My husband and I have never cruised before, but I'm turning thirty this month and we wanted to take a vacation outside of the United States. We haven't been out of the country since our honeymoon 3 1/2 years ago, and now with a two year old and 6 month old, wondered what we should plan. After throwing around the idea of an all-inclusive resort in the Carribean, we decided to consider a cruise. The only cruises out of Ft. Lauderdale or Miami that had an itinerary that interested me, AND offered babysitting for a six month old were Carnival and Holland America. So, we booked this cruise with Carnival, after asking numerous questions about the kids club (I AM EXTREMELY PICKY about who watches our children, and have only spent the night away from our 2 year old once in her entire life and obviously, never have been away from my six month old for over an hour!).

Hotel Info: We were able to get a direct flight to Ft. Lauderdale, so even though it put us in Florida a day and a half before our cruise, it was well worth it to us not to have a layover having the two kiddos along. We stayed at the Royal Palm Hotel on South Beach (Miami), and it was beautiful. The day of our cruise, we just took a taxi to port and arrived right around noon.

Embarkation: Since we weren't early at all, we were probably there at the busiest time, and it was still quick and what I expected. My two year old didn't get bored, so the whole process probably lasted right around an hour. Read more