Circle C - go the first night

Hi everyone,

We just got back from the Carnival Breeze Western Caribbean itinerary (June 24 sailing). I'm going to post some more later on our experiences but I wanted to get this out there first.

If you have teens/tweens that are in the Circle C age group, get them to go the first night to the mixer/orientation above all else. Don't go swimming and figure you'll "catch up" later. Our kids (14 and 12) found a group of eight or so right away and they spent the whole cruise together as a group. Those friend groups are formed that first night and it's a lot tougher to join in later on. I first caught this on this board and was glad I did, otherwise our kids might have missed out on one of the best experiences of their lives.

Our kids mainly used Circle C as a place to meet and hang out. They participated in about 0.3 organized activities. Other kids may have done more but ours just hung out with their friends.

Our daughter turns 15 in July and before the cruise really wanted to be in Club O2 - she just finished her freshman year of high school and didn't want to hang out with "middle schoolers". Once she got into her friend group (which had middle schoolers), there was zero talk of jumping up to Club O2. So if you have a child who is on the cusp of joining Club O2, have them give Circle C a chance first.

We had a good mix of family time and friends time with Circle C. Generally we ate breakfast and dinner together and were together on excursion days. Otherwise the kids hung out with their friends from late morning to around 5, then from 7:30 to when they got too tired to stay up. This left my wife and I free to do whatever around the ship without feeling guilty we were ignoring our kids.

Great advice!! We've always gone to Circle C on the first night as well. Our son finds his "group" to hang with and does the same thing, uses it as a place to meet up and hang out. Not much of the organized activities. I would imagine after years of doing this on hundreds and thousands of cruises, the ships have a pretty good idea on how the kids should be divided for the most part.

100% great advice.

When I took my 16 year old God Daughter attending Club O2 on the first night was one of the few things I asked of her; I knew it would be her best chance at meeting others because I had heard of cliques forming early on (and with only 7 days trying to seem like a lifetime, I can understand why).

I was disappointed that my brother and sister in law didn't encourage/force my niece to go when we took them on the cruise. She ended up hanging out with the family a lot (which I guess is fine); I just know that she missed out on some of those "summer friendships" that form from being at a vacation destination, away from the real world.

I have no experience with Circle C but I know the first night is crucial for the older club O-2.

Those kids tend to form into groups that night. They may rarely return to the physical club, but they make plans to hang out together for the duration of the cruise.

This is always my advice for parents. Even if the kids don’t really want to go the first night is nonnegotiable with me. My son’s experience on our most recent cruise was a bit different and he didn’t find his “group” until the second night but fortunately he had been in enough cruises he kept going until he did. Usually it’s the first night as you said.

missing a day at the kids club is like missing 3 weeks in normal life because people do a lot in that time

missing a day at the kids club is like missing 3 weeks in normal life because people do a lot in that time

Great analogy! We've said the reason our son loves the cruises is because you meet a group of kids and you're all "stuck" together for the next 7, 8, 10 days. So you know this kid or that kid is going to be around. If you go to a resort, you're likely going to see a kid one day, but not the next. Our son has friends from all over the world now because of cruising and meeting kids at the club.

This is fantastic advice, so glad I found this post! I will be cruising alone with my daughter who will be 12 by the time our cruise gets here. While I really want the quality time with her, knowing that she can find some friends and I could make a spa reservation or just have some relaxing me time will be fantastic!!

This is fantastic advice, so glad I found this post! I will be cruising alone with my daughter who will be 12 by the time our cruise gets here. While I really want the quality time with her, knowing that she can find some friends and I could make a spa reservation or just have some relaxing me time will be fantastic!!

You may get more "me time" than you expect! Our kids are not extroverts by any means and they had no trouble finding a group of kids they wanted to hang out with. We were also very comfortable with giving them the freedom to explore the ship. We said early on that they were never to go to someone else's cabin, have them in our cabin, accept food or drink from someone else, and to stay in public areas of the ship. We got the chat plan for the Carnival app and they had to check in using that at preset times.

Chat is not 100% reliable, though. Have a backup plan for check-ins - we said that if they sent a message that was not acknowledged, they had to leave a note in the cabin with the time and where they were going. If they were going to the pool without their phones, they had to get us a message right before and after their trip to the pool.

You may get more "me time" than you expect! Our kids are not extroverts by any means and they had no trouble finding a group of kids they wanted to hang out with.

This is so true. Took my 10 year old daughter recently and thought oh I hope she won't be bored. She cried when we left the boat because she didn't want to leave her friends. We let her do her own thing as long as she messaged where she was going to be, which was only ever the pool or the kids club because her group was her, an 11 year old and a 12 year old, not old enough to really get into mischief yet I guess. I was thrilled she found friends and that my wife and I got a very adult cruise because beforehand I was expecting to have to kinda entertain my daughter throughout the whole cruise.

This is great advice indeed. We are taking our 10 YO grandson on his first cruise on Vista next year and he insists he's not going to the 'stupid babysitting club'. I told him the price for riding the sky car or trying the ropes course was that he had to go and at least register. After that he never has to go back again if he doesn't want to- but I know him, he'll be moping around when he sees other kids having fun but he's too shy to just walk over and join them unless he's been introduced to them first. This definitely the way to get him engaged! But I didn't think about the first event- great suggestion.

I am so glad I found this. My son is 14 and has always begged to go to camp carnival until the year he turned 12. He went to the club the second night and I agree, missed out on those critical times of meeting people. He hung out a little that time but the next cruise opted not to go. He hasn’t been back in the 3 cruises we took since then. We always went on the first night and I will make a point of having him go to check it out. It was also awkward last cruise because we had my son, 13 and my 2 nieces, 15 and 18. Very different groups and my cousin had 2 boys with her that were 9 and 10 so none of the kids in our group could go to same clubs. My son is not shy about meeting other friends but he is very independent and plays a ton of video games. When he finds someone that plays, he will not stop talking. Fingers crossed that he will enjoy this time instead of spending a lot of time alone. He doesn’t want to hang with us either lol.

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Thank you for the tip! My kids will be 10 and 13 when we cruise so we will take this advice.

Yes!!! I know they have a family board on CC, but most of it is for the under 12, (OK under 7), age group. Having a child who has been through the camps from age 6 to, most recently, 16, this is the best advise for the 12-17 age groups. Maybe Cruise Critic could create a forum just for teens?

Hi everyone,

 

We just got back from the Carnival Breeze Western Caribbean itinerary (June 24 sailing). I'm going to post some more later on our experiences but I wanted to get this out there first.

 

If you have teens/tweens that are in the Circle C age group, get them to go the first night to the mixer/orientation above all else. Don't go swimming and figure you'll "catch up" later. Our kids (14 and 12) found a group of eight or so right away and they spent the whole cruise together as a group. Those friend groups are formed that first night and it's a lot tougher to join in later on. I first caught this on this board and was glad I did, otherwise our kids might have missed out on one of the best experiences of their lives.

 

Our kids mainly used Circle C as a place to meet and hang out. They participated in about 0.3 organized activities. Other kids may have done more but ours just hung out with their friends.

 

Our daughter turns 15 in July and before the cruise really wanted to be in Club O2 - she just finished her freshman year of high school and didn't want to hang out with "middle schoolers". Once she got into her friend group (which had middle schoolers), there was zero talk of jumping up to Club O2. So if you have a child who is on the cusp of joining Club O2, have them give Circle C a chance first.

 

We had a good mix of family time and friends time with Circle C. Generally we ate breakfast and dinner together and were together on excursion days. Otherwise the kids hung out with their friends from late morning to around 5, then from 7:30 to when they got too tired to stay up. This left my wife and I free to do whatever around the ship without feeling guilty we were ignoring our kids.

This is great advise. Our son is grown now but I remember telling him that he needed to go the first night and we agreed that he would spend 5 minutes. He started talking to two girls and ignored me after that. We did not see a lot from him on that cruise since he spent a lot of time with his group of friends. It is hard to find a group to hang out with once the cliques have formed.

Agree with all the above. But don't be afraid to put limits on their fun. On our cruises, we told them they had to eat dinner with us in the MDR every night at 6pm. That, and the shore excursions were basically the only family time we had...it was enough but would have hated if it was less. They still need a curfew however, unless you want to want to find out how quiet the ship is at 4:00 in the morning like I did last year.

. They still need a curfew however, unless you want to want to find out how quiet the ship is at 4:00 in the morning like I did last year.

We limited our kids to 11:30 or 12 except the last two nights, knowing it would be a chore to get them up on the morning of our excursions otherwise. That also fit well with their friend group. The last two nights we let them stay up until 1am.

i wanted to bump up my 14 1/2 year old (incoming hs freshman) into o2 club. i had to go first night. after that- seamless

This is great advice indeed. We are taking our 10 YO grandson on his first cruise on Vista next year and he insists he's not going to the 'stupid babysitting club'. I told him the price for riding the sky car or trying the ropes course was that he had to go and at least register. After that he never has to go back again if he doesn't want to- but I know him, he'll be moping around when he sees other kids having fun but he's too shy to just walk over and join them unless he's been introduced to them first. This definitely the way to get him engaged! But I didn't think about the first event- great suggestion.

Maybe call it kids club rather than babysitting club. First night event participation applies to all age groups, not just tween/teens. It's more like summer camp than daycare. Could try reverse psychology. We would much rather have you playing trivia and bingo with us all day rather than running around the ship on scavenger hunts with a bunch of rowdy punks, sounds grand!

Absolutely great advice! Last year my son (14) came back to the cabin because they were going to play 'ice breakers' and he didnt like that game.... i said it's not a board game! lol He went right back and missed that part but thankfully was able to still make friends and hung out with them most of the cruise. When we sail again next month he said he will definitely be there first night!

My oldest is excited to go to Circle C. We've watched some videos and read a lot of information on it, as this will be our first cruise. She's turning 13 right in the middle of it (on Halloween!).

My middle, though, is very hesitant and moping around about having to go because she's 11, so she says she's going to be stuck with 'all the babies'. It doesn't help that Camp Ocean will also have my 3-year-old. Does anyone know if CO breaks up the groups in a way that she won't feel like she's at a daycare with her little sister?

Include me on the "Abandoned Parent" List--giggle--my son and his 6-7 friends would walk through the Lido Deck and it was like I was invisible. Another hint from many years of cruising with my son--if you lose a kid and their "Pack" they just might be on one of Carnival's Hidden Deck.

My oldest is excited to go to Circle C. We've watched some videos and read a lot of information on it, as this will be our first cruise. She's turning 13 right in the middle of it (on Halloween!).

My middle, though, is very hesitant and moping around about having to go because she's 11, so she says she's going to be stuck with 'all the babies'. It doesn't help that Camp Ocean will also have my 3-year-old. Does anyone know if CO breaks up the groups in a way that she won't feel like she's at a daycare with her little sister?

Yes, they break them up! 9-11 is in a group (2-5 and 6-8 are the other groups). :)

Yep! Some things never change. That was also the rule of thumb back when I was cruising in my early teens. Even if your kid is severely introverted (as I was), do all you can to get them in the club on the first night. Everyone is excited for the cruise and looking for kids to hang out with, so even a super shy kid will have no problem being befriended by a more outgoing kid. I'm 30something now and am still in touch with a couple "kids" I met on board in the mid-90s. One just texted me yesterday, as a matter of fact, because he saw the news that there are wildfires raging in my neck of the woods and wanted to check in on me and my family. There really are lifelong friendships forming in the kids club...don't let your kid miss out. :)

My oldest is excited to go to Circle C. We've watched some videos and read a lot of information on it, as this will be our first cruise. She's turning 13 right in the middle of it (on Halloween!).

My middle, though, is very hesitant and moping around about having to go because she's 11, so she says she's going to be stuck with 'all the babies'. It doesn't help that Camp Ocean will also have my 3-year-old. Does anyone know if CO breaks up the groups in a way that she won't feel like she's at a daycare with her little sister?

Many reviews include the daily kids club schedules showing the different activities for the different age groups. Your 11 year old will benefit from this one last chance at Sharks which will have a pretty busy schedule each day. She will also be old enough to sign herself in and out of camp if she is bored and wants to go back to the room (this is your discretion whether you want to allow this). Circle C and O2 are more freeform with a lot of unscheduled hangout time and fewer hours of availability.

As I mentioned to another poster, it's much more like summer camp than daycare or babysitting. They don't lump campers of all ages together or do the same programs.