Carnival Cruise Lines Kids' Program - Camp Carnival

Carnival Cruise Lines is the leader in family cruising, with more than 100,000 kids aboard its ships each year. Carnival's program for kids is called Camp Carnival. The family-friendly cruise line allows infants over four months old on board, but all guests under 21 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian 25 years or older in the same stateroom.

Carnival's Dedicated Kids' Club

Camp Carnival is a year-round, fleet-wide program that provides daily fun-filled and age-appropriate activities for children and teenagers between the ages of 2 and 11 years old. Also, there is supervised "free play" and babysitting service (for a fee). The playroom on each Carnival ship comes completely stocked with toys, games, and puzzles for children of all ages. In addition, each ship has an electronic game room filled with all of the latest video games.

Camp Carnival is much more than just babysitting. The program is designed so that families are able to enjoy quality family time together, and yet kids also have the choice of being with peers of their own age if they wish. Carnival knows every parent wants the best for their children. That's why they've hired youth counselors who are either college-educated in a related field, have professional childcare experience, or both.

Carnival Cruises performs a thorough background check on each and every one of the youth counselors. And everyone on the youth staff is fully trained in CPR and basic first aid.

Youth Programs

Carnival's Camp Carnival youth programs are geared to 3 age groups from 2 to 11. These are:

• Toddlers (ages 2-5) — Splash pool, fund family games, late-night munchies, cartoon time, little tykes toys, learn your colors, can you count, sponge painting, indoor beach parties, mousercize, pizza pig out, drawing contests, sing-alongs, bingo, face painting, arts and crafts, cookie decorating
• Juniors (ages 6-8) —Talent show, face painting, cartoon time, indoor fair, sea animals, mousercize, Disney trivia, ice cream sundaes, cookie decorating, button making, puppet show, beach party, outdoor fun and games
• Intermediate (ages 9-11) —T-shirt painting, photography, jewelry making, board games, dance class, video tournament, ping pong, talent show, volleyball, showtime, scavenger hunts, meet the entertainers backstage, breakfast fun

Older Kid's Programs

In addition to the Camp Carnival programs, Carnival has a youth program called Circle C for ages 12 to 14 and a teen program called Club O2 for ages 15 to 17. Both these groups have their own dedicated spaces on each Carnival ship. 

• Circle C — Youth ages 12 to 14 will enjoy their dedicated lounges on Carnival Cruise Line ships. The Circle C lounges feature a dance floor with a high-tech sound and lighting system, along with a 42-inch plasma-screen TV for displaying movies. The youth have access to gaming pods with video games and consoles and additional plasma-screens positioned throughout the room for video gaming. 
• Club O2 — Older teens ages 15 to 17 also have their own dedicated space, with no younger kids or adults allowed inside. The club is designed to be a great gathering place for teens, but also a spot for planned activities like sports (basketball, volleyball, ping pong, and miniature golf) or fun theme parties. 

Carnival is strict about its age requirements and does not make exceptions so that children from the same family can be in the same group. Some activities overlap age groups, so kids won't necessarily be away from siblings all the time. It is important to know that teens over 17 are not allowed in Club O2 even if they are still in high school. 

Carnival has other features that make the ships attractive to kids and their parents. Staterooms on most Carnival ships are more spacious than on many other cruise lines, and some ships have adjoining rooms. Carnival provides babysitting for a fee and has a special children's dinner menu. Every Carnival ship has a terrific aqua park with water slides and other outdoor entertainment that adventurous kids of all ages love!

Camp Carnival gives kids the opportunity to meet and socialize with others in their age group from all over North America and the world. Your children will go home with new friends and new memories. Plus, they'll have the opportunity to learn more about the world by visiting new places and sharing experiences with their family members. Your only complaint might be that they'd rather be spending time with their new friends than with their parents. So, what's new?