First time Carnival Kids Camp advice??

[Erreyl]

We are on the Legend this March and my daughter will be 9.  This is her first cruise so I was just wondering if there are tips or advice on using the kids camp?  We do have another 9 year old on our group so they can go in together, which I assume will make it more fun, but any advice or tips would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[lennythenose]

My best advice is insist they go the first night even if they don’t think they will want to go. All the kids start firming their groups to gang out with that night. 

[crazy4themouse]

25 minutes ago, lennythenose said:

My best advice is insist they go the first night even if they don’t think they will want to go. All the kids start firming their groups to gang out with that night. 

 

That's exactly what I was about to say. No matter what else is going on, make sure they go to the club that first night! Kids form cliques fast, and my son always made fast-friends that first night whom he hung out with all cruise.

 

 

[Erreyl]

13 hours ago, crazy4themouse said:

 

That's exactly what I was about to say. No matter what else is going on, make sure they go to the club that first night! Kids form cliques fast, and my son always made fast-friends that first night whom he hung out with all cruise.

 

 

Thanks everyone, I would not have thought about that!  I appreciate it.

[Eli_6]

Do they have Kid's Club that first night?  I thought there was only Night Owls that first night...which is something you have to pay for.  I think the older groups have a meeting the first night, but not sure about the group that 9 year olds will be in.

 

My boys (now ages 8 and 10) really enjoy the Kid's Club.  The very first time they ever went was when they were pretty young and a child with behavioral issues was in the club and started throwing chairs and my younger child was so traumatized that he didn't want to go back. (Also, Covid hit right after their first cruise so for two years his main memory of the cruise was this incident with the kid.) However, they HAD to go during our Europe cruise because a couple of the days I booked adults only excursions I knew they wouldn't want to go to. (The excursion was to places they would not care about, almost completely historical-based, and required a very long bus ride).  This time, they LOVED the Kid's Club and wanted to go every day!!!  It also helps that they are older now. My youngest was only about 4 the first time he went and this time they were 7 and 9. 

 

They also went during an Alaskan cruise, but there were not hardly any other kids on that cruise so they didn't enjoy it as much.  However, I think that was an exception (i.e. not hardly any other kids) because we actually went on the Alaskan cruise shortly before MOST schools got out so I think most kids were still in school.  My kids go to a private school and their schedule is slightly different. 

 

The only tip I would give is that it can get a little busy right at first drop off times so if you are going to drop them off right when it first opens, plan accordingly if you have to be somewhere. 

 

My kids always really like the video game and free play times and are annoyed by the art times.  So, on sea days, we sort of "pick and choose" the hours they go.  They have the schedule on the Hub App so you can look and see what is going on when. 

 

Also, I think 9 year olds can sign themselves out so if you don't want them to be able to do this, be sure to pick that option.  I did not want my 9 year old being able to sign himself out. He wouldn't cause any trouble or fall of the ship, but I also know he would never find his way back to the room and would just be wandering around the ship, probably crying. 

[lennythenose]

32 minutes ago, Eli_6 said:

Do they have Kid's Club that first night?  I thought there was only Night Owls that first night...which is something you have to pay for.  I think the older groups have a meeting the first night, but not sure about the group that 9 year olds will be in.

My youngest is about to turn 20 so my experience is several years old and even with the older kids clubs it was pre shutdown. I guess I should start saying to go the first time it’s available. We also let them pick when they wanted to go. Another reason we went the first day was to grab the activity schedule then spend time with the highlighter (different color for each boy) marking the things they wanted to do. I am assuming everything is on the app now but you could still spend time going through it together snd stetting reminders. 

[Erreyl]

6 hours ago, Eli_6 said:

Do they have Kid's Club that first night?  I thought there was only Night Owls that first night...which is something you have to pay for.  I think the older groups have a meeting the first night, but not sure about the group that 9 year olds will be in.

 

My boys (now ages 8 and 10) really enjoy the Kid's Club.  The very first time they ever went was when they were pretty young and a child with behavioral issues was in the club and started throwing chairs and my younger child was so traumatized that he didn't want to go back. (Also, Covid hit right after their first cruise so for two years his main memory of the cruise was this incident with the kid.) However, they HAD to go during our Europe cruise because a couple of the days I booked adults only excursions I knew they wouldn't want to go to. (The excursion was to places they would not care about, almost completely historical-based, and required a very long bus ride).  This time, they LOVED the Kid's Club and wanted to go every day!!!  It also helps that they are older now. My youngest was only about 4 the first time he went and this time they were 7 and 9. 

 

They also went during an Alaskan cruise, but there were not hardly any other kids on that cruise so they didn't enjoy it as much.  However, I think that was an exception (i.e. not hardly any other kids) because we actually went on the Alaskan cruise shortly before MOST schools got out so I think most kids were still in school.  My kids go to a private school and their schedule is slightly different. 

 

The only tip I would give is that it can get a little busy right at first drop off times so if you are going to drop them off right when it first opens, plan accordingly if you have to be somewhere. 

 

My kids always really like the video game and free play times and are annoyed by the art times.  So, on sea days, we sort of "pick and choose" the hours they go.  They have the schedule on the Hub App so you can look and see what is going on when. 

 

Also, I think 9 year olds can sign themselves out so if you don't want them to be able to do this, be sure to pick that option.  I did not want my 9 year old being able to sign himself out. He wouldn't cause any trouble or fall of the ship, but I also know he would never find his way back to the room and would just be wandering around the ship, probably crying. 

Thanks for info, I appreciate it.  I did read they could sign themselves out and I have no intention of letting her do that! She only turns 9 a couple weeks before we go and to me that’s way too young to be wondering around the ship.

Thanks again!

[Erreyl]

5 hours ago, lennythenose said:

My youngest is about to turn 20 so my experience is several years old and even with the older kids clubs it was pre shutdown. I guess I should start saying to go the first time it’s available. We also let them pick when they wanted to go. Another reason we went the first day was to grab the activity schedule then spend time with the highlighter (different color for each boy) marking the things they wanted to do. I am assuming everything is on the app now but you could still spend time going through it together snd stetting reminders. 

Thanks, those are good suggestions.  I haven’t cruised since everything went digital…I’m going to miss the daily schedule papers that we kept for scrapbooks!  Haha (I did read that I could get a pared down version from somewhere, I’ll have to check that out.)

 

[jerseygirlinAZ]

We sailed in December and the Kids Club was open the first night.

[Eli_6]

26 minutes ago, jerseygirlinAZ said:

We sailed in December and the Kids Club was open the first night.

Cool!  I think they were still operating under reduced hours the last time I cruised

[carohs]

3 hours ago, Erreyl said:

She only turns 9 a couple weeks before we go and to me that’s way too young to be wondering around the ship.

We thought the same thing (DS turned 9 a few days prior) but a few days into our cruise we ended up giving him privileges after all. He never got lost per se, just decided after not being able to find me that he'd go looking for me (long story short he found my aunt in her room while I frantically searched the ship and tried not to panic). If you think about it we trust our kids to find their classroom the 1st day of school; they're more than capable of finding a stateroom #. They're also capable of finding the arcade 😂 so...

 

[lennythenose]

Each parent knows their kid. And even our 2 were different from each other. Strangely enough it was our younger son that was telling his brother how to get back to the cabin even before he was old enough to sign himself out. We did allow our dons to sign out but with very specific rules. They always had the Bubbles package and could sign out to go get a drink but to go straight back until we were there to get him. 

[Erreyl]

Thanks for all the info!

[imluvncruzn]

On 1/16/2023 at 10:14 AM, Eli_6 said:

Do they have Kid's Club that first night?  I thought there was only Night Owls that first night...which is something you have to pay for.  I think the older groups have a meeting the first night, but not sure about the group that 9 year olds will be in.

 

My boys (now ages 8 and 10) really enjoy the Kid's Club.  The very first time they ever went was when they were pretty young and a child with behavioral issues was in the club and started throwing chairs and my younger child was so traumatized that he didn't want to go back. (Also, Covid hit right after their first cruise so for two years his main memory of the cruise was this incident with the kid.) However, they HAD to go during our Europe cruise because a couple of the days I booked adults only excursions I knew they wouldn't want to go to. (The excursion was to places they would not care about, almost completely historical-based, and required a very long bus ride).  This time, they LOVED the Kid's Club and wanted to go every day!!!  It also helps that they are older now. My youngest was only about 4 the first time he went and this time they were 7 and 9. 

 

They also went during an Alaskan cruise, but there were not hardly any other kids on that cruise so they didn't enjoy it as much.  However, I think that was an exception (i.e. not hardly any other kids) because we actually went on the Alaskan cruise shortly before MOST schools got out so I think most kids were still in school.  My kids go to a private school and their schedule is slightly different. 

 

The only tip I would give is that it can get a little busy right at first drop off times so if you are going to drop them off right when it first opens, plan accordingly if you have to be somewhere. 

 

My kids always really like the video game and free play times and are annoyed by the art times.  So, on sea days, we sort of "pick and choose" the hours they go.  They have the schedule on the Hub App so you can look and see what is going on when. 

 

Also, I think 9 year olds can sign themselves out so if you don't want them to be able to do this, be sure to pick that option.  I did not want my 9 year old being able to sign himself out. He wouldn't cause any trouble or fall of the ship, but I also know he would never find his way back to the room and would just be wandering around the ship, probably crying. 

Can you explain how the Club Ocean works for dinner times?  We want to book the earliest Teppenyaki seating but it looks like the club is closed between 5-7pm.  But then I also read that they do kids dining in the buffet and its available every day.  Do you know if they go with the club to dinner will they take them back to the club after.  I'm really confused about this!  

[Eli_6]

Just now, imluvncruzn said:

Can you explain how the Club Ocean works for dinner times?  We want to book the earliest Teppenyaki seating but it looks like the club is closed between 5-7pm.  But then I also read that they do kids dining in the buffet and its available every day.  Do you know if they go with the club to dinner will they take them back to the club after.  I'm really confused about this!  

I have no idea because we always take our kids to eat dinner with us if they are cruising with us. 

[lennythenose]

Several years ago our younger son wanted to eat with the kids a few times. Back then the club was closed as you said but their schedule for the day did show the dinner times. We wound take him to the buffet (he was young enough we had to sign him in and out) and they did take him to the club after. Not sure if it’s still the same but we did see a section of the buffet closed off for the kids one evening on our cruise in November. But there weren’t any there just the counselors. Of course it was a transatlantic cruise so very few kids onboard. 

Edited January 30, 2023 by lennythenose