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Amanda's Birthday Family Cruise on the Pride, May 28-June 4: A Trip Report w/ Photos

amandajean06

By amandajean06,
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Crusin Karen

Crusin Karen

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This review is like a breath of fresh (sea!) air! I love your attitude, I love that you are teaching your children manners and consideration for others, even at their very young age. This is something that will carry them successfully thru life! I applaud you and your husband. SHAME on the parents who left their young child alone. In the WATER no less. :loudcry::evilsmile:

We did a B2B on the Pride 2 years ago and a Journeys (2 week) cruise in March, 2016. We had YTD but both cruises we were seated with a waitstaff we loved and requested them each night. We were at a table for 2, but I have to say we were fawned over like we were royalty. We are very polite, very friendly and very easy ordering people lol, and with just 2 of us, maybe it was easier to cater to us a bit, IDK, but I am sorry you did not have the same kind of service. Looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip and seeing your pictures. You have a lovely family and your boys are just adorable!

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nicole9s

nicole9s

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Enjoying your review very much. We will be on the Pride next year with our son who will be 5 then, so I'm jotting down any tips for what works (or doesn't!) with little ones.

 

I'm sorry, but leaving a toddler alone like that is just wrong, I winced reading what you wrote about that. But good for you for taking the higher road in helping the child and not confronting the parent, though I'm sure it was tempting.

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amandajean06

amandajean06

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Day Four: Tuesday, May 30: Sea Day #2

 

Today was a lot like yesterday, so I will try to make this post much shorter! I know some people who do not feel the same, but personally, I love sea days. I probably loved them a little more pre-kids, just because there was more opportunity to relax. Sea days are no less enjoyable now, but they are more high-energy! We started off the day bright and early, enjoyed coffee in the cabin, and the headed up to Lido for breakfast outside on another beautiful day. The weather was simply perfect so far.

 

Next up, we alternated between the Water Works are and the pools, taking breaks for food and only stopping when the youngest two hit a brick wall of exhaustion. At that point, we headed back to the cabin for naps. I stayed and napped a little with the boys while my hubby went to the casino for a few. I should mention here that the sleeping arrangements didn’t exactly pan out the way we had envisioned. My youngest doesn’t fall asleep well when there are other people in the room, so for naps and bedtime we put him in the portable crib (provided by Carnival) in the interior room, (7106) turned on the fan and night light, and left him alone. Drew, our 3 year old usually laid with one or both of us in the king bed until AJ was out. Sometimes we moved Drew to a twin bed in 7106, and sometimes we were just too darn tired and we left him in our bed. We all slept and we were all happy, so my advice is: do what works!

 

This is also a good time to mention that no, we did not use the services of Camp Ocean. I am absolutely not saying there is one thing wrong with that program and in fact quite the opposite! I am sure that the care the kids receive there is top-notch. For us, it just doesn’t fit our vacation plans. In the future, when the kids are older, maybe kids clubs would be ok with us, but for now, we prefer to spend our vacation time with our kids and not drop them off. Again, this is just us! You will never find us shaking a finger at those parents who enjoy letting the kids use the Camp Ocean program. We do not feel comfortable and would have a hard time relaxing and enjoying our “alone” time if we did it that way. It was an immense help to travel with extended family, so we did get a little time for ourselves at night throughout the week. Our kids’ grandparents are simply the bomb!

 

I felt like our days went pretty quickly with early dining. Again without kids, we might have chosen to stay with late seating, but our kids can’t wait until 8:30 for supper. Wait a minute, neither can my husband! Lol! By the time the kids woke up from naps between 4-5, it was a rush to get everyone bathed and dressed and down to Normandie for dinner. It worked just fine, but there were days that I wished for a little more “cushion.” Speaking of baths…when we cruised with Drew at 14 months we did the whole inflatable pool thing. It was a total pain and not worth the trouble at all for us. We found out quickly that a quick rinse off with some soap while one adult held the kid in the shower with them was totally fine. This time around, we put the bath mat down inside the shower, sat both kids on it, threw in some beach toys, and just washed them while the shower ran. I don’t honestly understand why there is always such a big ruckus about a lack of bathtubs for kids. Maybe some kiddos are afraid of the shower? We worked with ours ahead of time at home to prepare them, so that might have helped. Either way, we didn’t miss the inflatable tub and our kids were clean at least 80% of the time! Ha ha! ;)

 

I didn’t take any additional photos while we were at dinner that night, but the service was pretty much the same each night. Nothing stood out as remarkable and nothing was so horrendous that we needed to escalate things. That goes for the dining room anyway! My parents experienced an issue early on in the cruise with some pretty blatant drug use in the cabin next to them. The marijuana smell in the hall and coming through the balcony was incredibly strong the first two nights. My mom has severe asthma, so my dad and brother eventually had to report it to guest services on Tuesday night. They called security, and apparently, it was taken care of! We didn’t smell it again for the rest of the trip. I am not a judgmental person, and I usually say live and let live, but when you put the health and safety of others at risk, I am not so cool with it anymore. Kudos to Carnival for taking a stand on this issue…either they did, or the smokers just ran out of their supply after two days, lol. ;p

 

That night there was no production show in the theater, much to my son’s dismay, so we discovered the Corn Hole games and mini golf, and he was a happy camper! I really love to watch the Love ad Marriage Show, so the hubby decided he would stay in with the kids that night so I could go with my family to the late night comedy and then catch the end of the L & M Show. He’s a real peach, my guy! Side note: on our 2015 RCI Enchantment of the Seas cruise, we were selected as the “newbie” couple and got to participate in the show onstage! We had been married two years and that point but we actually scored the highest of all three couples. It was an absolute riot. We loved it. They even gave us a commemorative DVD, which I can’t wait to show my boys when they’re older. Talk about embarrassing! He he he. :evilsmile:

 

Before I wrap up the night, I have to share with you the most hilarious moment of the L & M Show…the “seasoned” married couple (40+ years) consisted of a man named Jim and his wife. The last question was, “Would you husband rather be stranded on an island with a missionary or a prostitute?” Well, the newbie couple didn’t get a match (the wife said missionary and Saffie had a heyday with that answer!) and the middle couple matched with “Duh, a prostitute!” but sweet old Jim really stole the show. When Saffie got to them and revealed the answer, Jim had written, “A prostitute in the missionary position!” and the audience went completely nuts. It was a great show. I hope I haven’t offended any of you who are following along! :halo:

 

 

Up next: Our first visit to Grand Turk!

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amandajean06

amandajean06

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This review is like a breath of fresh (sea!) air! I love your attitude, I love that you are teaching your children manners and consideration for others, even at their very young age. This is something that will carry them successfully thru life! I applaud you and your husband. SHAME on the parents who left their young child alone. In the WATER no less. :loudcry::evilsmile:

 

We did a B2B on the Pride 2 years ago and a Journeys (2 week) cruise in March, 2016. We had YTD but both cruises we were seated with a waitstaff we loved and requested them each night. We were at a table for 2, but I have to say we were fawned over like we were royalty. We are very polite, very friendly and very easy ordering people lol, and with just 2 of us, maybe it was easier to cater to us a bit, IDK, but I am sorry you did not have the same kind of service. Looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip and seeing your pictures. You have a lovely family and your boys are just adorable!

 

 

 

Thank you so much, Karen! You are too kind. It seems like basic manners and common courtesy are a thing of the past for some reason. It is a shame! There were two other incidents we had with unsupervised kiddos as well. It appeared as though the other parents saw us there and assumed that meant they could just leave their children in our care?? It was odd.

 

 

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amandajean06

amandajean06

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Enjoying your review very much. We will be on the Pride next year with our son who will be 5 then, so I'm jotting down any tips for what works (or doesn't!) with little ones.

 

I'm sorry, but leaving a toddler alone like that is just wrong, I winced reading what you wrote about that. But good for you for taking the higher road in helping the child and not confronting the parent, though I'm sure it was tempting.

 

 

 

Thank you so much! If you have any specific questions, please ask. I'm sure

I've left things out.

 

Yes, I really wanted to ask the mom what the heck she was thinking but I try to stay out of fights while on vacation! [emoji13]

 

 

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CruisinSinceIwasBorn

CruisinSinceIwasBorn

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Thanks for a great review. We are traveling with our 3yo (4th cruise) and 11month old (2nd cruise) This is our first time on carnival with them. What is the policy of swim diapers in the splash area? Is your younger son potty trained or were they acceptable? Royal was on you in seconds even if it was just a sprinkler.

 

 

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stevefrisco

stevefrisco

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:oWe saw you guys on the first day in your shirts and I'm embarrassed to say I thought you were French or French Canadians. I don't think I've actually ever seen Hoosier spelled or at least not paid attention to it.

 

The worst part of this story, I even commented to my life partner and another lady she was smoking with how I always think it's great that so many people from other countries travel CCL. I'm the worst:loudcry:

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amandajean06

amandajean06

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Thanks for a great review. We are traveling with our 3yo (4th cruise) and 11month old (2nd cruise) This is our first time on carnival with them. What is the policy of swim diapers in the splash area? Is your younger son potty trained or were they acceptable? Royal was on you in seconds even if it was just a sprinkler.

 

 

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Hi there! Thanks so much for reading. So, the swim diaper issue: I didn't see a policy actually posted anywhere in the splash area. Our youngest is not potty trained (he's just now 14 months) and we didn't experience any problem with having him in the water works area. It seemed to me that all of the littlest ones onboard were in the splash area. I'd say you'd be just fine, but I guess it could depend on the ship, too?

 

 

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RenoNanaOz

RenoNanaOz

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Day Three: Monday, May 29: Memorial Day

 

One of my absolute favorite things about a cruise is hanging that little breakfast order form on the door before bed and knowing that someone will bring me a pot of coffee first thing in the morning. For free! Well, plus a small tip, but hey-still worth it! It feels so luxurious and special to me. All of this to say, every morning started off the same way for us. Our kids don’t really “sleep in.” They’re still young enough their internal clocks really control their sleeping habits and even staying up a little later than usual doesn’t exactly equate to sleeping in. We were always up by 6:30 or 7, and usually before the room service arrived. Only one morning did I have to do the sleepy, drunk-looking stumble to the door in the pitch black routine. Along with my coffee, I ordered muffins for us to nibble on and boxes of cereal to pack up and take along with us on our various activities for the day. I usually also got a couple cartons of milk to keep in our mini “fridge” until AJ wanted a bottle that night.

 

We ate at Mermaid’s Grille (the Lido buffet) each morning for breakfast except for the Green Eggs and Ham breakfast, which will come later in the week. This was just easy for us. It had everything the kids would want (yogurt, waffles, pancakes, hash browns) and plenty for us adults, too. We never encountered long lines or a lack of places to sit. I would say we were there at around 8:00 on most days. The food was consistently good, and some of the manners of the other passengers were consistently bad. Sigh. Each time I heard, “Gimme some bacon” I really wanted to scream! Why is it so difficult for people to use simple respect and manners? Oh well, I digress. All in all, breakfast was successful. I ate more of those dang chocolate muffins that week than I care to admit. :halo:

 

Next up was the Water Works area for us. Drew had his eye on the little splash area and tiny water slides all day during embarkation, so we knew that on sea days we would likely be planted here most of the time. He had a ball! My only complaint here, again, has to do with other people and not Carnival. Why don’t people watch their children?! I just don’t get it! These are young kids for crying out loud. Call me a helicopter parent if you want, but I am not leaving my child without supervision anywhere on a ship, much less where they could get seriously hurt. This type of thing happened on more than one occasion, but here is an example: a little boy (3 or 4 years old) was running through the splash area, slipped and smacked his head on the ground. He immediately burst into tears and was frantically looking around for comfort. I went to him because my mommy mode kicked in, and got him calmed down. He sat with me on the side bench and was finally able to explain that his mom and dad had left him to play there while they got in line for the water slide. Seriously?!?!?! He was 3 or 4 years old! And they left him! Alone! I was stunned. When the mother finally returned, I explained what happened and she didn’t even seem phased one bit, nor did she thank me for caring for her kid. Geez. Some people. Carnival might need to post something about supervision being required at all times. If it was posted, I didn’t see it. Not that people would heed the warning, but it couldn’t hurt.

 

After a few hours of fun in the sun, we headed down to the main pool area for some lunch and ice cream. We all had a repeat Guy’s burger and fries and hung round for the mixology competition. It was fun! The layout of the Pride and the large TV screen being low like it is can make things difficult to see sometimes, but Saffie was a great entertainer. At this point the kiddos were ready to get dried off and take a nap, so we headed on back to the cabin to rest. The hubby decided to nap with the kiddos, so I went back up to deck 10 with my book for about an hour, and then down to the coffee bar for an iced mochaccino. I got myself a little hooked on those all week, and usually enjoyed one mid-afternoon as we all showered and got dressed up for dinner. The same gal was working each time I stopped in, and she was so sweet.

 

We all got ready early and decided to hit the photo ops before dinner. I was trying to be photographed before consuming 5,000 calories at dinner, lol! I really enjoy planning out my family’s outfits and trying to capture a good family photo, so we tried out a few backgrounds before my kids and my brother and my dad and my husband all lost their patience with it, so that left mom and me. We took a few by ourselves just for good measure, ha ha. The boys hit up the arcade for a little bit while we snapped photos, and then it was off to the dining room for American Feast!

 

I could care less about tablecloths and all that, but I really, really, hate a cluttered tabletop. Thankfully, on the elegant evenings, the wine bottle table number, water carafes, and huge bread plates were removed. That night, they also served you the bread, rather than leaving the basket on the table. Now to some this seems refined and classy, but to my bread-fiend husband, he wanted the basket left, and then wanted another one. I tried to calmly explain that he could have his bread basket back the next night but to please use his best upscale dining manners and allow Hendra and I Made to serve the bread! He begrudgingly obliged. I know that my dad had the lobster and “jumbo” shrimp (hint: they aren’t jumbo) and I believe I had a pasta dish. Again, we never had trouble finding selections that we liked and the food itself was served warm and tasty.

 

Now, let’s talk a little bit about the service. Remember: we never complained, we didn’t take gratuities away, we didn’t treat anyone badly. However, to be honest, the service was really not good. Not at all. We were as patient as possible every night because we do understand that these people work really hard. The odd thing was, we could only count three tables that our team was serving! We tried and tried but just could not figure out why they were so slow, discombobulated, and inefficient. Some examples: my husband asked for a Coke three or four times before getting one, my mom and brother asked for refills of their tea glasses and never received it, we asked for a baked potato and got mashed or vice versa, requests for sour cream, butter, etc. were promised but never came, extra side dishes were forgotten, meat was cooked incorrectly, everyone around us had finished dessert and was leaving while we waited for someone to take our dessert order, and the list could go on. I hope I am being clear here: this did NOT ruin our cruise and we went to the MDR every night except one (we went to the Lido buffet for comparison’s sake) but it was so apparent that cruising just isn’t like it used to be. There was a definite feel of chaos and confusion in the Normandie. Perhaps those of you who have cruised on the Pride multiple times can weigh in on whether or not you’ve experienced this before. Perhaps our team was new to the vessel or new to working with each other? We aren’t sure, but we do know that it just wasn’t the best part of our cruise like it used to be for us.

 

After we wrapped up dinner, we went for our evening stroll and then ended up at the Taj Mahal for the 8:15 performance of 88 Keys. We thought it was awesome! Were the singers off key sometimes? Yes! Did the dances lack some technical finesse? Yes! Were we thoroughly entertained? Yes!!! Best of all, my two little men just fell in love with watching the shows every night. The music, the lights, and the ambiance was magical to them, I think. We loved watching them enjoy themselves. My parents offered to come to the cabin and stay with the boys after they fell asleep so that we could go with my brother to the R-Rated comedy of JR McCollom in the Butterflies Lounge. He was absolutely hilarious, in our opinion. We laughed until we cried a few times! After his show, we went to the casino and surprisingly I sat down at three different slots that looked fun, and won on each one of them. I put in $10 to start and left with $34. I’ll take it! My big win concluded the night for us, and we went back to the room before midnight. :p

 

 

Up next: Sea Day #2 and “Oops, I forgot how badly that Caribbean sun can burn!” :o

We have run into unsupervised children as well, I like you just don't get it. I love that you refer to yourself as a helicopter Mom LOL. That was me totally, I guess now I'm a helicopter Nana;) We cruised last year with my daughter and her family. grandson was 12 and granddaughter was 8. She let them have some freedom to go get Ice Cream, Play Chess on the Lido, get Pizza etc. and they loved it. I of course was stressing at first but he is very responsible and they had a blast. Loving your review!

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amandajean06

amandajean06

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:oWe saw you guys on the first day in your shirts and I'm embarrassed to say I thought you were French or French Canadians. I don't think I've actually ever seen Hoosier spelled or at least not paid attention to it.

 

 

 

The worst part of this story, I even commented to my life partner and another lady she was smoking with how I always think it's great that so many people from other countries travel CCL. I'm the worst:loudcry:

 

 

 

Bahahahahahahahaha this is the best comment ever! A Hoosier is a native Indiana-an. I'm sure that's not a word, ha ha. Thank you for thinking of us as worldly and cultured, but we are just regular country folk. [emoji23]

 

 

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amandajean06

amandajean06

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We have run into unsupervised children as well, I like you just don't get it. I love that you refer to yourself as a helicopter Mom LOL. That was me totally, I guess now I'm a helicopter Nana;) We cruised last year with my daughter and her family. grandson was 12 and granddaughter was 8. She let them have some freedom to go get Ice Cream, Play Chess on the Lido, get Pizza etc. and they loved it. I of course was stressing at first but he is very responsible and they had a blast. Loving your review!

 

 

 

Thank you! Helicopter parents, unite! Lol! I can certainly see giving 8 and 12 year olds a little freedom, but toddlers and preschoolers? No way!!!

 

 

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amandajean06

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Wednesday, May 31: Grand Turk

I mentioned before that this was our first visit to Grand Turk. Of course, we had heard great things (well, except that little barracuda bite incident, but hey what can you do) and we were all excited to explore a new place. Now for us, boring folks, exploring just meant walking around the port area, lol! I warned you at the beginning that we are just beach and chill people! My oldest, Drew, was just dying to open his new bag of sand toys so our plan was to get to the beach ASAP and set up shop there while he played. Our total visit time for the day was 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., and we did end up docking a little early. Since we are early risers and had a port-side cabin, we got to watch the pulling into port action, and it was pretty neat. We headed up to Lido for a quick bite and tried to move my parents and brother along a little more quickly. Well, make that mostly my brother! He apparently values sleep more that the rest of us do. Weird kid! Ha ha!

 

After breakfast, we loaded up our 12 tons of beach stuff, strapped AJ in the stroller, and headed down to the gangway via the elevator. Somehow, we stepped right off the elevator and pretty much directly off the ship. There was very little waiting for us. I’m not sure if we just timed it right or what, but we were quite pleased! My parents and my brother were still lagging behind, so we decided to go on ahead and they would find us somewhere on the beach. After walking down the pier and through the welcome shopping center, we exited immediately to our left and found a spot with a few chairs and some shade. At this point, the skies were looking a little ominous. Mind you, a little tropical thundershower doesn’t bother me, so I wasn’t too worried, but with little kids, you just can’t be too relaxed about those types of things. Or maybe you can, but I am very Type-A, so I worry about everything, lol. We got our sand toys all set up and started in on a fun morning, and my family showed up about 10 minutes later. Not bad!

 

I loved the feeling of being so close to the ship! It obviously made for some great photo ops, as I am sure you’ve all seen the “peek between the palms” shot. I got one too, in case you haven’t. My boys had absolutely no patience to head further down the beach to clearer water and sand, so we plopped down at just about the closest spot one could get, and thus, seaweed was plentiful. That didn’t seem to slow the kids down any, though. They played for about an hour. At that point, AJ was getting a little fussy and I thought it might work to put him in the stroller and walk around the shopping area to see if he could get a nap. As soon as I was ready to put my plan into motion, the skies opened, and a torrential downpour came flooding down on us! We quickly tried to put as many of our towels and bags under chairs as we could, but it was a futile effort. E.ver.y.thing was soaked. Not to be deterred, my mom grabbed AJ and took off to find shelter under the Margaritaville porch, and the rest of us loaded up our stuff and sought out some empty chairs around the Margaritaville pool. Drew was getting bored with the sand and AJ isn’t too well versed in playing in it yet, and kept wiping his eyes and mouth with sand-caked hands. The rain was letting up, but the skies weren’t clear yet. My mom motioned to us that AJ had fallen asleep on her, so she would stay there awhile and the rest of us claimed a row of chairs near the back of the pool, where the wade-in depth is shallow and easy for toddlers to play in.

 

Drew took quickly to the pool, and we were amazed at how nice this facility was! The pool is huuuuuuuge and the swim-up bar, music, and pool cabanas all add to the awesome ambiance. We really loved it there. I was glad we abandoned the beach, haha. It also wasn’t very crowded (yet) and we felt like we had our little corner all to ourselves. The sun returned, the heat cranked up, and folks started arriving in droves, but it still felt spacious. We swam and played until we got a little hungry at around 11:30. My hubby and I had been eyeballing the giant volcano nachos that waitresses had been bringing to people and we finally gave in and ordered a plate for all of us to split. I was WAY off when guessing the price, and I am pleased to say that they were $20, and not the $40 I had guessed. You could add meat for an extra charge, but we were more than happy with the chili, cheese, and toppings. I still can’t believe how big this creation was! And, they were delicious. My brother had a couple of beers at the bar, and I think he said he paid $6 each for them. Once we had all nibbled our hunger away and paid our bill (auto gratuity was added) we did some more swimming and lounging and then decided to pack up and check out the shops before getting back onboard. I wanted a t-shirt from Ron Jon, and my brother wanted to find something for his girlfriend who was back home. The kids were really dragging and tired by this point, and we had all gotten too much sun. We were back onboard at about 1, and we quickly headed to the cabin to get the kids bathed and in bed for a nap. I think we all napped that day, actually, because the sun and fun had worn us out!

 

I haven’t mentioned our cabin stewards up until now because I thought it would be good to introduce them when I share with you about my birthday surprise! When we got to our cabin after Grand Turk, there was a birthday message written on our mirror and a coupon for a free photo from the Pixels gallery from Rowena, our steward. I couldn’t believe how kind and thoughtful that was! Now, it was not my actual birthday, and I’m not sure how she knew that my birthday was the next week, but I appreciated it nonetheless. I usually buy a few of our professional photos each cruise, so that was a coupon I would definitely use! Rowena and her assistant, I Putu, were nothing short of amazing. Unlike the dining room staff, we really felt connected to them and felt like they took the time to go above and beyond for us. Of course, they learned our names and cleaned our rooms well, but they also fawned over our kids, made them special (and sometimes multiple) towel animals, made up the baby crib, prioritized all special requests like ice and extra towels, and did it all with sincere kindness. These people just rocked, period. Of course, we thanked them by leaving additional gratuities at the end of the trip, but if you ever sail the Pride and have Rowena in your area, be thankful! Oh, I almost forgot. The first day, Rowena did show me the new checklist for room cleaning times. I told her that we did NOT need twice a day service and that I understood how busy she was. I asked her to just follow our lead and pop in once she noticed a schedule of times we would be out of the room and what would work for her. Every single day she did come in twice anyway and gave us turndown service for the evening. I think it was truly amazing that she got in both cabins twice each day without us ever noticing, especially when we frequented the room a lot for naps, diaper changes, etc. I could not be happier with this aspect of our cruise.

 

 

After naps, it was our usual: the boys went to the arcade/mini golf/corn hole and mom and I (and the baby) perused our photos in the gallery until it was time for dinner. It’s funny how you can get into a routine even when on vacation! Then again…maybe that’s just me! :pDinner was just ok, and I do want to apologize again for my lack of photos of the food and menus. Dinner tended to get a bit chaotic, especially near the end, and my main focus was on getting everyone fed and making sure the kids didn’t disrupt any diners around us. That night’s show was Getaway Island, which we liked and Drew thoroughly enjoyed. Random thought: I am not a prude by any means, but one of the female dancers had a bathing suit on for much of the show that was essentially a thong. I was surprised that Carnival allowed her butt to hang out during a family show. My brother (and probably husband!) enjoyed it quite a bit, though! She was definitely beautiful. Since there was no comedy to be had that night, I tucked it in early with the boys. I do believe that my dad and brother went up to the 10:00 showing of Rogue One at the Dive-In Movies, and my hubby went to the casino for a while. He didn’t do too well on this trip! Not that we ever expect to win anything, but he felt like his money went especially quick this time. The Dive-In movies always sounded fun and were mostly well attended, but I tend to fall asleep during movies that late and many nights it was colder up there in the wind than I would have liked. Just for the heck of it, I ordered room service at 10:00 p.m., and Drew and I lay in our bed eating grilled cheese, chips, and chocolate cake until we fell asleep. Ahhh, vacation! =)

 

 

 

Up Next: Visiting Heaven on Earth, HMC!

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Day Six: Thursday, June 1: Half Moon Cay

 

 

Ahhhhhhh yes, the day that we have been waiting for hadfinally arrived! Half Moon Cay day! I would consider myself (and definitely myhubby) a budget-conscious person. Wewould probably (ok, certainly) not ever splurge on a cabana if it was just forthe two of us, but with two young kids who still nap and require breaks fromthe sun and a mother who cannot handle much sun exposure due to medication, wedecided to spring for it! I was well prepared for the #cabanastruggle and knewthat they sold out quickly. So, Idiligently checked our excursion options every day until they appeared, and thenas soon as I saw them, they were already sold out! What the heck?! I wascrushed. Never fear, I checked backagain the next morning and there was availability! You better believe I jumpedon that like a dog on a bone. Once thatchore was completed, the only thing left to do was stew about which cabananumbers would still be available when we boarded. Would we be stuck with #15? Or even worse, #1?

 

As I previously mentioned on my embarkation day post, assoon as we got on board with FTTF I headed straight for the excursions desk andwas able to select cabana #8. I wantedsomething in the 6-10 range if possible, and this could not have been moreperfect! I was super excited, but it was hard for me to explain to the rest ofmy family (who don’t pore over CC every single day…weird) what an excellentscore cabana 8 would really be! They would find out for themselves soon enough!

 

When I selected cabana 8 at the excursions desk, the younglady gave me a sheet to fill in the total number of persons (I put 4 eventhough we technically had 5 adults and two little kids) shoe sizes for snorkelgear, and pop preferences. She also gaveme a ticket so that we could all catch the priority tender over to the island. The instructions on the ticket were to meetin the Taj Mahal at 8:45. So, thatmorning we got our usual breakfast up on Lido, went back to the room to collectall of our necessities, and then got to the Taj Mahal at about 8:40. Randie, the comedy club director, was workingthere that morning and was kind enough to show us where to stand in order toget out quickly, since we had strollers and lots of bags. Almost as soon as we arrived, we wereescorted down the forward elevators and onboard the very first tender. There were a lot of crewmembers on board,too, so we knew that we would be among the very first people on the island.

 

 

After a very short ride, we unloaded all of our crap andheaded off to find the tram or a golf cart to take us to our cabana. It wouldn’t be too far to walk, but again,two small kids and my mom who has some trouble with breathing = we needtransportation! Luckily, a nice lady in a tiny open-air van type vehiclehappened to be waiting right there and was happy to deliver us to ourspot. She let us off right behind cabana6, so we just had a short walk down the hill and to the right to find #8. In my opinion, the location was perfect. The restrooms were right behind us, the lunchbuffet was a 5 minute walk if that, and we were far enough down the beach tohave peace and quiet. The day was reallyshaping up nicely.

 

Once my family finally realized what this cabana businesswas all about, and they saw our view and private oasis, their excitement reallykicked in, too! The welcome board in our hot-pink little home had my name onit, and we had all of the standard equipment: two cushioned loungers, a mistingfan, outdoor shower, table with 4 chairs, fridge, floating mats, and we wouldsoon have our snorkel gear and refreshments. Since we were among the first to arrive (and even beat some crew there)we had to wait about a half hour to get the drinks, snacks, and snorkelstuff. That was absolutely no problemfor us, as we took the time to get settled in and situated. Drew went to work building sand castles rightaway, and AJ and I stretched out on a lounger so that he could take a quickmorning nap. It was heavenly.

 

Throughout the day we had multiple employees stop and ask usif everything was ok and if there was anything we needed. I did notice that their polo shirts had HollandAmerica on them, which of course is a sister company of Carnival, but I guess Ididn’t know they were the ones responsible for Carnival customers when visitingHMC. At around 11:00, we decided tocrack open the snacks. We had a huge bagof tortilla chips, bowls of salsa, sour cream and guacamole, a veggie tray withdip, and a fresh fruit tray. It wasawesome! I think lunch was served from 11:30-2:00 or around there. None of us were too hungry from all thesnacking we did, but we took turns heading to the buffet just to get somesamples of everything. There wereburgers, hot dogs, and chicken, several types of cold salads, fried rice thatwe liked a lot, fresh fruit/melon, and some cookies and brownies. It was all fine, not great but definitely nothorrible. Standard fare to feed a lot ofpeople!

 

Our day consisted of swimming, playing in the sand,lounging, and pretty much not doing anything at all! My hubby and brother triedout the snorkel gear, mostly for fun. They stayed right in front of our cabana and of course didn’t seeanything but sand and water, lol. They’re not that into water exploration I guess! As is our usual, around1:30, the kids started showing telltale signs of needing a nap. Cranky toddlers are no one’s idea of fun! So,we reluctantly decided to pack it in and head back to the tender area. Sure, we could have attempted to get them tonap in the cabana, but I doubt that we could have dragged my 3 year old awayfrom the water and sand toys, and it wasn’t too dark/quiet/cool for the oneyear old. My brother had gotten himselfroasted in the beautiful Caribbean sun that day and was ready to leave and naphimself, so that left my mom and dad a kid-free couple of hours to enjoy theromance of the island. I was pleasedwith that result! They deserved it.

 

Poor AJ couldn’t even hang for the ride back and fell asleepin his stroller while on the tender. Itwas one of those cruel, 5 minute teaser-naps though, so he went back down oncewe got to the room and showered off all the sand and sunscreen from the day.One note about sound and a 14 month old: we knew this from having taken ourolder son on a cruise at the same age, but beaches and young toddlers justdon’t mix well, at least in our experience. AJ wasn’t old enough to understand that you can’t eat sand, and that itwill stick to your hands and then it’s not pretty when you rub your eyes,etc. We tried our best to keep a towelclose and wipe his hands often but it’s nearly impossible. We took many trips back to the cabana showerto wash his face and hands off. It’s oneunfortunate thing about traveling with kids that young, but he still enjoyedthe day, and so did we!

 

We decided that since we hadn’t been wowed by the dinners inthe MDR, we would try out the buffet selections that night. That gave everyone time to nap and littlelonger and we didn’t have to be ready right at 6, which was kind of nice. At some point, my hubs had scoped out thebuffet and claimed that he saw many of the same offerings as the MDR menu had,and then some. Yay! There were only acouple of problems with his assessment. First, my kids had been ordering off of the kids menu in the MDR. I didn’t even consider that this might be anissue in the buffet. Well, mywell-meaning but uninformed father took off to get the kids’ plates filled upand totally bypassed the “This section of the buffet is for Camp Ocean kidsONLY” sign. I rushed up to apologize tothe Camp lady and explained the situation, and she was totally fine with it andvery kind to us. Whew. Thus, the kids got their nuggets, potatoes,mac n cheese, and corn. The second issuethat night was that I honestly didn’t see anything appealing to me on thebuffet line. Maybe I was just full froma long day of eating on and off, but nothing looked good, so I went for Pizza,and it was quite tasty. I love the thincrust and fresh tasting cheese and sauce. I don’t think anyone else was overly impressed with the buffet either,but at least we didn’t wait to be served and we could get done in under anhour.

 

While waiting for the 8:15 Hasbro Game Show, we trudged upto mini golf (yes, again…are you noticing a trend?) and played about 27 roundswith Drew until we convinced him to go see the show with us. We are a golf family, and as soon as Drew discoveredthe mini golf, it was hard to get him away from it! The sunset was gorgeousfrom the top deck that night, so we snapped a few photos. We thought the Hasbro Game Show was prettyfun. My husband tried to get onstage buthe missed his preliminary trivia question and was devastated to say the least,haha. A young boy won the Grand Prizeand his excitement was infectious. Wewere so happy for him! The show was over by 9 and I think Bingo was upnext. We considered sending my kids offwith the grandparents again and staying to play, but for some reason we didn’tfeel like playing this cruise. Don’t askme why, but my hubby would rather spend $50 in the casino on slots andblackjack than on three games of Bingo. I guess he gets more enjoyment out of playing on the money longermaybe? Not sure. Either way, we hung out and relaxed for therest of the night, reliving our wonderful day in paradise!

 

 

Up next: Freeport, the port that should cost nothing tovisit.

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