Carnival - for heavy partiers only? Good for kids?

Man, for 3 boys an Oasis class ship would be the bomb [emoji6]. So much to do

My three teens requested we go back to Carnival after cruising on Allure. They didn't want to ice skate..can do that at home six months out of the year, they missed having a slide, the water surfing thing is apparently hard and painful :o, and the staff and food on Carnival were all vastly better in their opinion. We also all like a smaller ship and easier access to viewing the ocean.

I have been on Carnival party cruises...out of Los Angeles. But I have been on that same cruise and not been around the partying too. We did a five night on Carnival out of Port Canaveral and it was fine. Lots of families. Never noticed anyone drunk, avoided the singing waiters by having Anytime Dining and didn't see any Bingo by the pool. We really enjoyed the family friendly comedy shows and had an amazing steward as well as two bartenders that made my then 10 year old's week by remembering his name and frequently bringing him his orange soda before he even asked. The two older ones really enjoyed the kid clubs and the younger one made some friends hanging around the pool.

I have, Serene. Expensive everywhere for spring break.

I'm in MN too. The drive to Galveston isn't too terrible, but it will use up some of your vacation days. Don't forget to check Southwest. And surprisingly, we flew Spirit awhile back and it really wasn't bad. Tight fit, but friendly attendants and reasonably priced snacks. Just remember to keep track of the cost of various add ons and try to get a direct flight.

We cruised the carnival splendor in April with a 17, 15, and 13 year old. Everyone had a blast! There is so much or little to do based on your preferences that everyone can find things they like. After the 1st night the kids found other teens to hang with! It was there 1st cruise and now it's the only way they want to vacation!

They'll have tons to do. We do the 7-8 day cruises and our kids have an amazing time. The kids groups each have age related parties.

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I'm sure you've looked but have you tried looking at flying to Atlanta? Not exactly a spring break destination. It's a good 5-6 hour drive to Tampa or Port Canaveral but it might be worth the difference when looking at 5 tickets even considering a rental car. Maybe if you could do that even 1 way and flight back out of Orlando or Tampa. We're a family of 6 and our cruising departure ports are limited to where we can drive.

Just my .02, but my DD15 would freak out if I took her out of school for a week. I know others have different opinions but IMHO her work load is too heavy to miss a week of school. I'd wait until after school is out.

Spring break cruises are pretty expensive right now. Last year, I called my TA within the 90 day window of our Spring Break cruise. While we couldn't get connecting rooms, we did make do with adjoining rooms but I felt it was a good deal. This year I have connecting rooms booked a while ago for Spring Break and this trip is much more expensive. That might be another way to save on the overall trip if you aren't too picky on type of rooms.

What about paying for the plane tickets with miles and waiting until NCL runs another KSF + Freestyle Choice promo before booking? With that combination, Norwegian was cheaper than Carnival for us even with only 1 child. With so many kids, you'd come out way ahead. And you and your partner could get free drinks the whole cruise (just pay a set gratuity charge).

We're going on the Jade in January. Our direct MSP-IAH flights were 25,000 miles plus $13 in fees each. I got a new Barclaycard Arrival Mastercard and an NCL Mastercard to charge the trip to (paying it all off every month) so I'll be earning $500 in points there, which takes a nice chunk of the price of cruise

We REALLY want to do a 7 day but flight prices are just killing us so unfortunately I think we'll end up having to do a shorter cruise. :mad:

We're in MN as well. We've made the drive to Galveston 2 times now (Mankato) and once just to DFW. Our kids were 3 and 6 the first time we made the trip. Honestly, they travel better to Texas than they do the 1 hour to my hometown, lol. We're thinking about adding another galveston cruise on for next year (as their Christmas gift.)

That being said, WE LOVE CARNIVAL and cruising. The kids would much rather go on a cruise than to Disney. However, if the ship didn't have a waterworks it would be a dealbreaker for us. It's a must have with the kids!

Hello!

I have two boys, ages 14 and 10. We have been on Freedom twice with the boys. Once when they were 7 and 11 and once when they were 9 and 13.

They were both introduced by us to Adventure Ocean on the first day of their first cruise. We gave them the choice of going or not.

Both decided to go. They have never been in the same age group but for a few of the big things they combine the 6-8 year olds and the 9-11 year olds. Of course, this only applied the first year as they do not combine the teen group.

Once they started going they really did not want to do much with us from that point forward. LOL. They had their friends at AO and they had more fun with them than us. We always took them with us on port days though.

My older son especially liked last year as a 13 year old and being in the teen group. He had a lot more freedom (I was a little nervous at first, but once I saw how much he was enjoying himself and in all reality, how safe he was...I was good). The teen group had "prom" night one night (our formal night) where they all got dressed up and had their own formal dinner and dance. The group of them got their photo done and my son has it framed on his dresser.

For the teen group they also got free lessons on Flowrider which was a huge success. I think a good chunk of their time on the boat was spent on Flowrider.

My younger son asked me every night if he coud stay with his friends in AO after 10:00pm. This of course costed money...but it turns out all the AO kids were asking their parents to stay longer! So...every other night we let him stay until midnight...and even then we had to drag him out.

The older one, once in teen group had a curfew of 1:00am, and he never came in a minute earlier. My DH and I were long in bed resting until we heard the door open.

When you arrive on the boat each child is given a colour coded bracelet as to what their age group is...so if they are wandering the boat with their friends (you have to give permission), and there is any type of emergency where they have to go to their muster station, a staff will help them.

I ended up giving my 9 year old permission to sign himself in and out of the AO. The staff on the boat are fantastic and learned who he was. I did not worry about this at all. I will say that I did not do this the first cruise though.

We went on a ten day vacation this past summer to Mexico...an amazing vacation. We did lots of really fun activities. And you know what both my kids said at the end of it? It was fun , Mom, but we prefer the cruises.

Since we have had such amazing experiences on the Freedom level of RCCL boats, we don't want to try a bigger/smaller boat yet. And also, since we are VERY happy with RCCL, we will not be trying another line in the foreseeable future. I'm not sure any other line can top what we have had so far. Especially in the area of the kids.

S0, we have booked our next cruise, this time on Liberty of the Seas, out of TX. She will have the new slides by the time we go (November 27, 2016 sailing), which will be even more for my boys to do.

We ended up paying $377CDN each, and got two panoramic oceanview rooms. It is for a 7 day cruise. So, for $976 CDN per room we got an amazing deal. I am sure that is significantly less in USD since our dollar stinks right now.

If you keep your eyes open, deals will pop up out of the blue. Check every day. This one ended up being a special deal for Canadians on top of the 30% off and they were promoting the new panoramic rooms.

Also, if you see a cheaper price after you book, call your TA...they should be able to get a price adjustment for you.

Looks like two of your kids are around the same age as mine...you should come on our cruise ;)

Good luck deciding!

I know I'm late to this thread, but wanted to address the shorter cruise comments. I have taken my son on two Carnival cruises to Ensendada (one 3 day and one 4 day), both commonly considered "party" cruises.

He had a fabulous time, loved the youth groups (he was 12 and 13 on the cruises- the youth leader from one year actually remembered him when we went back the second year) and all the ship activities. The kids and the partiers aren't hanging out in the same parts of the ship, so it really wasn't an issue. Also, if he wasn't doing an organized youth activity, he was hanging with us, so I wasn't worried about his safety. The one time we encountered some tipsy/drunk people in the elevator, they all put on their very best behavior when they saw a kid enter the elevator (I heard them whisper to each other to behave when they saw my son).

I really believe that you can make any cruise what you want it to be, so pick your cruise and have a fabulous time!

OK, here is my one and only experience with Carnival. We normally sail Princess, but, the price was right and we live right outside of Charleston, so we decided to take the Fantasy this past June. This was a family vacation, so we had our 2 teenage sons with us (ages 17 and 16).

Small ship, with, from what I was told, had under 1000 pax under 18 on the sailing. The teen center was open 24 hours a day, BUT most of the time it was unsupervised. I found that they really pushed alcohol and the games that included alcohol. I also went to one of the talks the last day when they discuss the sales in the onboard shops and they were saying that if you bought any alcohol in the shops you would get to keep it in your cabin since it was the last night and how "there was still time to get wasted!" That spoke volumes to me as to what Carnival was all about.

The policy for liquor pick up changed months ago, and I'm pretty sure it would have been in effect by June. So I have a hard time believing any staff member would state a direct contradiction to that policy. Moreover even before the change, I never heard of anyone saying that they were encouraged openly to break the rules by drinking bottles purchased through the gift shops. The bars are still open. No way.

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Small ship, with, from what I was told, had under 1000 pax under 18 on the sailing. The teen center was open 24 hours a day, BUT most of the time it was unsupervised. I found that they really pushed alcohol and the games that included alcohol. I also went to one of the talks the last day when they discuss the sales in the onboard shops and they were saying that if you bought any alcohol in the shops you would get to keep it in your cabin since it was the last night and how "there was still time to get wasted!" That spoke volumes to me as to what Carnival was all about.

They didn't push alcohol and alcohol related games in the teen club, right?

The policy for liquor pick up changed months ago, and I'm pretty sure it would have been in effect by June.

 

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What is the policy for alcohol you buy in the ports?

I don't know when the policy changed, but I do know that that is what I heard a crew member say. I was floored as it really was the last thing I expected to hear.

No, but my concern was that it was open 24 hours a day and who knows what was going on at 2 am with no supervision.

Hello!

 

I have two boys, ages 14 and 10. We have been on Freedom twice with the boys. Once when they were 7 and 11 and once when they were 9 and 13.

 

They were both introduced by us to Adventure Ocean on the first day of their first cruise. We gave them the choice of going or not.

 

Both decided to go. They have never been in the same age group but for a few of the big things they combine the 6-8 year olds and the 9-11 year olds. Of course, this only applied the first year as they do not combine the teen group.

 

Once they started going they really did not want to do much with us from that point forward. LOL. They had their friends at AO and they had more fun with them than us. We always took them with us on port days though.

 

My older son especially liked last year as a 13 year old and being in the teen group. He had a lot more freedom (I was a little nervous at first, but once I saw how much he was enjoying himself and in all reality, how safe he was...I was good). The teen group had "prom" night one night (our formal night) where they all got dressed up and had their own formal dinner and dance. The group of them got their photo done and my son has it framed on his dresser.

 

For the teen group they also got free lessons on Flowrider which was a huge success. I think a good chunk of their time on the boat was spent on Flowrider.

 

My younger son asked me every night if he coud stay with his friends in AO after 10:00pm. This of course costed money...but it turns out all the AO kids were asking their parents to stay longer! So...every other night we let him stay until midnight...and even then we had to drag him out.

 

The older one, once in teen group had a curfew of 1:00am, and he never came in a minute earlier. My DH and I were long in bed resting until we heard the door open.

 

When you arrive on the boat each child is given a colour coded bracelet as to what their age group is...so if they are wandering the boat with their friends (you have to give permission), and there is any type of emergency where they have to go to their muster station, a staff will help them.

 

I ended up giving my 9 year old permission to sign himself in and out of the AO. The staff on the boat are fantastic and learned who he was. I did not worry about this at all. I will say that I did not do this the first cruise though.

 

We went on a ten day vacation this past summer to Mexico...an amazing vacation. We did lots of really fun activities. And you know what both my kids said at the end of it? It was fun , Mom, but we prefer the cruises.

 

Since we have had such amazing experiences on the Freedom level of RCCL boats, we don't want to try a bigger/smaller boat yet. And also, since we are VERY happy with RCCL, we will not be trying another line in the foreseeable future. I'm not sure any other line can top what we have had so far. Especially in the area of the kids.

 

S0, we have booked our next cruise, this time on Liberty of the Seas, out of TX. She will have the new slides by the time we go (November 27, 2016 sailing), which will be even more for my boys to do.

 

We ended up paying $377CDN each, and got two panoramic oceanview rooms. It is for a 7 day cruise. So, for $976 CDN per room we got an amazing deal. I am sure that is significantly less in USD since our dollar stinks right now.

 

If you keep your eyes open, deals will pop up out of the blue. Check every day. This one ended up being a special deal for Canadians on top of the 30% off and they were promoting the new panoramic rooms.

 

Also, if you see a cheaper price after you book, call your TA...they should be able to get a price adjustment for you.

 

Looks like two of your kids are around the same age as mine...you should come on our cruise ;)

 

Good luck deciding!

Great info, thanks a bunch!

What is the policy for alcohol you buy in the ports?

The same for purchases made in the shops. You have to pick it up the morning you debark. Anything you purchase in the ports has to be turned in as soon as you get back onboard.

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The same for purchases made in the shops. You have to pick it up the morning you debark. Anything you purchase in the ports has to be turned in as soon as you get back onboard.

 

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Thanks!