys and permanently fixed rides. This area overlooked one of the pools and provided the kids with some fresh air and sunshine. The 2-5 yr old kids who loved Camp on the Spirit and spent hours each day there spent their time in a brightly colored but strangely dark room!

 

I hope this helps to answer some questions about Camp. Given DD's rejection of it, I don't have as much first hand experience to share as I had hoped :(. Feel free to ask any questions and I'll tell you what I know!

[adamsmom]

I have some of the schedules for the NCL Spirit, as well. Perhaps I should post those.

 

My kids are now 7 and 11, and they love every minute of any cruise camp. My son's first cruise whas when he was 7 (CCL Triumph), and my daughter was 5 on her first (CCL Holiday). We left her at home with family on my son's first cruise, because at 3 years old, I didn't know how much she would enjoy it. And I knew that they lumped the 2-year-olds in with the 5-year-olds, and I just wasn't too comfortable with her playing with big 5yo kids, even though she was big at 3. (Plus, up until then, we didn't have kids with us on any cruise, and I just wasn't ready to put the energy into keeping up with a 3yo.) I really think they should break that younger group up some, perhaps 2-3 year olds and 4-5 year olds. There's just such a huge difference in what a 5yo kids enjoys and what a 2yo kid enjoys and/or needs help with. And I thought that they didn't change diapers?

 

We went with some friends on the Holiday, and my son hung out with their kids, who would rather entertain themselves than go to kids camp. So he was really bored most of the time. I asked him later if he regrets not going to Camp Carnival, and he said a most definate "yes!" So on the last cruise, he didn't miss a minute of NCL's camp. Now, they both have to be there every minute.

 

On DD's first cruise, she cried a little at first when I dropped her off, but after I left, she loved every minute of it. I sneaked up a few times and spied on her, and she was having the time of her life. Of course, she was 5 and one of the oldest kids in the group, so things were easier for her than they would have been for a 2yo in the same group. Every day she jumped up in a hurry to get to her "class."

 

So I've said all that to say this: don't rule out kid's clubs, just perhaps wait until she's older and can enjoy it more.