Just turned 12yrold and Camp Carnival

[imlulu]

We are on the President's Week sailing on the Miracle. MY oldest ds will have just turned 12. I have been reading on other boards how the 12-15 yr old age group is not really organized. I am just wondering if my immature 12 yr old will be able to be in the 9-11 group on a holiday sailing???Anyone with experience??Is it based on the number of kids participating?

[palmtre2]

My daughter was just about to turn 9 on our last cruise and they allowed her into the 9 to 11 group. If there is only a year involved they usually grant the parents wishes.

[finoky]

A few years ago we had our first and only experience with Camp Carnival. It was enough for us that we, and our daughter, have nothing else to do with that program. They would not allow our then 8 year old daughter, she was 2 months from turning 9, join the 9-11 year old group with her friend that was cruising with us. They would not budge at all. Hope you have better luck. We have said the heck with Camp Carnival ever since.

[bethm214]

a child may age down...especially if you privately mention that he is less mature than his chronilogical age. i commend you for thinking about him.

my sons have always LOVED the camp programs and although we balance the time they spend with us with time spent in camp...they really LOVED camp!

good luck..just be VERY sure to go to the first meeting the first night. it is a very important ice breaker for everyone.

[imlulu]

Thanks!

 

Both my boys enjoyed Camp last time. My son will turn 12 on Jan 20 and we cruise 1 month later. He actually spent alot of time in pool and eh ahd the freedom of participating when he wanted. I just want him to have a good time. Being with older kids in an unorganized environment is definitely not a good thing.

I have always highly recommended Camp Carnival. We shall see. :)

[suntrine]

I'm just back from the Victory with my 7 and 10 year old. My 10 year old was in the 9-11 age group. I'm not that familiar with the 12+ group but I can tell you that I was disappointed with the lack of supervision for the 9-11's. They are allowed to "sign" themselves "in" and "out" to any of the 9-11 activities. yes, there is supervision during the activities and yes, you can tell your child they are not allowed to sign themselves out but the counselors will not enforce what you tell your child and if a friend talks them into leaving, they will be allowed to sign themselves out. The biggest problem I had was having children in two different age groups (they absolutely would not make any consideration to switch one or the other). On our first port day, the kids wanted to stay on board and it was one of the few times their age groups were combined in the same room, childrens world. However, At 12noon, the 9-11 year olds are FORCED without Exception (I checked with 2 different counselors) to Sign themselves out for Lunch (while they feed the younger age groups). Even if my 10 yr old was not hungry she was forced to sign herself out for an Hour and be on her own. This seems ridiculous to me. In my case, on this cruise, I did not find the camp carnival staff to be very friendly with the Parents (the kids absolutely Did Love them). They would not make any exceptions to the age group rule under any circumstance and the bottomline for me is that they made no apologies ever or offered any reassurance to a parent who might be concerned about leaving there 10 year old alone and, in this case, unattended. Unless your child makes or brings a friend in their age group I dont think Camp Carnival has alot to offer the 9+ children. I was very disappointed.

 

Carnival Victory 7/31/04

Carnival Conquest January 04

and many more...

[vesw01]

My son is 11 and we will be sailing on the Victory on 9/25/04 - I will be very upset if they send him packing without my permission - there is no way I would want my 11 yr old wandering the ship!

[Starz723]

I just got off the July 18 sailing on the Legend.. My son is 12. He had the choice to be with both groups. Some days he did things with the younger kids and some with the older. My son had a walkie talkie so I could stay in touch with him. Yes, they do allow them to sign out. I had no problem with my son doing that as I was in total communication with him at all times. There were sea days when he wanted to stay with me and some days when he would spend a few hours with the group. We both had a good experience with Camp Carnival..He even got on the video with the pizza making party.

[DM]

Imlulu,

We were recently on the Inspiration. My 12 year old daughter was not comfortable with the older group and was allowed to join the 9 - 11 group. She fit in perfectly as there were several 11 year olds in the group.

[imlulu]

Thanks I am glad that they have allowed to bump down.

 

On our last cruise my oldest ds was 10 and had a super time. My youngest was in the 2-5 age group. He absolutely loved it also. We too did the walkie talkie for my oldest. My oldest ds spent alot of time at the slide, watching poolside stuff(loved the ice sculpture), spending time with us, etc.. He also would go to Camp when it was something that interested him such as video game hour. He would then head back. Most times I would walk up with him and then stop back so we could head to wherever when done. During port days, we did stuff as a family.It worked well for us.

I am just happy to know that he will probably be allowed to join the 9-11 group. :)

[mohavemommy]

On my Spirit cruise in '03, my kids, 10 & 6, were allowed to be together since there were very few kids on that cruise. On my Pride cruise in '04 they were not since the cruise was more full. It seems that it all depends on how many kids are on the sailing.

[1tonysmom]

Hi. I, too, had my concerns about my son signing himself out of Camp Carnival on our last Glory cruise. He was 11 at the time. We had a long talk with my son prior to our cruise, explaining that if he was to sign himself out, he had to check in regularly and let us know where he was going to be. There were also specific consequences for breaking the rules. We cruised the week of Thanksgiving and there were tons of kids on the ship. We never had a problem with him the entire week. He was great about letting us know where he would be. When we went to check up on him, he was right where he said he was. Besides the checking in, the other main ground rule was that he was NOT to go into anyone elses cabin, nor bring any friends to our cabin without checking with us first. He really enjoyed the ability to pick and choose his activities. He spent a fair amount of time in the pool and doing the waterslide. Now our 17 (now 18) year old was a different story. He never checked in with us, tried to get off the ship with some friends in Mexico and in general was a giant pain the the @##! He is starting college this month, and we had told him straight up that he is not going to be cruising again with us for some time. I think it depends a lot on the maturity of your child. Happy cruising.

 

Joanne :D

[Crichard]

We were on the Conquest this summer. My son is 10 and he did not enjoy camp carnival. We would not let him sign himself out the first day, but changed our minds after that. They recommended the kids have a soda card so they could get drinks. We dropped him off for an hour and a half of basketball and volleyball. When we returned, he was extremely thirsty. The other kids had signed out, gotten drinks and even gone and gotten ice cream. He had nothing. They were playing ball in the afternoon on top of the ship. I could not believe they allowed all the other kids to get stuff and not him. When we got back, leaders and kids were on an ice cream break, and our son was just sitting there. He didn't do much with Camp.

Our 13 year old had a good time. I was angry when I got home and found out that 16 and 17 year old boys (they did not look it) were allowed to be with her age group. I was not happy with this. She didn't say anything at the time because she didn't want me to pull her out. She loved it, but I am now hearing stories I did not like. We had hoped to cruise again next summer, but are waiting until our kids get older.

Cathy

[kimanjo]

We recently cruised with our 11 (almost 12 year-old) daughter and we allowed her to come and go as she pleased, BUT BOY, did we have rules. We always gave her a set meeting time and place to be, and if there were any deviations from that she was either to meet us back at the cabin or leave a note inside the cabin. She was not allowed to go anywhere except public spaces--as we explained to her, "places where other groups of people can see you".

 

Also, we never let her be away from us more than 45 minutes at a time. I gave her my watch so she would have no excuses!

 

Well, she more than surpassed my expectations in showing repsonsibility. Basically she just wandered through the ship, getting a snack here and there, enjoying the art auctions, the bands by the pool, the library (she is a BIG reader), sitting in the atrium and watching other people.

 

She did not participate in the Kid's activities because she was too old for the 9-11 and too young for the 12+ group; she was by herself--but happy being so! I think many of the children in the 11-12 age range are in a tough spot, not yet old enough to want to be middle-school social (what with the flirting, etc.) but too old to be interested in youth activities. Kim

[Cinderellie]

From everything I have read, you have to go with an open mind and with the attitude that your child is going to have the best time, no matter what age.

 

I have read numerous times that in order to make sure the kids "connect" with someone or a group -- no matter the age -- they suggest you go to orientation where they have a mixer. I have read that those kids who don't often are seen walking around the ship alone or with parents... those that do at least have a chance of becoming friends.

 

I am leaving in 20 days, and can't wait to bring my 10 year old daughter and 14 year old son to orientation. I have openly tols them THAT'S where they will "hook up" with kids their age and start off their cruise fun.

 

And regarding letting them sign in and out... once we were comfortable, and we all knew the ship, we set certain time guidelines and curfews (we all eat breakfast & dinner together, checking in at certain times, etc.) they proved themselves and had a wonderful time. Walkie talkies can help.

 

One important tip... make sure your child has a working watch -- and that it is waterproof! And, that they are wearing it before they leave the cabin. Otherwise, they lose track of time!

 

Oh, and here's another one -- have you registered on your roll call on this board? Are there other families with children going who are your child's age on your ship? I have already connected with 2 families who have children close to my kids' ages, and one of them is already emailing with my daughter, so they have a friend already! It's been fun!

 

Good luck!