Carnival lost my daughter from Camp Carnival

Hi Everyone,

We just returned from cruising on the Triumph on May 24 with ports of call to Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Belize. The ports of call were awesome but on the last night when my daughter was in Camp Carnival one of the camp counselors approached my daughter (who is 10) telling her she needed to sign out. My daughter felt confused and forced to sign out so she left. My daughter was seen sitting around crying not knowing what to do. When we arrived at 10:00 p.m. and Camp Carnival told us she didn't feel good and they told her to sign out and go to the room. We were furious. We went to the room and she was not there. My husband and I were now devastated thinking the worst and upset beyond anything. Keep in mind it's now about 10:30 p.m. and no one has called our room yet. We went heading to the front desk when a photographer stopped us asking if I was looking for my daughter? This nice lady had taken our daughter to the front desk. The front desk never did call our room to let us know she was there. Wierd. Anyway, happy ending, we found her crying and upset. She was told to sign out. We talked to supervisor and they said oops, sorry that was wrong, they didn't follow protocol but nothing they could or would do. We have since taken more serious measures.

:D

Wow. Thank God everything turned out OK.

A similar thing happened to us when my youngest daughter was about 3 (she's 6 now) on the NCL Star. She somehow got out when someone else signed their kid out, and a teenage passenger (not in the kids' program, just walking around) found her sitting on a stairwell, crying. She noticed that she had a kids' club bracelet on and returned her to the kids' club. NCL got a hold of us and explained the situation, but to this day I still shudder to think what could have happened to her.

Hi Everyone,

 

We just returned from cruising on the Triumph on May 24 with ports of call to Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Belize. The ports of call were awesome but on the last night when my daughter was in Camp Carnival one of the camp counselors approached my daughter (who is 10) telling her she needed to sign out. My daughter felt confused and forced to sign out so she left. My daughter was seen sitting around crying not knowing what to do. When we arrived at 10:00 p.m. and Camp Carnival told us she didn't feel good and they told her to sign out and go to the room. We were furious. We went to the room and she was not there. My husband and I were now devastated thinking the worst and upset beyond anything. Keep in mind it's now about 10:30 p.m. and no one has called our room yet. We went heading to the front desk when a photographer stopped us asking if I was looking for my daughter? This nice lady had taken our daughter to the front desk. The front desk never did call our room to let us know she was there. Wierd. Anyway, happy ending, we found her crying and upset. She was told to sign out. We talked to supervisor and they said oops, sorry that was wrong, they didn't follow protocol but nothing they could or would do. We have since taken more serious measures.

:D

What are the more serious measures you have taken? Just curious to see what kind of response you get from Carnival. Glad everything worked out. What a nightmare!

WOW thats terrible.

When my kids where younger, we never had any problems but that doesn't mean they can't happen and on any cruiseline.

I hope the staff member that did that, got in some kind of trouble!:mad:

glad the rest of your cruise turned out good:)

Why didn't your daughter just go back to your cabin? I'm just confused as to why she would sit somewhere and cry instead of heading back to the room.

Why didn't your daughter just go back to your cabin? I'm just confused as to why she would sit somewhere and cry instead of heading back to the room.

Well I would say for one she's ten . Hell I'm 50 I have trouble navigating the ships sometimes and she was upset not surprised she got dissorriented.

Man that is terrible just to give you an oops:confused::confused:

Maybe she was'nt sure where the cabin was. The ships layout can be a little confusing, I know that I have gotten turned around several times.

Why didn't your daughter just go back to your cabin? I'm just confused as to why she would sit somewhere and cry instead of heading back to the room.

Glad things worked out for you and your daughter. Scary.

How frightening for both you and your daughter :( I will never understand how they came up with the ages for kids to be able to sign themselves out in the first place, but there is no excuse for a counselor telling a child to sign out. Thank heaven everything turned out okay, and I certainly hope that at the very least some additional training is given to the staff on the Triumph!

We have since taken more serious measures.[/i]

:D

Good luck with your law suit.

Fred

I have a very smart 10-year old. I'm not sure he would go back to the room if he was very upset or scared. Maybe he would. But I don't think it's a given.

 

Glad things worked out for you and your daughter. Scary.

I wasn't trying to be mean, I was just honestly curious. My son is 9 and on our last cruise he decided he didn't want to go to the show with camp, so the counselors made him sign out when they left for the lounge. He got some ice cream on the lido deck then went back to the room to play his Nintendo DS and wait for me to return.

I think it's important, particularly when your kids are old enough to sign out of Camp Carnival on their own, that they are very familiar with the ship and how to get back to their cabin should anything happen. This might be a good thread to help alert people to the importance of helping kids get familiar with the layout of the ship and how to return to their room from Camp Carnival and other spots on the ship. This way they won't get upset or scared if they need to sign out for some reason, or need to find their room without their parents.

I wasn't trying to be mean, I was just honestly curious. My son is 9 and on our last cruise he decided he didn't want to go to the show with camp, so the counselors made him sign out when they left for the lounge. He got some ice cream on the lido deck then went back to the room to play his Nintendo DS and wait for me to return.

 

I think it's important, particularly when your kids are old enough to sign out of Camp Carnival on their own, that they are very familiar with the ship and how to get back to their cabin should anything happen. This might be a good thread to help alert people to the importance of helping kids get familiar with the layout of the ship and how to return to their room from Camp Carnival and other spots on the ship. This way they won't get upset or scared if they need to sign out for some reason, or need to find their room without their parents.

What are the rules for kids signing themselves out. Is there an age that they can do it?

Similiar situation happened on our Splendor cruise. Our daughter, also 10 at the time, was asked to sign herself out at 10pm because we as parents neglected to be there on time, or inform the staff that she may be staying into the "pay" portion of the evening. Our daughter went back to the room and found we were not there yet, and was a lil nervous to be there alone so she went back to camp and they allowed her back in with out any issues. They did leave a message for us through the phone system. It seems to me that possibly they have had problems in the past with parents not wanting to pay because they didn't request their children stay for the baby sitting hours.

Why didn't your daughter just go back to your cabin? I'm just confused as to why she would sit somewhere and cry instead of heading back to the room.

Puleeeeze.... the child is 10 years old... do you hoenstly believe she could find her way back to the stateroom at that age ? She did the right thing and sat crying followed by possibly a staff member or other passenger offering assistance and taking her to the pursers desk.

When my oldest son was nine he fell on a loose stairwell trim piece and cut his knee while going to Camp Carnival. The counselor sent him back to our room with instructions to report to the infirmary for stitches. I cleaned his lac and steri stripped it and he went back to Camp Carnival.

Per Camp Carnival policy, nine year olds can sign themselves out so it was a non issue that they sent him back to our room without notice.

The only 'more serious' measures we could have taken would have been to stitch his knee instead of using steri strips. The steri strips held fine with glue and his knee healed with no scar. We had stitches with us as well in case we needed them.

I wasn't trying to be mean, I was just honestly curious. My son is 9 and on our last cruise he decided he didn't want to go to the show with camp, so the counselors made him sign out when they left for the lounge. He got some ice cream on the lido deck then went back to the room to play his Nintendo DS and wait for me to return.

 

I think it's important, particularly when your kids are old enough to sign out of Camp Carnival on their own, that they are very familiar with the ship and how to get back to their cabin should anything happen. This might be a good thread to help alert people to the importance of helping kids get familiar with the layout of the ship and how to return to their room from Camp Carnival and other spots on the ship. This way they won't get upset or scared if they need to sign out for some reason, or need to find their room without their parents.

I am fully with you. A ten yr old should have known of something else to do besides sit and cry.

Just another symptom of over protecting the kids then something like this happens and they are not prepared.

My niece is 14 yrs old and she would not be able to find her cabin. That is my sisters fault.

Puleeeeze.... the child is 10 years old... do you hoenstly believe she could find her way back to the stateroom at that age ? She did the right thing and sat crying followed by possibly a staff member or other passenger offering assistance and taking her to the pursers desk.

travelntreats,

Nine year olds can sign themselves out of Camp Carnival providing their parents gave the OK on the first night of the cruise.

I do not know the permission details of the OPs ten year old, but I am certain my youngest who is now eight could find his way back to the room from any location on the ship. Of all the places we have visited in the various ports, I am also confident my sons (14, 12, & 8) could find their way back to the ship by themselves if the need came up.

I wasn't trying to be mean, I was just honestly curious. My son is 9 and on our last cruise he decided he didn't want to go to the show with camp, so the counselors made him sign out when they left for the lounge. He got some ice cream on the lido deck then went back to the room to play his Nintendo DS and wait for me to return.

 

I think it's important, particularly when your kids are old enough to sign out of Camp Carnival on their own, that they are very familiar with the ship and how to get back to their cabin should anything happen. This might be a good thread to help alert people to the importance of helping kids get familiar with the layout of the ship and how to return to their room from Camp Carnival and other spots on the ship. This way they won't get upset or scared if they need to sign out for some reason, or need to find their room without their parents.

I agree. My understanding is that Camp Carnival isn't supposed to be as much a babysitting service as a meeting place for kids, with adult supervision so that the kids, as a group, don't get into trouble. Since they allow the kids to sign themselves out, parents should make sure there is a plan in place for that contingency.

It would probably also depend on your child. Either (1) you have to be able to trust that your child will not to leave without your permission, or (2) ensure that your child can navigate to the room and trust they can stay there alone. Otherwise I don't know that I would feel comfortable leaving them at Camp Carnival.

Don't feel to bad,they told me to get out !

Something about being to old :D.

But man,there is a ton of stuff to do in there

Glad things turn out OK ;).

When my oldest son was nine he fell on a loose stairwell trim piece and cut his knee while going to Camp Carnival. The counselor sent him back to our room with instructions to report to the infirmary for stitches. I cleaned his lac and steri stripped it and he went back to Camp Carnival.

 

Per Camp Carnival policy, nine year olds can sign themselves out so it was a non issue that they sent him back to our room without notice.

 

The only 'more serious' measures we could have taken would have been to stitch his knee instead of using steri strips. The steri strips held fine with glue and his knee healed with no scar. We had stitches with us as well in case we needed them.

Now you are the kind of person I would like to travel with.

Puleeeeze.... the child is 10 years old... do you hoenstly believe she could find her way back to the stateroom at that age ? She did the right thing and sat crying followed by possibly a staff member or other passenger offering assistance and taking her to the pursers desk.

Sorry, but my kids are 8 and 9 and yes, I do believe kids at that age can and should be able to find their way back to their stateroom. If they're able to sign themselves out of Camp, which must be approved up front by the parents, then the parents should make SURE they know their way around the ship.

Wow, more serious measures:eek:. Our 8 y/o can find his way around, though he probally would have went to the game room instead of the cabin. Just finished reading Cruise Confidential and certainly agree with the author about some Americans, always trying to get something "free". I guess if you spilled "hot" coffee on yourself you would take "more serious measures to."

Notice this would be OP's 1st post also

to the OP - I am sorry this happened to you. Glad it was resolved though.

My daughter was 10 on our last cruise. I was a bit uncomfortable with her being able to sign in and out but she is responsible. I made sure she understood where the cabin was (even I got mixed up several times) and when she signed out she was to be back to the cabin within 30 minutes. The gave her time to hit the soft serve machine and make herself a treat and then head back to the cabin. She was very responsible and I felt even better after the trip because she did exactly what she was told to do.

I hope your experience next time is better.....

Don't feel to bad,they told me to get out !

 

Something about being to old :D.

 

But man,there is a ton of stuff to do in there

Glad things turn out OK ;).

I know they have all the cool stuff. Also really happy all is all right as the parent of two daughters.