Just off the Victory with 3 young kids. Any Questions???

[New2Cruisin'07]

I am just off the Victory last weekend. I was a first time cruiser, and I had a TON of questions. If anyone has any questions, just ask.

 

I traveled with my kids, 7, 5 & 1yr. We also stayed in an inside room. We took a chance, and did our own excursions, and we also had air & transportation arranged through carnival.

[bewitchedwitch]

You didn't mention what ports you went to???

 

We are doing the eastern carib. route (San Juan, St. Thomas, Antigua, Tortola, and Nassau) in November. Our kids will be 1 and 4 years old.

[mrdood]

I am just off the Victory last weekend. I was a first time cruiser' date=' and I had a TON of questions. If anyone has any questions, just ask.

 

I traveled with my kids, 7, 5 & 1yr. We also stayed in an inside room. We took a chance, and did our own excursions, and we also had air & transportation arranged through carnival.[/quote']

 

Looking forward to a written review (I find them much more useful than shotgun Q&A threads):)

[pugsy&porter]

I am interested in hearing what you did with the 1 year old in regards to babysitting or Camp Carnival activities. We are traveling with my 1 year old nephew & I know we can not leave him at CC during the day, but I think he is still eligible for the night time baby sitting.

[Cassinster]

Hi,

 

These would be my specific questions, as I am sailing on the Victory in September.

 

1-How was the steward like in keeping the room neat and nice to be inside? Also, were there any problems with excessive noise from the ship? We often like to sleep in.

 

2-How were the dining facilities in terms of staff and selection?

 

3-Were the public areas well maintained? We would like to be comfortable both sitting outside to watch the ocean go by, and to walk around the observation areas etc.

 

4-Were there many potential activities for adults, like dancing or karaoke or trivia or things like that?

 

This would be great. From your initial post, it sounds like you had a great time. This makes me even more impatient for September!

 

Thanks

[Julienatul]

We are just off the Victory as well with our 19 month old.

 

We used Camp Carnival babysitting once.

 

On sea days and San Juan day they will watch under 2's from 12-2pm for $6.00 an hr. and then everyday at 10pm-1am. They have cribs for sleeping little ones.

 

In St Maarten they will watch them from 1-5pm, ST Thomas from 8am-noon again for $6.00 an hr.

 

Our daughter did fine during the babysitting. She liked playing with the toys. They seemed very friendly and were holding her when we returned for her. They said she didnt cry at all. They changed her diaper once. We only used it once because we brought her with us during port days and were busy some of the sea days.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Julie

[Julienatul]

These would be my specific questions, as I am sailing on the Victory in September.

 

1-How was the steward like in keeping the room neat and nice to be inside? Also, were there any problems with excessive noise from the ship? We often like to sleep in. We were in cabin 8356 on Verandah deck, no noise at all except last day we heard steward in equpment room accross from us.

 

2-How were the dining facilities in terms of staff and selection? Dining room staff was exceptional! Food was fabulous in dining room. Buffet was as usual..OK. They always seemed to have long lines and didnt have all stations open all the time.

 

3-Were the public areas well maintained? We would like to be comfortable both sitting outside to watch the ocean go by, and to walk around the observation areas etc. Areas were very clean, always workers tidying up the ship. It was a beautiful ship.

 

4-Were there many potential activities for adults, like dancing or karaoke or trivia or things like that? They had lots of trivia, card games, dance classes everyday, kareoke every evening, a piano bar

 

This would be great. From your initial post, it sounds like you had a great time. This makes me even more impatient for September!

 

Hope this helps

[jlfros1]

We are traveling on the Victory June 3rd with a 5 year old.Planning on putting her in camp carnival.Did your children enjoy it? I read on the carnival site strollers are available to rent,did you rent one,what was the price and were there plenty available?Also we have 5 in our balcony cabin 3 adult and 2 children think we will have enough room? Did you use the babysitting after hours and how was it? Ok enough questions I guess,,Thanks :p

[habby]

we also had air & transportation arranged through carnival.

 

Can you please elaborate on this?

 

Where did you fly from?

 

Did they fly you in a day early, and if so was the hotel included or did you have to fend for yourself regarding that?

 

If you flew in the day of departure, how close to the ship sailing did you land?

 

Thanks!!

[molly361]

Newtocruising

 

What did you and your family end up doing the day you disembarked? Inquiring minds want to know:o

[CAD]

We are going in July with an 8 year old and a baby. Did the cabin have any kind of curtain that could be used to separate the sleeping and sitting areas? Were baby-friendly foods like cheerios, bananas and milk available outside of breakfast? And this will be our older daughter's first time in the older group in Camp Carnival. What did your kid think? What kind of stuff did they do?

 

Thanks!

[New2Cruisin'07]

Sorry it took me so long to respond. It has been harder than I anticipated getting back into the swing of things since we've gotten home. I don't know how to copy the questions, so I will do my best.

 

We took our own stroller. This was one of the best things we could have done. We took that stroller EVERYWHERE!! When ever our 1yr old was tired, he simply fell asleep. We would drop our older children off at Camp carnival, and when the little one fell asleep, we would just relax and lay by the pool. I liked that we also had a place to put all the baby stuff that I wanted to tote around. I also took 'diaper pins' and clothes pins, and a light crip sheet. I would pin/clip the sheet to the canopy to make sure that he stayed sheltered from the sun while DH and I worked on our tan. I did find it really tough getting in and out of the cabin door with the stroller, but other than that it was REALLY easy to get around on the ship with it.

 

My older boys really enjoyed Camp Carnival, but I found that they weren't in it as much as I expected. We would put them in as soon as we finished breakfast, and they would need to be picked up about 11:45am. They shut down from 12-2pm. After we picked them up we would have lunch, and then rather than going back, they would like to have some time swimming. Then we would get ready for dinner and they would go back to Camp carnival for awhile after that to watch the shows. We never paid for the babysitting (starts at 10pm). We were always all so exhausted, we would just go to bed.

 

One tip I would have for anyone with an infant who might fall asleep in a stoller..... Out side it would be REALLY warm. But then you would come inside to go to your room or a show, and it was REALLY cold. Make sure you take something to put over the little one.

 

Snacks for the 1yr old: We would order the 'complimentary continental breakfast' each morning. You fill out what time you would like to have it served. We used this as our wake-up call, and we would make sure that we requested fruit, milk, and boxes cereal. That way we would have something for the kids to eat right away while we got dressed, and ready for the day. Then we would head out for a great breakfast. Note: I did take a bottle warmer for the room.

 

Milk for bottles: I found that anytime I needed a warm bottle of milk, I would just go to the meditranian dining room where the buffet is served). If there wasn't any available to help myself, I just asked someone, and they would get me one. Hot water is always available there. I did wish I took my own large cup or something to hold the bottle and hot water. The cups they have didn't leave much room for hot water when I put the bottle in it.

 

Our room: We had an inside room. No balcony... No window. I really didn't mind it. At times if felt crowded, but I thought of it as camping.... But with a large bathroom. We were only in the room to sleep, and change clothes. I looked inside a few rooms with balconies, and thought that it would be SO nice. But then I thought of the cost, and I really don't think I would want one that bad. I also would have worried about the balcony with the kids.

 

Excursions

We did our own. Thank GOD for Cruise Critic!!! I never would have felt comfortable doing this if I didn't see everyone recommend it here!

 

San Juan: We didn't plan much for San Juan. We just took a horse & buggy ride. It was fine. Nothing spectacular though. I wished that I had research this site for suggestions to what to do when we got there.

St Maarten: We took a taxi downtown for a little shopping. We paid $5/ adult, and another $5 to include all 3 kids. When we were done there was a fantastic beach that we walked over to. We spent most the day there, and we loved it! We rented 2 chairs ($5ea.) and an umbrella ($10). We didn't mind spending the money when we thought about what we saved planning our own excursion. We did take 'Pre packaged' snacks for the kids, and boxed cereals. We also did buy canned beverages at the business that sells the chairs. You are also able to use their bathrooms too. Going back to the ship we took water taxi. They were available at the beach, and took you directly to where the ship was located. It was about the same cost as the taxi.

St Thomas: Here we took a taxi over to Coki Beach/Coral World. We paid $9/adult, and another $9 to include the kids. We went into Coral World. It cost us $20/adult, and I think we paid for our 2 older kids ($60 total). It was nice, but we were done in an hour. I'm not sure that we would have done it if we knew how small it was. After that we walked over to the beach that was right there, and it was about the same cost/experience as 'St Maarten'.

 

Air & Transfers arranged by Carnival: We arranged our flights and transfer from the airport to the cruiseship through carnival. I probably wouldn't do it again. We were flying from Buffalo. They had us go from Buffalo - North Carolina, and then North Carolina - Hollywood,Fort Lauderdale. We arrived in Fort Lauderdale about 1pm on the day of embarkment. We were practically the last ones to board the ship. For the day of debarkation, they arranged our flight from Hollywood, Fort Lauderdale at 6pm. We were shuttled to the airport by 10:30am. We were stuck there with 7 pieces of luggage, and the kids, 7.5 hours before out flight!!!!! We couldn't check our luggage that early. Initially we looked into excursions that you can arrange through Carnival, for the final day. They will take your luggage, and hold it during your excursion, and then transport you to the airport. This wasn't available to us since we were going from FLL, not the Miami airport.

 

We did end up renting a van (with a carseat) and spent the day exploring Fort Lauderdale ($85 with all the added costs). We went to the beach, and the kids had a great time playing at the playgrounds that they had. I would suggest that if you have a situation simillar to mine, I would go online, and research car rental companies in advance, and destinations in the area.

 

Best thing I took??? Baby stroller, small inflatable pool, goggles (salt water in the pools bothered my kids eyes), and baggies!!!! I used baggies for everything. Oh yeah! Also an over the door shoe organizer. A must!!!

 

What I should have left at home?? I actually didn't take any baby toys, and I was so glad!! My little guy wanted to play with plastic cups, bowls, and anything else that WASN'T a toy. I truley don't think he would have botherd with toys.

 

Best advice I took???

Pack light. We really did pack light. We took quite a few things for the baby (play pen, stroller, life jacket, bottle warmer etc..) so to compensate, we packed very light when it came to clothes. I'm very glad we did. Also.... Do your own excursions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Don't waste your money booking through Carnival.

 

Problems??? My 5yr old son broke out in hives after our first day. I also met another family whose daughter broke out in hives also. I really believe that it was the salt water in the pools. If your child has never been in salt water before, make sure you have them rinse off in the showers (by the pool) and possibly bring a soothing cream or something.

 

What I would change??? I wish that Camp carnival wouldn't close from 12-2pm.

 

Please forgive me for possibly putting all this information in the wrong forum. I'm actually not very good with finding my way around the boards, so I am just trying to pass on the information that I would have like to have had before my cruise.

[New2Cruisin'07]

We are going in July with an 8 year old and a baby. Did the cabin have any kind of curtain that could be used to separate the sleeping and sitting areas? Were baby-friendly foods like cheerios, bananas and milk available outside of breakfast? And this will be our older daughter's first time in the older group in Camp Carnival. What did your kid think? What kind of stuff did they do?

 

Thanks!

 

We had a tiny room. There was no way to separate the areas.

 

My kids are5yrs 8months, and 7.5yrs. They were both in the 6-8yr old group. I was really glad that my younger son was able to go into the 6-8yr group with my older son. They said it would be on a trial basis. If at anytime he didn't seem to be having fun, or the activities were to advanced for him, they would talk to us about putting him down into the 2-5yr group. He did just fine!! I was glad that they were flexable on this.

 

Activities??? They received free t-shirts and coloured them for souveniers. They became pirates and played pirate games and did pirate crafts. They danced, played mini golf, and just played a lot of games, and did crafts.

 

I mentioned before that Camp Carnival shuts down from 12-2pm. This is a time that you can take your youngest one to the 'family play time. It is a time that you can take your little one in, and play, but you need to stay since there is no supervision.

 

Make sure that you go to the Camp Carnival orientation on the first day. You get a ton of info, and that is the time that you register the kids. Also they have a dance party that is really fun for the kids.