carnival kids club hours

Can anyone tell me what your experiences were with the carnival cruise kids club hours? I emailed carnival and got the following response so I don't know if Carnival would be a good option for my family:

Camp Carnival is designed for sea days, and while there are limited hours offered on some port days, we cannot guarantee that they will be fully operational on all port days.

You would have to check on board for the specifics days and time open while in port.

Carnival’s Youth Experience provides activities and entertainment for all kids 17 years and younger. It is broken down into 3 programs with specific age groups which work as follows:

Camp Carnival

2 - 5 years old

6 - 8 years old

9 -11 years old

Circle “C”

12-14 years old

Club 02

15-17 years old

Our Youth Programs are year-round, fleet wide programs that provide daily fun filled and age appropriate activities for children and teenagers between the ages of 2 and 17 years old. In addition, there is supervised "free play" and Night Owls services for those children 11 years and under. Camp Carnival is not a ‘Day-Care’. Our Youth Programs have been designed so that families are able to enjoy "quality family time" together, and yet also have the option of being with peers of their own age.

The exact hours are listed on board and can vary per ship and per itinerary.

Wishing you many great future cruises, and also wishing you a great week ahead of you!

We have had an AMAZING time with camp carnival with our 4 kids. They have all loved it, and beg to go back.

I'm kinda surprised about the port days "not guaranteed" blah blah blah.

Our experiences for kids 11 and under have been the opposite. If the port is not kid friendly, or if I want to do a lot of shopping I will just leave my kids in camp carnival all day. And pick them up around 3'ish when I return to the boat. That way they can swim and relax before getting ready for dinner.

They do ask that when you return to the boat that you check in and let them know that you've returned. They will feed the kids lunch.

We don't do the paid evening services, the night owls, it's just too late and my little ones need sleep.

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Oh! Be prepared for lots of papers, crafts, sand art, and various other fun things your kids will bring home from camp carnival. Ours have gotten school supplies, backpacks, and free tshirts that they decorated ;)

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Thanks - I'm so glad your kids had a great time! Do you remember what hours they were open on either port or sea days?

For the kids 11 and under:

Sea days - They opened at 10 and closed 4 or 5 pm to "get ready for dinner". Then they opened again at 6 in a quiet corner of the lido deck. So we would drop them off and go eat by ourselves!

Port days - whenever the port opened, or 10 am whichever came first. I can't remember if they close for that hour or so before dinner, but they do request that you let them know you've returned to the boat.

And after a long day at the port, I always felt like they needed a few hours away to play in the pool or whatever. Then back to the lido at 6 to eat with the counsellors.

Then they have to be picked up by 10 (I think??) or they get charged for night owls. We ate at 6 every night and then went to the show afterwards and always had time to get them before they started charging.

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For kids 12 and up, I have no idea. I do know those groups are a lot more unsupervised, so I'm dreading when my oldest can't be in camp carnival. :(

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As far as I can remember from ALL our Carnival cruises (unless something has changed recently), camp is open as follows:

sea days:

open 10-1

closed for lunch 1-2

open 2-5

closed for dinner prep 5-6

dinner in buffet 6-7

open 7-10

open 10-1 (fees apply)

port days

opens 15 minutes before port arrival or 9 (whichever comes first)

kids can stay for lunch

if sailaway is after 5, kids can stay for dinner

if sailaway is before 5, closed for dinner prep 5-6

dinner in buffet 6-7

open 7-10

open 10-1 (fees apply)

Camp Carnival is designed for sea days, and while there are limited hours offered on some port days, we cannot guarantee that they will be fully operational on all port days.

I am not surprised that they'd have a disclaimer, but a bit surprised that it's so dramatic. As others have said, our experience is that camp will be open every day except on embarkation and disembarkation day.

That said, this could also be a badly worded indication that they sometimes combine age groups when there isn't sufficient attendance, therefore not 'fully operational'. That can happen on any day depending on the number of kids on the ship, but is more likely to happen during port stops when 90% of the passengers are off the ship.

Last November on the Miracle, sea day hours were:

10:00am- 3:30pm

Then they opened back up at 5:00pm.

I had no idea that they wouldn't feed the kids lunch. Look at the times again. That's a lot of back and forth! Very little "down time" for the parents when you're constantly taking your kids to camp and then picking them back up again. Honestly , I was really disappointed in that.

Next cruise I think I'll just take the kids to an early lunch the. Pick them up at 3:30p. At least that way we can have a few hours of uninterrupted time. 😊

My kids were 7,8, and 10 during the cruise and they thought Camp Carnival was "fine". They could take it or leave it.

For kids 12 and up, I have no idea. I do know those groups are a lot more unsupervised, so I'm dreading when my oldest can't be in camp carnival. :(

 

 

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Circle C and Club O2 have later morning/afternoon hours and evening/night hours. My kids love it; the youngest started at 2, and his big brother at 8; they are now 11 and 17 so we have gone through each group. Never had a bad experience.