Parents - need help

[createmem]

All -

 

Next week, I am going on the Carnival Imagination with my daughter and mom. DD is almost 12 - not quite there yet.

 

Last month, we were on RCCL Liberty of the Seas, and my daughter was moved up the 12 - 14 group because she looks like a 13 year old, and because of her maturity level. She was assessed in a session by the Adventure Ocean staff and they felt all would be more comfortable with that arrangment.

 

Now that she has had a taste of the "teen" group - of course, she wants it again. Do you have any experience with the carnival kids staff? Do you think this would be possible again?

 

Also, for that group, what types of activities do they normally have? I have been on Carnival before, just never with my child.

 

Thanks!

[carnivalcruise5]

All -

 

Next week, I am going on the Carnival Imagination with my daughter and mom. DD is almost 12 - not quite there yet.

 

Last month, we were on RCCL Liberty of the Seas, and my daughter was moved up the 12 - 14 group because she looks like a 13 year old, and because of her maturity level. She was assessed in a session by the Adventure Ocean staff and they felt all would be more comfortable with that arrangment.

 

Now that she has had a taste of the "teen" group - of course, she wants it again. Do you have any experience with the carnival kids staff? Do you think this would be possible again?

 

Also, for that group, what types of activities do they normally have? I have been on Carnival before, just never with my child.

 

Thanks!

 

I don't think you should have a problem with it. Just have her go to Circle C rather than Camp Carnival....Don't even mention the fact that she is not 12 yet. And if they ask, just tell them that she prefers kids in her own grade at school rather than the younger kids.

[LHP]

Each age group gets a manifest of all the children's name and their ages for their age group before the ship sails.

 

Now they are not as strict as Club O2 in the lower age groups, but honesty is always the best policy.

 

Go to the Camp Carnival orientation with your daughter and make this request.

 

Explain her previous experience and ask for their assistance.

 

Yes, there are age rules and at times they can be very strict. But this issue comes up on every single ship...on every single cruise...at least once.

And as with all rules, exceptions are made. Especially if her 12th birthday is within 3 months. Now if it is not, there is a good chance she won't be moved up.

 

So I would not promise your daughter she will be moved up, because it depends on a lot of factors. For example: If Circle C is already "overloaded"...they are not going to add more kids to it....especially if the 9-11 are not that full.

 

Camp Carnival Directors want you and your family to have the best cruise possible, so IF the answer is no...please understand that they have a very good reason.

 

I hope you have a wonderful cruise on the Imagination...we certainly did in January and February!

[RatherBFishin]

Also, for that group, what types of activities do they normally have? I have been on Carnival before, just never with my child.

 

My daughter was 12 last summer when we went on a Carnival cruise. This was before they rolled out the Circle-C program, so I can't speak towards that. But in my opinion the only activities were exclusively "ice-breaker" type things to get the kids to mix & mingle. Once they make their cruise buddies and clique out, very few of the Tweens even attended the scheduled things.

 

Specific examples:

 

Orientation night was held in the Disco, and the Counselor played some music, and tried to get the Tweens into doing the "Cha-Cha Slide" (a line dance). Not a single boy stayed more than 15 minutes.

 

One night the activity was "Blackjack Night", which sounded interesting (my son who was 14 was in the same age group). It was held in the balcony level of the Lido deck. The Counselor showed up with a couple decks of cards, and no chips (the kids used what spare change they could scrounge up).

 

My daughter initially wanted to do the Build-A-Bear event. But it was held in the little kids day care facility, and she took one look at all the toddlers present (and no one else her age) and said no-way.

 

Basically, my daughter made a good friend the very first night, and they just hung-out the whole rest of the cruise. They would check out the scheduled activities, and almost always bag it and go back to the Lido deck or the Arcade.

[LHP]

Here is a sample of the Capers for 9-11 and 12-14 (now called Circle C) to give you an idea.

 

9-11:

 

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2798816620071922719EQGBaa

 

12-14:

 

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2047487450071922719hcXKxW

 

When we were on the Imagination eariler this year, they were working on the Circle C room (which on the Fantasy class ships is where the old Card Room was). Not certain if they have it finished.

[suzyjack]

Here is a sample of the Capers for 9-11 and 12-14 (now called Circle C) to give you an idea.

 

9-11:

 

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2798816620071922719EQGBaa

 

12-14:

 

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2047487450071922719hcXKxW

 

When we were on the Imagination eariler this year, they were working on the Circle C room (which on the Fantasy class ships is where the old Card Room was). Not certain if they have it finished.

 

There sure are a lot of unsupervised activities. How does a group of 12-14 year old kids get a deck party going without any supervision?

[createmem]

Thanks for the input so far - it sounds similar in some ways to RCCL, so I am sure it will work out. It seems the older the kids get, the more the sucess of a vacation depends on them being satisfied!

 

We had a similar experience on Liberty of the Seas last month, the kids were all excited about advertised "Casino Night." Daughter asked tons of questions about playing Blackjack and Roulette - and we taught her so she could feel good about herself playing. The counselors showed up with a deck of cards to play Blackjack. At least Carnival called it Blackjack, not casino night.

 

I noticed on Royal that most of the girls stayed and hung out in the Living Room and Fuel - which were the two lounges for tweens and teens. The boys seemed to run off to do their own thing.

[mom2girls]

How close is your daughter to 12? Usually if the child is within 3 months of their birthday they will let them move up.

[RatherBFishin]

There sure are a lot of unsupervised activities. How does a group of 12-14 year old kids get a deck party going without any supervision?

 

If you're talking about the daily "Swim & Slide Hang (Unsupervised)", it's like I said above. It's not so much of an organized activity like Summer Camp, as it is an attempt to get the Tweens to meet & Greet on their own. When they say "Hang" they mean it literally (ie just Hanging Out).

 

As far as supervision goes, the 12-14 age group can come and go as they please, even when the activity is supervised. They don't need to be signed in or out like the younger kids. If they do show up, they decide in the first 5 minutes whether it's lame or not, and adjust their plans accordingly.

 

None of this is necessarily a bad thing. A teen who is just shy of turning 15 (the upper end of the age group) is far too old for anything that resembles day care.

[coolbasset]

How close is your daughter to 12? Usually if the child is within 3 months of their birthday they will let them move up.

 

Do you think that works both ways? My nephew will turn 9 years old 5 weeks before we sail but he'd rather stay in the lower group to be with his siblings and cousins.

[LHP]

Do you think that works both ways? My nephew will turn 9 years old 5 weeks before we sail but he'd rather stay in the lower group to be with his siblings and cousins.

 

It never hurts to ask. Some people say they will move UP but they won't move DOWN...unless there are special needs involved.

[mom2girls]

Do you think that works both ways? My nephew will turn 9 years old 5 weeks before we sail but he'd rather stay in the lower group to be with his siblings and cousins.

 

I'm not sure about that. Like the other poster stated, it never hurts to ask.