Family activities on Carnival Freedom

My husband, two daughters (3yo and 6yo), and I will be going on our first cruise in two weeks. It's a 5-day Western Caribbean cruise on Carnival Freedom. This is a big family cruise including my father, brothers, their wives, and more. We do not plan to use Camp Ocean much, if at all. If we see something on the schedule that sounds particularly interesting, we may give it a try, but my children are not used to being left with strangers, plus the whole point of this cruise is family time ... their grandfather, aunts, and uncles all enjoy spending time with the girls.

So I am just planning ahead trying to figure out what all we can do on sea days ... mini golf, dining together, swimming for the 6yo (3yo is not yet fully potty trained) ... what else?

Also, do they allow parents to stay in Camp Ocean for a bit? We would all feel better about using it if one of us could stay with the girls for a bit before leaving them alone. (This is how I got my 6yo to be OK with going to school when she first started. I just hung out in the back of the classroom for a bit and then left.)

You can only go into the kids club on sign-up day....that's when everyone is new, and you should go to it. You should be happy that adult strangers won't be hanging around your kids!

If your child should freak out, they will contact you! No worries! And, don't put those thoughts in your kid's heads...most kids will LOVE the clubs and want to be there!

You can only go into the kids club on sign-up day....that's when everyone is new, and you should go to it. You should be happy that adult strangers won't be hanging around your kids!

If your child should freak out, they will contact you! No worries! And, don't put those thoughts in your kid's heads...most kids will LOVE the clubs and want to be there!

Thanks for the info. We will definitely check it out on the first day! It did occur to me that they might have such a rule due to not wanting strangers hanging around.

I'm not projecting my fears onto the children ... my 3yo will probably be fine, but my 6yo is extremely shy. During her first year of school, two years ago, she hardly spoke to anyone until halfway through the year. We had to practice just saying "hi" to the teacher. Even during her second year (with the same teachers and mostly same class), she only spoke to a few children, mostly those younger than her, and almost never to the teachers. I have taken her to birthday parties and seen her just sit quietly by herself and not do anything. So it's not that she will freak out or cry.

Well, we will check it out and then take it day by day. If an activity sounds interesting, we may give it a try, and then it will be up to her whether she wants to go back.

We do still want ideas for what to do with family, though, if anyone has any. Part of the point of this trip is to hang out with relatives they don't get to see every day.

Does the freedom do Seuss at sea? My husband and I caught it on the pride and will be doing it with our daughter when we sail in April. They do a little parade and story time and then have a doctor Seuss brunch another day. They have people dressed up as characters as well as dr Seuss themed foods.

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Also the dive in movies could be fun. I know they show some kid friendly movies.

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Carnival Freedom has the Hasbro Game Show and Playlist Productions, which can be really fun for families. Your kids might really like the towel animal theater - if you go early your kids can participate in a short towel-folding seminar. Definitely check out their "Seuss at Sea". It's really cute and includes a parade, arts and crafts, interactive story time, and a themed character breakfast. I would recommend Dive-in movies as a relaxing option for the family. Aside from these, the more standard activities that are fitting for all ages are mini golfing or spending time at the pool.

One more thing that could be fun for your kids is the Camp Ocean Badge Challenge. They can collect badges from trying fun new things, like a new food or karaoke.

Hope the cruise goes great! :)

I didn't look but you should have 2 ports of call. So plan on spending that time ashore doing things like the beach. The ship is going to be tougher, IMHO, especially at night. Yes, they may enjoy the 30-45 minute production show, or watching a movie, but night time is more about the casino, bars, comedy shows (even the PG ones would be "above" their heads), piano bar (fun but can get off color) or, downtime for romance. It can be very dark and windy up on deck and the putt-putt and many of the pools are closed. Most kids are in camp at night.

My kids love to cruise, have been doing so since they were 2 and 8 (now 12 and 18 almost!) and for them the highlight has been the shore excursions, and time in camp. After all, that is where all the kids and toys are....What we love about cruising is it gives plenty of family time, but also time for kids to have kid time, and adults to have adult time.

Please don't take this as criticism of your parenting, but rather as the experience of someone who has been there...send your 6 year old to camp. Let the child learn to navigate the world in this very safe environment. The counselors are fantastic and used to dealing with separation anxiety and all such things. The kids will be happier in the short term on the cruise, if they get to play with other kids, and in the long term as they develop their social skills and coping mechanism.

We have 4 kids (2, 4, 4, and 7) and while I can't help with Freedom specifically (we won't be on Freedom until August), we've taken many cruises with Carnival.

Our cruise vacations are family time for us, and we really do like to be together as a family as much as possible on the ship. We're in the minority - our kids don't have experience with being left with non-family members. It's just not how we've chosen to raise our kids, and we're blessed to have family that lives close to help with the kids when needed. With that said - I can relate to families with kids that don't do especially well in Camp Carnival.

The younger kids love it, so we review the schedule each day and if there's something that they want to do, we arrange to have them there for the activity. There have been days where I've sat reading a book just outside of the kids club so that my oldest would feel "safe" staying and playing. Now that we know that the oldest isn't going to "outgrow" whatever causes her to not enjoy social situations, we don't force the issue. Each child is different and we just go with that.

I wish that Carnival had more family together activities. Because we have the 2 year-old, we've always been able to get a cell phone for the cruise that allows them to contact us immediately if the kids want to leave. Since the kids know that I'll get them whenever they're done, they will actually stay and play for a few hours. It helps that they know that I can be reached whenever.

For family fun, we take the kids miniature golfing, or we'll go to the candy shop and let them each pick out a few pieces of candy. On the Miracle last summer, we spent hours at the Red Frog Pub with them. When no one else was around, they were able to pretend to play some of the games. The staff on the Miracle was absolutely wonderful with the kids. We're always aware of how what our kids are doing impacts the other passengers (comes from working in the service industry), so we corral them as needed, but my kids love cruising.

We also hunt for places on the ship that are out of the way where the kids can climb (sit politely) on the furniture and look out the windows.

Hope your trip on the Freedom is wonderful!