Our First Cruise with Kids.. the Fun We Had and the Things We Learned
“Do you want to do a Carnival cruise? We’ll help with the kids if you guys want to go!” My mother-in-law texted me a few months ago.
We’d never “cruised” before, and weren’t sure how much we’d like it. Would it be crowded? Would the kids enjoy it? Would we wait in long lines? Would we get seasick?
It was a great starter cruise – four days, sailing from Los Angeles, with stops at Catalina Island and Ensenada, Mexico. And seriously, who’s going to turn down vacation AND help with the kids? Not this mama! It’s been a looong stretch of moving, overtime, and just life busy-ness. After a short, slightly arm-twisting conversation with my husband, and the obligatory peek at the budget, I said, “Sign me up!”
Day One – Getting Our Sea Legs!
We embarked on the “Carnival Imagination” ship on a Sunday afternoon. The kids were super excited as the giant ship came into view from the car window. We were a little late for our previously scheduled check-in time, but it didn’t seem to matter, and we had virtually no wait to get on the ship. We took our luggage to our cabin (though there is an option to have them take it to there). The kids were delighted to see they would be sleeping in bunk beds that pulled down from the wall.
Waiting for Dad to park the car 
Gangplank
After getting settled, we joined Andy’s parents, his sister and her family for dinner, then chose our excursion for Catalina Island.
Day Two – Catalina Island
The next morning, we woke up to beautiful views of Catalina Island (once we made it out of our room to breakfast).
For breakfast there was food galore – pastries, eggs, cook-to-order omelets, sausage, potatoes, a breakfast burrito bar with another area for any topping you wanted, a fruit and yogurt bar, fruit juice, coffee, tea. There was always decent drip coffee on tap with half-n-half, which made me very happy. There was also a spot to fill our water bottles with drinking water.
Lido Deck with Grandma & Grandpa 
Made-to-order omelet
After breakfast, we took a ferry boat to the island, left the kids with Andy’s parents, and set off to explore. We walked around the small streets and tourist shops, and then found our waiting spot for the excursion.
On the ferry
Hummer Tour of the Island
After examining the options of a glass-bottom boat tour, bus tours, kayaking the previous night, we landed on booking an open-air Hummer tour of the mountain, which went all the way to the peak. WORTH.EVERY.PENNY. The views were absolutely gorgeous, and with a few stops along the way it felt like we were getting away into nature.
That evening, we had a formal dinner. My hair was squashed under a hat all day in the sun, and I wished the formal dinner could have been on an “at sea” day. With all the help with the kids, I took the time to completely re-do myself – take makeup off, shower, wash hair, and “get gussied up” as my grandmother used to say. We got the kids ready in nice clothes and went downstairs to get family pictures.
Dinners every night were ordered off a menu with choices of appetizers, entrees, sides, and dessert. All was included unless you wanted to order off the section that included filet mignon, lobster, and other pricier dishes.
Day Three – Ensenada, Mexico
The next morning, our boat was docked in Ensenada, Mexico. We didn’t book an excursion here or go to the beach, since we had a beach day planned when we returned. Instead, we left Weston with Andy’s parents and explored the small tourist area close to our boat. This was my first time in Mexico, but the trinkets held little novelty for me since I’d grown up in Arizona and had seen this flavor of items my whole life. A traveler from the east coast, Asia, Canada, etc., would probably find it more fascinating.
The minute we stepped foot on the first street of shops, we became instant celebrities. Every few feet, shop and street cart owners introduced themselves and asked us to look at their wares. In the short time we were there, probably eight ladies came up and asked if we wanted them to braid Ellianna’s hair. There were bracelets that could be customized with your name; shops full of leather goods, mugs, magnets, jewelry, marionette dolls.. even glazed piles of poop which flies seemed to think were real. Ellianna selected a darling marionette doll, and I found a cool sterling silver ring.
We decided to eat Mexican for lunch (I joke – they were all Mexican restaurants :). Yelp and Google helped me find a little restaurant with large windows and great burritos. The corn chips were fresh, the tacos we ordered had delicious seasoned beef. We had fresh salsa and a pile of cilantro, limes and radishes on the side. We ordered the house margaritas, which were good solid classic margs.
The chips were thicker and seemed less fried than the corn chips we are used to. Ellianna was ok with that but vetoed me buying a bag to bring home 🙂
Next door we found helado – ice cream! It’s funny how Spanish words from college returned to the front of my brain as we walked around. The ice cream was delicious – Andy and I found one with lemon wafers and vanilla ice cream. It was more like gelato. Ellianna loved her black cherry vanilla scoop.
After a few hours, we returned to our ship for a Build-a-Bear workshop that Andy’s parents treated the kids to. There “Rainy” and “Puppy” were born and perfectly accessorized. The kids had a great time.
Day Four – A Relaxing Day at Sea
The last day was a “day at sea” and we loved this no less than the other days. It started with a “Green Eggs and Ham” breakfast with the “Cat in the Hat and friends” in the dining hall, complete with photo opps with the characters…. Thing One and Thing Two, Sam-I-Am, and the Cat in the Hat.
Afterward, we took the kids up to play on the waterslides. They had a blast, but it was a little cold (low seventies) for our AZ kids, so they were done in a few hours. Ellianna warmed up in one of the two crowded but toasty hot tubs.
The rest of the day, we found tons of yummy food, hung out with Andy’s family , drank slushy margaritas and ate candy (as was age-appropriate J ). I snuck up on deck to read in the sun while Andy stayed with Weston while he napped and Ellianna spent time with Andy’s parents (glorious). We also played some miniature golf on the top deck.
The next morning, we had to debark by 9 am. This was the least fun part of the cruise, but still tolerable. There was a very long line to get off the ship. Weston hitched a ride on Andy’s suitcase.
So our “four day cruise” was really three full days and four nights on the boat.
Reflections on the Cruise:
We didn’t get seasick – most of this cruise, the ship was moving while we were sleeping, except for the last day, and we had great weather throughout the trip. The last day – our day at sea – when we were sailing back to Los Angeles, we could feel the ship gently rocking at times – it basically felt like we got slightly dizzy for a second or two – but never felt nauseous.
The staff on the ship were all fantastic, especially our cabin crew. They made us feel like royalty being treated to all the conveniences we deserved. They made our beds, greeted us by our first names with smiles, left handwritten notes, and made towel animals for the kids (which the kids LOVED).
My $8 slushy mango margarita! Very yummy
We had breakfast delivered to our cabin one morning (again, all included), but learned this only happens during a certain timeframe, and ours was 8:00. We were all sound asleep when the sharp knock at the door came. After that, we did breakfast on our own time!
I loved that all the food was included – in some ways it made it the trip even more relaxing, because the money was already spent and accounted for, and it left fewer decisions to make. Alcoholic drinks, sodas, and the coffee bar were extra, although you could get a soda club card to use throughout the trip. (We don’t drink soda, so we were fine with the included water, tea, drip coffee and apple juice available.)
The only surprise (which probably shouldn’t have been) was that smoking was allowed in designated areas, like the mini-casino. A few times it drifted to the common areas and smelled strong, but was mostly unnoticeable.
Overall, it was a fantastic experience and our whole family loved it. Ellianna even proclaimed that she was NOT getting off the ship and wanted to stay! It made me want to save my pennies for a more extended cruise.
Tips for First-Time Cruisers:
After all my “seasoned” experience on my first cruise (wink, wink), here are a few tips I have for first-timers:
Cruise Tips:
- Be sure to check-in the day before the boat leaves (or sooner!)
- If you have time, arrive to your destination the day before, to leave plenty of time to get to the ship.
- Bring a small extension cord. We could only find one plug in the cabin, and my 6’ extension cord provided more plugs for our electronic devices. A plug with multiple USB ports would be helpful as well.
- Potty train before the trip if you want to use the pool. No swim diapers are allowed in the pool on the ship. I learned this a few days before the cruise and after I’d decided to wait to potty train our son.
- Bring refillable water bottles for everyone in the family. Drinking water refills were free, while bottled water was $4+ a bottle!
- Research the excursions and events and choose wisely. It’s worth it to do fewer activities that may cost more, but that you’ll really enjoy.
- Bring friends and family – it really adds to the experience, and helps with entertaining the kids when mom and dad want to go explore!
Have you been on a cruise before? Leave a note in the comments and tell me about your experience!
