First post and First Cruise with Kids, have a few questions.

Hello All,

My wife is a teacher and recently (Thursday) approached me stating she would like to take a cruise for her and our kids spring break. (Ages 9,6,4) Mind you we had no discussion of this prior, so I began quickly searching Carnival. I came across a 5 day Bahama out of Jacksonville that fit our budget, and booked. We live in Indiana and couldn't justify the cost to fly to Miami at over $400 per round trip for all of us! We elected to make the 11-12 hour drive, and just leave a day earlier to be able and take our time. She and I had only cruised once in the past on our honeymoon upon the Conquest, and it is still to this day the best vacation we've had. We were wanting to wait until the kids were old enough to enjoy it, and believe the time is now. Naturally after booking I began searching for reviews on the ship etc.... While I don't think we made a mistake, I do just have a few questions and would like the opinion of the "seasoned" cruisers here. I've read mixed reviews on the Elation and amenities etc... I'm more concerned about the kid friendliness of the ship. Has anyone sailed her with children in the age range as ours? My second question is cabins, we went with interior on this one due to the fact we really only plan on sleeping and showering there. I can however upgrade to a ocean view for another $160, but really that money could probably be spent better elsewhere. Opinions? Obviously we have to cruise within a certain time frame, and this was very last minute, however there is another sailing out of Miami on a similar ship (Sensation I believe) that doesn't leave until a little later in the week. Pricing with Ocean view is about $100 cheaper, but we would have more cost in fuel, food, hotel stays getting there, so I would consider that a wash. I look forward to hearing your input, and thank you in advance!

Inside vs. Ocean View,, inside is fine. The only difference is a window. Size of the cabin is the same all around.

There will be tons of kids, they'll have fun.

I've cruised with kids on the Elation, Triumph, Breeze, Disney Dream, and Norwegian Getaway. It doesn't really matter what ship you are on. The amenities are basically the same and you will have a great time. Water is erythritol it as long as you let them have ice cream 2-3 times a day.

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That should say "water is water, a bed is a bed, and to kids; food is food. It doesn't really matter as long as you let them have ice cream 2-3 times a day." I don't know how that got messed ul

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That should say "water is water, a bed is a bed, and to kids; food is food. It doesn't really matter as long as you let them have ice cream 2-3 times a day." I don't know how that got messed ul

 

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Agreed!!! I often wonder how my family cruised 12/13 years ago without all the bells and whistles! My kids came back to the cabin with more medals and prizes. They had pizza parties, and pirate parades! Some of our fondest memories were on the Ecstasy and The Monarch of the Seas (the two smallest ships).

I haven't been on Elation, but we cruised Fascination (same class ship) out of Jax for our first cruise with kids. They were 8 and 9 at the time. They loved every minute.

I just booked our second cruise with the kids and when I asked what was important to them, they said "a pool and free ice cream and pizza".

Yep! That's pretty much all it takes to thrill them :)

We had an interior - and it was cramped, but didn't hinder our fun one bit. There is, fortunately, a lot of storage in the cabin, so that helped. I would advise separating the bottom bed into 2 twins as this provides more room with the two pull down beds above - although we didn't do this because it just felt too weird for hubby and I to sleep apart - lol!

I definitely would not travel to Miami for Sensation just to get an oceanview. Having just cruised out of Miami two months ago, I would avoid that port simply because of parking costs. You can find much cheaper private parking right outside of JaxPort (it's in a safe part of town) - in Miami your choices are pretty much limited to the port at $20 a day or stay at a >$150 park and cruise hotel. (Most folks advise against off-cruise parking there as it is not secure.)

Are you going to Half Moon Cay? If so, this is an awesome spot for a family- very nice! We aren't even beach people and we actually stayed until last tender back to ship. We rented one of those clamshell umbrellas (around $20) and just sat and read books while the kids played in the water in front of us. It was probably the best time I've ever had on a beach - and I've lived near Florida beaches my whole life.

As for Kid's clubs - your nine-year-old will love being able to check themselves in and out of the club - feels very grown up - and your younger children will probably enjoy Camp Carnival as well. If you are going during off-school time there will be a lot of other kids for them to interact with.

One tip - Do whatever you can to get earlier dining. We had late dining and 2 couples with young children(at our table) had to drop out due to the fact that their kids couldn't stay awake long enough for the meal :)

Enjoy your cruise and your family!

My wife is a teacher and recently (Thursday) approached me stating she would like to take a cruise for her and our kids spring break. (Ages 9,6,4) I've read mixed reviews on the Elation and amenities etc... I'm more concerned about the kid friendliness of the ship. Has anyone sailed her with children in the age range as ours? My second question is cabins, we went with interior on this one due to the fact we really only plan on sleeping and showering there. I can however upgrade to a ocean view for another $160, but really that money could probably be spent better elsewhere. Opinions?

So far, you have made the right decisions. Your kids will definitely have fun on the road and on the ship. We also used to stay on an inside cabin and our grandkids had no complaints.. We just let them have their pizza, hotdog and ice cream!

Love the Fantasy Class. Smaller and easy to navigate. Doesn't have all the bells and whistles of the larger ships but we liked her when she sailed out of San Diego. Only downside is she doesn't have the water slide. But the pool area on 11aft is quieter than the Lido.

Here's a recent thread about bed arrangement in your cabin.

Inspiration is another Fantasy class sister. The Ocean View and Inside cabin's are identical in this class.

E173 and E203 on Carnival Inspiration

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2439397

There is a twister waterslide on Lido. It's not very big.

Excellent! Thank you all so much for the responses and putting my mind at ease! We can't wait to get going!

Know that although there is a kids menu in the MDR, they are welcome to order off the adult menu, or mix n match. Adults have also been known to order the banana split off the kids menu...EM

You may want to look at the triumph out of New Orleans.

The triumph has most of the 2.0 upgrades.

We've been on both ships our kids are now 11 & 10. They will have a great time either way.

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As adults we prefer Your Time Dining so we have the flexibility of eating when we want. However, with kids, I think the earlier poster was dead right to suggest Early Dining and the consistency of having the same waitstaff each night. They'll get to know your kids and will make it a truly special event for them.

My daughter (who just turned 40 :eek:) still remembers to this day the waiter on our first cruise when she was 14 - his name is Hamed! She was such a picky eater and as a teenager such a little PITA (LOL) that I wanted to put her ashore a few times! But Hamed had her laughing and talking (instead of just sulking) at every meal! He even had her trying foods I could NEVER get her to even consider!

The waitstaff will get to know your kids and will make such a fuss over them that it will become part of their special memories of this cruise!

Second what others have said... early Assigned Dining is the way to go. ATD will have a long wait for tables larger than 4. Kids clubs start at 7:30 most nights. Sometimes the clubs will have dinner for the kids.

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The Lido pool slide a is a bit larger than a standard home slide and dumps directly into the pool.

Here's another question, is FTTF worth the $70 just to keep the kids moving and spending less time in line?

Here's another question, is FTTF worth the $70 just to keep the kids moving and spending less time in line?

I think it is!

Inside vs. Ocean View,, inside is fine. The only difference is a window. Size of the cabin is the same all around.

There will be tons of kids, they'll have fun.

The size is not the same. Insides are 185 square ft while Oceanviews are 220 Square ft.

The size is not the same. Insides are 185 square ft while Oceanviews are 220 Square ft.

On a Fantasy class ship? Not sure that's correct.

Anyway OP, WELL DONE.

Echo everyone's early dining recommendation. I think your entire family will appreciate getting to know your waiters.

Then here's what'll happen. Assuming that the entire family loves the experience, you can start to consider longer trips and fancier Carnival ships and cabins. Some day your kids will be across the hall in an interior with 'their own' cabin which will make it a bit of a vacation for you and your bride as well. Then you'll institute the 'we shore excursion and eat dinner together as a family' rule knowing that for the rest of the week your kids will be hanging with their new HS age friends. And lastly, you'll recognize that this might be the last full family cruise as kids head off to their own lives. And so it goes.

Enjoy.

I am in St Louis so I hear you with the cost of flying vs driving. For the future, check out Dream out of New Orleans. That is a fairly quick drive and our cheapest port to get to. An overnight stop around Memphis makes it just two short days of driving.

My kid just turned 10. She could check herself into Camp when we cruised a month ago and we brought alone walkie talkies and a cross body purse for her to put the walkie and her s&s card and a camp schedule in. This way she could check in with us whenever she was changing locations on the ship.

I have cruised with 4 in a cabin before. We typically do 3. My tip for that is to remember that you can always shower/prep in the gym. That is what me and my dad do. The kid gets her run of the bathroom in the room and me and my dad take turns going up to the gym to shower since there is so much more room there and this way we can all be ready at the same time.

The size is not the same. Insides are 185 square ft while Oceanviews are 220 Square ft.

On a Fantasy class ship? Not sure that's correct.

 

 

 

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Enjoy.

OV and Inside cabins are exactly the same on the Fantasy Class.

Immediately after you book go online and choose your check in time (don't know if your port has Staggered Check in time yet)

I cannot give any information on the ship itself as we have not been on that ship, but my response is to your location and cost of travel. We live in Northern MN and usually fly out of Minneapolis ( about a 2.5 hour drive) We always say if we are going to cruise we are going for at least 6 + days (7) is ideal for us and our 6 year old Granddaughter, who we have temp custody of. Living far from a port I want to justify the price so we do not go for less than (6) days. I have a rule that airfare will not be more than the cruise! (MSP is a great airport, but still expensive for 6 weeks over the spring break time starting Mar and running through mid April. Especially going into FL! So when we cruised with one of my Daughter's and Granddaughter a couple years ago I flew us into Atlanta ( at the time I found great airfare around $100.00, one way) We found a clean modest hotel for the overnight in Atlanta for $60.00 (I think on Booking.com) I then booked another night in Orlando, again modest, yet clean and with pool for $52.00. Add a Car rental, gas and parking at the port in Ft Lauderdale for the week with meals came out to be $1400.00. If we would have flown into Ft Lauderdale it would have been 2250.00. to fly (4) of us in. Of course the ride back to Atlanta was a bit long, but certainly worth it. The 800-900 I saved helped pay for some fun activities at the ports. Kids will have a blast and I certainly agree with the ice cream comment made by one of the posters! In a few weeks we are going out of New Orleans due to high airfare into FL. Will see how this port works out for us. Enjoy your cruise!

You guys are going to have a blast!

I echo what everyone else has said: kids club, pool, pizza and ice cream, with maybe a beach day thrown in? Your kids will be in HEAVEN.

Re: your cabin and the older ship, I think they won't even notice! They don't have anything to compare it to, so they will probably think it's awesome. We did our last cruise on the Miracle (Spirit class) after doing some of the bigger ships, and the only thing our kids missed was the dive-in movie. Even then, they were so busy doing other stuff that they didn't really notice it other than a quick question on the first day.

I think FTTF is TOTALLY worth it if you have kids (mine are 8 and 3). It's just so nice to not have to stand around waiting forever. Plus it's great if you need to tender, use guest services, etc. We have four families (19 people total) sailing on Saturday, and we ALL got FTTF. There are 11 children, we want to get them on board and out of the way of the other guests as quickly as possible ;) And it's really nice for debarkation, too! We were off the ship, checked into our hotel and on our first ride at Disneyland by 9:40 last time. I'm sure it's similar at JAX. On past cruises we've had a hard time keeping the kids entertained that morning, as everything is closed and you have to just hang out in the lounge while you wait to be called.

One tip to make your cabin seem roomier: just take a few moments to put things away, instead of tossing them on the chair, table, etc. It really makes a huge difference. We've always done interiors before, and there is plenty of space if you just don't let the clutter take over the room. Going to keep up that mantra next week in our first balcony.

Hope you guys have a ton of fun!!!!

Just a few things. Your kids will love this ship because all carnival ships cater to kids.

The cabin...please set it up like the last picture in the earlier link, the one with the female steward in the picture. It is not worth whatever desire you have to sleep next to your spouse. If you put one bed along each wall, you will have lots of floor space. Since you have a young one, the trundle will likely come without the add-on, making it shorter and taking up even less space. And the inside is the same size as the oceanview on this ship. I have done both. It is one easy way to save money on Fantasy class.

Take a nightlight for the bathroom or even the cabin, the little battery operated tea lights from the dollar store. It will be dark in the room!

And remember your kids don't always have to be entertained in the way you think of entertainment. Like other posters said, pizza or ice cream is sometimes all it takes.

Oh, and FTTF is certainly not needed for JAX. We have never once stood in a line there. Walked straight up to the conveyor belt, straight up to the check-in, and straight onto the ship. Easiest port ever.

Just a few things. Your kids will love this ship because all carnival ships cater to kids.

The cabin...please set it up like the last picture in the earlier link, the one with the female steward in the picture. It is not worth whatever desire you have to sleep next to your spouse. If you put one bed along each wall, you will have lots of floor space. Since you have a young one, the trundle will likely come without the add-on, making it shorter and taking up even less space. And the inside is the same size as the oceanview on this ship. I have done both. It is one easy way to save money on Fantasy class.

Take a nightlight for the bathroom or even the cabin, the little battery operated tea lights from the dollar store. It will be dark in the room!

And remember your kids don't always have to be entertained in the way you think of entertainment. Like other posters said, pizza or ice cream is sometimes all it takes.

Oh, and FTTF is certainly not needed for JAX. We have never once stood in a line there. Walked straight up to the conveyor belt, straight up to the check-in, and straight onto the ship. Easiest port ever.