camp carnival

[vbecky]

I am looking for any advice or tips on camp carnival, I have a 9 year old and a 14 year old. Both boys this is there first cruise and I don't know a lot or anything about camp carnival are there things that I need to definately do to sign them up or how does it work? Your input greatly appreciate thanks. We are going to be on the Elation in March. Thanks again

[cruisinjerseygirl]

Each ship has similiar yet different kinds of programs going on...I would say to look over some of the capers that people have listed and make your decision...the capers that you get for the kids camp will show you everything that they have scheduled by the hour and you can decide or your kids can decide if it is something that they would like to do...my dd made it a point to tell us that she wanted to be there for the talent show stuff so we made sure that she was always there to do whatever it was for that..there were other things that she wasn't interested in so what I did was everyday when we got up I would look at the capers and go through them and ask her what she wanted to do out of the list and then I would know when to drop her off and when to pick her up.

[CruisinMermaid]

We sign our kids up for Camp Carnival on the first day on board. We have a 3 and a 6 year old. They give them name tags to wear while in the club. You'll have to fill out your emergency contact forms and if you've got younger ones they give you a pager to carry in case they need you to come back and get them. They only let the parent(s) who checked the kid in check them out. Your 14 year old might be old enough to check him or herself in or out (you can check with the camp counselors on this). And they usually group kids according to age categories so your 9 year old and 14 year old might be in different groups (you can check with them on this too).

[nybumpkin]

Your 9 YO will be in the 9-11 group and the 14 YO will be with the 12-14s, called Circle C. The 12-14 group can sign themselves in and out - so can the 9-11s with parents' permission. If you do not give permission, your 9 YO will not be able to participate in some of the activities like scavenger hunts. We give our 11 YO permission to sign in and out, but we always walk over to Camp Carnival with him when he signs in and meet him when he signs out.

 

You can register your kids for Camp Carnival the first night; there's an orientation and sign-up scheduled right after the early dinner seating, followed by some family activities. If you miss the orientation, you can go to Camp Carnival and complete the registration forms there.

 

I'm not too familiar with Circle C, since it's a new program for 12-14s, but when it's implemented on all ships this group will have a dedicated area with screens, video games, etc. When my oldest son was in this age group (he's now 16), he would pick and choose activities.

 

Hope this helps!

[cjar855]

Is there a charge for Camp Carnival, or is it free? I have 3 grandkids that will be sailing with me in October and this sounds like something they would like.

[EarthGirl517]

It's free during the regular hours. I think 9 or 10am until 10pm (with a lunch break and a before dinner break on sea days and some port days). If you'd like your kids to go to the slumber party from 10pm to 3am, it is $6/hour for the 1st child and $4/hour for additional children. They prorate this in 15 minute increments as well. They also have some activities that they charge for and you can participate in if you like (such as build-a-buddy). This is all for children over the age of 2. If you have a younger child, you can still sign them up for the babysitting/slumber party at the same price. I believe they also have some babysitting for under 2s on port days.

[cjar855]

Thanks for the quick reply!

[EarthGirl517]

Happy to help.

[sgfun]

This will be our second cruise with the kids, they chose this trip and a lot of it was due to Camp Carnival. Two years ago they were 5,7, and 9. All in different groups. They had no problem with that. There were things they did together (talent show, "coketail" party). They would also look at the Capers in the AM and choose the activities they wanted. They had dinner with us each night then went to what ever the next activity was after dinner.

We were apprehensive about our just turned 9 year old signing herself in and out but didn't want her to miss an activity. The deal was she could sign in and out but we dropped off and picked up. She didn't abuse the privilege so it worked fine.

This year we will have two in one group (due to b-days they will be 9 and 10) and one 7 year old. They are very excited about the trip and what they get to do this trip.

Have no exp. with the older teen groups but impressed with how many of them showed up to different things and how they all seemed to hang out.

[cjar855]

My Grandkids are about the same age 9,10 & 13 . They will be in a balcony caban with their parents. How did sleeping arrangments work for you 5?

[jimswims]

Your 9 YO will be in the 9-11 group and the 14 YO will be with the 12-14s, called Circle C. The 12-14 group can sign themselves in and out - so can the 9-11s with parents' permission. If you do not give permission, your 9 YO will not be able to participate in some of the activities like scavenger hunts. We give our 11 YO permission to sign in and out, but we always walk over to Camp Carnival with him when he signs in and meet him when he signs out.

 

You can register your kids for Camp Carnival the first night; there's an orientation and sign-up scheduled right after the early dinner seating, followed by some family activities. If you miss the orientation, you can go to Camp Carnival and complete the registration forms there.

 

I'm not too familiar with Circle C, since it's a new program for 12-14s, but when it's implemented on all ships this group will have a dedicated area with screens, video games, etc. When my oldest son was in this age group (he's now 16), he would pick and choose activities.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Thank you for the info on this. We are going on the Carnival Miracle in August and have a 10 yr old and a 13 year old. They are new to Carnival and our last Carnival cruise was in 1990 (no kids then).

 

After several NCL cruises, we are going to give Carnival a try. The Kids programs look good!