Mommyshark

Following. When we cruised with our 10 month old granddaughter and our daughter (when her hubby was deployed to Iraq) we would go back to cabin and bathe the baby (we brought a blow up baby bathtub we put in shower), then head out for shows, etc with her falling asleep in her PJs in stroller with her blanket and bottle. Worked well with us. And we had a balcony on that cruise to give us a quiet spot to sit, have a drink, and talk before bed without waking baby.

 

 

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NICE! I was nervous about having an interior room, but it was okay. I hope to try a balcony cabin sometime!

Such a cute family! I hope y'all had a blast and please tell me your review will include you trying those yummy looking cakes!

the cake was SO GOOD

Were you on the September 29 sailing? Your daughter in the back carrier looks familiar.

YES!! I was hoping someone would recognize us! She got a ton of attention everywhere we went. HAHAHAHA made me feel special because everywhere we went people smiled really big at me (her). Wearing her around was so awesome because everyone was so nice.

Continuing day one:

The Muster Drill was quick and easy. We weren't last to arrive, but did get there AFTER many others. Our muster group was in a lounge, and the folks running it checked us in and told us to go sit with the people who had wheelchairs and such. We were outside of the lounge at this point, in the area along the windows. Near the coffee shop. It probably only lasted 15 minutes.

Then my son wanted to go check out the putt putt, and after that we took him to the slides (Waterworks). He was able to do every slide, because he was tall enough and they just land in about a foot of water. He LOVED it!! That's pretty much what we did the rest of the day.

For dinner we had whatever the Lido had to offer. It was really good. My husband had Pizza Pirate, and I got the kids a hodgepodge of stuff, I had a smoked turkey sandwich. Quick, good stuff! Ice cream cones all around after dinner. I wish I had more pictures, but was too busy with the kids to pick up the phone and take some. It got that way a lot! These kids, man... they take both eyes, both ears, and both hands like 80% of the time. Go on a vacay with your little ones, because they won't be little forever. But know that you will not feel rested. lol.

Not long after dinner, everyone seemed really tired. We returned to our cabin, and saw our first towel animal! Then we all washed up, watched TV, and hit the hay.

We got some milk from the lido milk and warmed it up in a Ziplock bag underneath running water. It actually got the milk quite warm. The milk itself didn't touch the water, and we would wipe away any drips from the opening of the Ziplock. This is how we made our 18 month old her warm milk.

Our first overnight was not easy. Neither kid was ready to go to bed, and although we turned in early, everyone was up until about 9:30p. Our daughter woke up a couple times. We had a black out curtain hanging from the upper pullman as per suggested by seasoned cruising parents. Like I said earlier, she got upset because she couldn't see her paci and was calling us to help. We always got to her ASAP, which was easy because we were all right there. I'm hoping since we were in there making noise and throwing fits between 7-9p, most people were not around to hear it.

If you want to see the FunTimes we were given every day - Jamman54 did an AWESOME, thorough Paradise review not long before we took our cruise. Same itinerary as us, five day Grand Cayman and Cozumel. The FunTimes he posted are basically identical to the ones we had. I am even referencing his FunTimes to get the names of the shows/activities right. Thanks, Jamman54! Here's a link to his Paradise review https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2630203&highlight=paradise&page=5.

Hello! This is the first review for me, but I think you’ll find it interesting! My husband and I took our five-year-old son and our 18-month-old daughter on the Carnival Paradise for a five day cruise to Grand Cayman and Cozumel. We were so excited to take this trip, it has been a long time since we had a vacation! We knew that traveling with these little guys would be tough and trying at times, but I am so happy we did! We had a great time.

This was my five-year-old’s first plane ride, and he was SUPER excited! He did great and was so happy to fly. I had my daughter fly as a lap infant. The first half of our two hour flight was difficult with her because she wanted to move around, but she settled in quite well for the last half. She was not vocal at all, thank goodness!!

We flew into St. Petersburg/Clearwater Airport (PIE) the day before the cruise. We took an Uber from the airport to the Embassy Suites at the Tampa Downtown Convention Center. It was about a 30 minute ride, and cost around $26. This hotel is quite close to port. The hotel is undergoing major renovations, but none of that really interfered with our stay. The breakfast there is really great and they have a nice pool. Plus - since they are an all-suites hotel, we were able to put our daughter in a pack-n-play (provided by hotel) and our son slept in the pull-out sofa bed.

Both kids slept great there, and the baby even took a nap the next morning while we finished getting ready to head over to port. Once she got up, we Ubered over to port. $6. I considered going over to the Westin to catch their shuttle, but didn’t end up doing that. It was such a short ride anyway.

Our check-in time was 12:30, and we arrived around 20 minutes early. The Port of Tampa moves so quickly, I felt like we were RUNNING through embarkation! It was AWESOME! I got on an escalator and was yelled at for having my baby with me. I didn’t know it was a rule. But it is, and I respect that. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

We had an interior cabin with two upper pullmans. I requested a crib when I booked, and it was ready to go when we got in. I was so pleased! I really liked this cabin a lot, and the kids did pretty well most nights. The first night was rough, but all good after that. We hung a black out curtain from the upper pullman around the crib so that we could have lights on when the baby was sleeping. Turns out if it was too dark overnight, she would wake up because she was not able to see her paci when she wanted it.

We did have lunch and ice cream up at the Lido when we got on board. I didn’t get any pics of that because I was pretty busy getting the kids set up with their first Lido meal! It was a little chaotic, but super yummy! I had a Guy’s burger and my husband had a Blue Iguana burrito. Kids had bites of our food, as well as lido fruit and other random items. BTW they had giant cakes every day at lunch.

We did not make it to the kids club on the first day, we also didn’t have dinner in the MDR. Pretty much just acclimated ourselves with the ship and went to bed way too early. We learned that going to bed early was NOT going to work for the kids. They weren’t having it, and staying up until 9:30 or 10 worked much better for everyone (usual bedtime at home is 7:30p). For the first time ever, my husband and I didn’t go to the “Welcome Aboard” show.

More review coming later! Maybe tomorrow??

BYOT,

 

Sometimes it may be well to bring your own tea. In Bags, Loose, Tea Balls.

 

One day as with other of Carnivals Cruise lines they may have In Cabin Tea boilers. A Cup-A-Tea really needs the temperature at /or near boiling.

Choices + choices and your voices are needed

..... if you really want to go down that road - that's not the case for green tea which should be brewed at a lower water temperature than black tea. There are actually many types of tea which require lower temperatures for steeping. :)

I just keep coming back to this thread hoping for recent tea time food pics

I'm guessing I shouldn't lug my tea ball and everything with me... Lol

 

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Maybe pre-load it for one tea time? I love loose leaf, too!

Staying on the ship in port is niiiiiice! Lots of you know that already, I know.

We are used to cruising as a couple, but this will be our 6th cruise and our first with our 5 year old son. We are also going with my sister's family, with kids 5 and 7. I am currently looking into one of those projectors that you can plug into an ipad or laptop and project a movie onto the ceiling. I think you can get them for like $50. I thought it would be a fun activity for them to relax and watch a movie while us adults hang out on the balcony or something.

That would be sweet!!

Leave them at home.

 

(Didn't have time to read all the posts, or even the first. Frankly, don't care either. It's just that you will enjoy the cruise better, and the rest of us will enjoy the cruise better too.)

You know what... I like your style! :')But the kids are still coming.

Or go and enjoy your cruise as a family, regardless of your children's age? I dunno, just a thought.

 

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Yaaaaaas!!!

Recently got back from our very first cruise. My son is 3 1/2. Lots of good tips here, but my two favorite are:

 

1) Ordering his food as soon as we sat down in the MDR, it comes out in 10 minutes, he eats and then goes to the kids club. We still have dinner together, but he doesn't have to sit through a 2 hour meal. This may not work with the age of your kids.

 

2) Even though I hadn't used it in over a year, I brought my Ergo 360 and baby wore my 32lb preschooler. This was a huge help after port excursions when he would fall asleep and we still had to make our way back onto the ship. I also wore him when we debarked. Hubby, myself and our 12 y/o were able to easily self assist off the ship with 5 pieces of luggage and backpack.

Yes! I am totally planning on bringing my Ergo.

Oh piffle. By this logic, one shouldn't ever do anything fun with toddlers or preschoolers. A one year old WILL care that they are having fun spending time with mommy and daddy, seeing new things, playing in the ocean, etc.

 

For the OP, we took our daughter on her first cruise at age two and then all three of our kids at 7, 3 and 2. I can't advise on diapers or pools because ours were all potty trained before the cruises. But we found meal times to be very easy to manage due to the staff and how lovely they are with little ones.

 

We used the empty lounge idea too. Bubbles were a big hit and easy to carry and transport. For our daughter, we brought bubbles, her favorite books, stickers and crayons and paper. We took lots and lots of evening walks around the ship. With our boys along too, we brought bubbles and books again and hot wheels cars as well as a couple of small balls. Oh, and stuffed animals. They both had a couple of favorites. Neither of my boys have ever liked the kids clubs.

 

For the ocean, bring plastic diaper covers. They keep stuff in that would be gross and keep sand out better than other options. You might want to use pull ups at the beach too. They are easier to take off and put on.

 

On Carnival, there are family friendly comedy shows at 7 some evenings. The four year old will probably get some of the humor and most one year olds seem to be entertained when others around them are laughing.

I totally agree and am very much looking forward to their first cruise! Love the bubbles tip too. Thanks!

We took our son on his first cruise at the age of 2 and he loved it. The kids club was a no go as he didn’t like it. Try to maintain as much of the normal routine as possible and go with the flow.

 

Pack more diapers than you think you’ll need. I added up what we used in a day, added 4 additional to that number and then multiplied by the number of cruising days. You never know if the ship might be delayed or your little one gets sick.

 

Pack infant/children’s Tylenol and any other meds you might need.

 

We packed a small back pack with miniature play doh, a blank pad of paper with new crayons and some fun little new toys.

 

A portable DVD player and some favorite movies. We even downloaded a few movies to our cell phones.

 

Our son has been exposed to dining in restaurants from a very early age and did quite well in the dining room. The Maitre d’ was able to get us our own table. I didn’t want to ruin anyone else’s dining experience.

 

I brought snacks from home to have in the cabin. Shelf stable carton milk. I don’t trust the little “coolers” in the room to keep the milk cartons from lido at the right temperature.

 

Find an empty lounge during the day and let your Littles run around and have fun!

 

All in all, just go into it with no expectations and just enjoy the time with your family!

 

 

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Thanks for the advice! GREAT tip about finding an empty lounge. I hadn't heard or thought of that, so thank you! Expectations are low, but excitement is still high :D

Best tip for cruising with kids......don't. Not until they are of the age that they will remember it. A 1 year old won't care or remember anything and it will diminish your cruise experience as well. I waited until my kids with 8 and 10 (almost 9 and 11) before I took them on their first cruise. They still remember it to this day. A 1 year old will not and a 4 year old will probably not remember anything later on in life.

Welp - good for you for waiting. We're already booked. We both work full time and (due to moving) haven't had a vacation in two years... we rarely get to do fun things together as a family so we are looking forward to the time with the kids.

My kids don't have passports. Trip is only about 6 weeks away. Do they need more than their birth certificates? Should I get them a couple of state issued photo id's, or are birth certificates alone alright?

Cruised last year with kids the exact same age. Bring plenty of diapers for the 1 year old because you cannot rely on the fun shops to have any at all, let alone ones in the kids size you need. If there is any way you can avoid having to lug their car seats along, do it, because the cabins don't have a lot of room to store them.

 

Bring lots of patience, there will be meltdowns and it may end up being you melting down! Keep in mind that you won't be able to do whatever you want, whenever you want. No romantic dinners. No going to the comedy show. No going to the lido deck movie. Best you can hope for is once they fall asleep, you and your spouse can take turns going out and looking around, getting drinks, etc... But, you have kids, so you already know this. ;) We still had fun but it is challenging. Keep a positive attitude about it and you'll be just fine!

Yep I'll miss going to a comedy show. But I love naps, relaxing, and downtime so I am hoping I won't feel like I'm missing out too much. Good to know you still had fun! I know it will be challenging, but so worth it to get back on a ship!! I'm definitely going to keep a ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ attitude. lol

SAME with early bedtimes and trading off in the evenings. :D

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The last cruise I went on, I was pregnant with my youngest. We never stayed up past 10. Its tough to admit, but it was pretty early bedtimes on that trip, too! Naps, too. :'):')

We are going on NCL and likely will be doing a lot of early bedtimes and trading off in the evenings.

Good luck!

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SAME with early bedtimes and trading off in the evenings. :D

I want to mention the ports are Gramd Cayman and Cozumel (plus). Anybody care to weigh in on what we should do? Does Playa Mia allow swim diapers? That's the one with the fun little kid water stuff, right?

Also, we are in an interior cabin. Is that bad?

Plus - My son turns 5 on our second sea day!!

Pretty sure green eggs and ham is on his birthday, too. I'm so excited for him!!

Can you convince a set or two of the grandparents to join you? Otherwise pack lots of patience.

Also ziplock bags to bring treats from the buffet back to the room for snacks.

Next time hopefully. A couple of grandparents would be awesome!! To a degree..... lol

My tip would be to buy your husband a massage towards the end of the trip.. he will need it after being a pack mule all week.

 

Agree with above...I could and would tolerate screaming kids most anywhere except in the MDR. Yes, I would be that guy giving the parents dirty looks....really dirty looks. Flame away!

 

Good luck to you.

It will be interesting testing the waters of the MDR, that's for sure! I'm more worried about her throwing food than crying. Still not putting up with it! Might do a whole lot of lido eating. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Have you checked out the family board? You'll find more information there than your brain can hold. Have fun!

Totes going to now!! Thanks!

**currently calculating how much diapers and adding a bunch** 😂😂

I told my husband we will have to pack our patience!