1st time family cruise review

[Shelleywood]

Hi everyone! My family and I just got back from our first family cruise yesterday and I wanted to write my review for you all. I had a really hard time finding a comprehensive review of a family cruise with kids before we left so I wanted to give you all my impressions.

 

My daughter is 14 and my sons 9 and 7. We were on the Carnival Fantasy and yes it was Easter and spring break. I chose this week specifically because my children are really sociable and like being around lots of kids making new friends. There were lots and lots of kids on this cruise for sure.

 

All three kids were in a seperate camp but that suited them just fine. I must say the muster drill lasted only about 10 mins. and we were out of there. Shortest one I've ever been to. I think it may be due to all of the kids on board and the staff wanting to make it short and sweet. We went to the orientation meeting on the first afternoon and walked into absolute chaos. I don't know how any of these kids could possibly meet each other. They had all ages, except for 12 and above, all in the same room signing them up. Crying kids, running kids, shouting parents and a counselor trying to talk above all of this to tell you how to fill out the registration form. I thought this is not a good way to start the cruise.

 

We filled out the form and left but did go to the meet and greet party later on that night in the disco. It turned out to be lots of fun with balloons and games and dancing. The whole family got out there and participated and had a great time. We even won the dance contest and got our first ship on a stick. This did a lot to cheer us up about what to expect at the camp.

 

The next day was a sea day and the kids all wanted to spend time at the waterworks. There were alot of kids here and it all seemed to go very well. I did not see any little ones at the waterworks. The youngest was probably 3 and up. No babies in swimmer diapers.. sorry! :( I do remember what it's like to have little ones in these. After the waterworks we went to the big pool and the kids played there for a while. They have two hot tubs by the big pool, one for anyone and the other adults only, and the kids in the there must've been 20 at any given time.. nuts! The security staff did a really good job of keeping the kids out of the adult one. And believe me they tried many times to get into this one.

 

After lunch the kids wanted to go to camp carnival so we took them and were a little apprehensive. So, 30 mins. later I went back to check in and they were having a ball. We did look over the capers to see what they wanted to do and for the most part the counselors were really good at making sure they did the scheduled activity and they all had a good time. The ratio of counselors to kids was really good also so I felt very comfortable leaving them. We did alot of family things together during the daytime but the kids all wanted to spend the evening at camp. This first sea day they had a pajama party from 10pm - midnight and they kids had alot of fun dressing in the pj's and playing twister and video games.

 

The 3rd day they had the mini late night party for the 6 -8 year olds that lasted 10pm-1am and the late night party for the 9 -11 year olds that was from 10pm - 3:30am. Both of my boys went and had an absolute blast. Easily this was the highlight of the trip for them. My 9 year old won the ice cream eating contest and we got another ship on a stick. They also ate pizza, playing video games and lots of fun stuff. My 7 year old got to color a funship Freddy t-shirt and wear it and they erupted a volcano. Snacks were also served. Sunday being Easter they had an easter egg hunt on board. You got a map and followed it to find a counselor who then signed your map and gave you candy. It ended in the disco with a party having games, cake and icecream and Freddy dressed as a rabbit taking pictures with the kids. It was a blast.

 

My 14 year old daughter did participate in Circle C and hung out with some of the other kids but it is most certainly not as organized as Camp Carnival. Several times she went because they were supposed to be having an activity she wanted to do, like the scavenger hunt, and they had cancelled it. So, they all just hung out watching tv or wandering around the pool deck. She's very responsible so I felt ok with this since she let us know where she was at but I feel this is certainly an area that Carnival could work on.

 

Debarkation was the pits as they throw you out of your room by 9:00am, which I understand they have to clean for the next round of guests, but with 3 kids where are we supposed to go and keep them occupied? It would be nice if they were like RCCL and had a family debarkation room. Overall, my kids had a wonderful cruise and can't wait to go again. I hope this is a help to any of you going with your children any time soon. Please feel free to ask if you have any questions and happy cruising!

[crusinmama06]

Did you have any port days? What did you do?

 

Thanks for taking the time to write a review! Welcome back. :D

[Shelleywood]

Hey cruisinmama,

Thanks for the welcome! Yes, we had one port day in Cozumel. That's a whole other post. We did the dolphin swim at Chankanaab park. Check out my review on the Cozumel board... it's enlightening. :)

[crusinmama06]

Hey cruisinmama,

Thanks for the welcome! Yes, we had one port day in Cozumel. That's a whole other post. We did the dolphin swim at Chankanaab park. Check out my review on the Cozumel board... it's enlightening. :)

 

WOW :eek: I just read your dolphin encounter. You are a much calmer person than me. I probably would have been dissolved into tears. ;)

 

Well at least the encounter itself was good.

[Shelleywood]

Thank goodness that the encounter and swim were soo good. It really went a long way to improving my mood after all of that. I sure didn't want to spend the only port day we had in a bad mood. After the excursion we let the kids swim in this big pool they had there and they loved it. It had a big sprayer in the middle and they stayed there the rest of the afternoon. We also met some nice people from the Ecstacy who were there for the day also. It turned out to be a good day.

[crusinmama06]

Did you take any pictures in Cozumel that you can share? I have always wondered how Chankanaab was set up. They have a beach right? Did you stop by there and check it out?

[brazilgirl]

Cruisinmama-I posted some pictures of Chakanaab Park on another post "photos of the Western Caribbean and the Mariner"-I think it is on page 2 of these boards currently.

 

Shelley . thanks for the great review!

 

Kim

[Shelleywood]

Thanks for posting the pictures, Kim. We've only been back 2 days and I swear it feels like we've been gone a month. So, I haven't even downloaded the pictures from the camera yet.

 

They do have a beach there. I'm sure you'll see in the pictures. It's right beside the dolphin area. The only thing about the beach there is it's very rocky. It's not like a gradual beach that fades out into the water. It's like sand, and lots of rock intermixed in the sand, and then it just drops off into the rocks and water. It's got steps cut out in the rock you can go down and into the water but I was kind of nervous of my kids on those slippery rocks. They just wanted to stay in the pool anyway so it worked out. There is a little beach and rocks kind of area the kids could probably play in and be ok. The area where they snorkel and scuba and snuba around is very rocky though. It's beautiful that's for sure. A little something for everyone there also.