Son's first cruise, Freedom 2-4-17

[aliendad]

My wife and I are cruise addicts...so we actually booked this cruise before our son was even born and couldn't wait to share it with him. This is our seventh cruise together and fourth on Carnival. We have never had a bad cruise, but I will have to admit I was worried about this one. Just a little uneasy taking our son at such a young age on a cruise.

 

We live in Kansas and usually drive to Galveston to cruise but we didn't want to spend that much time in a car with a little one so we decided to fly. Our son James actually flew really well, I was afraid he would scream the whole flight but he didn't. He is an extrovert and loved seeing all the new people on the plane and even flirted with a lady sitting across the aisle from us.

[aliendad]

We used Galveston Limousine Service to shuttle us from Hobby airport to our hotel and then again from the cruise port to Hobby Airport. I highly recommend them they were professional and cheap. We only paid 20 dollars a person each way.

 

We arrived in Galveston Wednesday night with the intent of exploring the area and relaxing on the beach before the cruise. We stayed at Comfort Inn and Suites on Seawall Blvd. We picked this hotel for it is right on the beach and its close to a Walmart for any extra supplies, we planned on stocking up on diapers and baby stuff there as opposed to having to fly with extra suitcases. This hotel worked out great, it had a wonderful breakfast bar in the morning and was close enough to places to go and things to do that we didn't need a car at all. I would highly recommend this place for any cruiser.

[aliendad]

We booked our first balcony cabin for this cruise. We thought that if our son was napping or needed a break from all the activities going on we didn't want to feel as if we were missing out. I would highly recommend this for anyone traveling with kids. There were times that James needed a break and my wife and I just enjoyed the balcony during these times.

 

The crew on the Freedom were great, everyone was happy and friendly. They really enjoyed seeing our son, they went out of there way to greet him and talk to him and really seemed to love kids. James ate it up, he was like a little celebrity. As luck would have it James's birthday was the last sea day, which is also when The Suess Breakfast was. Wow that was a great time, the food was inventive colorful and good and our son loved meeting all his favorite Suess characters they even sang happy birthday to him.

[aliendad]

Our son was too young for Carnival's kids camp activities but we did take him up to Dr Suess Bookville, which is a place with a ton of Dr Suess books to read and toys for kids to play with. It was a great area for James to run around and burn off energy and he had a blast playing with the blocks there.

[aliendad]

The food on the Freedom was great, just like all the other Carnival ships we have been on. We only had dinner in the main dining room once, it was just too long of a time for our son. The food and the service in the dining room was excellent as usual. We ate a lot at the lido, the food was good the lines at times were not so good but that's cruising. We like everything we tried and even liked the new Bar B Cue.

 

Our ports were a lot of fun, we went to Cozumel, Belize and Mahogany Bay. In Cozumel we didn't do a ship excursion we just walked off and shopped a little. It was a beautiful day, for me the highlight was at the end of the day when we were still docked next to the Triumph. It started to rain, not too hard but and it didn't last longer than maybe 30 minutes but the dj on the Triumph was having fun with it, he kept playing songs about rain....first it was Purple Rain then It's Raining Men and so on. I got a real kick out of that.

 

In Belize we did the ship's Starfish Island excursion. This was a lot better than I expected. A tender picked us up from the Freedom and brought us directly to the island, the tender was a lot of fun faster than the ones in Grand Cayman. The water was beautiful at Starfish Island, the beach was okay as well it wasn't as soft and sandy as some beaches but it was still wonderful. The excursion included a lunch of chicken with rice and potato salad, it was okay not as good as the ships food but at least I wasn't cooking!

 

In Mahogany Bay we just got off and did the beach at the port. It is a wonderful beach and the walk to it is very nice as well. There are benches and hammocks along the way to rest if needed. There are several good spots to stop and get pictures taken with the ship in the background.

[aliendad]

The only real snag in the cruise was the last day, the port was closed due to fog so we didn't get into port until around noon and didn't get off even with faster to the fun until 130. The line at customs was unusually long. Even with all of that it still wasn't too bad, Carnival did a great job letting us all know what was going on, it seemed they were announcing updates every 20 to 30 minutes even when nothing had changed, to me this is a real positive and Carnival handled the situation really well, hey I would always rather wait in my balcony room on a cruise ship than in a crowded airport terminal our flight out wasn't until 6pm so we had time to wait. This worked out well my only concern was our shuttle, which was supposed to pick us up at 1130.

 

When we got out and found the shuttle they were great, they understood the issue and rearranged shuttles to get everyone to the airport with no problem. Again I was really impressed with Galveston Limousine Services, I can't imagine how everyone else's schedule gets messed up by the fog delaying the ships arrival. I really feel for the next cruise's passengers having their boarding delayed that would suck.

 

Overall the cruise was great and I cannot wait until our next one!

[Clarea]

Thanks for the review. You were smart to have that late flight planned for a Galveston cruise.

[pcvtmom]

Thanks for the review! You all are brave parents to take one so young. Glad it was "smooth sailing" and a good cruise for your little man!

[easyboy]

Very nice review and photos. Thanks.

[CocaCola19]

My daughters first cruise was 9 months ago. It was a N bound Alaska cruise. We had a wonderful time and wouldn't hesitate to cruise again with a baby. :)

[Tapi]

Thanks for sharing your experience! We also booked our son's first cruise when he was still in the oven. :) We live in Atlanta so we selected an easy 5 day cruise on the Fascination out of Jacksonville (easy driving distance) visiting two easy ports (Key West and Nassau).

 

Even with all of the research and preparations, that cruise was one heck of a learning experience! We went back and forth from "what a great time, this was the best decision ever!" to "what have we done?? We're ready to jump off the ship!" :D

 

But overall, it paved the way for the next stage in our cruising lives. Our son is now 7 (and he now has a 5 year old sister) and he's been on 6 cruises on 4 different cruises lines (including a cruise to Alaska which was our daughter's 1st!). They both love it and have become little cruising pros.

 

Enjoy every moment of it! Once again, thanks for sharing.