December 15, 2017 pedalgoa

Carnival cruises with kids: Things to do on a Carnival cruise embarkation day :: cruise tips

Carnival cruises with kids: Things to do on a Carnival cruise with kids, teen, families on embarkation day, Caribbean cruise

 

Cruise tips on Pinterest: Follow the Cruise Travel board!

 

Cruises for families are fun, and your first day after you complete the boarding process and get on the cruise ship is going to be full of excitement!

If you’re on a Carnival cruise with kids or teens, here are a few ideas for things to do on embarkation day.

Here first is a little bit of general information about Carnival’s youth program for young kids and teens.

Then that will be followed up with some things you might want to do after you board the cruise ship on embarkation day to start off your vacation when you are cruising with kids!

what to wear on a cruise – what NOT to bring on a cruise – how to prevent seasickness

things to do at caribbean cruise ports

Carnival’s youth program



Side note!
See about the best shoes for hiking in Hawaii and what to wear snorkeling in Hawaii! And for Hawaii vacation ideas, see the best things to do in Waikiki that will give you Hawaii vibes!


– Kids clubs: Camp Carnival vs Camp Ocean

When you’re searching out information about the kids clubs for your Carnival cruise, you may come across people talking about both Camp Carnival and Camp Ocean.

Camp Ocean is basically the new Camp Carnival. Most Carnival ships now have Camp Ocean, but there are a select few that still have Camp Carnival.

Cruise ships with Camp Carnival include the Elation, Paradise, Pride, and Sunshine, with plans to renovate Camp Carnival into Camp Ocean.

This means that with the Breeze, Conquest, Dream, Ecstasy, Fantasy, Fascination, Freedom, Glory, Imagination, Inspiration, Legend, Liberty, Magic, Miracle, Sensation, Splendor, Triumph, Valor, Victory, or Vista, you can expect Camp Ocean!

This also means that the brand new yet-to-exist mega cruise ship Carnival Horizon set to make its maiden voyage in 2018 will also have Camp Ocean!

As your cruise departure date nears, see here for an updated list of ships with Camp Carnival or here for an updated list of ships with Camp Ocean. Just click the “Which ships is this on?” icon!

No matter if you take a cruise with Camp Ocean or Camp Carnival, you can expect a youth program that your kids will have fun at!

The kids club isn’t just an excuse for you to drop your kids off so you can have all the adult fun on your own. 😉 It’s so your kids can have fun during the cruise too!

The kids camp is for ages 2-11, and they are split into further age groups. The age groups are 2-5 years old, 6-8 years old, and 9-11 years old.

Sometimes there may be activities in which age groups are combined based on the activity and the number of kids expected to participate during a particular cruise. This means cruises with a lesser number of kids on board may have more combined age groups.

– Teen clubs: Circle “C” and Club O2

For older kids, there are teen clubs designated for children ages 12-17.

For your child who is 12-14, they can be a part of Circle C, and for your child who is 15-17, they can be a part of Club O2 to meet new friends to hang out with throughout the cruise.

The lower age limit is at the discretion of the program leader for each of the teen clubs, but at maximum your child needs to be within a year of the age group to join the next up age group. (11-year-olds for Circle C, 14-year-olds for Club O2.)

The upper age limit for Club O2 is strict. There is absolutely no wiggle room on this. So keep this in mind if you have a high school senior who is 17 and you are bringing along your high schooler’s friend who is an 18-year-old still in high school. You won’t be able to sweet talk your way into allowing the 18-year-old to participate in Club O2 activities. 😉

Things to do with kids on embarkation day on a Carnival cruise

– Visit the kids club and teen clubs after boarding the ship

As you are spending your time exploring the ship after getting through the boarding process, make the clubs for kids and teens one of the first places you look for after you get a bite to eat! This has the potential to make your children even more excited for the cruise!

For the kids club, you will have the chance to meet a couple of people that are a part of the youth staff, as the kids club is staffed for most of the day and open for viewing on embarkation day before the cruise ship sets sail.

Depending on the time you go, the teen clubs may or may not be staffed for you to meet the teen club leader. But the clubs will be open for viewing so you can see what the space is like. Most importantly, you can also grab an activity schedule for the teen program, as well as a registration form if you didn’t register your kids online.

For both the kids club and the teens clubs, kids need to be registered before they can participate. You can register them before you go on your cruise up until a few days before your cruise starts. Doing this gives you one less step to go through on embarkation day!

– Go down the waterslide

If your cruise ship has a waterslide on it, put it on your list of things to do on embarkation day! Definitely put it on your list if your ship has a Twister waterslide on it!

If you’re cruising at a time when there are a lot of families or young adults on board, long lines can form at the waterslide. And if you’re on a cruise ship with the popular Twister waterslide, that’s even more true!

By getting to the waterslide early on embarkation day, you can go down the waterslide a ton of times without waiting in any lines. On cruises that have lots of people loving the waterslide, sea days in particular can get very busy, and the line for the Twister waterslide can extend all the way to the bottom of the stairs. (You take a set of stairs to reach the top where the waterslide begins.)

In order to take advantage of no lines at the waterslide, you’ll want to pack your swimwear in your carry-on luggage. You may not have immediate access to the cruise luggage you’re having delivered to your cruise ship room.

– Get a safety wristband for your kids

This isn’t something you need to go and search for since there’s a good chance it will happen whether you actively seek it out or not. But it is something to be aware of. Depending on their age, it’s a requirement on the cruise for kids to get a safety wristband on the first day of the cruise.

Kids 12 and under are required to wear a wristband for the entire cruise. (The age requirement used to be 11 and under, and has since changed to 12 and under.)

The wristband notes the muster station that you are assigned to. You will know what your assigned muster station is by finding the letter located on your Sail and Sign room card. Your assigned muster station is where you would go in the unlikely event that there is an emergency on board your cruise ship. Kids are required to wear this wristband in case that you are separated from your children during an emergency. This way cruise staff will know where to take your children, so they can meet you at your muster station.

If you visit the kids club on embarkation day during the day, you can get a wristband then. Otherwise, there is a safety drill that everyone is required to attend before the cruise ship departs. There are youth staff who will be available there to give your child a wristband. If the wristband comes off at any time during the cruise, you can get a new one from Camp Ocean (Camp Carnival) or guest services.

– Take a picture with Dr. Seuss characters

After the ship sets sail, you’ll see photographers lined up on the promenade and the lobby with pretty backgrounds for you to take a picture at. Know that for a limited time, Dr. Seuss characters will also be available so you can get an official cruise photo! Since there are lots of photography backgrounds and just one station that the characters will be located at, you may have to seek them out. (Ask any photographer for help locating them!) But if you do miss it on the first evening of the cruise, don’t be too disappointed, as you will have other opportunities to meet Dr. Seuss characters!

– Sign up for the Dr. Seuss green eggs and ham breakfast

If you have young kids, the Dr. Seuss themed breakfast is a fun activity on the cruise for kids and the whole family! On cruises that have a lot of families on board, the breakfast seating can get full, so it’s best to sign up earlier than later if this kind of thing sounds fun to you! This breakfast takes place on a sea day, and usually the later sea day during longer cruises that have more than one sea day. The breakfast costs about $5 per person.

There are a number of ways you can sign up for the green eggs and ham breakfast. You can do it when you visit the kids club directly, you can do it at the orientation, or you can place a phone call from your stateroom!

– Evening family activities at the kids club

With all the other things around the ship, if you just didn’t manage to check out the kids club before you set sail, the evening is a fine time to check it out too. The kids club is closed for a couple of hours after the ship sets sail, so even if you don’t check out the space in full during the day, try to grab an activity schedule so you know what time it’s open in the evening.

On the first evening of the cruise, there are usually family activities in which kids and parents participate. This can be fun family time. Typically, embarkation day is a “no drop-off” day, meaning parents must be present for all activities going on in Camp Ocean or Camp Carnival.

But the night time baby-sitting, called Night Owls, is available starting at 10pm on the first day of the cruise. There is a per hour per child fee for Night Owls, which is around $8. See here for updated fees.

See things to do on a cruise for more evening activities throughout your cruise!

– Meet and greet for teens

For teens, the teen clubs usually start around 8:30pm every night, including on embarkation day. So if your teens can make it then, have them do so!

Everyone is in the same position in not knowing anyone so it can sometimes make it easier for people to get along. But if you have dinner at that time, or you’re doing other activities together as a family, or your teen is just tired from all the recent travel getting onto the ship 😉 that’s okay! There are plenty of teens who show up later in the evening or the following days of the cruise for the first time.

If your teen plans on being a part of the teen club on the first evening of the cruise, do your teen a favor and register them online! Or else when they show up in the evening, they will be sent away to find you so you can sign the registration form! And depending on what you like to do on a cruise, it could end up being a challenge trying to find you. 😉

Or if you get on the cruise and realize that you forgot to register online, stop by the teen club to grab a registration form. This way your teen can show up in the evening with the form signed to hand it in.

HAPPY CRUISING WITH KIDS!

 

More cruise tips:

– CARIBBEAN CRUISE PACKING LIST
– What NOT to pack for a cruise
– How to prevent lost luggage on a cruise ship
– Evening activities on a cruise
– How to prevent seasickness



There are affiliate links on this page. Among other partners, as an Amazon Associate, I may receive a commission.


🐠 Here are things you must consider packing!


I also don't go snorkeling without a personal swim float buoy. Not only does it help to keep me visible, but it makes for a perfect way to rest out in deeper water! Oh, and it also serves as a dry bag so I can take stuff into the water with me.

Another way I have taken valuables into the water with me is to wear a travel money belt that I don't mind getting wet with salt water (it's not waterproof but I have several so I just use one of them) and then I put things in a ziplock freezer bag, and put that freezer bag in the money belt.

There are also designated waterproof waist pouches that you can store your valuables and take into the water with you.


see more:
- What to wear hiking
- What to wear snorkeling