When do you utilize the clubs for children?

My husband and I cruised several times prior to having children, but this is our first cruise as parents. Our twins are 3 and will be 3.5 on our upcoming cruise on the Carnival Dream. We want to spend a significant portion of time as a family and will spend time together at each port for at least 1/2 day, but my husband and I could really use some adult time as well.

Questions:

1. What hours would a 3 year old typically go to the club?

2. If they only go after dinner, are they going to feel like they are missing out on fun earlier in the day with other kids?

3. Do kids keep their bed times on cruises or do they tend to stay up later?

4. Would you leave your kids in the club at Grand Cayman just to tender in and snorkel at Eden Rock, which is right at the port?

5. Do little kids actually like going to the clubs, or are they more desirable (in general) to older children?

I'm just trying to map our days! We would LOVE to do the spa pass, but I hate to spend the money only to find that our children don't want to go to the clubs. If it matters, I won't leave them there crying...

I would say that it really depends on your children. Some kids absolutely adore the kids clubs and other kids don't want to go at all.

I would suggest having your kids go early during your trip, so that they can make friends and get acquainted with the club. I would also suggest starting with short time periods (perhaps an hour to start) and being willing to leave and come back later if they are having a good time.

We are pretty good about sticking to bedtimes when on a cruise, but our DS gets super cranky if he doesn't get enough sleep. We might let him stay up 1 hour later than normal on 1-2 nights, but we stick with a schedule the rest of the time.

As for leaving your kids in the club while you tender ashore, I think only you can determine what you are comfortable with. I, personally, wouldn't leave my child on the ship if there was *any* possibility of not being able to return promptly. I might go shopping in the port area. I certainly would not take an excursion or tender ashore. Others feel differently about this, however.

We couldn't drag our 3 year old out of the kids club. Our son was sad on HAL because he'd wake up from his nap, and the kids club was about to close for dinner. But it honestly depends on your kid, as some 3 year olds may be afraid to go so you need to be prepared for that possibility.

When my son was little, I'd call the kids club 10 minutes after I dropped him off just to check on him. Some lines offer parents of small children beepers, so you should check to see if this is available.

Also, if you don't have a preference for the hours you use the kids club, then you might want to just check the schedule and pick the activities you think would be most enjoyable with your kid. Just be careful if you are on a cruise with very few children to ask ahead of time if they will be following the schedule - sometimes when there are very few kids, they'll just do whatever the 3 or 4 kids who showed up want to do instead of following the schedule.

As far as sleep goes, try to see how your kid does on vacation. My son kept his bedtime schedule whenever we cruised without a major time change, but other kids may struggle more. On our Baltic cruise, we set his nap schedule on the kids club schedule, since he really wanted to be in the tiger performance on the main stage, and I think there were 4 time changes on the cruise itself so my son struggled a bit during the cruise with the time changes.

Grand Cayman is a judgement call - obviously would recommend coming back way before last call if you choose to do this. Have a great time!

My husband and I cruised several times prior to having children, but this is our first cruise as parents. Our twins are 3 and will be 3.5 on our upcoming cruise on the Carnival Dream. We want to spend a significant portion of time as a family and will spend time together at each port for at least 1/2 day, but my husband and I could really use some adult time as well.

 

Questions:

 

1. What hours would a 3 year old typically go to the club?

2. If they only go after dinner, are they going to feel like they are missing out on fun earlier in the day with other kids?

3. Do kids keep their bed times on cruises or do they tend to stay up later?

4. Would you leave your kids in the club at Grand Cayman just to tender in and snorkel at Eden Rock, which is right at the port?

5. Do little kids actually like going to the clubs, or are they more desirable (in general) to older children?

 

I'm just trying to map our days! We would LOVE to do the spa pass, but I hate to spend the money only to find that our children don't want to go to the clubs. If it matters, I won't leave them there crying...

My daughter started going on cruises at 23 months, so a month too young for Camp Carnival. The next cruise she was 3 years and she loved it. When she woke up, she would ask if "ship's school" was open yet. She's been on eight cruises altogether, the last two at age 13 and 15 so she didn't really utilize the Remix (teen center on Princess) much. But each time, we would take he the first night when there was orientation so she would meet the other kids her age.

Definitely take your children the first day because after that, whatever friendships are formed. You'll get a day-by-day schedule that you can go over with your kids and see what they want to do. The kids' programs tend to close down for meal times (so the staff can eat) so I don't think there should be a problem on sea days to have time together even if they want to spend a lot of time with the other kids. When we were on Carnival cruises, there were a couple of nights that there were kids' dinners (Princess has them in the buffet and I think Carnival did too).

As for nap and bedtimes, that's a tough call. Especially if your ship changes time zones. You might have to be a little flexible.

We did leave our daughter on board for some ports as she would have a lot of fun in the kids' room. But we would never go far from the pier (always stay in the port city) and we would always be back even earlier than we would with her (we don't wait til the last minute to get back on ship so as to avoid the lines).

I have never done a "spa pass" (we haven't been on a Carnival ship since 2002 and I'm not a spa type of person anyway) so I don't know if that's not something you have to book ahead of time or not.

My kids are currently 9, 7, and 5. They have been on 4 cruises.

Questions:

1. What hours would a 3 year old typically go to the club?

My kids would go for a few hours in the morning, and then we would get them for lunch and the water slides. At dinner, some nights they ate in with the kids club, and some nights we would order their kids meals with our appetizers, then one parent would run them up at 7 when the club opened back up and that way we could finish our a leisurely dinner in peace. We would go pick them up about 9:30

2. If they only go after dinner, are they going to feel like they are missing out on fun earlier in the day with other kids?

We usually look at the schedule and see what things look fun to the kids, and go from there.

3. Do kids keep their bed times on cruises or do they tend to stay up later?

We completely ignore bedtimes on the ship, though we also ignore them during school breaks anyway. A last ice cream has been known to happen at 11 some nights.

4. Would you leave your kids in the club at Grand Cayman just to tender in and snorkel at Eden Rock, which is right at the port?

I do not feel comfortable leaving my kids on the ship. We always take them with us.

5. Do little kids actually like going to the clubs, or are they more desirable (in general) to older children?

My kids loved the kids club once they were there. The youngest had tears at drop off, but usually was fine 10 minutes later (they have a tv outside you can look at to check on your kiddo). Even at 2, my little one liked the toys in there, and they did cute activities.

One of my 4yr olds wanted to live in the kids club and the other liked it but didn't drag me there waiting for it to open. And one morning she chose to just hang out with me and draw/color while I read while her brother went to the kids club without her.

We let the kids stay up a little later than normal but my kids are terrible when they get off schedule too much so we tried to stay to a reasonable bedtime.

That's really where I found the biggest kid club issues. We would pick them up at night at 9 or so and they would be just starting some big activity so my kids were disappointed often and it was a tough balancing act to let them enjoy the night activities but still help them get enough sleep. (We were also on NCL, so I'm not sure if the after dinner hours on your ship will be different in terms of that issue).

I also found that if my kids were there for a few hours, I needed to call or go by the kids club and ask the staff to send my son to the bathroom. Otherwise he would forget to go. So if you're kids are potty trained or will be soon, that's something to consider.

 

1. What hours would a 3 year old typically go to the club?

When my kids were that age, they would go after dinner most nights. On sea days, they might go for a couple hours in the morning if there was an activity that interested them.

 

2. If they only go after dinner, are they going to feel like they are missing out on fun earlier in the day with other kids?

I don't think so, but as others said, so bring them the first day that camp is open so they can make friends at the beginning

 

3. Do kids keep their bed times on cruises or do they tend to stay up later?

Not ours, but we INSIST on naps (even though they're past the napping age). As someone mentioned, if they go after dinner, they'll likely want to stay until it closes at 10. We tell them 'if you want to stay up until 10 tonight, you have to take a nap this afternoon'. It's always been fine for us (and mom and dad get a nap, too).

 

4. Would you leave your kids in the club at Grand Cayman just to tender in and snorkel at Eden Rock, which is right at the port?

Yes, we did it many times when the kids were little. They're far happier in kids camp for the day than being dragged around by mom and dad to something they're not interested in. I completely trust the camp counselors and don't worry a bit about the kids. The counselors are trained and have protocol for what to do in every situation. If they didn't have a plan to deal with everything, they wouldn't offer the option of leaving the kids on port days.

 

5. Do little kids actually like going to the clubs, or are they more desirable (in general) to older children?

My kids have always loved Carnival camps. Hated RCCL camps. Are pretty happy with NCL camps.

 

Hope that helps.

Thanks everyone for your responses. I think we will try the first night and just go from there. We will try napping, though sometimes they are too excited...so that will have to be played by ear. Despite having strict schedules at home, we tend to be much more relaxed on vacation.

As for being off the ship without them, I think we may consider it. The place we are going is literally less than 1 block from the tender dock. My parents and my sister/BIL are cruising as well, so I'll make sure we have at least 2 adults on the ship if we go back to shore without our children. If we wimp out...that will be fine as well.

Hopefully they will like to go at night some. My husband and I have not spent a night alone together since the second one came home from the NICU on March 8, 2013. We love them dearly and want to make tons of family memories, but we could use a few hours together as well! We aren't really "spa people," but I know our ship doesn't have an adult only pool...so I was thinking the spa jetted pool might be a nice retreat. Our last 2 vacations were to Orlando, which meant 24/7 stimulation and no break!

Are your kids currently in daycare? This increases the likelihood that they will like Camp Carnival.

My son's first cruise, he was under 3 ... he HATED camp carnival. Would not go and would cry until we picked him up. He was not used to be "dropped" off.

By 4 - we sailed HAL. He had been introduced to school at this point. He also LOVED CLUB HAL. He CRIED so much on the last day because he wanted to go to Club Hal one more time.

If your kids are not in daycare, try some drop-off programs at home to get them used to the idea of being dropped off.

Now my kids are 8 and 10. There typical schedule is

Breakfast

Kid's Club for an hour or two

Swimming

Lunch with the family

Kid's Club

Dinner with the family

Kid's Club

Bed

The amount of time at the kid's club will vary based on the activity schedule. Sometimes they want to go more than others. We leave them as long as they want. We check on them periodically to make sure they are happy and want to stay. I'm not comfortable with checkout privileges, only we can sign them out.

As for leaving them in the kid's club while we go into port. I won't say we haven't done it. I am FAR more comfortable with it now than when they were younger, but even now, we just shop around the immediate area and don't leave the shopping compound. So I feel safe knowing I am still close by. We have never left them on the ship and gone off on an excursion without them.

Are your kids currently in daycare? This increases the likelihood that they will like Camp Carnival.

 

As for leaving them in the kid's club while we go into port. I won't say we haven't done it. I am FAR more comfortable with it now than when they were younger, but even now, we just shop around the immediate area and don't leave the shopping compound. So I feel safe knowing I am still close by. We have never left them on the ship and gone off on an excursion without them.

Yes, our kids are in daycare. They are occasionally clingy when I drop them off, but don't actually cry. They will also have 3 other friends on this trip in their age group. They've met one, but won't remember her. The other two are new friends to them.

If we leave them on the ship, it will only be if 2 family members stay on. I think we are going to leave them a couple of hours with the Grands that day, so it likely won't be an issue. Our children are doing well now, but had a really tough start in life...so we tend to be overly protective.

One suggestion for Grand Cayman is to book a Sting Ray and snorkelling trip with Captain Marvins. The stingrays are awesome and a 3-year-old will love it. Then you get 2 snorkel stops where one can either stay on the boat with the 3-year-old or let your child get in the water and swim with him (the guides will even bring food to feed the fish so he will get to see the fish while the other snorkels. Then you can change at the next stop. That way you get to snorkel in Grand Cayman without leaving your child on the ship. We have done this twice with little ones and it was a big hit. Each snorkel stop is actually long enough that you can both snorkel if you are the first off the boat!

I left my son onboard once for a shore excursion. It was in Jamaica, we were there the whole day and the excursion was done before noon. I only did it because my niece was with us and she REALLY wanted to go horseback riding and my son was too young. I didn't book it until after we were on the boat and I knew he loved the kids club.

Under the circumstances it was pretty safe but I have to admit I was uneasy the whole time and didn't fully enjoy it.

We have taken him (and her also when she was younger) on many catamaran type snorkeling trips and they were always wonderful. Crew was always great with the kids and the kids had a blast even though they never snorkeled. That is definitely the way I would go.

That said - if my mother was on board with the kids I would be fine and would not hesitate at all.

My point is - you have to do what you are comfortable with. If you are already second guessing yourself you may want to choose something else. What I remember about the Jamaica excursion is "that was the one Evan stayed on the boat", the other ones are nothing but good memories.

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One suggestion for Grand Cayman is to book a Sting Ray and snorkelling trip with Captain Marvins. The stingrays are awesome and a 3-year-old will love it. Then you get 2 snorkel stops where one can either stay on the boat with the 3-year-old or let your child get in the water and swim with him (the guides will even bring food to feed the fish so he will get to see the fish while the other snorkels. Then you can change at the next stop. That way you get to snorkel in Grand Cayman without leaving your child on the ship. We have done this twice with little ones and it was a big hit. Each snorkel stop is actually long enough that you can both snorkel if you are the first off the boat!

One of our 3 year olds is petrified of any animal that isn't in a pen/cage/tank, so I think the stingrays/fish would scare him to the point of refusing to get into the water for the rest of the trip. Some of our travel group will be using Capt. Marvin and we've enjoyed his tours on previous trips. We've snorkelled all over the island, and we find Eden Rock to be our favorite and the best by far. After some discussion, we are going to leave the kids with their Grandparents for 2 hours at Royal Palms Beach after spending the morning at the Turtle Farm as a family. That seems to be a good solution for our family.

We cruised Disney when my oldest was 3.5 and she absolutely hated the club. She only ended up staying in it for maybe 30-60 minutes the first day. She also wouldn't nap and was exhausted each night. One of us had to stay in the cabin with her at night after about 8 pm so she could sleep. Needless to say this cruise involved lots of trading off between DH and I and it kind of sucked.

2nd cruise was Carnival when DD1 was 6 weeks short of 7 and DD2 was 6 weeks shy of 3. Again the club was not a big hit. DD1 got seasick because the club was in the very front of the boat and DD2 was just not happy being away from Mom and Dad. I think we got a total of 5 or so hours of club time in between the two of them.

We are cruising Princess this summer and Disney this fall and I am hopeful. DD1 is now 10 and DD2 is 6 and both are in school full time. We are cruising Princess with friends and while they will not be in the same club together, they will each have a friend or two in their age group. And on Disney they will be able to be together in the clubs.

My best advice is to have low expectations. It's better to be pleasantly surprised than disappointed.

For all kids younger than 5, Carnival offers an onboard cell phone that the kids club can call you and you can call the kids club with.

Our kids were kind of mixed on the kids club. They liked it while there were there, but didn't really clamor to go back unless there was an activity they really wanted to do (legos, t-shirt making on the last sea day). That said, when we picked them up, they both admitted to having a good time.

My husband and I cruised several times prior to having children, but this is our first cruise as parents. Our twins are 3 and will be 3.5 on our upcoming cruise on the Carnival Dream. We want to spend a significant portion of time as a family and will spend time together at each port for at least 1/2 day, but my husband and I could really use some adult time as well.

 

Questions:

 

1. What hours would a 3 year old typically go to the club?

2. If they only go after dinner, are they going to feel like they are missing out on fun earlier in the day with other kids?

3. Do kids keep their bed times on cruises or do they tend to stay up later?

4. Would you leave your kids in the club at Grand Cayman just to tender in and snorkel at Eden Rock, which is right at the port?

5. Do little kids actually like going to the clubs, or are they more desirable (in general) to older children?

 

I'm just trying to map our days! We would LOVE to do the spa pass, but I hate to spend the money only to find that our children don't want to go to the clubs. If it matters, I won't leave them there crying...

Disclaimer. All kids are different. Go with the flow. Expect nothing. Dd's sleeping and eating habits are different on board. On Rcl, she ate yogurt, breads, & escargot. On Disney she ate everything.

We've only used the club during open house hours, so I can't comment on that. Dd didn't feel she was missing out, because she didn't know what was there. I'm open to letting her go this year, if Dh is willing (he likes spending time with the kids).

Dd requires more sleep/more down time on cruises. Bedtime is based on wake time, and her behavior. typically 8 or 9pm. I went to sleep, Dh went out. The sooner she was in, the sooner I go could go to sleep. (Not everyone is as sleep focused as me. I was pregnant with twins, my goals were sleeping and eating :eek::eek: )

I will wake her for pirate night.

I've learned how to cruise with dd. I now know she needs more downtime, even if she doesn't nap, she can play quietly with her dolls or color. Dh & I cruised before kids, so we're ok missing the night life. I'm not a sun, pool, or people person, so I'm perfectly happy chillin in the room.

I would never leave my kids on board, nor would Dh. For grand Cayman with kids, we take a cab to the free beach and enjoy a beach day. Stay on ship in Jamaica, Dh & dd got off in Cozumel.

Cruising with a three year old wasn't fun, and I did it twice. Smh. I think we will skip three with the twins, unless they are better.

The first cruise we ever did (where we utilized the kids club) was on Carnival and my son liked it. He was 3.5 years old. At night after 8PM he didn't care for it because there were too many kids, he was tired from a full day and wanted to leave. Your children might be different. He actually liked it when it was less crowded (which will be on port days). Go with the flow. My son was usually asleep by 10PM at the latest- because he was so busy during the day. I personally love Grand Cayman and have been there several times. The water is crystal clear there and it would make a good beach day with the kids or you can leave them onboard- but I think they'd have fun on the beach and I felt comfortable with my son swimming there because it's calm.

We just returned from a cruise on the Allure of the Seas (Royal Caribbean). I've heard great things about their kids club but our kids didn't end up going at all. We weren't pushing it since this is our time to spend together as a family and this specific ship has tons to do so they were never looking for anything to do. The only thing with Allure though is that they split the clubs by ages. This is good in the sense that the activities are age appropriate and you don't have to worry about younger ones being bullied by older kids, but I think that is what in part made my younger one not want to go (i.e. since she wouldn't be with her brother). I did miss out on the comedy club...since it's adults only but it wasn't a problem, and they had a movie playing that we attended (DH went to the show himself)

For answer #4, if there is a specific excursion you are interested in and your kids are happy staying in the club, then i say go for it. It's not everyday that you go to these places and get these unique opportunities (unless you live near a beach)

I'm cruising with my 3 year old this spring so this information was really helpful to me. I really like the tip about the child eating their food while you eat your app and then bringing them up to the club.

When they want to go is a good guideline! Most kids LOVE the activities, and will beg to go as much as they can!

DS was 3.5 when we cruised as well.

He loved the kids club. Could not get enough time in there.

The one hiccup we ran into was that he got sleepy too early the first two nights. We had flown west rather than east. The kids club had a quiet area with mats for evening but he wasn't interested. Each time, the club called the restaurant where we were eating and then the waiter relayed the message. The first night we'd just ordered dessert and they gave us a tray to take it back to the room. The second night, we'd just finished appetizers but they delivered my entree and dessert to our cabin. DH and his folks even sent along half a bottle of wine, which I appreciated!

We had family members along who never left the ship, so leaving him in the club for an excursion was no big deal. Otherwise it would be possible but depend on quite a lot.

My 3 year old would spend 4-6 hours a day in the kids club. At the time he cried when he was dropped off at daycare but he asked to go to the kids club. I was so surprised I wondered what are they doing that he wants to go so badly :).

Some days we took him to the buffet for dinner and than dropped him off at the kids club while we ate dinner. This really made dinner more enjoyable as it was too long for him.

He stayed up later but I could tell he was getting tired.

I wouldn't leave him on board if I was getting off the ship but people do so it's a personal decision.

I didn't read all the other replies, so I apologize if this is repetitive.

My daughter's first cruise was at 3.5, and she was not quite ready to stay in the club.

She was going to daycare almost full time at that point, but had been at the same school since 18 mos, so I don't think it helped all that much...daycare was like an extension of home, not ever a new, unfamiliar environment (that she remembered at least).

Anyhow, she would *want* to go, and then a half hour later we'd get a call that she wanted us to come get her. We did this routine the whole cruise, and it really was ok, but we definitely didn't get any real adult time.

So my advice is to count on having your kids with you all the time, and if they love the club, be pleasantly surprised :D.

(FYI, by her next cruise at a little over four years old, our daughter wanted to be in the club all the time!)