False Advertising - Camp Carnival

[Maxax]

Okay...is it just me...or have others noticed this: We just got back from the Conquest, we cruised with our whole family, mother-in-law, father-in-law, brothers, sisters, husbands, wifes, etc....AND including two kids, niece and nephew, ages 9 and 11....it was their first cruise, and they thought they would check out some of the Camp Carnival stuff. Which is Great, that's all fine, and we all encouraged them to have fun and to try everything...and they sure did...only problem though was...it was September, School is in session...and there just flat out weren't ANY kids on that ship. All total...the VERY MOST we ever saw was around 30-40 kids....TOPS!!!! There just weren't many kids to interact with....all of the Camp Carnival things were VERY, EXTREMELY, THINLY, attended. Which is okay...it was September, and our kids still had a good time...but there just weren't any other kids on board the ship!

 

Okay so here's the rub. We went to the Disembarkation meeting...(this wasn't our first cruise but for some of our fellow travelers it was...and the Disembarkation speech can be kind of entertaining...so we went. And you know AT this speech...there comes a time when the Cruise Director...starts to talk about the staff...and what a great job they have done...(AND I AGREE 100%)...but then he looks everyone square in the eye...and starts talking about Camp Carnival...and says, "Ladies and Gentleman...can you believe there were OVER 600 children on this ship this week...and the Camp Carnival staff has been handling ALL OF THEM!!!!!"

 

WRONG, NOT TRUE...there was no where near 60 kids on that ship, muchless...600...and the whole audience just kinda lets out this big...."Ahhhhhhhh....like WOW, 600 kids on the ship,"....but NOT!!!! That wasn't true!!! Why would they say that. Most people seemed to be looking around at each other saying, "600 kids, wow...I haven't seen them?!?!" Later that day we were back at Camp Carnival...at the Talent Show for the kids...and all 5 of the families there...with all 4 of the kids in the show....were discussing this....and saying, "600 kids...WHATEVER....there's aren't 40 kids on this ship,"...and you know....probably in July...they have cruises with 600 kids, when the Camp Carnival staff is VERY Busy...but in September....there are NOT 600 kids on the ship...and I don't see why they feel the need to lie and tell you that....when its totally NOT TRUE!!! My parents just got back from another Carnival Cruise...and they made the exact same comment...that their Cruise Director...told their whole ship that there were over 700 kids on board, and they were totally dismayed by this...as in, "Where were these 700 children...we never saw them," but that doesn't stop Carnival from saying that there were...regardless!!!

 

That just seemed REALLY Lame to me!!! We WAY appreciate the staff....we thought they ALL did great, we love our Room Stewards, We love our waiters, we appreciate everything everyone does...we do NOT take anything on a cruise for granted. But we could have done without the shameless...and OBVIOUSLY FALSE PLUG...for Camp Carnival....why tell everyone on the ship that there are 600 plus kids on board...when there is TOTALLY, nothing like that?!?! All of the parents that did have kids on board, kids that were constantly looking for something to do....all...felt a little bit...taken back by that comment...cause it was obviously so false!

 

Just an observation...that seems to be consistent throughout the Carnival Fleet...during the school year!

[Doug910]

We WAY appreciate the staff....we thought they ALL did great, we love our Room Stewards, We love our waiters, we appreciate everything everyone does...

 

...Well, nothing was "falsely advertised", but the truth does get stretched a little. Guess what? Every cruise line does it. Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norweigan... we've heard the same "schtick" on them all. Just a little "self promotion", nothing to get upset about.

 

...You mentioned how great a time you had. Just let it go. No big deal, just part of doing business. ...Just my 2¢...

[mrdood]

What is your definition of a kid? What is theirs? Could be a big gap there. As a former statistician, I can make numbers say anything. For example Utah has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in the country, that is a fact, but what does that mean? They marry younger and have kids early there, all the married 18 and 19 year olds are counted as pregnant teens, if you take the married ones out of the equation, they have one of the very lowest unwed teenage pregancy rates.

 

It could be very likely that they may count children as anyone under 21, then the stretch was that Camp Carnival handled them all, club O2 would have the older teens and over 18 would not be handled...

 

So, I think "false advertising" is quite a stretch on your part as it was not printed up describing something that was not there.

 

Just a false statement at the most, could have easily gotten a digit off, and your observation of ALL the kids could have been painfully low as well.

[pba20493]

Maybe its me, but if you are going to worry about how many kids they said were on the ship, you were looking for something to complian about and thats all you could find. Did you have fun, were the crew and staff helpful and polite, was the ship clean.

 

Dont worry about a little number game. Did it impact your vacation? NO!

 

 

 

Tim

[Maxax]

Talk about People looking for something to complain about?!?! All I said was...I had a Great time...have cruised many times before, and Always have a Great time...I'm NOT filing a Law Suit...I'm not lodging a formal complaint...its REALLY NOT THAT BIG OF A DEAL...it was just an observation...I just thought it was a stretch of the truth...by a long ways...regardless of WHAT I titled the thread...like I said, I'm not filing suit and I always have a GREAT time, and will cruise again...just noticed that was a flat out stretch of the truth!!!

 

Seems like all the responders to my post are the ones looking for something to complain about....woe be it for someone to notice that...what the cruise directors say on every cruise...isn't exactly what the case may be.

 

This isn't my first post on Cruise Critic...I've been coming here for years. I'm not upset, in fact I'm having a good day. Just thought I'd mention something that myself, and several others that I know...had noticed on several different cruises. So that in the future...if you find yourself sitting in the theater...on a cruise ship...and the CD says something like, "There are over 600 children...IN CAMP CARNIVAL...ON BOARD THIS SHIP...RIGHT NOW...ON THIS CRUISE...THIS WEEK," well...that really may not be the truth.

 

Sorry that I believe in THE TRUTH!!! I tend to try and stick with it!

[Maxax]

Talk about People looking for something to complain about?!?! All I said was...I had a Great time...have cruised many times before, and Always have a Great time...I'm NOT filing a Law Suit...I'm not lodging a formal complaint...its REALLY NOT THAT BIG OF A DEAL...it was just an observation...I just thought it was a stretch of the truth...by a long ways...regardless of WHAT I titled the thread...like I said, I'm not filing suit and I always have a GREAT time, and will cruise again...just noticed that was a flat out stretch of the truth!!!

 

Seems like all the responders to my post are the ones looking for something to complain about....woe be it for someone to notice that...what the cruise directors say on every cruise...isn't exactly what the case may be.

 

This isn't my first post on Cruise Critic...I've been coming here for years. I'm not upset, in fact I'm having a good day. Just thought I'd mention something that myself, and several others that I know...had noticed on several different cruises. So that in the future...if you find yourself sitting in the theater...on a cruise ship...and the CD says something like, "There are over 600 children...IN CAMP CARNIVAL...ON BOARD THIS SHIP...RIGHT NOW...ON THIS CRUISE...THIS WEEK," well...that really may not be the truth.

 

Sorry that I believe in THE TRUTH!!! I tend to try and stick with it!

[jw4jg1mg2eg1]

Mr. Dood...I've always wished I could do deductions like that & make sense all at the same time. I loved what you just said.

MAXAX....OK..OK...I see what you are saying. But, unfortunately things like this are said all the time everywhere you go. It just so happened that this particular statement was made in reference to a situation you were closely involved in. You just needed to blow off a little steam. Nuff said. Have a WONDERFUL cruise!!

[cusyl]

Best time to find more kids is when school is out for the summer or a holiday. Did you take your kids out of school for the cruise? Don't be disappointed that there weren't 600 kids. LOL

A lot of kids don't want to participate in the kids club.:D

[aedeus]

It may also depend on the ages of the kids on board and whether or not their parents actually signed them up for Camp Carnival/Club O2 activities.

 

The ships systems count anyone under 21 as a child, whereas camp carnival stops at 12 (i think) and club o2 at 17 (ditto)

 

If most of the "kids" on board were in their late teens then you may not have registered them as children and they more than likely would not have signed up for the activities on board, even though the ship would have counted them as children

[poptart]

Sounds like to me that the CD just wasn't in touch with what was going on--on the ship that week! Once on a cruise we were on the CD said there were only 60 kids in camp that week but they were expecting 800 the next week (Thanksgiving week) true or false I don't know.

Then again there are some people who would rather lie than tell the truth any day.

I understand that what he said didn't impact your cruise in any way it was just one of those "what the ^%&*" moments. And those tend to make you distrustful of someone.

[Maxax]

Okay...I give...this will be my last post on this subject...as I wouldn't want to offend anyone. I promise...I am NOT upset by this....I have no steam to blow off...it was nothing more than an observation! You see...I have read on other posts...about totally different subjects...where people have written and said, "That the Cruise Director said there were over 600 kids on the ship," and that, "they were amazed by this figure...as it seemed to them that they NEVER saw any kids,"....so my point was just, "That I think they say that no matter what," its just standard CD banter...it also sounds more impressive when you are trying to praise the crew...to say, "that Camp Carnival has had over 600 kids on the ship this week," rather than say..."there were a total of 23 kids in Camp Carnival this week," you know...it doesn't have the same kind of impact! False...yes! Stretching the Truth...yes! Does everyone do this kind of thing...everywhere....geez, I would hope not!

 

As for the kids...they weren't my kids...I don't have any...they were my niece and nephew...and yes, their parents did pull them from school...for the trip...they go to private school....it wasn't a big deal.

 

So...you guys have a nice day! Over and out!

[SueSea]

That wasn't true!!! Why would they say that.

Since you asked, I’ll answer. Since the term ‘children’ is most likely defined by Carnival as those under 18 or perhaps even under 21, it’s likely it was a true statement that there were over 600 kids on board. And perhaps the same department manages both Camp Carnival and the teen program. Maybe they call all the staff who work with children (ages 1-18 or 21) Camp Carnival workers. If so, the CD wasn’t mistaken and wasn’t lying. If the staff that runs the teen program is called something else, then perhaps the CD mistaken said ‘Camp Carnival’ workers instead of naming the department. Perhaps someone here know what the teen program workers are called?

[Mysticks1]

Maxax -

I also thought the CD on our last cruise (10/30/05 Conquest)was crazy when he announced over 500 children onboard and the same "Thank Camp Carnival if you didn't see them." My daughter was 11 at the time and went to CC every day. I don't think I saw over 12 kids in her age group at any time. They brought all of the kids to the shows and I would estimate approximately 25 kids total at that time.

My DD had a ball even with the fewer number of kids. She can't wait to go back on our next cruise. This time we are cruising Thanksgiving week when most kids are out of school so I will be interested to see the difference in numbers.

[nrdsb4]

Maybe this is just semantics, but I would call it "false advertising" if they led you to believe that there would be 600 kids onboard, you booked your cruise with that assumption, and then you arrived at the ship only to find there were really no kids on the ship.

 

Instead, in your debarkation speech, the CD made a statement that you believe to be false, or at least, in error.

 

Sometimes people lie, and other times, they just don't know what they're talking about. I don't know that I would agree that this is some kind of "false advertising" scheme. I guess only the CD would know his motivation for sure.

[caribbean dreams]

Thats kinda funny now that i think about it,the last few times i have been on Carnival they have said there were 600 kids on board, maybe it's just part of the speech.

[NRWO]

Thats kinda funny now that i think about it,the last few times i have been on Carnival they have said there were 600 kids on board, maybe it's just part of the speech.

 

Yea.. probably is, but so what? Where's the "false advertising?" If before they booked the cruise a Carnival rep said, "Don't worry, there will be plenty of other kids on board, 600 in fact," then maybe you'd have a point. But the CD throws out a bogus # at debarkation to pump up the staff, so what? You have to figure on a 7 day cruise in the middle of the school year there just won't be that many kids.

[DqALEX]

Thats kinda funny now that i think about it,the last few times i have been on Carnival they have said there were 600 kids on board, maybe it's just part of the speech.

Look the CD comes out week after week with the same jokes, same shows. I bet he can do his act in his sleep. He works from a script. We go home after a week, but he has to do the same thing all over again and make it look fresh. After a 7 day cruise the crew always looks very tired to me. And yet when I get on a ship they always look so fresh like this is there first cruise, yet they just got rid of a group that morning. I don't know how they do it.

[Cruising = Heaven]

"Ladies and Gentleman...can you believe there were OVER 600 children on this ship this week...and the Camp Carnival staff has been handling ALL OF THEM!!!!!"

 

I've heard this statement, or a similar one, on every cruise, but I always considered it a "tongue-in-cheek" remark to get everyone who complains about kids onboard to moan and groan, and it usually works! Certainly never took it to be true or "false advertising", just a joking remark.