Club Med Columbus Isle

I would like to book a Club Med Columbus Isle vacation, but have one main question related to "kid friendly" food. I'm bringing along two 11 year old girls, one of whom is an extremely picky eater. While I realize this Club Med doesn't market to families, do they have "kid friendly" food in the main dining room? Food such as pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken tenders, etc?

I appreciate any information you can offer.

Kristen

Dear Kristen,

I don't have kids, but I've always seen the kids eating just fine at Columbus. There are burgers & hot dogs at the beach shack during the day and every night at dinner, there is an Italian section in the restaurant with pasta, etc. and a long line of kids.

One of the great things about CM is that it's all-inclusive on the food and it's served buffet style. So the kids can take a little bit of food they've never tried and see how they like it.

I recall one woman told me that her son had never wanted to try Mexican food, but on the Tex-Mex night, he saw the other kids eating the Buritos, Fajitas, etc. and decided to "be adventurous". In the end, the kid became a total fan!

Hope this helps!
Trish



Dive now; work later!

Hi,

We are also travelling with our 4 kids although the oldest one is 20 and we were also wondering about the food. I thought that since it's not a kids club there wouldn't be a lot of children so I worried a bit about our youngest son who is 10 years old but reading Trish her comment about the line of kids I am relieved and hopefully he will find someone to play with as well and he doesn't have to bother about hanging around with his big sisters all day..

Columbus Isle is NOT designed to be a "family village", so there is no separate focus on specifically kid-friendly foods. However, there are always many buffet choices for picky eaters there - including my husband (a 6'4" kid) who seems to survive there on pasta/pizza & hamburgers/fries. But you can also find familiar things such as tuna salad, roast chicken, etc. There's always great bread & cheese, and fruit. And, as Trish said, maybe your kids will become a bit more adventurous and want to try some of the other options at the various theme-night dinners. There's usually a Tex-Mex night (tacos, burritos, chili) - I've never seen a kid who doesn't like a cheese quesadilla (just explain it's a Mexican grilled cheese sandwich). There's Asian night (nems = French for springroll/eggroll); some sort of BBQ each week with great ribs (and maybe hotdogs too). And always hot dogs, hamburgers, pizza available at the snack bar (which is included, no extra costs to grab something to eat there).
Also remember that the great thing about a bufet for kids is that if they try something and then decide they don't like it, there's no problem - they can just go and get something else instead. No big family fights about "why did you order this if you weren't going to eat it", or "I want what she has, not what I have" (you can tell I've raised kids)....
There is also unlimited soda, if you let your kids drink that, fruit juices, little yogurts - and a serve yourself ice cream machine in the dining room! I doubt very much that your kids will go hungry...and I haven't even gotten to desserts; and you can always grab some fruit, yogurts, little cereal boxes, cookies, etc. from the dining room and keep them in the mini-fridge in your room.

Adria

Forgot to mention, though, if you do bring food back to your room you really MUST keep it in the little refrigerator there or else you will get bugs in the room. Remember you will be in the tropics...

Adria

There are few kids at Columbus Isle, and there is very little for them to do there. They will not be able to make friends. I would not take kids there if it were me. However, your girls might love just hanging with each other.

All Club Meds will have daily pasta, burgers, fries, cheese pizza, plain salad, bread, cheese, ice cream, etc.

Craig,

I'm not sure I totally agree that there's nothing for the girls to do at CI & that they won't be able to make friends. I think it depends on the kids. I've mainly been there in the summer, when there are a lot of kids and even though it's not marketed as a kids village, the CDV usually organises stuff just to keep them under control! I've seen groups of them going from place to place with a GO, so there are definitely things organised. But no, it's not like Punta Cana, where there's "the Ramp" (I think it's called) and other activities.

Of course, the other concern is when Kristen goes, as there are a lot of French and Italian kids in the summer months. But her girls may find that fun!

Kristen - I would look on the CM website to see if they give the minimum ages for certain activities (water-skiing, sailing, etc.). I seem to recall the minimum snorkelling age was 8, but the kid had to be with an adult. It may be the same for the other activities. And your kids may be happy just lounging around the ocean or the pool. At 11 years of age, it can be tricky to find activities for them, no matter where you go...

Good luck!
Trish

Dive now; work later!

Wow, everyone, thanks for all of your replies.

I'm looking to go in June. What drew me to the CI location is the beautiful village and the lack of activies for kids, odd as that may seem. We were in CM Cancun in 2009, and while we LOVED it, the kids didn't participate in the kid's club activies, except for 2 hours on our first full day. They just wanted to hang with us and swim. Last summer the girls also boycotted the kid's club on our cruise. It's just them - not the wonderful kid's clubs. On vacation they just want to swim, snorkle and relax on the beach.

My concern is that one of them will literally only eat burgers, hot dogs, pizza, fries, (no pasta), and some other food we can't typically find outside of US vacation destinations.

Yesterday, I called CM and was told (adamantly) that the CI location is for couples and will not have ANYTHING for kids to eat. I was a bit disappointed, but have started to look into the Punta Cana location. It originally didn't grab me because the village is large and I think it will be overrun with kids. Although, I've just begun my research.

Kristen

Hi Kirsten,

We also had the same problem, or no problem because we love to spent time with our children and also because our girls enjoy spending time with eachother. The reason why we chose CI was that on our last CM holiday there were so many babies and little children that now that the children are getting older we are looking forward to a more guiet holiday. And then again our kids never liked going to the Kidsclub anyway.
Good luck with making the right decision and hope you have a great holiday. We can't wait to go to CI.
Anne

Kristen,

I just sent you a PM with the email of the reception desk at CI. You should email them and ask about the kids and food. You can't count on the people who answer the phone at CM - they may have never even been to Columbus!

Trish

Dive now; work later!

Just want to add that last summer we had friends with us who brought their 11 year old twins along (a boy & a girl) - and those kids had the time of their lives and told their parents afterward that it was "the best vacation we ever had"! That family was there in August, when all the other kids (and there were quite a few of them, mostly middle school & high school age, not many babies) were French & Italian. Our friends' kids are American and only spoke English, so they really didn't make any other friends their age but mostly stayed with their parents & parents' friends, as well as some of the young Canadian GO's who treated them as if they were their own younger siblings. In June, there will be far fewer kids, since the European schools are still in session until early July. But if your kids are okay hanging out with you & each other, it should be no problem at all. We started taking our kids to Club Med villages all over when they were quite young, and because we are divers we went to scuba villages and didn't particularly look for mini-Club villages. Our kids (3 years apart in age) were always fine just hanging out on the beach or snorkeling (with me) or whatever. Sometimes they did make friends with Europeans kids, sometimes not - didn't seem to matter, they always loved it.
(So much so that when they were in college they started organizing their own groups of friends to go to the Club on Spring Breaks.) As Trish said, many of the Club Med reservations agents might not have actually been to the Village you are inquiring about, so they only know what's in the catalog. And, to be fair, they may believe you would be happier at a Village with a mini-Club when you travel with kids. But it sounds to me as if your 11 year olds will be just fine, as long as they'll be content enjoying the beatiful ocean and whatever other activities they want to ry. We've seen kids that age waterskiing, sailing, etc. And you will have no problem getting hamburgers, hot dogs, and pizza. Hope you have a great time.

Adria

March was the month I was there. I saw one child, probably 8-10 years old, from France.

Great idea, Trish! I will email later today and share the reply.

Adria, I appreciate the information! If the kids make friends, that's great. If they don't, they won't mind at all. Like I said before, they swim, snorkle, and hang out on the beach (which is really what I want to do too).

CI seems to have an incredible beach, and I think the snorkling will be better in CI than in PC. The snorkling in Cancun was unimpressive, and last summer we snorkled in St. John, Virgin Islands which was the best I have ever seen.

quote:

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Originally posted by Seattle Craig

March was the month I was there. I saw one child, probably 8-10 years old, from France.

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There are more families with kids at Columbus Isle when the European schools are not in session over the summer. That's when families(sometimes with grandparents as well) take their longer vacations.
In July and even more in August there are usually many families with kids at Columbus Isle, but very few of these are American families.

Columbus Isle was originally designated as a "couples only" Village when it first opened. It was promoted as a romantic quiet luxury spot for honeymooners and couples. In fact, back then I don't believe they even allowed children under 12.

They had more age-restriction rules in those days, but they seemed to be applied more strictly for North American reservations. For years, the rule was that no children under 12 were allowed at Martinique nor children under 8 allowed at Moorea - according to the US catalog. Yet every time we went to either of these Villages, there were always some French families with young kids. When our kids were 5 & 8, we wanted to take them with us to Moorea (and we knew there were European kids that age who would be there), so we had to get "special permission" from the Paris office for our 5-year-old and actually sign something saying that we understood that the child was allowed to stay in the Village "at the discretion of the Chef de Village" and could be asked to leave at any time if he caused a disruption. It was annoying because none of our European friends had ever been asked to sign any such document, but we signed and we went and it was fine. Our kids met some German kids their ages and they all had a great time - the highlight of the trip for them was when one of the cats wandering the Village gave birth to 4 kittens under the "fare" of the German kids!

These days, even though Columbus Isle is designated as a "Village for Everyone", it still does attract a lot of couples and many honeymooners. But the families do come in the summer, and over Christmas vacations. It may be that the reservations office will try to persuade families to go to one of the other Villages with a mini-Club program because they are right in pointing out that some families are disappointed when they don't find any structured activies for children, or babysitting services, etc. So it is important to know that Columbus Isle is not specifically a family-oriented resort. Also, every summer when there is a critical mass of older kids there are some situations where the kids run amok (lack of parental supervision) and annoy everyone else. So maybe the Club still has a policy of trying to steer families to other Villages, even though there are no longer specific age restrictions at Columbus Isle. But 11-year-old kids who are well behaved (and who won't be unhappy at the lack of a circus school or go-karts, but can enjoy a quiet beach with their parents) will not be a problem at all....

Adria

Kristen,

One other thing just occurred to me about your post: you said that the girls really like snorkelling. In that case, I would advise that they bring their own masks, snorkels and fins. While there IS equipment like that available, it's normally only available to people when they are going out on the snorkelling boat. So if your girls want to snorkel just off the beach, they'll need to have their own gear.

Trish

Dive now; work later!

I emailed CI directly yesteday (Thank you Trish for that email address) regarding the food, and this was the reply:

Thank you for your e-mail,
Regarding your questions about the food, we have in the lunch menu; hamburgers, pizza and hot dogs every day . At night we also always have pizza and pasta but not hamburgers or hot dogs.
We also have our snack bar open from 3pm to 6 pm where you can find nachos, sandwiches, wraps, etc.
Our buffet has a variety of delicious food to choose from and I'm sure that you and your daughter will enjoy it.
If you have any more questions, please let me know.
Thank you again, and we hope to see the two of you in June.

I'm thrilled! Now I just need to see who here wants to join us.

Trish, we have and travel with our own snorkle equipment, so that won't be a problem.

Adria, yes, my kids would just keep to themselves (that's what they did in CM Cancun and last year on our cruise). In Cancun and on the cruise they just played their Nintendo DS during long meals when they got bored. I didn't care that they brought electronic games on vacation because it allowed the adults to relax with a cocktail under the stars!

To everyone, thank you! I never realized what a wealth of information this forum would be!

Kristen

Kristen, I'm sure you & they will have a wonderful time. Just bring a LOT of sunscreen and hats for the kids. And they should wear T-shirts or some other sun protective tops while snorkeling. The sun is very strong.
And if they are really into snorkeling, they might want to try scuba. They can do a resort-course type of intro to scuba; I think they only have to be older than 10 for that. (We have some good friends, a family from Montreal, who have been coming with their 4 kids every summer & their next-to-youngest got his Jr. PADI certification at Columbus Isle when he was 10, and since he was 11 he comes on the dive boat to dive with his parents & older brothers.) I also see kids the same age as your kids receiving medals at sports-award night for water skiing & sailing, so I don't think they will run out of things to do. And a lot of the kids there really get into doing the "sun dances" around the pool before lunch. If all else fails (or if you want to get them out of the sun for a rest after lunch), there is cable TV in the rooms, with HBO & Animal Planet. The GO's are very welcoming, as long as the kids are well behaved & patient enough to wait their turn for water skiing, etc.
Hope you have a fantastic vacation!

Adria