Cruising and Kids is WAY more fun than I thought it would be. But, what are the tips to make cruising as fun as you’d like it to be for your offspring? Here are the tips I thought of while we took a cruise with Carnival.
By way of note, on our cruise our kids were just barely 15 and 9. That meant the oldest went to Club O2, and the youngest went to Camp Ocean (and was in the oldest group there).
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Kids on Cruises
I really wasn’t sure how the camps would work…. so here’s some logistics to start off with:
Facts about Carnival’s Club O2:
This club is for kids ages 15-17.
This is done entirely at your child’s leisure. They can look at the schedule (only available at the club or the front desk can print you off one as well.
There is not a whole lot of adult supervision (my kid said there was usually just one adult there). There are games, and video games. However, hours vary so you can’t just plan that this camp will be open all the time.
Facts about Carnival’s Camp Ocean
This is for kids ages 2-11, and kids are split into different groups (there’s sharks, sting rays, penguins — all based on their ages).
Kids can have the ability to check themselves out if they are old enough (I think the age is around 8, but I am not 100% sure). However, you have to give your permission to let them do that, so that is up to you.
Activities that are around the ship (mostly scavenger hunts require them to have sign-out priviledges. My kids loved those, and they stayed together in groups — so, just an FYI.
There is no calling system, and they don’t message you through the app (your child can if they have a cell phone). If your child is unhappy they will just call you on your room phone, or possibly page you overhead.
I wasn’t sure how all that worked before we left. I believe that kids in the smallest group, their parents do get pagers — so that is different.
16 tips to helping your kids LOVE a cruise!
First off, book with Get Away Today. They already 100% understand families with their huge Disney travel portion of their business. I had 400 questions to ask them about taking our family on a cruise and they knocked it out of the park.
I recommend calling and talking to someone. Just make sure to tell them you heard about them from Pulling Curls. 🙂
And, before we get into the meat of it — be sure to check out my other cruise posts:
Use the app
Carnival has an app that allows you to message each other on board using the wifi. It’s $5/user (at the time I published this)
I wish I had sent my daughter with an old cell phone into the kids zone, for a few reasons:
- It would have been nice to see how she was doing when she was there
- She could have checked herself out which would have saved us time
- I would have allowed her to be more independent with that phone (I was nervous to have her walk to/from the camp until the last day — although, I think I was more likely to get lost than she was)
My son had the app and it was super handy.
The app also allows them to see the schedule and mark favorites easily.
Visit Camp Ocean together
I would recommend going to the open house together at the beginning of camp.
While I registered both kids for the camps ahead of time, they do require you to confirm the details once you’re on board.
It also gave my daughter a few minutes to see where she’d go and meet some of the staff.
Watch the Camp Ocean Schedule
You can’t access the Camp Ocean schedule on the app (which is super annoying) so grab a few schedules while you are there (because you are bound to lose a few of them). Have your child figure out which activities sound fun for them, and then plan to take them.
**One of the HUGE perks to Camp Ocean is that your kids are learning to make friends with total strangers. This is a HUGE life skill and I really liked how that happened on the ship. My son wasn’t great at it, but my daughter always had a friend around on the ship and was always saying hello to other kids.
So, yes, your child is going to have to put themselves “out there” a bit, but the camp staff was somewhat helpful in helping them make new friends, etc.
Leave plenty of time for pickup drop off
This was the most painful thing of the camp. It took FOREVER to check them in and out. The line was long and annoying. There is just one staff member at the door and they have to go find each kid. Anyway — just make sure you’re not in a hurry. 🙂
Send a cell phone
Like I said before if you feel like your child could handle a cell phone, grab one of your old ones and send it with them so they can check themselves out.
I also made it VERY clear that she wasn’t to check herself out without my permission.
While I think the ship is quite safe and she was very savvy about navigating it, I just wanted to be safe.
Go to fancy dinners
While the buffet can be tempting with kids, I 100% recommend going to the restaurants when possible.
The food is so tasty, and the wait staff is so great with kids.
I also encouraged my kids to order off the main menu as much possible. They all tried new things and loved a lot of them.
I always thought we’d just go to the buffet for breakfast (and believe me, we did grab a lot of boxes of Lucky Charms for snacks in the room) but we preferred the restaurant. My son realized he has a penchant for fresh juices. Who knew?
Decorate the Door
All the doors look the same, so we used some dollar store vinyl stickers on our door (do NOT use the gels, as they discolor the door, and the vinyl clings that you use on windows don’t work on the doors) and that helped. But some people just brought a gift bow and stuck that on their door. Just something to help kids remember THAT door is their door is handy!
Bring sea sickness patches
We all were pretty miserable one of the nights.
The seasickness patches (that you can find here — and I have a whole post on the essentials to bring on a cruise) were a LIFESAVER and we were all feeling better within about 30 minutes of putting them on. I even left it on for a bit once we got home, and didn’t have much residual feeling of being off the boat (my husband took his off, and he did).
Also, I bought the homeopathic ones vs the medication ones. I didn’t find myself (or my kids) extra drowsy, they were just awesome!
Leave electronics at home
It was an ugly day when my 15 year old learned that his Nintendo switch was staying home, and that I wasn’t planning to buy wifi while we were on board.
{feel his pain}
But I am so glad that we did. They read books on their kindles and I think his lack of a device had him going to the club more frequently (as they did have a wii U) and he got out and just did more. I was really glad we left them at home.
He did have his phone, but was pretty good about not using it too much when he didn’t have wifi.
Go to the towel animal morning
This was one of the coolest things we did, and really only cool when you’re on the ship.
They learned how to make towel animals and just had a good time!
Be sure to check out the pool area that last day as well, as ours had TONS of towel animals all around for people to enjoy.
Go to the family shows, and volunteer!
The family shows were a lot of fun. There were a couple of family game times that my kids volunteered for and really enjoyed.
Bring your own bingo
We played bingo, and it was a pretty big letdown. I wish we’d brought our own cards and just played in the back for fun. Or maybe give kids a buck if they win! Either way, it will be cheaper. 🙂 The game was really fun though….
Go to the family-friendly comedy shows!
We LOVED the comedians! There are PG shows on most nights and we just had a great time there. Keep in mind they often do a different show each night, so don’t feel like if you’ve seen a comedian already, you can’t go the next night.
I honestly think this was my kid’s favorite thing. It was just nice to hear a lot of clean jokes. You can also run downstairs and grab some popcorn from the dive-in movie and enjoy it with the comedian.
We also enjoyed the trivia my kids knew (they had a Harry Potter one). Loads of trivia on board.
Karaoke is awesome!
We went to Karaoke a few nights. People are so nice and the music is super fun.
I actually ended-up getting my daughter a Karaoke machine for her birthday after it. She just ended-up loving it. It is pretty fun (and they kept the songs PG til’ about 9 or 10 pm). The DJ was so great. We really enjoyed this (and weren’t planning on it).
There was also a piano bar where they played classics and everyone sang along, it looked fun as well!
ICE CREAM
Guys, there is ice cream available 24/7. Let kids splurge.
There is also pizza.
There is also the joy of childhood and just being able to enjoy them. 🙂
Find family-friendly activities and DO them!
Our ship had a water slide, and miniature golf. There was also a giant chess board and ping-pong tables. Lots to do around the ship that isn’t on the schedule.
Watch them pack
The one thing you want to be sure of is that they bring the right stuff on the cruise. There are stores on board, but you will save yourself a world of hurt if you double check what they are packing. Somehow my oldest can’t understand the difference between a rain jacket and a sweatshirt. I caught it, and happy days ensued.
One of the best things you can do for kids over about the age of 8 (but if you had a responsible kid, it might be under that) is to give them autonomy.
The beauty of being on board is that they each have their own key (make sure to have a lanyard for them — if you don’t, I think you can get one in the casino or the front desk). So, they have access to your room at any time.
You can also allow them to charge things to that key. I set a $15 limit for each of my kid’s, but let them know it would come out of their allowance if they charged anything.
There are PLENTY of fun things to do on the ship that don’t involve cash, so grab a schedule and just have a GOOD time together!
Be SURE to get my top six things to bring on your cruise, and check out my other travel posts below that!
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