Camp Carnival?

[sea*siren]

We are cruising for the first time in Dec. on Imagination. (I can't wait!!!) I'd love to hear about experiences with Camp Carnival. Did your children enjoy it? Are Camp Carnival activites listed on the capers? My children are 4 yrs and 10 yrs old...Thanks!

[dms_cruisers04]

DD6 (now) loves Camp Carnival. Some of the camp activities will be listed on the regular Capers, but they will get their own Capers also. There is always something for them to do, with the exclusion of lunch and dinner hours. Funship Freddie visits and they have a Find Freddie "scavenger hunt". They even have their own "cocktail" party on formal night.

Be sure to register early if you want a pager and are traveling at a peak time, they are somewhat limited.

[LHP]

Our boys have been cruising with Carnival since 1998 (5 and 8 at the time)

and have been on 13 different Carnival ships. (Holiday twice and the Fantasy 3 times)

 

Each and every time, Camp Carnival has been excellent. Our youngest is a special needs child (autistic) so I am way overprotective. CC has exceeded our expectations in every way. Now that they are "grown" (or think they are) we only use Club O2 for the youngest. He loves it as well.

 

Go to the orientation on the night of embarkation....fill out the one page of info "allergies, etc", attended the family party that same night to get your kids use to their counselors and then 9AM the next morning, Camp Carnival takes over until 10PM (with breaks for lunch and dinner)

 

You will be given a Caper for both children's age group for the entire week, so that you can make your plans accordingly.

 

After 10pm, they offer a babysitting service that is $6 an hour for the 1st child and $4 an hour for additional children until 3AM.

 

Please know that for the 4 year old, the same parent who signs them in will have to sign them out. You will also have pagers (deposit required which is refunded when returned). The 10 year olds are allowed to "sign themselves out" but we never allowed our boys to do that. It was an "understanding" between the boys and ourselves. They do move around the ship for different activities, but the Capers lets you know at all times where they are. Of course, the 4 year old stays put!!

 

Have a great cruise!!

[AJs Dad]

We are cruising for the first time in Dec. on Imagination. (I can't wait!!!) I'd love to hear about experiences with Camp Carnival. Did your children enjoy it? Are Camp Carnival activites listed on the capers? My children are 4 yrs and 10 yrs old...Thanks!

 

Camp Carnival has their own Capers. You can pick it up outside of the Camp anytime. I think it was published with the activities for the entire cruise.

 

The people we had at Camp Carnival on the Conquest in November were great. AJ fell in love with one lady in particular. Some of the activities included face painting (seems like I spent the entire cruise washing face paint off that kid :) ), painting their own t-shirts, AJ did a sand art pendant one day, and a lot more that I don't remember right now.

 

My wife, AJ, and I love Camp Carnival!

[AJs Dad]

Please know that for the 4 year old, the same parent who signs them in will have to sign them out.

 

We had read this on these boards before we left on our cruise; however, it wasn't necessarily that way.

 

The first couple of times we dropped AJ off at Camp we both went (because we had read that was the only way either parent could sign him out). However, they told us that the parent signing him in could write the name of the other parent on the sign-in sheet and that parent would then be allowed to sign him out. So that is what we started doing and it worked great.

 

I don't know if it is like that on all the ships or if is like that all the time. Just relaying our experience.

[Wennfred]

The following are Camp Carnival Daily Activites Caper I have collected:

Under 2 years of age

http://members.cox.net/wennfred2/Under2.html

Ages 2 - 5

http://members.cox.net/wennfred3/2-5.html

Ages 6 - 8

http://members.cox.net/wennfred2/6-8.html

Ages 9 - 11

http://members.cox.net/wennfred3/9-11.html

Ages 12 - 14

http://members.cox.net/wennfred4/12-14.html

These are for the Valor but they pretty much the same program on all ships

[sea*siren]

Thanks for the replies. Sounds like they will have a blast! I like the idea of a pager, makes me feel a little more secure in leaving them :o

[PelicanBill]

We needed the pager only one year when our daughter was very clingy.

Before that and ever since, she is always unhappy to see us at pick up and wants to stay for the late night parties.

[Mama1194]

Would you feel comfortable leaving a child with Camp Carnival and going on an excursion?

[sea*siren]

Would you feel comfortable leaving a child with Camp Carnival and going on an excursion?

 

My initial reaction to this is to say "no". BUT, we've never cruised before, and my kids could surprise me and not want to come along on an excursion. I think it depends on the child and the parents' comfort level.

 

Part of the reason we chose a cruise for this vacation is for the oppurtunity to expose our kids to other places/cultures, as well as some family time spent all together. We felt that a cruise (and the excursion opportunities that come along with it) would be perfect to provide that exposure in the amount of time we have for a vacation. More bang for your buck I guess. :)

I'm wondering if others feel that they got a good balance between kids having a good time at Camp Carnival on their own, and time spent all together as a family. I'd like some quality time spent with just DH out of this vacation too! ;)

[AJs Dad]

Would you feel comfortable leaving a child with Camp Carnival and going on an excursion?

 

Actually we have not reached this level of comfort yet.

 

On our upcoming cruise my wife wants to go on an excursion that the kiddo can't go on. Since neither one of us are comfortable leaving him on the ship for the day I am compromising and taking an excursion that we hope AJ will enjoy.

 

Good news is that we are having father and son day in the Caymans!! :)

[crusinmama06]

Would you feel comfortable leaving a child with Camp Carnival and going on an excursion?

 

 

Nope I won't do it. I have a longggggg drawn out reason why. I'll give you the short version...our youngest daughter (8 months old at the time) picked up a virus on a cruise, she seized for 40 minutes, turned blue, spent 2 days in the ship's hospital and needed to be medically evacuated. :eek:

 

We had been scheduled to go on a kayak excursion that morning, but it had been cancelled due to the weather.

 

So, now I never ever never ever leave my kids on the cruise ship or even consider leaving them. :(

 

And I know people say, well you leave them at school/daycare/etc. But the kids are exposed to many different things when they go on cruises. It's just not the same.

 

Now, to answer the orginal question...camp carnival. The kids loved it. My oldest (7 years old) rated it "better than Disney's kids club"

 

You can do Build A Buddy (Build A bear) for $19.99 extra. The kids make them at the camp. And the bears wear a Camp Carnival t-shirt...makes a great souvenir.

 

They have face painting, late night slumber parties, games, dance parties, scavenger hunts, a talent show on the main stage, a kid's formal on the LIdo deck. Anything past 10pm is $6 for the 1st child, $4 for the 2. I had to go and drag my children out between 10:30pm and 11pm every night cause I wanted to go to bed...lol.

 

The only complaint I had about the camp on Elation is they were a bit unorganized. We would go to do an event that appeared in capers and find out that capers was a "misprint". THAT bothered me.

[neatokimmo]

Thanks Wennfred for the scans! It helps a lot seeing all the activites they have even for the 2 year olds :)

[cruisenk]

When we were on the Liberty last year, Camp Carnival gave the parents cell phones instead of pagers. They worked great throughout the ship, but not at all on shore. We did not leave our kids on the ship to do a shore excursion, but if I had, I wonder how the ship would reach me. Also, the phones worked great for keeping in touch with my SIL who also had kids in camp. We could get in touch even when we weren't in our cabins.

 

Oh - our then 4 year old loved Camp Carnival. I think it helped that she had been in preschool for the previous year and had some experience with teachers and other children. I probably will wait until my youngest has some school experience before letting her go to Camp Carnival.

[babymomma]

DD6 (now) loves Camp Carnival. Some of the camp activities will be listed on the regular Capers, but they will get their own Capers also. There is always something for them to do, with the exclusion of lunch and dinner hours. Funship Freddie visits and they have a Find Freddie "scavenger hunt". They even have their own "cocktail" party on formal night.

Be sure to register early if you want a pager and are traveling at a peak time, they are somewhat limited.

 

 

I am crusing sept. 12 for 5 days it that a peak time or will we be ok? I do want to try to take my son in there but he is not in day care I am not sure how long he will stay. I may only leave in there for a few hours a day depending on the day and the activities they are doing. We will be in the destiney.

[aggieastrosfan]

Our 3 year old loved it. He still talks about it, and can't wait to go back in a few days.

 

They give the 2-5 year olds priority on the pagers. All parents of kids in this group will get the pagers, and if there's any left they'll let others have them. They never had to page us, though. He ran right in and didn't want to leave when we picked him up.

[Lady_Jag]

So do they page you if your child is crying when you drop them off? I ask because my daughter (age 3) is going through a separation anxiety thing right now, and she cries anytime I leave her. She's fine a few minutes later, as long as someone distracts her with something fun/interesting.

 

Basically, when a child is crying "I want mommy!" do they page you right away, or do they try to distract the child first and THEN page you if she doesn't settle down?

[cruisin' again]

Thanks for the replies. Sounds like they will have a blast! I like the idea of a pager, makes me feel a little more secure in leaving them :o

 

They gave us a cell phone last time...Our son is 9, but has bipolar disorder...nothing happened except he was tired and wanted to go back to the cabin one night...since that night they made us take the cell phone.

[Hector's Mom]

So do they page you if your child is crying when you drop them off? I ask because my daughter (age 3) is going through a separation anxiety thing right now, and she cries anytime I leave her. She's fine a few minutes later, as long as someone distracts her with something fun/interesting.

 

Basically, when a child is crying "I want mommy!" do they page you right away, or do they try to distract the child first and THEN page you if she doesn't settle down?

 

 

We were on the Freedom in January (I wanna go back!!!) with my son, who is 6, and my nephew who is 2. My nephew is a cryer, but he very quickly got distracted. They tend to bond very quickly with the "sitters" They both had a wonderful time!! My kiddo loved to play in there, requested to go everyday in fact. They made drawstring bags, t-shirts, teddy bears, sand and candy necklaces, bracelets, pictures.. you name it. He loved the H20 (I think that's what it was called) science-y stuff (my DH is a science teacher, gets it from his daddy), and he really had a wonderful time. My nephew had a great time, but was always happy to see Mommy and Daddy.

 

One thing, we offered my son the chance to go with us everyday. He went to Cayman (the stingrays were just for him!!) and Ocho Rios with us, but didn't want to do Key West (good thing, we walked the entire time). He had a wonderful wonderful time, and we didn't worry at all. He never wanted to eat with us either. He just had the most wonderful time and continually talks about getting back on a boat!!!

[tinabinab]

DD(5) loved Camp Carnival! She hated it when she had to leave for lunch and the pre-dinner break. :) We've never left her onboard during a port day, and I doubt that I would unless I was just running ashore for some nearby shopping. I'd be a total worry-wart. Maybe that will change as she gets older, but then again, as she gets older, we'll have more choices for excursions.

 

My only complaint about CC was the night she came back to the room with a paper star and told us that the counselors said it was a "wishing star". They told her if she wished on it and put it under her pillow that night, her wish would come true. (OMG!) She wished for a dog and of course woke up bright and early the next morning looking for it! I felt so bad trying to explain that one to her. ...and the star quickly disappeared as soon as she was out of sight. ;)

[cruisin' again]

We were on the Freedom in January (I wanna go back!!!) with my son, who is 6, and my nephew who is 2.

 

WE were on the Freedom in January too! lol

 

We always leave our son on the ship when we take excursions. We actually had one planned for Costa Rica just for him! the banana farm, etc...but, we didn't stop in costa Rica...someone got sick and we had to skip it...the only other time he's been off is in Cozumel...we didnt have an excursion planned and the whole time he was saying how much he wanted this or that...you KNOW the vendors were eating that up! He didn't go off with us after that! lol

[cruisin' again]

DD(5) loved Camp Carnival! She hated it when she had to leave for lunch and the pre-dinner break. :)

 

Forgot to mention that...our son actually cries when the camp is closed! They even eat dinner with them! lol

[libbyonthelabel]

Would you feel comfortable leaving a child with Camp Carnival and going on an excursion?

 

Yes, I have and will again.

[amyh1028]

I left my 6 year old on the ship when I went into Progresso. It was Build A Volcano Day in Camp Carnival. She flat out refused to leave. She had a wonderful time. I didn't do much but I was worried she would get hurt or sick but of course she didn't.

We are taking another cruise in November. She can't wait. Her favorite part of the cruise is Camp Carnival. I have a tough decision do I leave her on the ship next time or do I take her even though she doesn't want to go? I think I'll leave her so as not to hear her whine all day.

[cruzzza]

So do they page you if your child is crying when you drop them off? I ask because my daughter (age 3) is going through a separation anxiety thing right now, and she cries anytime I leave her. She's fine a few minutes later, as long as someone distracts her with something fun/interesting.

 

Basically, when a child is crying "I want mommy!" do they page you right away, or do they try to distract the child first and THEN page you if she doesn't settle down?

I see no one has answered your question and I had the EXACT same question. My 26 month is the same way and I was wondering that also.