tfero Posted October 2, 2007 #1 Share Posted October 2, 2007 Can anyone please give me details and/or pics of the childrens facilities on these ships!!! I cannot get a straight answer from any of the lines customers service reps on the following questions! 1. What is the size (sq ft) of the childrens program for the age group a 3 yr old would be in? 2. Do any of these ships have actual climbing equipment..meaning the McDonalds style cubes and tubes and/or slides...like a playground of sorts? 3. Do any of these ships have and "outdoor" play area as part of the children's program where the kids are supervised by the adults in the 3yr old category....as an actual attachment to the children's center or separate? 4. How large are the children's pools on these ships? I don't want just a glorified hot tub of sorts.... 5. Movie theatres on any of these? Are they actually inside or are they outside by the pool only? Will they show any kids movies? ie..Nemo..etc. 6. 15yr old programs? Are they actually organized and run by crew members or just kind of a free for all and kids hang out and do their own thing? Unfortunately, I am trying to find a ship that will be the best choice for an extremely active 3yr old and two 15 yr olds....any help at all would be greatly appreciated! Oh, we are going this year for the Thanksgiving week and we have only been on one cruise prior to this one. The Liberty of the Seas and the 3yr old was too young to participate in any activities. She is completely potty trained now, though! Yay! Thanks again for any advice. And please if anyone has them send me some detailed pictures of the different ships 3yr old areas!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paleochick Posted October 2, 2007 #2 Share Posted October 2, 2007 Can anyone please give me details and/or pics of the childrens facilities on these ships!!! I cannot get a straight answer from any of the lines customers service reps on the following questions! 1. What is the size (sq ft) of the childrens program for the age group a 3 yr old would be in? 2. Do any of these ships have actual climbing equipment..meaning the McDonalds style cubes and tubes and/or slides...like a playground of sorts? 3. Do any of these ships have and "outdoor" play area as part of the children's program where the kids are supervised by the adults in the 3yr old category....as an actual attachment to the children's center or separate? 4. How large are the children's pools on these ships? I don't want just a glorified hot tub of sorts.... 5. Movie theatres on any of these? Are they actually inside or are they outside by the pool only? Will they show any kids movies? ie..Nemo..etc. 6. 15yr old programs? Are they actually organized and run by crew members or just kind of a free for all and kids hang out and do their own thing? Unfortunately, I am trying to find a ship that will be the best choice for an extremely active 3yr old and two 15 yr olds....any help at all would be greatly appreciated! Oh, we are going this year for the Thanksgiving week and we have only been on one cruise prior to this one. The Liberty of the Seas and the 3yr old was too young to participate in any activities. She is completely potty trained now, though! Yay! Thanks again for any advice. And please if anyone has them send me some detailed pictures of the different ships 3yr old areas!!! I haven't been on ANY of those ships, but we're sailing on CCL's Liberty in a few days. I'm taking a 3 year old. I know I have run across some pictures like you're asking for, but I can't find them right now. Do a search on webshots. Use the search terms: "Camp Carnival." You'll find oodles of pictures. I don't know where you'll find measurements. For example, here's a shot of the children's pool: http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2937530590050360393JzlGno That's from CCL's Glory, but it's the same as the Liberty. It's not a huge pool. Since your 3yo is potty trained, you could take them in the big pool too. Cruisin Mama will likely post. She has great photos of Royal Caribbean's pools for kids. Have you seen the deck plan for Camp Carnival on the Liberty? It looks to be quite large: http://www.carnival.com/Deck_Plan.aspx?shipCode=LI I don't know what portion the 3yos get, but it can't be too small or parents and kids alike would hate it. The Liberty has an outdoor movie theater only. It's poolside. I've seen a recent schedule. They show about one kid movie each day (out of 3 or 4). I don't believe the Liberty has McDonalds-type climbing stuff. They have so much more. Have you seen the Funship Island tour of Camp Carnival? http://www.funshipisland.com/#campcarnival Here's a shot of some climbing stuff they have: http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2210018240040556309kNVrqt I think CruisinMama06 will be here shortly (if she hasn't stopped in already...this is taking me forever to type...sick kids today). Anyway, I'll post pictures and a cruise review from the eyes of a 3yo when we return from the Liberty. Happy planning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paleochick Posted October 2, 2007 #3 Share Posted October 2, 2007 I should add that I think CruisinMama (she's been on a lot of ships!) said once that her favorite ships for her kids were RCCL's Freedom Class ships. Can you add one of those to your list? Here's a post to read: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=634894 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crusinmama06 Posted October 2, 2007 #4 Share Posted October 2, 2007 I think CruisinMama06 will be here shortly (if she hasn't stopped in already...this is taking me forever to type...sick kids today). LOL...sorry I saw the list of ships and thought "Well I haven't been on ANY of those" so I didn't think I had anything to contribute...lol. :) The children's programs I guess are listed here.. Carnival's http://s204.photobucket.com/albums/bb196/cruisinmama06/Camp%20Carnival%20Capers/ NCL's http://s204.photobucket.com/albums/bb196/cruisinmama06/NCL%20Kids%20Crew/ Princess http://s204.photobucket.com/albums/bb196/cruisinmama06/Princess%20Patters/ And since the OP was on Liberty of the Seas, then they probably know all about the Freedom class. :D Children's Pools on Carnival ARE "glorified hottubs" lol. There aren't much to them. They do have the twister slide at the main pool but the child MUST be 48" for the one and 42" tall for the other (the one that doesn't empty into deep water) Movie Screens, the new Carnival and Princess ships have the GIANT LCD movie screens. They play movies in the afternoons and at night. The pools are SALT water on Carnival. That may be a shock to your system if you are used to the Liberty pools. The dining on NCL is Freestyle. You may or may not like that. So now I am curious why you are choosing those ships after doing LOS? Did you not like something on it? Or do you just want to do something different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmalino Posted October 2, 2007 #5 Share Posted October 2, 2007 Just an FYI, the pools on Princess are fresh water Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Manatee Mom Posted October 3, 2007 #6 Share Posted October 3, 2007 We were on the CCL Liberty in June. The camp for ages 2-11 is one hugh room. (probley the biggest we've seen) divided in half by the movie/tv screens and a movable wall. If i remember right they have an area just outside that they can also play on. Princess camp rooms are smaller but remember we've been on CCL with 990 kids under 18, and on a holiday sailing on princess last year we had only 30 under 12. So the camp size isn't always that important. Here is something to think about being on both ships. Princess allmost all camp staff is canadian, and on a ship for when needed. They bring on more staff for more kids. Carnival camp staff is from all over (some don't speak english very well) and they are on for a contract period. If that sailing they have more kids than usual, they don't care. It's still the same number of staff. 3. "outdoor" play area as part of the children's program I can't remember, but they don't usually take the little ones out of the room. 4. How large are the children's pools on these ships? I don't want just a glorified hot tub of sorts.... On the Liberty the kids used the hot tubs as pools, they have a nice size (for a ship) kids pool in back (very shallow) 5. Movie theatres on any of these? Are they actually inside or are they outside by the pool only? Will they show any kids movies? ie..Nemo..etc. Both have movie under the stars - Princess does it much better. princess gives you popcorn and blankets. for the kids they did wizard of oz 1 night where they gave them wands and bubbles, etc... they had a staff member dress like dorthy and had the kids act out the movie. CCL you have to pay for the bad ( i mean it was awful) popcorn and you are on the regular deck chairs with no padding. 6. 15yr old programs? Are they actually organized and run by crew they have staff supervision during planned activites, but the kids can go in the clubs whenever they want. send me some detailed pictures of the different ships 3yr old areas!!! i don't have any pictures but you can see our videos on when the kids are throwing the football and riding on the cars thats in camp carnival. good luck deciding!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tfero Posted October 3, 2007 Author #7 Share Posted October 3, 2007 You guys are FANTASTIC! One more thing...in reading the different schedules that you posted it seems that the Carnival and NCL have more games..ie face painting...bubbles...something with things like Blues Clues and Dr seuss and Dora...singing and dancing activites...Does Princess do that many things geared to the very young? I need to keep my 3yr old very engaged as she is the most active little one I have seen in a long time but, she loves music and singing and painting etc...Any help is appreciated and thank you all again for your prompt responses! I have to make my decision by 7pm tonight... Anyway, I will come back after the cruise and post a review for the one I choose as well as the Liberty of the Seas that we went on in June 07. Thanks again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Manatee Mom Posted October 3, 2007 #8 Share Posted October 3, 2007 princess does facepainting, games, science projects, movies and much more. my kids when on princess always beg to go to camp. they have also had very good luck with counslers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nybumpkin Posted October 4, 2007 #9 Share Posted October 4, 2007 We've sailed Carnival Liberty and are booked on Carnival Valor. We've also been on Carnival Conquest; all three are the same class ship with similar layouts. Liberty is the only one of the three with the outdoor movie screen right now. (I saw one post stating that Valor will get a movie screen when she's in drydock in early 2008, but I've never seen anything official to that effect.) Camp Carnival is at the forward end of deck 12; on Liberty and Conquest, one side was for the 2-5 group and the other side was for the 6-8 group. (During the day, the 9-11 group was in different locations around the ship - usually one of the lounges, which was off limits to other guests. After 10 pm, all three groups were in the Camp Carnival space.) The kids' pool is right outside the Camp Carnival area; it's good for younger kids, but those much older than 5 wouldn't enjoy it - it's a wading pool. Our youngest was in the 2-5 group the first two years we cruised, and he loved it. On Conquest (he was 5 on that cruise), they divided the kids into 2-3 and 4-5 year olds, with counselors assigned to each group. There were 900 kids in all on that sailing, and we never noticed any problem with Camp Carnival staffing. They had lots of good art projects, music activities, "Exer-seas" exercise programs, and reading activities, as well as some "down time" with cartoons and video games. For the 15-17 year-olds, they have Club O2. Liberty and Valor have dedicated Club O2 space on the Promenade deck near the arcade. I posted the Club O2 activities from our February Liberty sailing at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=540638&highlight=Liberty+Club (they vary from cruise to cruise depending on the Club O2 director, but these activities are pretty representative.) There is a dedicated Club O2 staff member who reports to the Cruise Director; they're not part of the Camp Carnival staff. My son (16) has a great time with Club O2; he participates in some of the scheduled activities, but also has a great time just hanging out in the Club O2 area with his friends, or getting pizza/ice cream on the Lido deck. Hope this helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hightownCO Posted October 4, 2007 #10 Share Posted October 4, 2007 Go to this site and look around at the Crown Princess. If you'll go to the Photos and Tours tab, there are really nice 360degree shots of kids facilities and lots of other places too. (This is on American Airlines site) http://aa.cruises.com/c/shipdetail.asp?lineid=40&vessel=542 I'm sure there are similar views on other lines/ships on the site too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tfero Posted October 5, 2007 Author #11 Share Posted October 5, 2007 Well..we made our decision..Caribbean Princess...now I just need to get my hands on every bit of material on the ship I can find!! haha! Anyway you were all great and I will be sure to let you all know how it goes when I get back! Only 45 days to go!...:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hightownCO Posted October 5, 2007 #12 Share Posted October 5, 2007 WOW! Booking with only 45 days to go? I wouldn't know how to act! I've usually booked with 300+ days to go. Shortest wait so far has been 5 1/2 months! You'll love CB (Caribbean Princess). It's a classy ship but fun! Have a great time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tfero Posted October 5, 2007 Author #13 Share Posted October 5, 2007 Yes, it is soon! But, now that we live in Florida it is just toooo...easy to get to several different ports! Besides, I saved a ton of money by booking so close to sail date! I know this dosen't happen all of the time(waiting to book until closer) but in this case it helped me immensely! I CAN'T WAIT!:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katyjeka Posted October 6, 2007 #14 Share Posted October 6, 2007 We took our 3 dd's on the NCL Dawn, and wow, it was wonderful. The pool area is unbelievable for a ship and the kids crew was great. We look forward to sailing her again. Have fun. Janice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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