Seasoned Cruiser NOT so Seasoned Cruising as Mommy!!!!

[dawnjam1]

YES! I am one of those....now reformed CRAZY Carnival party people....that A LOT of you older cruisers despise.......LOL! I have so many of you on here that have been friends for years! Yes...I have been a member on CC for 16 years and no this is NOT my original CC name! And BTW....some of you that seem so down on those fun ones now don't seem to remember what it was like even for you 15 or 20 years ago.... just saying!!!! I even know one person who used to smuggle who flames for it now.....CC Members....you are dear to my heart....

 

Off subject......So...here is my issue.....

 

I HAD to grow up and start having babies sometime.....and with all of my experience on cruise ships (even as an employee) I never spent enough time paying attention to the kids activities and needs to prepare myself for cruising with my own now 6 year old!

 

1) I have asked about the height for the water slides and have gotten answers all over the map! I need to know for the MAGIC what the restrictions are.....Carnival, in all their glory are not easy to get an answer from. there are so many ships with different parks. Help for preparing her for and not getting her hopes too high would be great. She is over the 42' requirement for onshore parks.

 

2) Stupid question....robes in the rooms.....in prep for a child pax..... do they put in a child size or is that something I should pack her so she might feel special?

 

3) Camp Carnival on the Magic.....do they take the 6-8 year old group on the slides, etc or do they only keep them inside doing things on sea days. I am NOT one to keep my kid in ANY program unless she wants to be but I want to plan accordingly. I have no idea what I NORMALLY do with my sea days, but sun, gambling a bit, wandering, etc. come to mind. Just want to be prepared for a busy day with her even in what would normally be downtime for me! LOL!

 

4) CC Night Programs.....again.....I am NOT one to just leave her anywhere, and with my mother going I am sure there will be little of this UNLESS my DD insists, but how do they work these Night Owl parties? Do they keep them moving doing all sorts of things or do they let them settle in for movies, etc.? Just curious.

 

Just please help a Mamma out.....I hope my help over the years will be paid back in spades without the normal....look it up! LOL!

 

Dawn

Edited April 3, 2014 by dawnjam1

[pungo3]

I certainly don't know all the answers, but I can tell you there is NOT a robe for a child. I've taken my foster child on 2 cruises and there wasn't a robe for him. I even asked the room steward, in case it was something you had to request, and was told there are none.

 

My child did go to Night Owl and loved it. They had tons of things to do and there was no trouble for him to stay awake. I believe it was 2am, and they walked all the kids to their cabins and made sure an adult was there to accept them.

[Catrin]

YES! I am one of those....now reformed CRAZY Carnival party people....that A LOT of you older cruisers despise.......LOL! I have so many of you on here that have been friends for years! Yes...I have been a member on CC for 16 years and no this is NOT my original CC name! And BTW....some of you that seem so down on those fun ones now don't seem to remember what it was like even for you 15 or 20 years ago.... just saying!!!! I even know one person who used to smuggle who flames for it now.....CC Members....you are dear to my heart....

 

Off subject......So...here is my issue.....

 

I HAD to grow up and start having babies sometime.....and with all of my experience on cruise ships (even as an employee) I never spent enough time paying attention to the kids activities and needs to prepare myself for cruising with my own now 6 year old!

 

1) I have asked about the height for the water slides and have gotten answers all over the map! I need to know for the MAGIC what the restrictions are.....Carnival, in all their glory are not easy to get an answer from. there are so many ships with different parks. Help for preparing her for and not getting her hopes too high would be great. She is over the 42' requirement for onshore parks.

 

2) Stupid question....robes in the rooms.....in prep for a child pax..... do they put in a child size or is that something I should pack her so she might feel special?

 

3) Camp Carnival on the Magic.....do they take the 6-8 year old group on the slides, etc or do they only keep them inside doing things on sea days. I am NOT one to keep my kid in ANY program unless she wants to be but I want to plan accordingly. I have no idea what I NORMALLY do with my sea days, but sun, gambling a bit, wandering, etc. come to mind. Just want to be prepared for a busy day with her even in what would normally be downtime for me! LOL!

 

4) CC Night Programs.....again.....I am NOT one to just leave her anywhere, and with my mother going I am sure there will be little of this UNLESS my DD insists, but how do they work these Night Owl parties? Do they keep them moving doing all sorts of things or do they let them settle in for movies, etc.? Just curious.

 

Just please help a Mamma out.....I hope my help over the years will be paid back in spades without the normal....look it up! LOL!

 

Dawn

 

#1 I believe she will be ok on the Magic if she is over the 42 inch mark as the slides do not empty into a pool.

 

#2 There have never been robes for the kids in any room we have been on. It is one size fits most.

 

#3 I don't think the 6-8 year old groups use the slides or pools. they keep them at camp carnival or wherever their scheduled activity is. 2 0f my 3 children always wanted to be at camp carnival. especially at that age. The one who didn't like CC just picked and chose which activity he liked and went to them. He hung around with us alot.

 

#4 My daughter just said they kept them busy playing games, playing with baloons etc. she came back to the cabin with lots of little trinkets and a small stuffed animal.

[DobberDog]

Having cruised the Magic in Feb 2014 with my 3 kids (DS 13, DD9 & DS 3) i want to inform you of one little tidbit about the night owls program. While the Fun Times states a per hour price, that is not what is charged. Your sail & sign card will be charged for the FULL time of that nights "night owls" program regardless if your child stays one hour or the entire time.

 

I cannot speak to the port days as we had excursions at all our ports. For the sea days, the kids stay in the camp carnival area unless they have sign out privileges (9 and older i believe) to do the scavenger hunts.

 

No kid sized robes in the rooms as previous posters stated.

 

My 2 oldest have loved camp carnival on every cruise we have been on. They have begged to go every day. My youngest wont step foot in the Camp Carnival facility. He hates it and has since his first cruise. To each his own.

 

Let your daughter go the first night to the meet and greet/Family night. it really helps them make friends faster.

 

My oldest son and daughter were talking about the slides on the magic and the height requirements the other night at supper wondering if their younger brother was going to be tall enough to ride the big slides. They both mentioned that the requirement was 48 inches tall. My son said he took a pic of my daughter standing next to the sign. Ill see if he still has the pic and verify what it says if i can.

[cb at sea]

Your child won't give a fig about having a robe! No worries!

[CatlinSTJ]

My daughter did Night Owls once on our last cruise. (She's our little party/dance animal!). They danced, played with balloons, etc. but they also had a "crash zone" set up in they got tired and wanted to lay down. They really worked it and made it into a p-a-r-t-y! She had a blast and received a special backpack full of goodies that was worth the cost alone.

 

 

Next cruise: Carnival Breeze June 2014

[stressedmomof3]

We went on the Magic when my dd was 6 and she had a fabulous time!

My daughter had so much fun at Camp Carnival she even wanted to eat with the other children some days at lunch and she was so tuckered out at night!

 

The first night there was a welcome aboard type of dance party to go to with a parent.

Everything else for Camp Carnival for the trip was a sign in sign out type of thing.

They do not take the kids to the slides/pools, play areas.

They do have tons of activities mostly throughout the day. Be sure to make it to the 1st evening aboard information night for kids in the theater. They will hand out schedules for kids activities to you and you turn in your camp carnival forms then.

 

Camp Carnival for that age group is something you need to be conscious on the times of activities too because it's not like a daycare where you drop them off at 8am and pick them up at 5pm. There are times where they break for an hour here or 2-3 hours at a time.

 

As for the night owls- my 6 year old at the time had such a blast. She actually stayed up the whole time . They gave her a pack with a flashlight and trinkets. When she was picked up they did have some children who fell asleep- but saw that their parents planned ahead and sent them with pillows and blankets when they were dropped off. It was a strict sign in sign out event just like regular camp and lots of kids there too.

 

 

There are not any child sized robes in the room, so if you would like her to have one- be sure to bring one.

 

 

Hope this helps.

 

Oh- and just a tidbit- try to get some glow in the dark necklaces or bracelets from your local dollar tree- they are wonderful for kids when sleeping in a dark room or tying to the bathroom door to see where the bathroom is in the middle of the night

[keishashadow]

YES! I am one of those....now reformed CRAZY Carnival party people....that A LOT of you older cruisers despise.......LOL! I have so many of you on here that have been friends for years! Yes...I have been a member on CC for 16 years and no this is NOT my original CC name! And BTW....some of you that seem so down on those fun ones now don't seem to remember what it was like even for you 15 or 20 years ago.... just saying!!!! I even know one person who used to smuggle who flames for it now.....CC Members....you are dear to my heart....

 

Off subject......So...here is my issue.....

 

I HAD to grow up and start having babies sometime.....and with all of my experience on cruise ships (even as an employee) I never spent enough time paying attention to the kids activities and needs to prepare myself for cruising with my own now 6 year old!

 

1) I have asked about the height for the water slides and have gotten answers all over the map! I need to know for the MAGIC what the restrictions are.....Carnival, in all their glory are not easy to get an answer from. there are so many ships with different parks. Help for preparing her for and not getting her hopes too high would be great. She is over the 42' requirement for onshore parks.

 

2) Stupid question....robes in the rooms.....in prep for a child pax..... do they put in a child size or is that something I should pack her so she might feel special?

 

3) Camp Carnival on the Magic.....do they take the 6-8 year old group on the slides, etc or do they only keep them inside doing things on sea days. I am NOT one to keep my kid in ANY program unless she wants to be but I want to plan accordingly. I have no idea what I NORMALLY do with my sea days, but sun, gambling a bit, wandering, etc. come to mind. Just want to be prepared for a busy day with her even in what would normally be downtime for me! LOL!

 

4) CC Night Programs.....again.....I am NOT one to just leave her anywhere, and with my mother going I am sure there will be little of this UNLESS my DD insists, but how do they work these Night Owl parties? Do they keep them moving doing all sorts of things or do they let them settle in for movies, etc.? Just curious.

 

Just please help a Mamma out.....I hope my help over the years will be paid back in spades without the normal....look it up! LOL!

 

Dawn

 

We cruised with my DS/DIL & 3 y.o. GD in January & offered to watch GD every other night so they could enjoy themselves but they all crashed each night after the show...couldn't hang with the big dogs i.e. grandma & grandpap lol.

[Smiling Cruiser]

Google kids terrycloth bathrobes and you can find a white hooded one for about $18.00. If you really want to make it special you can have a cruise ship embroidered on it and maybe the child's name. Just don't violate copyright laws.

[dawnjam1]

SEE! I KNEW I could count on my CC "family"! LOL! Thank you for your replies. I am PRAYING my Mom tuckers out earlier than I do on this trip (AND that she doesn't read CC! ;) ) and wants to take DD to bed earlier some. I have recently been through a difficult divorce and NEED this vacation but NEED this time with my baby as well. Just don't know that that equates to watching her sleep! HAHA!

 

I also am a huge planner and even after all of these cruises, still scour for ideas and haunt the boards for months getting ready. Lists of my lists!

 

I have gifts packs planned for each day with things pertaining to each port (yes! including glow sticks!) and a small token gift. Like the morning I have a private dolphin swim planned with a friend in Coz I bought a small dolphin stuffed animal to start a scavenger hunt type day that will also end at another friends home for a late lunch and snorkeling off their beach before returning to the ship. I spend WAY too much time on Pinterest. But I want for her to have the same sense of adventure I have and I want her first cruise to be special. My ex is a Country music singer and she is WELL traveled, but not in the fun way! LOL!

 

Thanks SO much for your suggestions and comments! Please feel free to add to these! I LOVE ideas and I KNOW there are others that love these more family friendly threads as well!

 

Dawn