Camp Carnival on port days

[tracy12502]

My SIL has planned to go horseback riding with her son, her husband is going fishing. The three year old is not old enough for either. Is camp carnival open during port days? And are parents allowed to leave the ship and leave their child there while they are on an excursion? If not we have a number of other people coming so one of us could take her. Just wondering though. Thanks!

[Lady_Jag]

Yes, you can leave your child in Camp Carnival while you are in port. They ask only that you check on them before you leave the ship. It also also doesn't hurt to let the counselors know you are leaving the ship (and when you plan to be back).

 

We've left my daughter in camp while we were off the ship on two different cruises: the first time we went to Grand Cayman, and the first time we went to Belize. She had a great time...much better than if she was stuck wandering around the stores with mom and dad. The only issue we had was months later when she found out what we did. "I can't believe you guys went without ME!!" :rolleyes:

[tracy12502]

haha. great. thanks so much. My concern is if they tell her they are leaving she will freak out. And if they don't tell her and there is an issue she will wonder where mommy and daddy are and why they aren't picking her up.

[cruzinlisa]

I thought I read somewhere they had limited hours, or is that just for under 2s on port days. We had thought about doing it while in Jamaica, but it was only like 2 hours, which is hardly enough time to get off the ship and back on, much less do anything.

[Lady_Jag]

haha. great. thanks so much. My concern is if they tell her they are leaving she will freak out. And if they don't tell her and there is an issue she will wonder where mommy and daddy are and why they aren't picking her up.

 

The counselors are really great and well-prepared for a multitude of scenarios and little personalities. They will not tell her that her parents are leaving the ship, because they won't want to upset her. They will get her attention on having fun and playing games so that she won't miss mom and dad. The counselors are great at distracting the kids who get bouts of separation anxiety and are screened and well-trained for any type of emergency while the kids are in their care.

 

I thought I read somewhere they had limited hours, or is that just for under 2s on port days. We had thought about doing it while in Jamaica, but it was only like 2 hours, which is hardly enough time to get off the ship and back on, much less do anything.

Yes, the limited camp hours are indeed for under 2s. Also, on sea days, Camp Carnival "closes" for lunch and also to get ready for dinner for like 2 hours each time.

[bruisin4cruisin]

This is not a knock on Camp Carnival, but read posts on their hours before you get your hopes up. We took the kids a few years ago and we were not expecting it to be open for 2 hours, closed for 2 hours for lunch, open 3 hours, closed 2 hours for dinner, then open again. Just be sure you are not hoping to spend 5 hours at the pool kid free to find out after you are on board how it is really going to be.

In Cozumel, the camp was open and our kids were left behind. We did not have any issues and I don't know if the kids even knew we were parked.

Also, the babysitting at night was well worth the money. We only used it for a few hours on 2 nights, but it enabled us to stay out a little longer to catch an adult only comedy show or 2.

Have a great cruise!

[beanersmom]

How in the world could they possibly keep 2 year olds occupied for soo long? My DS will have just turned 2 when we sail in April and hoping he will like it but I just can't see how they could keep them from getting bored :p Does anyone have a 2 year old that really enjoyed it?

[Lady_Jag]

How in the world could they possibly keep 2 year olds occupied for soo long? My DS will have just turned 2 when we sail in April and hoping he will like it but I just can't see how they could keep them from getting bored :p Does anyone have a 2 year old that really enjoyed it?

 

She was a year older, but my daughter had just turned 3 her first cruise, and she LOVED Camp Carnival! They schedule various age-appropriate activities for short increments of time to match the attention span of the little ones. They also have a LOT of fun age-appropriate toys, plus there are usually plenty of other kids to play with.

 

I was really impressed with the program that cruise, in fact. My daughter had a major speech impairment at the time, so I was concerned about her not being able to communicate well and/or getting upset and frustrated if the counselors couldn't understand her.

 

My worries were for nothing, though, as Camp Carnival was soooo very good for her! I swear, by the end of the week, both my husband and I recognized a marked improvement in her speech! (I was astounded on the last day, when a stranger we encountered in the elevator could understand every word she said.)

[beanersmom]

She was a year older, but my daughter had just turned 3 her first cruise, and she LOVED Camp Carnival! They schedule various age-appropriate activities for short increments of time to match the attention span of the little ones. They also have a LOT of fun age-appropriate toys, plus there are usually plenty of other kids to play with.

 

I was really impressed with the program that cruise, in fact. My daughter had a major speech impairment at the time, so I was concerned about her not being able to communicate well and/or getting upset and frustrated if the counselors couldn't understand her.

 

My worries were for nothing, though, as Camp Carnival was soooo very good for her! I swear, by the end of the week, both my husband and I recognized a marked improvement in her speech! (I was astounded on the last day, when a stranger we encountered in the elevator could understand every word she said.)

 

Wow that is wonderful!!!! Our 2 year old is barely saying a word so I KNOW he will get frustrated. I just hope the counsellors can be sympathetic about the issues that come with a 2 year old . We don't plan on leaving him there for long periods of time....except if he has an experinece like your DD ;)

[joan72761]

I talked to Carnival this morning and they told me that my daughter could only leave her 4 year old on the ship during the port stay if she was taking an excursion booked through carnival. That way they would have a way to get in touch with her if there was an emergency. Does anyone know if this is true?

 

Also, we want to go to Senior Frogs for some adult time at night. Thats not an excursion but very close to port. Has anybody left their kids and done something like that at night with no carnival problems?

 

I'm trying to make those last plans for this family cruise so any advice is appreciated. Thanks.:)

[beckyjohns]

I talked to Carnival this morning and they told me that my daughter could only leave her 4 year old on the ship during the port stay if she was taking an excursion booked through carnival. That way they would have a way to get in touch with her if there was an emergency. Does anyone know if this is true?

 

Also, we want to go to Senior Frogs for some adult time at night. Thats not an excursion but very close to port. Has anybody left their kids and done something like that at night with no carnival problems?

 

I'm trying to make those last plans for this family cruise so any advice is appreciated. Thanks.:)

 

I don't know the official rules of Carnival, but I can tell you that we have left our kids in Camp while doing a private excursion. When you check the kids into camp on port days, they have a clipboard with a sheet for you fill in with your excursion "name", and departure and return times. I've never lied to them, I've always said that we're doing a private excursion that is not thru Carnival. This has always been met with apprehension by the counselors, but they've never told me it wasn't allowed. On our last cruise, the girl finally told me to just write down the name of the company we were going with so they would have the information.

 

While it may not be the responsible thing to do, I guess you could just tell them that you're just getting off the ship to walk around, etc, that you're not an a planned excursion. I'm pretty sure they would be okay with that and they would never know the difference (unless something unforeseen happens, in which case you'd sure want the camp to know where you were).

 

I know many on here will tell you it's not a good idea for this reason or that, but we've had no problems.

[joan72761]

Thank you Beckyjohns. I think we can work out the Atlantis thing by having my daughter and son-in law take the carnival excursion and meet us at Atlantis if need be, but I was really concerned about going to Senior Frogs for dinner and drink that evening. We are celebrating several things and want to enjoy some adult time with our children and their spouses/significant others. I was wondering if some alarm was going to go off with flashing lights if we dared leave the ship at the dinner hour without the kiddies. lol :p

 

Beckyjohns, since you've used camp carnival maybe you can tell me, for 3 and 4 year old range - are they open continuously or is there a time we have to watch for in order to pick up the kids and give the counselors a break or cleaning time? We want to drop kids by 5:30 if we are only doing Senior Frogs and not be back to the ship until after midnight. Thanks again.

[beckyjohns]

 

Beckyjohns, since you've used camp carnival maybe you can tell me, for 3 and 4 year old range - are they open continuously or is there a time we have to watch for in order to pick up the kids and give the counselors a break or cleaning time? We want to drop kids by 5:30 if we are only doing Senior Frogs and not be back to the ship until after midnight. Thanks again.

 

I think it depends on the ship and itinerary. In my experience, we've always been in port during the day time (8-5, 8-6, etc), never thru dinner time. They've opened camp 15 minutes before the scheduled arrival time and remain open for MOST of the port time, but not all. Be careful to check the capers closely! We've had days where the ship leaves port at 6PM, but camp closes for dinner at 4:45PM and then reopens at 6 for dinner. So, if you're in port during the dinner hour, I'm not sure if camp would close for dinner or not. Worst case, you could wait until 6 to leave the ship and then the kids could eat dinner at camp.