How did your 3 year old like Camp Carnival?

[RuxieGirl]

Anyone out there have a 3 year old that you put into Camp Carnival for any amount of time? How did your child do there?

 

My DD is 3.5 and loves her preschool. She also did a week-long day camp this summer and had no separation anxiety at all. I am curious how she'll do. We definitely want her to spend some time in her camp, for both her sake and ours. She's very social and I think she'll love it, but I have heard some horror stories about tons of screaming kids and I am scared it will freak her out.

 

Please share your stories, good and bad!

[Redsfan]

haven't seen a case of screaming kids...our youngest ones had a hard time separating but that ended a few minutes in. My only beef with the Camp is that staff can be hit or miss. They can make a great cruise for your kids, or they can make it boring...my little ones loved it though, and we enjoyed the alone time as well...

[kr8z]

All of our kids have always loved Camp. We've had 3 go through at age 3 without issue. Love it. If she is already acclimated to leaving you for preschool, then she shouldn't have much anxiety.

[splintz]

my 3 year old would not stay at the camp. the first 2 days we would get a call on the phone to come pick her up. after that we stopped taking her. she was not in pre school so i hope that was the problem. she has been going to pre school the last year and loves it. i am hoping on our upcoming august cruise she will enjoy camp carnival, and stay at there.

[sparkysj]

Our daughter is going to be 4 and she has been going to Camp Carnival since she was 2.....well when she was 2 she wouldn't stop crying and they kept calling us so as the previous poster said the staff makes ALL the difference. Our daughter has been in a home daycare since 7 months but is really slow to warm up and has some "special" qualities. Even though I let Carnival know this when booking when she was 2 they neglected to tell me that because of this a parent could stay with her some to let her get settled- the staff on ship refused to let one of us come in the room so within 10-15 min we would get a call that she wouldn't stop crying. Made for a VERY stressful rather than relaxing cruise!!

 

However when we booked cruise last year out PVP let us know how the previous PVP was wrong in not telling us and that we should contact special needs dept and that would be communicated to ship-which it was. We met w/the staff that 1st day and explained everything and we were actually able to enjoy ourselves and relax!! Our daughter would cry and act clingy if my husband or I dropped her off but if her brother or grandma did it was fine and the staff was awesome...we were so happy when we would sneak a peek in that she was playing and having fun.

[Yankeegirl]

Our first experience was when our DS was barely 2 and it was a disaster! When we picked him up his diaper was wet and had soaked through to his shorts. Never took him back after the first trip.

 

Jump forward two years...this past January when he was almost 4...he absolutely LOVED it and asked to go back to camp all the time! He loved all the activities and obviously we don't have to worry about diaper changes anymore!!!:D

 

Sounds like you DD will do very well, especially since she is a very social child and attends preschool! Have a great cruise!!!:)

[cruisinmimiof3]

My grandson was just over two when I took him on his first cruise. He totally loved "camp cannibal" as he called it. We decided to call it toy camp. He never wanted to leave the camp. He came back with a painted on moustache one night a crown one...always something new. He still talks about it and he is six now. He wants Santa to bring him a cruise card to board a ship.

[serene56]

our 5year old hated it but to be fair we were some place brand new carnival pride camp is all the way forward and there was a lot of motion up there. i think she thought we were going to leave her there all week and have fun without her. there is a closed circuit tv you can watch the interaction with the camp people with your kids. you will not be able to go in and stay.

 

 

most kids love it

[im4clowns]

My dd started preschool last September. In march of this year we went in the freedom and I would get the call to pick her up. She was 3 and a quarter.

She would be fine when i dropped her off but they would tell me she would start crying when other kids started.

We will try again next month on the dream.

[2disneydads]

Our girls have been going to the children's program on many cruise lines since they were 2 (and even before that on Disney, when they enjoyed Flounder's Reef). They like Carnival's Camp Carnival very much - probably next best after Disney. They love Funship Freddie, and we've had very good experiences with the staff at Camp Carnival. Many of the counselors are teachers from the Philippines, so they are well trained in working with children. Our girls would move into Camp Carnival and never leave if we would let them. Our girls are looking forward to some Carnival cruising this coming year. They now are 9 and 7.

[sfs2001]

I am very glad to hear that for the most part the young kids seem to like the camp. Our son will be 3 and we have been deciding whether or not to go on a cruise in October. He goes to daycare two half days and pretty much always cries until I leave the room, then I can see him and he's fine. Does anyone know if you drop them off and they cry....do they not take him? Or do they give him a few minutes to settle down? This would be our 5th cruise, but the first time taking out little one. We want him to go to the camp so we can have a little ale time...but also want him with us on the ship too. Thanks :)

[mountaincruiser20]

Our 3 year old grandson went with us on the Fantasy in Feb. and wanted to go all the time. He called it Big Boat School! It was only 5 days but he wanted to go at least once every sea day even if it was just for a few hours.

[Jacob's Mom]

Our son has gone right before turning 3 and right before turning 4. He is in full time day care... so he didn't mind being dropped off. The closer to 4 he was the more he wanted to go. The first year he was affraid of Freddy so he was always worried Freddy would show up. We are sailing in a few week (2 months before turning 5) and camp is all he is talking about. Face Painting, Dance Parties, etc. He can't wait!!

[gtalum]

If she does well in pre-school I think she'll love Camp Carnival. We first put our daughter in Camp Carnival right after she turned 2, and she's always enjoyed it.