New to posting here, many questions!

[LWKCTPBLRE]

Hi, I am new to posting here, and although this is technically my third cruise, the first two were almost ten years ago. That said, please don't make me feel bad if I have accidentally posted in the wrong category. :o

 

1) family of 6 (plus son's friend) traveling April 14th, from Jacksonville, on the Fascination. Birth certificate and a notarized "travel permission form", and medical permission form should be sufficient for the friend, correct? He is 13.

 

2) please tell me which restaurants/food service places on the ship involve an extra charge. I will be getting soda cards for the kids, just want to be sure the older ones know what is "free" and what is an additional cost.

 

3) Teen clubs: my oldest will be turning 18 one week before we sail, but is still a senior in high school. Will she be able to join her sister (16) at the teen club? Do we need proof that she is still a student?

 

4) any way to find out what some examples of the teen activities are? Two girls, 16 and 18, two boys 13 and 14, and a ten year old boy.

 

5) is the carnival kids club open at dinner EVERY night? My son (10) has special needs, and might not have the patience for the MDR. I would love to have a few peaceful meals with just hubby, or hubby and the older children. The ten year old will be happier in a kids group.

 

Thanks for any advice you can give.

[Sorin174]

Hello, I can't really reply to your questions because we have never sailed with children, but, if you call one Carnivals "personal vacation specialists" I'm sure they can answer all of your questions. They are remarkably well versed in all the ships and very helpful!

[ohitssunshine]

I can say with my kids, usually they will go to the kids club a couple of times. But since the club is come and go as you please, they usually end up just meeting near the club and hanging out together to do what they want to do!

 

I can say for the 12-14 year olds, they do dances, putt putt, swimming, water slide races, games, etc.

[firefly333]

There are no pay restaurants on that category of ship.

 

You should be fine with the birth certificate, if you have a school picture ID, Id bring that too for the children.

 

You can carry on soda, the soda card is $4.50 per day per child, so that can add up plus they add on 15% tips.

 

They are pretty strict with the ages, so a 18 year old might not be allowed to join a group they have outgrown. Ask when you board, thats the only way you might get it changed.

[firefly333]

Hello, I can't really reply to your questions because we have never sailed with children, but, if you call one Carnivals "personal vacation specialists" I'm sure they can answer all of your questions. They are remarkably well versed in all the ships and very helpful!

 

Hi and welcome to Cruisecritic. I can see you are new. Most people here know basic answers to questions.. so ask away if you have questions.

 

There is a wealth of information on CC, thats what is so good about a message board.

[LWKCTPBLRE]

Thanks everyone, I appreciate the advice. This is our first family vacation in TEN YEARS, so I am trying to make sure I have everything planned as much as possible. My youngest son is ten, and with his medical issues, things have been hard for my older kids, so we want them to have the time of their lives on this cruise. I am really looking forward to it!

[hfitzger]

5) is the carnival kids club open at dinner EVERY night? My son (10) has special needs, and might not have the patience for the MDR. I would love to have a few peaceful meals with just hubby, or hubby and the older children. The ten year old will be happier in a kids group.

 

On the past 4 cruises my kids have been on, Camp Carnival has had "dinner" for the kids every single night (except the first night - embarkation day when Camp hasn't "officially" started yet). I think maybe it started at 5:45-- we had time to get them settled before heading up for early dining @ 6:00.

 

Another thing to keep in mind is that at the Camp dinner, the children will not be ordering off the kids' menu. In the Camp Capers it will tell what they will be serving each evening-- all kid-friendly food, but it may not be something your child likes and they will not be able to choose something else. The counselors have the food already there and set up in the blocked off area of the the Lido restaurant that the kids will be eating.

[Banditswife]

Hi, just wanted to welcome the new CC members. I cannot answer your questions-never sailed w/ kids. But wanted to give you a warm welcome. There is so much info on here, it is amazing. Most posters are very friendly & helpful, just ignore those who aren't. As pp says, it would be less expensive in the long run to carry on sodas for the kids. There is also a section on Carnival's forum for cruising w/ special needs. They may be able to help with your situation.

 

Good luck & have a great cruise. Welcome to the boards.

[Jen_G]

Here's a link to Cirlcle C programs. They're from 2009 but they look similar to what my son did last August on the Legend.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=966269

[steph7021]

Hello, I can't really reply to your questions because we have never sailed with children, but, if you call one Carnivals "personal vacation specialists" I'm sure they can answer all of your questions. They are remarkably well versed in all the ships and very helpful!

 

Well then why would we have this site?? I don't find them all that helpful with specifics such as this IMHO

[webehicks]

Hi there - just a quick note to the OP:

 

If you're traveling w/a child w/special needs please don't hesitate to talk to the Special Needs dept. of Guest Services. They have been an amazing help to us! Our son is 11 and has been on 3 cruises with us. I spelled out everything that we needed for him, and they assisted us with boarding, meal times, Camp Carnival (he was allowed to go down an age group due to his developmental delays) and disembarkation. They have always gotten back to us quickly and even call a few days before sailing to make sure everything is set up correctly and to see if we have any questions.

 

As someone else has said, the "special needs cruisers" (forgive me - I forget the exact name) category here on CC is a help also. It was how we learned to navigate our cruises with him.

 

Enjoy your cruise :)

[Herfnerd]

 

2) please tell me which restaurants/food service places on the ship involve an extra charge. I will be getting soda cards for the kids, just want to be sure the older ones know what is "free" and what is an additional cost.

 

 

Firefly is correct in that there is no pay restaurants on Fantasy class ships but there is a charge for items purchased at the Cafe on the Way coffee shop on the Promenade deck and if you order room service, there is no additional charges but its customary to tip the person bringing the food a couple of dollars

[cdamion]

Hi, I am new to posting here, and although this is technically my third cruise, the first two were almost ten years ago. That said, please don't make me feel bad if I have accidentally posted in the wrong category. :o

 

1) family of 6 (plus son's friend) traveling April 14th, from Jacksonville, on the Fascination. Birth certificate and a notarized "travel permission form", and medical permission form should be sufficient for the friend, correct? He is 13.

 

2) please tell me which restaurants/food service places on the ship involve an extra charge. I will be getting soda cards for the kids, just want to be sure the older ones know what is "free" and what is an additional cost.

 

3) Teen clubs: my oldest will be turning 18 one week before we sail, but is still a senior in high school. Will she be able to join her sister (16) at the teen club? Do we need proof that she is still a student?

 

4) any way to find out what some examples of the teen activities are? Two girls, 16 and 18, two boys 13 and 14, and a ten year old boy.

 

5) is the carnival kids club open at dinner EVERY night? My son (10) has special needs, and might not have the patience for the MDR. I would love to have a few peaceful meals with just hubby, or hubby and the older children. The ten year old will be happier in a kids group.

 

Thanks for any advice you can give.

 

1) Correct

2) Coffee

3) Depends on the staff there. Definitely bring her school ID to show she is still in HS.

4) Search the boards and if you don't find anything, post another thread specifically about that. Friendly people here emailed me the Circle C schedule for my upcoming cruise.

5) Not sure, but I think so.

[mousey]

I'm sorry I can't help you with the 10 yr. but it seems like you've gotten some good advice from other posters about that already.

 

We sailed on the Fascination last Aug. with our DS (16) and his friend (17). Kids that age do go to the teen club but they don't usually hang out there. They usually just go to see who is in there at any specific time. Teens usually hang out at the pool, Jacuzzi, game room, or where ever they can get together in a group. The 18 yr. old will most likely not be allowed into the teen club even though she is still in school but it doesn't hurt to ask. But, like I said, most of the teens don't hang in there for long periods of time. My DH and his friend only went in there to see if other kids that they had met were there, then they would leave and go somewhere else. Also, just because this will come up I'm sure on your cruise with your teens; the teen club is open until I believe 1:00am then the kids head over to the open all night pizza/deli area of the buffet which is at the back of the buffet area. They hang out there until whatever curfew the parents set up for them. Some kids can stay out all night (not mine or his friend), some others can stay until 2a, 3a, etc. We felt that 2a was a good curfew because we felt 1hr. was enough time for them to get something to eat. I know this sounds like a really late curfew, but time on the ship is not like time at home. At home my kid is home by 10:30p. and sometimes exceptions are made for special occasions. But on the ship it is different. We use to have a curfew for him on the ship of 11p. But once he turned 15 we changed it. This is just our decision and we have never had a problem. Teens aren't running wild all over the place. My DS and his friend did miss curfew one night on our last cruise and the DS lost use of his car for two days when we returned home because of it. I didn't punish him on the ship because I didn't want to ruin our vacation. Once we told them that if they broke curfew again they would have a new one of midnight...it never happened again.

 

Be sure to tell your girls that they should never walk away from their drinks and that if they do, they should not come back and drink it but just order a new one. This won't be a problem because you are getting them soda cards. I'm not saying this because of any problems with cruising. I would advise kids to follow this rule wherever they are. My DS and his friend are boys and I gave them the same rule.

 

I hope this helps and I truly hope your long-awaited vacation is all you hope it will be! Happy cruising!:D