The real cruising with the crazies, picture review of Glory cruise with the toddlers

[Crusin Karen]

Loved seeing your boys all dressed up like daddy. Our boys were 10 and 8 1/2 when we took them on their lst cruise. It was a bit more "formal" on formal/elegant nights then and DH and boys rented tuxes and wore them. I have a formal shot of the 3 of them on our den wall and cherish it. It's nice to teach them that there is a "time and place" for everything. I will give you some advice, something I read when my lst was a baby and I LIVED by: "the days take forever, but the years go by in a minute."

[raylene5]

I will give you some advice, something I read when my lst was a baby and I LIVED by: "the days take forever, but the years go by in a minute."

 

Oh my goodness, I can relate to that! I'm a stay-at-home mom and boy do the days drag on sometimes. But then a birthday comes around (our fourth just had his 1st birthday yesterday) and you realize how quickly it all goes by. And the more you have, the faster time seems to slip away. Ok, getting all teary-eyed now...

[CamaCama]

Loving this review! Thinking about a cruise with our almost 2 year old soon... your boys are too cute!!

[CamaCama]

Meant to ask... was there a splash area or kid section for your 2 year old in diapers to go in the pool or get wet? I know they aren't allowed in the regular pools with diapers right?

[pyroguy]

Meant to ask... was there a splash area or kid section for your 2 year old in diapers to go in the pool or get wet? I know they aren't allowed in the regular pools with diapers right?

 

I'm sure I'll get flamed for this, but we put ours in a swim diaper and let him play on the shallow part of the pool where it's only maybe 2" deep.

 

Let him dangle his feet into the hot tub. Nobody ever said anything to us about it.

[raylene5]

I'm sure I'll get flamed for this, but we put ours in a swim diaper and let him play on the shallow part of the pool where it's only maybe 2" deep.

 

Let him dangle his feet into the hot tub. Nobody ever said anything to us about it.

 

Ugh...that is sooo wrong. I have young children, one of them was only 11 months old on our last cruise and I would NEVER think of putting him in the pools with a swim diaper. Do you realize that had he pooped in the pool, they would have had to shut it down for everyone else for the day? If I had seen you do that, I would have told the staff and hopefully they would have done something about it. You're giving us parents and our kids a bad name you know.

[mscreneet]

Awesome Review!!! For someone who has kids, this has been just great. Our next cruise will be the first one that we have cruised with the 2 new additions. We have cruised before with our oldest (15 years) but now as have a daughter who will be a little over 2 years old and also a 1 year old.

 

Keep up the great work and im definitely looking forward to reading more and seeing more pictures.

 

Also, thanks for the FYI regarding the carseat!!

[thekings23]

Meant to ask... was there a splash area or kid section for your 2 year old in diapers to go in the pool or get wet? I know they aren't allowed in the regular pools with diapers right?

 

There is a little splash pool on deck 12 right outside of camp, we didnt use it though. I support the no diapers in the pool rule, however we went to the beach 3 days so the need for pool time wasnt there. None of us went in the pool, the oldest and I used the waterslide a few times though.

 

I will write more this evening, damn work getting in the way.

[pyroguy]

Ugh...that is sooo wrong. I have young children, one of them was only 11 months old on our last cruise and I would NEVER think of putting him in the pools with a swim diaper.

 

wow...a flame AND a bad parent implication in the same post...almost like you were waiting for that one to pounce. Great reflexes!

 

Swim diapers should be outlawed. Kids should never be allowed near a pool until they are potty trained. :rolleyes:

[rd757]

Outstanding write up so far! I spend most of my time cruising the RCI section of the board (I'm sailing them this summer) but I've gone on two Carnival cruises and loved them! This is the first review I've read in this section and I love it!

 

Another Michigan-gander, as well! :) Although I'm a Buckeye at heart. :rolleyes:

 

This reminds me of my cruise Carnival cruise. I was 14 or so, and I have two younger twin brothers. Everyone kept saying how cute they were all dressed up. Hopefully they'll remain close as brothers, I know I wish I did.

 

Looking forward to the rest of the posts!

 

Ryan

[halos]

I'm sure I'll get flamed for this, but we put ours in a swim diaper and let him play on the shallow part of the pool where it's only maybe 2" deep.

Let him dangle his feet into the hot tub. Nobody ever said anything to us about it.

wow...a flame AND a bad parent implication in the same post...almost like you were waiting for that one to pounce. Great reflexes!

 

Swim diapers should be outlawed. Kids should never be allowed near a pool until they are potty trained. :rolleyes:

 

You knew you were going to get flamed because you know it was wrong, so don't act shocked.

 

 

 

OP, your kids are adorable :)

[hlb76]

Thanks for the start of a great review. Isn't cruising the best family vacation something for everyone to do!!! My kids are much older 11 and 16 but we all love it so much.

 

Last year we went on the same inten. on Liberty traveling w/ friends and there young kids 3 and 5. We also choose this for all the great beach days!!!

 

Please dont take long to tell us more!

[whendoweleave?]

Wish I had discovered cruising when my three boys were little. It's so much fun and a super value!

[thekings23]

Day 3 St. Thomas USVI

 

We woke up early today super excited for St Thomas. I hear so many good things about this port that I had my hopes up, turns out I had them up a bit too high.

 

We got showered and into our beach gear and headed to the Lido for breakfast. I liked it today, big fan of the buffet French toast. Our view from the open decks showed beauty, but in a gray subdued way, rather than the typical sunny blue sky that we picture in the Caribbean.

 

 

 

After taking a few shots from the top decks we headed down to deck 0 to get off the ship. The line to get off the ship always went up several flights of stairs. If you take the forward elevator to deck 0 you get off right in the front of the line by the gangway.

 

The plan for today is Magans Bay, I will leave you with this shot, which I really like

 

[thekings23]

We didn't book any organized excursions for this trip as with kids your options are incredibly limited. We got off the ship and mazed our way through the dozens and dozens of taxis and were flagged to one going to Megans Bay. The taxis in St Thomas are govt. regulated with fixed a fixed fare of $8 PP. They pack the vans and open air taxi's full of people, I think a taxi driver in St Thomas has to make a killing.

 

We loaded into the van and headed off to the beach. A parting shot of the yacht I bought while in St Thomas.

 

 

It was a 15-20 minute ride through the winding hills and roads of St Thomas to get to the beach. Megan's Bay is located in a state park, with a charge of $4 pp to get in. The kids are free for entry.

 

This beach is allegedly world ranked as one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. We paid $10 for 2 chairs and I drug them a hundred yards or so to an open spot. This beach was my least favorite of the 3 that we visited during this cruise, I felt like it was highly overrated. A few pics of the beach

 

 

 

[thekings23]

The beach was crowded and the sand reminded me of sand that I see while in Northern Michigan at one of our several lake beaches. The water was warm and calm, but it lacked that beautiful blue that I am used to seeing in Grand Cayman, or Half Moon Cay. We hung out for a few hours before it began to rain. The rain was actually my favorite thing about visiting St Thomas. It was the most spectacular rain I have ever seen.

 

 

The rain passed quickly, and we spent a while longer vegging on the beach. We then decided to go back to the ship for lunch. We took an open aired taxi back to the ship. I enjoyed the open aired ride, and for the parents out there its fine with young kids, they just can't sit on the end. My woman to blame was a bit nervous about the ride in the open aired cab.

 

 

I am cheap, so in port I often get back on the ship to eat, the lines are short the food is good and it's already paid for.

 

 

For lunch I grabbed the Wok and the kids grabbed a hot dog from the grill. The wok is excellent, the lines are long and slow moving when the ship is not in port, but on this port day I walked right up.

 

 

We then decided to do some shopping right in the port area. Since we were only going to be a hundred yards or so from the ship we decided to let Ty stay on board at Camp. He hates shopping more then anything in the world. We enjoyed this time with just 1 baby and allowed us to reflect about the old days. Things are so much easier with just 1 kid.

 

The mall area was typical, a bunch of stores that sell the same crap. I am a sucker, I mean who doesn't want a pirate bandanna and a shell turtle?

 

 

I know this probably makes me a bad parent but whatever, it rained during dinner and after dinner we wanted to go to the top deck. For whatever reason we were late leaving port so we were able to watch sail away in the dark. Ty loves puddles, I don't know why but it has always been a passion of his. He saw a big puddle on deck ten and ran to it, jumped in it and splashed water all over this old guys white pants. The guy was ticked and we were sorry, but just another day of vacationing with toddlers.

 

 

The rest of the evening was uneventful, Camp for Ty, bed for Carter and casino for daddy.

 

Tomorrow is San Juan, a port I was greatly looking forward to.

[raylene5]

. We enjoyed this time with just 1 baby and allowed us to reflect about the old days. Things are so much easier with just 1 kid.

 

Yes, life is always much easier with one less than you're used to. If you have a 3rd, you will find that life with 2 is cake! One of our 4 is gone right now with his aunt at Disneyland and it's easier with just 3 for sure :)

[thekings23]

Today was San Juan day. This day was anticipated by me and Ty, and the woman to blame was least excited about this stop. I am a history buff and could not wait to check out at least one of the forts. We had a short day in SJ docking at 7 and sailing at 3:30. Most things do not open until 9 so we leisurely got up and at breakfast on the Lido.

 

Once outside I could not believe how hot it was, it reached well over 90 this day and was incredibly humid. Once I realized how hot it was I became concerned with getting around Old San Juan. The woman to blame and Ty both deal with asthma and the uphill walk was not going to happen. This is when we caught a break. Just outside the port there were the normal vendors trying to get you to take their tours. One guy from Happy Tours walked up to us and offered us a 1 hour tour in his bus for $20 for our family of four. We took him up on the deal, along with about 12 other Glory passengers. This was an absolute steal.

 

 

The "1 hour" tour actually lasted well over 2 hours, taking us to throughout Old and New San Juan. We stopped at a beautiful deserted beach first, for 10 minutes of exploring and photos

 

 

Our driver Fernando was incredibly passionate about San Juan and Puerto Rico in general, and had a great sense of humor. I hear a lot of cruisers mention that they don't even get off the ship in San Juan, but I felt that this island was beautiful and loaded with history.

 

Next we stopped at the Capital building, what a stunning piece of architecture. We got 15 minutes to go inside and check out the grounds of the capital. I loved this time.

 

 

 

[thekings23]

We next stopped outside of the El Morro fort. We were given 15 minutes or so, not enough to get real close, but it was still fantastic to get some photos of this amazing place.

 

 

The boys really enjoyed this tour. At the end of the tour we were dropped off right at the shopping district. Just a short walk to the San Cristobal fort, which was our next stop. The fort was $4 per person, and the kids were free. This is the best bargain in the world. The boys loved the "castle", they were able to explore and get some energy out. They especially loved this guy

 

 

We explored the fort for a few hours, a picture says a thousand words so let me just share a bit of our fort experience. All you cruisers with kids, this is a must stop.

 

 

 

[thekings23]

More of the fort

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the fort we did a few minutes of shopping, same junk, and again we couldn't resist the piggy bank made of a coconut but shaped like a pig, how clever. We rested a bit in the cabin, got ready for dinner and did my normal poker.

 

Tomorrow is Grand Turk, and to leave this post is my favorite of all towel animals.

 

[truchattycathy]

Thank you so much for a great review!!!! I will be sailing with my grandchildren and now I just can't wait!

[pcrum]

Loving the review. We were on the Glory on the eastern route before your cruise (3/27/11), but our HMC stop got cancelled for Nassau.

 

I agree with you that Magen's Bay is overrated!!

 

Love the San Juan photos!! The boys are adorable!

[deppong]

Great review!

[cuted126]

. The water was warm and calm, but it lacked that beautiful blue that I am used to seeing in Grand Cayman, or Half Moon Cay.

I agree! Also,I ALWAYS get back on the ship to eat too!

[boaterette]

wow...a flame AND a bad parent implication in the same post...almost like you were waiting for that one to pounce. Great reflexes!

 

Swim diapers should be outlawed. Kids should never be allowed near a pool until they are potty trained. :rolleyes:

 

You got that right. I don't want my kids swimming in poop. Thank you very much.