Carnival Vista/Breeze with a 5 year old

Is there really enough to do on these types of ships for a 5 year old that won't be in the kids club? I know Vista isn't out yet so I added Breeze since it seems to be similar.

I was attracted by the family area that is supposed to be on Vista. But, in reviewing fun times from Carnival for a 8 day Southern Caribbean in 2014 on the Breeze, I don't see anything listed for young children. There's nothing for parents to do with their children other than waterworks or the sports court. Dr Seuss at Sea seems to be one day and not long.

I've cruised Carnival 3 or 4 times and Royal Caribbean a couple of times and NCL once. I'm on Disney in 2016 but really wanted to do a southern Caribbean again that left from Florida in 2017.

Can anyone that has been on a Breeze type ship please advise? The other option was Navigator of the Seas but they're missing the H20 water area as well as other activities.

What do you do at home to entertain a 5 year old? Well, that's what you'll do on the ship, if you don't utilize the kid's club...which a 5 year old will LOVE!!!

I'm not sure what sort of "entertainment" you need...most 5 year olds are quite easy to entertain...they are open to almost anything!

RCL was lacking in kid activites. It took a bit getting used to since with Disney there was TONS to do with her.

swimming.

explore and wonder the ship

carnival had a library with books and games.

I pack a bag with small crafts and things to do. One day we painted. Cheep dollar spot/clearance type things.

I don't know if carnival has open hours for kids to play? I know disney does, parents can play with thier kid. RCL had open hours for the nursary, but 5 is too old.

Honestly, between swimming, eating, getting ready for dinner, playing in the room, just watching the water on the balcony and the stuff I brough my 3 yr was fine on rcl. It wasn't as fun as Disney. We haven't done carnival with her yet, so I can't say.

Thanks. I was talking about the types of movies and shows that are on board Carnival as far as entertainment. I was asking if there were any activities such as build a bear, face painting, kiddie movies, crafts etc that the parents and children can participate in together. This is stuff we don't always have time to do at home.

I know my son will love the kids club. But, I don't plan to leave him there most of the time. Maybe 2 hours a day at the most.

Thanks. I was talking about the types of movies and shows that are on board Carnival as far as entertainment. I was asking if there were any activities such as build a bear, face painting, kiddie movies, crafts etc that the parents and children can participate in together. This is stuff we don't always have time to do at home.

 

I know my son will love the kids club. But, I don't plan to leave him there most of the time. Maybe 2 hours a day at the most.

We don't do the kids club, even though dd is old enough. We cruise to spend time together and for daddy to spend time with her (he works).

Most of the activities exclude the parents though, the demand is for parent who don't want to be with their kid on vacation.

Disney DOES have many things to do with kids-toddler time, wake up with disney jr, crafts, build a ginger bread house (seasonal) and other stuff. From my research, the other cruise line lack that. The 'family' activities on RCL, were boring, not kid fun.

They typically have family movies playing by the pool.

Carnival lists what's offered:

http://www.carnival.com/onboard/cruise-activities-for-kids

You can search by ship.

Looks like the breeze has mini gold and a sports area, a library (typically board games as well) TtOWEL ANIMAL THEATER, and for a fee a 3D theater and BEARY CUDDLY WORKSHOP, video arcade, plus other stuff.

Honestly, if he's at the kid's club 2 hours a day, he'll have plenty of fun plus swimming and just chillin'.

But I wouldn't expect crafts or such with your kid, other than the for fee stuff.

Thanks for the link. I saw a partial list before and was excited about some of the activities but couldn't find some of them in the fun times I reviewed so I thought I'd ask.

Carnival has their own build-a-bear type activity. It's offered on all of the cruises, several times. It will be posted in the Fun Times. I'd also strongly recommend picking up a copy of the Camp Carnival schedule, even if you don't intend to send your child to Camp. They have several activities for the kids where the parents attend along with the kids, and that's where they will be published. The build a bear activity is one of them (I'm blanking out on what they call it...you'd think after 6 cruises with kids, and buying 18 of those flipping bears, I'd remember!! I think maybe it's called Beary Cuddly or something like that.).

You can probably search on this forum and find a Camp Carnival schedule that you can read through to get an idea of the parent/child activities offered.

For what it's worth...my kids have all LOVED Camp Carnival. If you look at the schedule, it breaks down the activities that will be offered by the half hour. You can drop them off and pick them up for only the activities they are interested in . We always bring a highlighter and go over the schedule with our kids on the first day, to get an idea of what they do or don't want to try.

Carnival has their own build-a-bear type activity. It's offered on all of the cruises, several times. It will be posted in the Fun Times. I'd also strongly recommend picking up a copy of the Camp Carnival schedule, even if you don't intend to send your child to Camp. They have several activities for the kids where the parents attend along with the kids, and that's where they will be published. The build a bear activity is one of them (I'm blanking out on what they call it...you'd think after 6 cruises with kids, and buying 18 of those flipping bears, I'd remember!! I think maybe it's called Beary Cuddly or something like that.).

 

You can probably search on this forum and find a Camp Carnival schedule that you can read through to get an idea of the parent/child activities offered.

 

For what it's worth...my kids have all LOVED Camp Carnival. If you look at the schedule, it breaks down the activities that will be offered by the half hour. You can drop them off and pick them up for only the activities they are interested in . We always bring a highlighter and go over the schedule with our kids on the first day, to get an idea of what they do or don't want to try.

Other than the for fee BEARY CUDDLY WORKSHOP, what other activities can parents join? I've asked before and we told there were none. We'd love more stuff to do with dd! I don't plan on doing the buildabear workshop and don't feel I should have to pay money to be with my kid.

does the kid club have open house hours?

Thanks. I'll check the Camp Carnival schedule to see what activities are usually available. I may drop him off and pick him up at the completion of those activities. I just don't remember ever seeing younger children around too much on my Carnival cruises. When I did see them, they were participating in activities with Camp Carnival, or on deck around the pools/hot tubs with their parents nearby.

I know Disney is made for children. But, the cost is so high that I don't want to do it in 2016 and 2017. I was really excited when I booked Vista, but then I thought about my prior cruises on Carnival and started to worry -- activities not too family friendly -- music, hairy chest contest, movies on deck, bingo (boring to a child), comedy shows (never made it to the family one so I have no idea.) My last Carnival cruise was on Carnival Valor. I can just imagine the constant questioning -- "Why is that fat hairy man jumping in the pool?", "What did that song say?", "What does that lady have on?", "This movie is bad mommy." I know he'll be exposed -- not a big deal. We'll deal with it. But, I want to watch some movies that he may enjoy, and do other things with him that we'll all enjoy together.

This will be our second cruise (first one not 'til 2016) where the focus won't be on eating, relaxing at the beach or on deck, and having a few drinks of the day.

We are not a family that is the "sheltering type" but there have been times that I thought the music and "sexiest bikini" contest were a bit much on both carnival and royal. On carnival, the water slide and fountain area was much more acceptable. We have managed to keep busy with our boys in our 4 cruises over the last 2 years. They are now 6 and 8 Princess and Disney are the most "G" rated. Royal was good carnival was our least favorite.

Thanks. I'll check the Camp Carnival schedule to see what activities are usually available. I may drop him off and pick him up at the completion of those activities. I just don't remember ever seeing younger children around too much on my Carnival cruises. When I did see them, they were participating in activities with Camp Carnival, or on deck around the pools/hot tubs with their parents nearby.

 

I know Disney is made for children. But, the cost is so high that I don't want to do it in 2016 and 2017. I was really excited when I booked Vista, but then I thought about my prior cruises on Carnival and started to worry -- activities not too family friendly -- music, hairy chest contest, movies on deck, bingo (boring to a child), comedy shows (never made it to the family one so I have no idea.) My last Carnival cruise was on Carnival Valor. I can just imagine the constant questioning -- "Why is that fat hairy man jumping in the pool?", "What did that song say?", "What does that lady have on?", "This movie is bad mommy." I know he'll be exposed -- not a big deal. We'll deal with it. But, I want to watch some movies that he may enjoy, and do other things with him that we'll all enjoy together.

 

This will be our second cruise (first one not 'til 2016) where the focus won't be on eating, relaxing at the beach or on deck, and having a few drinks of the day.

A lot of that you can avoid, bingo and hairy chest. I don't think they'd play r rated movies by the pool, I hope not!

I have a back up bag of fun and I'm ordering the Dr. Suess game Cat in the Hat I Can Do That! for fun things for us to do/play as a family. There's typically an empty area somewhere we can go. Basically, I'm bringing the activities we can do together.

Other than the for fee BEARY CUDDLY WORKSHOP, what other activities can parents join? I've asked before and we told there were none. We'd love more stuff to do with dd! I don't plan on doing the buildabear workshop and don't feel I should have to pay money to be with my kid.

 

does the kid club have open house hours?

There are a few events like the "welcome" and "farewell" parties and such that will say "parent required" on the schedule (of course, this will also be there for items that you will be charged for, like Beary Cuddly). I know that Camp is open for the little ones to have some parent/child play...I think it is usually in the morning on port days. May not be every ship. The best source for any of these will be the specific Camp schedule for your child's age group and your ship.

You know, I was really worried when we started bringing our kids (particularaly our youngest) that they would be too young to have fun on the ship. It's hard to list out the activities we've done, but we always stay busy, and the kids always love it. Of course, we also take full advantage of the port days...my kids have vacationed on some of the most beautiful beaches in the world!! In some ports, it's also great to work in a private tour with some educational value. We have a great guide in Roatan that we've used several times. He tells our kids all about their schools, medicine, legal system, etc. And works in a lot of fun as well. :)

I know Disney is probably superior to Carnival for kids...after all, it's Disney. But with Carnival's prices, we are able to do 2 cruises per year for what it would cost us to do 1 on Disney. We also get to see a wider variety of ports...and that's important to us. So my solution has been to keep my kids off of the more expensive cruiselines...that way they don't know what they're missing!!!!

Thanks for all of your comments. I feel more comfortable and am looking forward to this cruise. If I could only leave tomorrow. Too cold in Ohio right now.

There are a few events like the "welcome" and "farewell" parties and such that will say "parent required" on the schedule (of course, this will also be there for items that you will be charged for, like Beary Cuddly). I know that Camp is open for the little ones to have some parent/child play...I think it is usually in the morning on port days. May not be every ship. The best source for any of these will be the specific Camp schedule for your child's age group and your ship.

 

You know, I was really worried when we started bringing our kids (particularaly our youngest) that they would be too young to have fun on the ship. It's hard to list out the activities we've done, but we always stay busy, and the kids always love it. Of course, we also take full advantage of the port days...my kids have vacationed on some of the most beautiful beaches in the world!! In some ports, it's also great to work in a private tour with some educational value. We have a great guide in Roatan that we've used several times. He tells our kids all about their schools, medicine, legal system, etc. And works in a lot of fun as well. :)

 

I know Disney is probably superior to Carnival for kids...after all, it's Disney. But with Carnival's prices, we are able to do 2 cruises per year for what it would cost us to do 1 on Disney. We also get to see a wider variety of ports...and that's important to us. So my solution has been to keep my kids off of the more expensive cruiselines...that way they don't know what they're missing!!!!

our ports are always repeats, since we don't fly, but drive. Mine had a blast at 14 months on her first one, she played with my flip flop, moved chairs around and bounced the basketbal one night the court was empty On her second, she loved she could have cow milk in the coffee cup with top and a banana on demand. Last cruise, was the best ever eating an apple an the balcony. :confused: In the morning on port days works great, I don't plan on rushing off the ship, if I even get off all ports, I was just there in Jan. It's easy for them to stay busy when little!

If husband had the vacation time, twice a year would be nice. Honestly, I'd rather do every other year and do Disney, rather than someone else yearly. Husband wasn't willing to pay the price this year, so we're trying Carnival again. I loved carnival before kid, but I was also mostly buzzed on a ship then as well.

We didn't have as much fun in Jan, but the cruise was also a surprise, and my kid doesn't handle change/surprises without knowing what to expect a bit before hand. So, dh saying 'there's a ship, want to get on it?' had her completely off for a few days. Plus being three and no longer napping...ah, fun. :eek:

Domergirl, I would be interested in the tour you take in Roetan. My kids will be 3 & 6 at the time we go, do you think it would be good for them?