First Time Cruisers with Kids

Keep in mind that my husband and I are in our 30's and we have a 9 and an 11 year old. I will try to keep this short....

FOOD...honestly, nothing to write home about. I had steak two nights in the dining room, one night is was great and one night it was way overcooked. My husband has ribs one night that he said tasted "old". The Caesar salad and fried shrimp were great and so was the chocolate cake. Tiffany's on deck is just traditional "greasy" food including burgers, fries, and chicken tenders which tasted fine. The deli inside had great deli wraps. The 24 hour pizza bar was a little bland for our taste. Desserts were not that good, but the ice cream was good.

CAMP CARNIVAL.....was very good. My kids picked what things they wanted to attend such as towel folding, magic show, and the All Night Party which they loved! The folks in charge were very nice, but a little slow. Be patient when checking your kids in and out.

BOOZE.....You can carry on two bottles of wine, but I took on one 5 liter box of wine in my carry on luggage. No one even checked my luggage when boarding. Also, we carried vodka in a wine bladder which is like a Rum Runner in our checked luggage. It made it to our room just fine. Of course, this saved us quite a bit of money. We still bought drinks out and they tasted great. The service was pretty good, too.

ENTERTAINMENT....We only attended one show which was "Las Vegas" type dancers which was okay. We did leave a little early. I heard that the comedy show was funny, but we didn't attend. The Marriage show was really funny and so was the Friendly Feud game. Bean Bag Toss was fun since all four of us played. My daughter participated in the Country Line Dance and Thriller Dance Classes and got to see herself on the room TV. You could even buy the video they last day on board. The Piano Bar had to be our favorite (other than all of the LOUD Alabama fans).

PORT ~ COZYMEL.....We just took a cab to Mr. Sancho's Restaurant/Bar which is right on the beach. We paid for my husband and I $100 for all you can eat and all you can drink (alcohol included) for the day. We just paid for the kids as we went and think we spend $21 on them. If you don't drink alcohol then don't go with the $50 package. Note that the sand here is very BIG and is very annoying when cleaning up. I didn't know if we would ever get the kids cleaned up to go back to the ship. The seaweed was really bad the day that we went, but that could have been because of Hurricane Alex. The folks at Mr. Sancho's took really good care of us and we had a great time. Make sure you carry lots of sunscreen!!! If I had it to do over, I may have shopped in Cozumel and played at the beach at Playa de Carmen.

PORT ~ CALICA......We were so sunburned from Cozumel that we decided to just do some shopping in Playa de Carmen. We took a cab to Playa de Carmen to do some shopping which cost $13 each way. We asked the cab driver about some Mayan Ruins and for an extra fee he took us to some private ruins in Playa de Carmen right along the beach for $20. Don't know that you would ever get this lucky, but I am sure glad that we did!! It was great and we got to see two iguanas up close while there and getting a full history lesson. While shopping there, be ready for people to get your attention and bargain with them! My kids had fun getting everyone down on their prices. I thought that it was a neat little row to shop down with lots of places to stop and get a drink. We were back on the boat for lunch.

POOLS..........The pools are small. Don't go thinking you are going to hang out in the pool all day. On Fun Day at Sea days, it seems like everyone is on the Lido Deck wanting to swim. The first Sea Day, we couldn't get a chair and didn't even attempt it the second sea day. I do recommend packing a swimsuit in your carry on so the first day you can swim early. There is few people at the pool on the day you get on the ship. My kids swam and went down the slide on the day we boarded and on Port Calica day while there were few on ship. Also, note that the pool is sea salty water.

STEWARDS....are super nice. They filled our cooler up every day without even asking. My kids told them thanks many times for the towel animals and we tipped him extra money early in the week. They were great!

CABIN.....was bigger than I thought it would be. We had a king size bed and two bunk beds. Linens were comfortable and shower had great pressure! We had an ocean view window which I recommend if you have kids. It kept our entertained while waiting for different things throughout the cruise. Plenty of storage space and life jackets are in your room.

COMPLAINT.....There was an Alabama (Roll Tide Roll) Booster Convention going on during our cruise. We are huge Tennessee Vols fans, so this really sucked for us! We were so tired of hearing Sweet Home Alabama and Roll Tide Roll that we could scream. I would have like to have know about this convention ahead of time; however, I wasn't. I will call next time to ask what type of convention is being held on our next cruise.