Carnival Cruise Lines Keeping Families and Kids in Mind
I have never been on a cruise.
There. I said it.
My husband and I have been curious about cruising for some time, but my biggest concern has always been getting stuck on a cruise that is either too adult or too kid-friendly. Finding that perfect balance is key, especially when stuck on a ship for 4 to 7 days.
Today I had the opportunity to tour Carnival Cruise’s Carnival Glory. An impressive 2,974-passenger, 110,000-ton colorful ship with enough activities to appeal to groups, couples, and even families.
While I delighted over only a small taste of the ship’s culinary flare, I got to hear about some of the exciting things going on at Carnival Cruise for traveling families, such as the various child care and camp selections available for parents with kids from 2 to 17.
Carnival, which is visited by about 650,000 children annually fleet-wide, has really mastered a way to cater to the varying needs of their younger travelers through the efforts of focus groups and feed back from tweens and teens telling the cruise liner what they would like to see and do during their vacation cruise experience.
These efforts are evident through Carnival Glory’s organized programs for three different age groups. Camp Carnival for 2- to 11-year-olds, Circle “C” for 12- to 14-year-olds, and Club O2 for 15- to 17-year-olds.
Cicle "C" Camp
Circle "C" Camp
Camp Carnival
Camp Carnival
Club O2
Each unique space offers supervised activities in a bright, spacious, modern facility. Also for kids to enjoy are the four swimming pools, one of which is a children’s wading pool and an outdoor pool offering a 214-foot-long water slide. Other family-friendly cruise activities include Carnival’s Seaside Theatre a 270-square-foot LED screen on Lido Deck which plays movies, concerts, sporting events, and other programming, including a “Morning Show” hosted by the ship’s cruise director, golfing, and mini-golf.
For adults there is a casino, piano bar, night club, even a Serenity section on the upper deck where no children are allowed.
Serenity Deck
Still, access to your children is right at hand and the flexibility offered by the camp and child care programs makes it easy for families to spend time together, or maybe do their own thing separately. My little boys (3.5 and 5) were a bit hesitant when we first walked into the cruise ship (it is quite impressive when you first walk onto one), but the colorful rooms of the camp and the friendly staff quickly made them feel comfortable, so much so that we had a little trouble leaving even after 2 hours of play!
Carnival Cruise Lines offer a wide range of food selections as well. With two formal dining rooms, guests sailing aboard the Carnival Glory enjoy an upscale “steakhouse-style” supper club, as well as the casual two-level Red Sail Restaurant featuring a New York-style deli, Asian and American specialty areas, a seafood station and a 24-hour pizzeria.
Carnival Glory sails out of the NYC dock (on 50th street and 12th Ave) from April through October, and all year round out of Baltimore,MD and Charleston, NC with more port stops to be added soon.
This all sounds fabulous, and after touring the cruise ship and the various camps and restaurants on board, I believe that it really has the makings of a fun family vacation. But Carnival is taking it even further in their new cruise liner, the Carnival Magic set to debut in May 2011. This 3,690-passenger cruise ship will include a schedule of seven-, nine- and 12-day Mediterranean cruises operating round-trip from Barcelona from May to October 2011 and as of November, 2011, it will be based in Galveston, TX, year round with seven-day Caribbean cruises.
To commemorate the line’s return to Europe, for the first time ever Carnival is offering an exclusive pre-sale for past guests from January 19 to January 25, including complimentary two-category upgrades, along with special pricing with rates starting at just $829 per person, based on double occupancy.
It will have many of the same kid-friendly camps and activities as the Glory, with added water slides and more room to play outdoors.
I was definitely left with a sense of excitement to take a cruise with my family and if we finally did make the decision to do so, we would start out with a shorter one (4 days) just to try it out and see how we do. Ideally, I would love to do a European cruise.
Regardless, it was nice to get on board, get a feel for it, and most of all let the kids try it out. There was a lot of excitement as passengers boarded the ship, with families and couples settling into vacation mode quickly. Music was in the air, the hot Summer sun working on the bodies already laying by the pool as cool drinks on trays carried by smiling servers passed us by. The kids didn’t want to leave, I didn’t want to leave, and thus, it may be that we will be trying it all out sooner rather then later.
Ship highlights and itinerary details are available at www.carnival.com/magic. Itineraries for Carnival Magic beyond October 2011 will be announced at a later date. For additional information and reservations, contact any travel agent, call 1-800-CARNIVAL or visit carnival.com.
Carnival also can be found on: Twitter: www.twitter.com/carnivalcruise
Facebook Fan Page: www.facebook.com/carnival
Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/carnivalcruiselines/
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This looked amazing and wow is it ever Grande!! I used to be a Travel agent and sold a group cruise on Carnival, qualified for a free cabin to join the group who were my good friends. Sadly, I gave it up because I have a fear of being on the ocean. Not at the ocean, just being on it (open water, and no land in sight). There’s a story behind it and I’ll share soon…but boy looking at your pictures, I need to overcome this fear so I can take a cruise one day. Maybe a 3 day to get me warmed up.
Oh, totally Duong…it was so hard getting off the ship today. It looked like it would be so fun!! Do a short trip, they stop at least once somewhere else, so it’s not even 3 or 4 days cruising the whole time : )
Seriously? Oh my goodness…that is the closest I have ever gotten to peaking on a cruise ship. AMAZING! My kids would love it, but with seven of us, it’s just not a vacation that was on our radar. Now though…second thoughts. That is AMAZING! Looking forward to seeing you soon for Family Dish.
I KNOW! That’s exactly how I felt Jen! 5 of us made it seem like an impossibility…till now! See you soon!
What a great day! I have always wanted to go on a cruise. Sailing out of NYC of course.
you know what I realized after we left. We never saw what the rooms looked like. That’s what I’m interested in. How can a family fit into a cabin with all of our STUFF!