Club Ocean Info

[JenCruise710]

I did some searches, but haven't found a ton of posts around the kids Club Ocean. This will be our first time cruising with our daughter (6) and would love to know more about the Club Ocean. It looks like they divide a bit by age group, but I don't see a lot of info around whether it's just an open play drop in or if they have scheduled activities, etc. Also, how is the supervision and can we drop in any time to check in on her? I'm not a helicopter parent by any means, but this is the first time someone is watching her who we haven't personally vetted, ya know? I want her to make friends, have fun AND be safe. 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

Our first experience with Club Ocean was when our youngest was 2. They do divide by age group, but sometimes combine groups when there are low numbers. We have found supervision to be excellent. Our kids really liked the staff.

 

They have both open play and supervised activities, sometimes at the same time, and the kids can pick if they want to do the activity, or something else. Supervised activities are on a schedule you'll have, so that can help in figuring out when she might want to go to the club.

 

You can check in at any time.  Parents are not allowed in the play area, but you can peek in at any time to check on her.  We've done this, almost always without our son even knowing we came by.

[mook1525]

15 minutes ago, PrincessArlena'sDad said:

Our first experience with Club Ocean was when our youngest was 2. They do divide by age group, but sometimes combine groups when there are low numbers. We have found supervision to be excellent. Our kids really liked the staff.

 

They have both open play and supervised activities, sometimes at the same time, and the kids can pick if they want to do the activity, or something else. Supervised activities are on a schedule you'll have, so that can help in figuring out when she might want to go to the club.

 

You can check in at any time.  Parents are not allowed in the play area, but you can peek in at any time to check on her.  We've done this, almost always without our son even knowing we came by.

Do you need to register your kid at the Camp Ocean as soon as onboard? 

[x lindsay x]

3 minutes ago, mook1525 said:

Do you need to register your kid at the Camp Ocean as soon as onboard? 

You can do it as part of your online check in 14 days before your trip. 

[mook1525]

1 minute ago, x lindsay x said:

You can do it as part of your online check in 14 days before your trip. 

I see thank you!

[JenCruise710]

2 hours ago, PrincessArlena'sDad said:

Our first experience with Club Ocean was when our youngest was 2. They do divide by age group, but sometimes combine groups when there are low numbers. We have found supervision to be excellent. Our kids really liked the staff.

 

They have both open play and supervised activities, sometimes at the same time, and the kids can pick if they want to do the activity, or something else. Supervised activities are on a schedule you'll have, so that can help in figuring out when she might want to go to the club.

 

You can check in at any time.  Parents are not allowed in the play area, but you can peek in at any time to check on her.  We've done this, almost always without our son even knowing we came by.

Ah, I would LOVE to be able to check without her realizing we stopped by so my mind can be put at ease and she won't be interrupted in her play. 

 

Was the schedule a physical printed thing or is it part of this new app process? We haven't cruised in 6.5 years, so looks like lots has changed! 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

24 minutes ago, JenCruise710 said:

 

 

Was the schedule a physical printed thing or is it part of this new app process? We haven't cruised in 6.5 years, so looks like lots has changed! 

It was printed last time we cruised carnival... in 2018.  They were available outside the kids club to grab a copy. I'd like to know the answer to this one also.

[zaylyn2590]

I did kids club with my 5 then 6 year old. She loved it! She's very extroverted and loves being around people and kids so she loved the other kids and the "teachers" . They did a lot of arts and crafts, played games ect. They had kids dinner a few nights on the Magic. You can peek in on them to see how they're doing but i never did. The kids club is one of the huge pluses when I'm crusing as a single parent and my daughter LOVES being around people so she had a ball! 

[cruisewithwife]

Our kids love going to the kid clubs. Our past one we had one in the penguins (2-5 years), sharks (9-11 years) and our oldest was finally able to go to Circle C (12-14 years old). Your daughter will be a sting ray (6-8 years). You do fill out information when you do your booking online and then when arriving the first day they always have an open house/final registration. You will tell who can check-in/check-out your child with their sail and sign card. All of the times and activities are now on the carnival hub app which you will be able to view once you board. They have different games, free play time, magicians, move time and all sorts. They are free during the day with posted times and then at night they offer the night owls program which is a charge per hour from 10pm-1am. Typically a few of those nights they do a theme which our kids love. It is a nice way to enjoy the evening with your spouse and our little ones have went in pjs with a blanket and sometimes fall asleep watching a movie. 

[kelkel2]

So we just recently got back from the Mardi Gras. If you have the hub app, you can easily check the schedule for the kids club daily and what activities they’ll have. They had open play, crafts, games, theme nights, pajamas parties etc.

We registered our children at cruise check in and that’s where we also gave permission to who could pick them up and sign them in. Also if they could sign themselves out (age depending). Then on embarkation day we went down and they had the facility open for parents to tour and kids to check out. You could also register then if you hadn’t yet. Our 4 year old twins had an absolute blast! 

[SailawayKC]

How strict are are they on the age groups. Traveling with an 11 year old who will be 12 in June. Can we choose between and Ocean Club and the next one up?

[kelkel2]

25 minutes ago, SailawayKC said:

How strict are are they on the age groups. Traveling with an 11 year old who will be 12 in June. Can we choose between and Ocean Club and the next one up?

From What I understand they’re pretty strict with it. But it’s just from what I’ve read on here and not personal experience. Maybe with a birthday being that close they’d allow it? 

[staceyglow]

1 minute ago, kelkel2 said:

From What I understand they’re pretty strict with it. But it’s just from what I’ve read on here and not personal experience. Maybe with a birthday being that close they’d allow it? 

They let our son "age up", but he was only 2 weeks away from turning 12 and he had an older sister in that group, so that might have made a difference. 

[cacruisin]

28 minutes ago, SailawayKC said:

How strict are are they on the age groups. Traveling with an 11 year old who will be 12 in June. Can we choose between and Ocean Club and the next one up?

It depends and is case by case if they can move up.  I have successfully moved my son up but he was 1 month away from the next age group and we were traveling with his football team in which all his friends were in the next group up.  It will depend too on how many kids they have in each group too.  It never hurts to ask,

[SailawayKC]

Do you tip the staff in Ocean Club? If so, what is the suggested tip?

[asalligo]

On 2/12/2023 at 10:04 AM, cruisewithwife said:

They are free during the day with posted times and then at night they offer the night owls program which is a charge per hour from 10pm-1am. Typically a few of those nights they do a theme which our kids love. It is a nice way to enjoy the evening with your spouse and our little ones have went in pjs with a blanket and sometimes fall asleep watching a movie. 

I thought this would be awkward and the kids might see right through my plan to drop them off at night and enjoy some parent time. My kids were begging to go to the pajama party and pretty much everything else they planned at night. In the end, I was begging them to leave so I could go to sleep. 

 

 

Edited February 17, 2023 by asalligo

[jiggs]

On 2/8/2023 at 11:14 AM, JenCruise710 said:

Ah, I would LOVE to be able to check without her realizing we stopped by so my mind can be put at ease and she won't be interrupted in her play. 

 

Was the schedule a physical printed thing or is it part of this new app process? We haven't cruised in 6.5 years, so looks like lots has changed! 

not sure what ship you're on, but some kids clubs have closed circuit TVs so you can check on your kids from outside the club without actually going in.

 

not sure if they still do it, but they used to issue parents of younger kiddos a ship mobile phone and call you if there was ever a time they needed to get a hold of you.

 

I think on debarkation day there is a time you can tour the club with your child and they can check out whats up...parents can grab a printed copy of the activities.  If you're curious a quick google search will show you examples of activities and times.