Carnival Splendor Review with a 1 yr. old

[deputymama]

On 9/12 we flew to LAX and met up with friends for dinner. We stayed at the Holiday in Express in Marina del Rey. It was awesome, clean and affordable. We got the suite for about $140.

 

In the morning, we took a walk down to Venice Beach. The baby loved the sand and pushing his own stroller down the pier. Our friends drove us to the ship.

 

By the time we got onboard (around 2pm), our room was ready and our bags made it to our room minutes later. Then we went to a meet-and-greet with some CruiseCritic roll call friends. They were all really friendly!

 

The 1st sea day, the baby went to Camp Carnival for baby sitting from 12n-2p. Mom & Dad stayed by the pool having a beer and playing cards.

 

The 2nd day, the cruise critic people set up a "Cabin Crawl". Some of them opened up their state rooms for others to take a sneak peek. The Pent House Suite was awesome! But our room wasn't so bad either. We had an extended balcony room on the back of the boat. It was nice and spacious. We put a blow up pool out there for him to play in since he wasn't allowed in the ship pools (still in diapers). Oh but they do have a GREAT splash park on Deck 10. He loved that!!

 

Our 1st port day was in Puerto Vallarta. We walked to the PH Krystal Resort. They charged us $42 US dollars to use their pool, playground and beach. The $42 worked out to be $500 pesos and they gave it back in credit for food and drinks. It was lovely!

 

Our 2nd port day was in Mazatlan. At first I wasn't looking forward to this stop BUT it ended up being the best one. We got off the ship and for $2 US dollars each we took a water taxi to Stone Island. It was the perfect beach for kids. It was just a long beach with a bunch of restaurants, umbrellas & lounge chairs. No shopping or hotels. We stayed at Carmelita's. They have the biggest umbrellas. It was right next to Lety's. It was quite and so relaxing! And YES the garlic shrimp at Lety's is delicious!

 

The last port was Cabo San Lucas. We took a water taxi to Medano Beach. The beach was beautiful BUT the waves were huge and there was a very steep drop-off almost immediately upon entering the water. I was very nervous and could not relax because the baby kept running out there. He had no fear of the ocean. So we left and ended up at Finesterra Resort. This was one of the most beautiful resorts I have ever seen. They had 3 pools that cascaded into one another via waterfall. They only charged us $15 total to stay there all day and again it was reimbursed when we bought food and drinks. We'd go back there in a flash if we could.

 

The last day was another day at sea. The baby went back to Camp Carnival for 2 hours of babysitting.

 

We cruised on Royal Carribean a few years ago (pre-baby) and the food was better but Carnival was the BEST for families! We would choose to cruise with them again and again. The only down-fall was the dining room. Our son doesn't sit for a fancy dinner very well. And the waiter sucked! He was totally lost. He looked like a chicken with his head cut off. So we ended up eating at the buffet a lot.

 

That's about it. Hope you enjoy your trip too!

 

[mindymp]

Thanks for the review! Sounds fun!

 

I wish I knew of cruise critic before I went to Cabo - I did a snorkeling excursion and it sucked. Therefore, I have no good memories of Cabo - glad to hear people love it though!

[bc_chik]

So kids are not allowed in the pool even if they are wearing a diaper that is meant for swimming and the water???? But they are allowed in the splashpark with a diaper???

 

I am very disapointed to learn this, my son LOVES the pool! I can see some major 2 yo meltdowns when he isn't allowed in and everyone else is :(

[A&Jfamily]

So kids are not allowed in the pool even if they are wearing a diaper that is meant for swimming and the water???? But they are allowed in the splashpark with a diaper???

 

I am very disapointed to learn this, my son LOVES the pool! I can see some major 2 yo meltdowns when he isn't allowed in and everyone else is :(

 

The reason is that if they poop, the swimmie doesn't keep the water out - all the bacteria from the poop ends up in the water, and they have to close the pool and clean it. As you can see, that would not be fair to the other guests.

 

Perhaps he is poop trained? If so, forget the swimmie and take him to pee before he enteres the pool, and every 30 mintues while swimming. That should prevent any accidents. My DS was late 2's when we first went and he had been poop trained for months, but we were still working on the pee thing. This is what we did and it worked fine.

[TeacherJenn]

Thanks for the review. We are going to MR in December and I haven't been looking forward to Mazatlan. We have a 2 year old and NCL's excursion to Stone Island is 5 hours, so maybe taking a water taxi would work.

[momofsamandeden]

We are thinking of doing the dream or splendor but I thought that the youngest they babysat was two during the day. Is that wrong and how did your LO like the babysitting on that ship?

[Baxter]

Just to clarify: diapered kids are allowed in the splash area? I thought you had to be fully potty trained to use any water area.

 

This would be great news!

[RizzoLee]

Just to clarify: diapered kids are allowed in the splash area? I thought you had to be fully potty trained to use any water area.

 

This would be great news!

 

Unfortunately, you have it right - if they're in diapers, no water area is allowed.

 

My friends are pushing their twin 2yo's (who will be just shy of 3 by the cruise) to be both poop & pee trained by the cruise! they're doing well with the number 2's, not so much with the number one's, lol.

[myskibum]

I will be on the Splendor on Feb 28th 2010. We are taking our 1 year old. Does anyone have any suggestions for the Ship or how to enjoy the stops? Thanks!

[MnAsMom]

Thanks for the review. We are going to MR in December and I haven't been looking forward to Mazatlan. We have a 2 year old and NCL's excursion to Stone Island is 5 hours, so maybe taking a water taxi would work.

 

If you didn't want to do Stone Island check out the El Cid El Moro hotel in Mazatlan. They took my DH's drivers license (just held it) and we didn't have to pay anything (you can do a day pass inclusive with food for a fee too). They had a great pool with 2 water slides (one was perfect for our 4 year old (we caught him at the bottom, but you could slide with your kiddo too) and the beach there was pretty nice. Some waves but lots of cool shells in the sand. My kids enjoyed the beach and the pool there a lot. I loved having a bathroom to use and change in. We ate at the hotel as well and the tacos were delicious.

 

We did the water taxi thing in cabo... just know that they don't dock the boats... they go to shore and you have to jump off. My hubby got off first and he held my older sons hands and held my little guy. You gotta climb up to get back into the water taxi as well! Just in case you didn't know that about water taxis!

[neomom]

Thank you soooo much for this info!!!! Priceless.

 

On 9/12 we flew to LAX and met up with friends for dinner. We stayed at the Holiday in Express in Marina del Rey. It was awesome, clean and affordable. We got the suite for about $140.

 

In the morning, we took a walk down to Venice Beach. The baby loved the sand and pushing his own stroller down the pier. Our friends drove us to the ship.

 

By the time we got onboard (around 2pm), our room was ready and our bags made it to our room minutes later. Then we went to a meet-and-greet with some CruiseCritic roll call friends. They were all really friendly!

 

The 1st sea day, the baby went to Camp Carnival for baby sitting from 12n-2p. Mom & Dad stayed by the pool having a beer and playing cards.

 

The 2nd day, the cruise critic people set up a "Cabin Crawl". Some of them opened up their state rooms for others to take a sneak peek. The Pent House Suite was awesome! But our room wasn't so bad either. We had an extended balcony room on the back of the boat. It was nice and spacious. We put a blow up pool out there for him to play in since he wasn't allowed in the ship pools (still in diapers). Oh but they do have a GREAT splash park on Deck 10. He loved that!!

 

Our 1st port day was in Puerto Vallarta. We walked to the PH Krystal Resort. They charged us $42 US dollars to use their pool, playground and beach. The $42 worked out to be $500 pesos and they gave it back in credit for food and drinks. It was lovely!

 

Our 2nd port day was in Mazatlan. At first I wasn't looking forward to this stop BUT it ended up being the best one. We got off the ship and for $2 US dollars each we took a water taxi to Stone Island. It was the perfect beach for kids. It was just a long beach with a bunch of restaurants, umbrellas & lounge chairs. No shopping or hotels. We stayed at Carmelita's. They have the biggest umbrellas. It was right next to Lety's. It was quite and so relaxing! And YES the garlic shrimp at Lety's is delicious!

 

The last port was Cabo San Lucas. We took a water taxi to Medano Beach. The beach was beautiful BUT the waves were huge and there was a very steep drop-off almost immediately upon entering the water. I was very nervous and could not relax because the baby kept running out there. He had no fear of the ocean. So we left and ended up at Finesterra Resort. This was one of the most beautiful resorts I have ever seen. They had 3 pools that cascaded into one another via waterfall. They only charged us $15 total to stay there all day and again it was reimbursed when we bought food and drinks. We'd go back there in a flash if we could.

 

The last day was another day at sea. The baby went back to Camp Carnival for 2 hours of babysitting.

 

We cruised on Royal Carribean a few years ago (pre-baby) and the food was better but Carnival was the BEST for families! We would choose to cruise with them again and again. The only down-fall was the dining room. Our son doesn't sit for a fancy dinner very well. And the waiter sucked! He was totally lost. He looked like a chicken with his head cut off. So we ended up eating at the buffet a lot.

 

That's about it. Hope you enjoy your trip too!