Live from Carnival Dream with small kids - Oct 23-31st

[cjsegninir]

Hello cruise friends.

Our family of 4, DH and DH in late 30s and 2 little girls (3 and 5 yo) will be on the Carnival Dream from Galveston starting this Saturday 23rd. I know this may not be the most interesting review, as it is not a new ship and it has been sailing for some months already, but as a parent, I thought our experience may be useful for other parents thinking on cruising these days. So, I've decided to (at least try) to write a live review and answer any questions other parents may have. 

 

Background:

A little background before we start, which would hopefully help anyone reading to make their own informed decisions, based on the subjective information I will be sharing in the next few days. As you may notice in my signature, we are experienced cruisers. Ever since we tried our first one back in 2009, we have loved the idea and we cruised every time we could. We have been in different cruise lines and maybe our favorite is HAL, although Carnival price-quality relation is very hard to beat, so here is where we have cruised the most. Also it is not the first time we cruise with kids, as we already did two with the eldest and one with the little one. We have also traveled extensively in "normal" flying vacations and lived in 5 different countries in 3 different continents.

Not saying we are the biggest experts, but i'd say our opinion is to be relatively trusted.

 

Talking about pandemic times, I think it is also worth to relate where we stand. Please, don't make it a vaccine-war, far from my intention, but we follow the instructions from the health authorities. We vaccinated when it was available and we plan to vaccinate our kids when it is approved. We wear our masks outside, wash our hands, avoid crowds when possible, etc etc etc. But at the same time, life goes on. Our kids go to school, I work in an office, we see friends every now and then, we go out sometimes, and we take vacations. I think you can get the point, we are cautious without being paranoid. And we trust that the authorities have their best intentions within their own imperfections and limitations, so we follow their guidance. 

 

And that is precisely what brought us here. Given all the constraints and risks, we think that cruising is one of the safest options for a vacation in these times. And we know that we will enjoy it despite any temporary restrictions. 

 

Booking and pre-cruise

Ok, now to important stuff. Let's talk about the booking and pre-cruise preparations.

We have been following the status of cruising for some months, hoping we could take one this year. I had some vacation days to burn and we were due a trip abroad in order to renew our inmigration status (new passports needed new stamps). So we decided to try cruising earlier than originally planned. I booked this one at the beginning of August, which is shorter planning that we would normally do, but still give us enough time to see how the cruising evolved. Booking itself was as easy as usual, did some research online until I narrowed it to a couple different itineraries, then called Carnival directly so we could get the help of one of their vaction planners (His name is Ray and he was great!).

 

One of the things that made us trust the booking with Carnival was that their cancellations policy was/is very clear. If you cannot board because of Covid related issues, you get a full refund. It is very comforting to know that the main uncertainty is easy to solve. On the other hand, their limitations on the number of unvaccinated, quarantine, bubble tours, etc, despite being somehow restrictive, make the most sense to me (both from the "company" standpoint but also as a cautious guest).

One thing I didn't quite like was that the cruise had to be paid in full. And I have looked at other itineraries for next year and in all cases I see that I have no option of a deposit, it is either pay in full or use some sort of payment plan with a third party (Affirm, I think, can't remember). Not sure if this is something that has been implemented recently by Carnival for everyone, if it is because I am traveling with unvaccinated kids, or if it is just that the itineraries I have looked at have this limitation. In any case, I prefer the old way of paying a deposit and having the freedom of making payments later.

 

Back to the booking process, once I got the email with the confirmation (Mind that I booked over the phone), I was expecting to receive the Exemption Request form for my kids, but it didn't come. Also I looked online and could not easily locate it, so I had to contact Ray (Carnival PVP) again and he sent me the link. Filled out the information and clicked send. We were told that this would not be confirmed until just a couple weeks before cruising, but I was surprised to get the approval letter within two weeks from booking.

 

 

Since then I have received countless emails from Carnival with different updates. They are doing a great job with keeping passengers updated of the different changes, but be careful if your mail thinks it is Spam because of the many different ones that come to you. Some of the emails have been very useful information about the documents or restrictions, others have been about changes in the itinerary or the procedures, while a few of them have been the typical reminders that you can book spa or other stuff for your cruise.

 

The rest of the cruise preparation has also been very similar to before. You have to go on your cruise planner online to fill out all the passengers information, accept the contract, add your credit card for deposits (If you choose to do so), buy your add-ons (Internet, photo packages, drink packages, excursions, etc. More on that later). Two things to highlight here are: first, the need to fill out a health questionaire with your vaccination status (Which you need to do twice, once early in the process and again within a few days from the cruise) and that the check-in process can only be completed within 15 days of cruising, so you cannot do it too much in advance. Regarding the second time we had to fill-out the questionaire, I got a big scare yesterday. Once I said that the kids are not vaccinated, the system now shows a big warning message that basically says I should not go to the port. I called them on the phone it shows and they said it is a problem with the system that automatically says this, but that we are all clear with our exemption letter and that it is ok to go tomorrow.

 

 

Regarding the tours planning, perhaps the biggest limitation about cruising with kids (or unvaccinated in general) is that they can only debark with Carnival's Bubble tours. This may be a deal breaker for many, as they only offer a few of such Bubble tours and they are more expensive than the regular option, so you either be prepared to pay or stay on the boat for the whole time. I have information that this only applies to the kids, so we could go out without them if we wished to do so, but for that we would need to pay the nanny services (As the kids programs are not functioning at the time). We knew this when booked, so we chose an itinerary that would not be too hard on our pockets. It had one stop in Key West (Which was cancelled by Carnival claiming the Covid cases there were too high) and one stop in the private island, so at least two ports we would not need to pay bubble tours. Then two stops in the Bahamas, where we planned to go ashore. As time went by we kept looking for Bubble tour options, but only two were offered in those ports: Swim with dolphins or beach break. We booked the Dolphins on one of the ports (less expensive of the two hehe) but paying 70+$ to be taken to the beach for 2 hours was not appealing, so we are hoping more options will open while on-board. Otherwise, we will just enjoy the pool with the kids. 

 

 

Other two important items for the pre-cruise were parking and testing. As we are coming from Austin (Just under 4-hrs drive), we plan to drive in the morning of embarkation. We could have gone on Friday and sleep there, but then it means hotels and other stuff, so we rather drive in the morning. We have a check-in time for 1pm, so there is enough time to get there. For parking we are using DCP, which is not the nearest option, but it is one of the cheapest. I'm paying 100$ for 8-nights covered parking including the shuttle to the cruise terminal. This is at least 20% less than other options I found online.

 

 

As for testing, it was perhaps the most stressful part of the planning. Having half of the party vaccinated and the other half unvaccinated, we needed different type of tests at different times. The kids needed PCR 3 days before and we needed the quick test 2 days before. After looking at different options, I booked CVS online about 2 weeks in advance (As early as I could in their system). Do not leave this for last minute as appointments tend to go quickly!

The test process was slightly different for the kids, as they do it in the drive-thru window. They hand you the kit, you do the test yourself in the car and then place the container with the sample inside of an special box. For the rapid-test we had to park in the designated area and a nurse practicioner comes to the car with the kit and takes the sample herself. In all cases, make sure that the samples are correctly identified! My results came within 1 hour, but my wife's did not arrive, so she went to the CVS again about 3 hours later. Apparently the nurse made a mistake and sent the results to someone else... She searched and sent it again and this time we got it. For the kids the results arrived 24 hours later. In all cases they send you an sms with a link where you can download a pdf with the results, but this link stops working 5 days after. Alternatively you can register an account with their clinic where you can store the results for longer.

 

 

I think this is all for pre-cruise. I will come back tomorrow and update about the embarkation once we are on-board. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave below and I will try my best to answer.

 

Thanks for reading!

Edited October 22, 2021 by cjsegninir

[cjsegninir]

saved for updates

[cjsegninir]

saved for updates

[cjsegninir]

saved for updates

[West Tx Desert Rat]

Thank you for posting.  We are on the Dream Nov 6.

[kelkel2]

I’m following along! I’m thrilled to read about your experience with the family, we’re currently booked for our twins’ first cruise. They’ll be 4. 

[cjsegninir]

Hello everyone.

Morning of embarkation update. 

We left Austin 8am and took us exactly 4 hours to get to the parking lot, including 2 short stops. Traffic wasn't that bad, but there are construction sites in I10 between Austin and Houston and then i45 between Houston and Galveston.

 

The parking lot is basically the parking behind a gas station with some cover structures added. It has a gate and a few chairs to wait for the shuttle. There was a person there attending, but I believe he would not stay there 24/7, he's just helping load and unload cars. I asked about car safety and he mentioned cameras all around and also people would come and go. 

We waited some 15mins for the shuttle to arrive, we loaded and sat, then we went to the other side of the street to pick up more passengers in the uncovered lot. Then it is maybe 5-10mins drive to the port, but with traffic lights and stuff, it was about 1hr from the moment we arrived at the lot and when we entered the port for check-in.

Considering all the above, the 20$ saving is probably not worthy. Next time we'll try to park in the port's parking just across the street from the shop.

 

Two ships are on port, each one in a different terminal. We arrived at the exact time we had an appointment (1pm) and it's absolutely crowded! We still haven't gone through the control points, but I estimate at least 45mins line. I will update later.

 

There are a few other kids in line, I've counted 7 small ones including my own just around me. Everyone I see are wearing masks, although some are not wearing it properly. There were supposed to be two separate lines for vaccinated and exemption ones, but I doubt so many are unvaccinated because our line is quite long. 

 

I've read somewhere that you should not leave your luggage until they have cleared you to board, and I see some people with theirs, but no one asked us to carry ours. The porter just took them together with everyone else's. This is in case we are denied boarding for any Covid-related issue. Not sure what would happen if they took my luggage already and we have to stay, so it's probably good idea to carry yours, just in case,. although of course it is more uncomfortable, I'm happy without the bags 😅

[cjsegninir]

We're on board!

The actual check in process does take quite some time, so be prepared to be very patient, especially with kids and unvaccinated.

 

As I said above, every one goes through the same line until the first table. Here is where they check your vaccine status and test. If you are vaccinated, you go through the x-ray scanners and then to the check in as usual.

 

For those traveling in a party with unvaccinated ones, then they take to the secondary screening area where they take the test. Mind that they may separate you for a while, they sent my wife ahead with the kids while I dealt with the x-ray stuff. It saves some time, but it may be uncomfortable for some 

 

For the secondary screening you fill a couple papers then they take the swab and wait some 30mins for results. You should have received a link to create an identogo account where you get the results on your phone. They send an SMS with a link and you show it to the guest services person who send you to the actual check in process as the rest of the people. I took advantage of asking bout kids and found that there are 55 under-12 sailing with us. Hopefully this means that the kids clubs will be working!

 

They were not providing the room key outside, which is new to me. The key was in the room's "mailbox". This means that your "boarding" is with the face ID that you should have opted to online. I imagine that if you opt out, then they probably give you the key outside.

 

Once we were inside they asked us to go straight to our muster station. Instead of the full drill they are doing it in small groups at your actual muster station. After all the check-in process this is a little bit too much and you and the kids may be tired. You can always go to your room first and then go to your muster station. However this depends on the time, if it is too late, they will start calling staterooms on PA because everyone must complete this process before sailing.

 

We arrived at the port 1pm, we're on board about 2:30pm and by our stateroom at 3pm, right when the PA announcement with the alarm sounds started. The announcement was about 10mins and all guest services are closed during it (no food!).

 

By 3:30 we were at lido hunting for food. Guy's was full, so we moved to the deli. Kids had a hotdog, I had the Cubano and DW had pizza plus leftover hotdogs haha. Also soft serve and yummy dark chocolate cookies from the deli

 

A few other changes I've noticed are that most of the things are on the app. No menus, no capers, no ship plans. Also the vifp perks are not in the room, you have to ask for them at guest services

[mredandchis]

I enjoy this reading.  As far as luggage dropped with the porter, Carnival will try to locate it wish some success but if it makes it into the ship it will go on the cruise without you and when the ship returns they will Fedex it to your home. 

[cjsegninir]

Last update for the day.

Spent much of the afternoon resting inside the stateroom. I always book outside guaranteed, the window is a good compromise with the kids. We can see outside and have some natural light, but we feel a bit cautious of balcony with them. So outside is the best. And we are never picky with location, so guaranteed is usually the best price. This time we got a bit of an upgrade, as they gave us a cabin with a mini tub, which is great for the kids. It is basically a second "bathroom" space, which also adds a bit more closet storage. We are on stateroom 1400. For some reason I cannot upload pictures, I'll try again tomorrow. If not I'll add them when we get home.

Went to the main dining room for dinner, we have "your time dining" which now requires to book the table using the app. It is very helpful as you don't need to stand in line outside waiting. We asked for the table around 7:30 and immediately we got a message saying it was ready. They hold the table for 1ins, so we moved there and went straight inside with no wait. Some folks were outside with their phones I'm hand, I'm guessing "booking" the table and waiting.

Also the menus are on the app, which I didn't quite like, as in my opinion, it reduces the fine dining experience. Also the lack of table cloth looks a bit "cheaper" than before. Service was fast, although portions were on the small side. I had the cured salmon (two bite-sized pieces, the fried calamari (maybe about 6-7 pieces), the grilled mahi (a small filet with a few veggies) and the tiramisu (it was great!). My wife had the Caesar salad and the grilled salmon (also smallish), with a chocolate melting cake. The kids had nuggets (5pieces) and fries, with ice cream for desert.

 

From dinner we went straight to the welcome onboard show, arrived maybe 8:45 and there were a lot of seats. Cruise director is Deon, fun guy, good control of stage and gave out a lot of prizes. Then came the singers and dancers, I think 8 on stage at the same time, all singing, but looked like 4 were the main singers and the others more like backup vocals/dancers. No live music (has been so for quite some time) but lots of lights and screens and other moving parts on stage. Average show, but also it is just the welcome show. Let's hope for more later in the week.

 

Walked around the ship a bit to collect the water bottle and the pin. We also purchased the 15 photo package online which includes a few free perks. I'll talk about it later in the week.

 

Now it's 11 and kids are still jumping from all the ice cream haha. 

 

More tomorrow. Cheers

[kdr69]

Very well laid out review.

[cjsegninir]

Day 2: Sea day (elegant night)

Hello folks, time for an update.

This morning we were lazy and tired, so didn't do much. I went to lido around 9, ate some breakfast with the little one and brought some to the room for DW and the eldest one. Breakfast was normal fare, although I didn't see bacon or smoked salmon! I didn't ask or walk around, but I remember hearing this before. 

I went with the two kids to the CD Deon show, the one where they tell you everything that's around the ship and give a ton of prizes. When it was time for the Cherry on top raffle, my daughter stood on the chair and Deon called her onstage. She had been wanting to win something since she saw a kid win the night before. She was so happy with her box of candies and everyone knows her around the boat

I had a chance to ask in the kids club and there will be nothing for under-12 (as they are not vaccinated). Only kids activities will be the build a bear party ($$) and a Halloween trick and treat (we don't celebrate Halloween, so our kids will skip it). I specifically asked about the Seuss breakfast and they have not done it since they restarted. The arcade is open, so at least we will have some fun there.

 

I left the kids with mom and went to the gym for an hour. I found it a little bit smaller than I remembered, but there are tons of cardio machines. They removed the center area where they had the classes, though they may have just moved it somewhere else because I saw the classes advertised.

 

Afterwards went all together for lunch at the BBQ place. Kids had chicken and mac&cheese, we had a bit of everything haha. I might be spoiled by Texan BBQ, but I didn't like. Chicken was good and sides ok, but beef and pulled pork were below average for my liking. Then we moved to lido for desert, there were 4 large cakes being cut by servers and give you pieces on a plate. No smaller desert portions, which my wife was complaining about, she loves to get a small of each to try. Cakes were good in my opinion, especially the chocolate one. After that, we roamed around a bit, nothing interesting for us, so came back to the room to get ready for pictures.

[cjsegninir]

Evening of day 2 was a bit eventful. Kids were tired so they didn't want pictures and slept during dinner at the restaurant. Meaning lots of crying, stress and night ending early.

There were about 6 photo stations, plus two "special" stations for the "special" photos. Another down... I mean, we used to take portraits before with the black and white background. Now they don't allow it with the "normal" photo packages, just the special ones. Anyway, we just moved to the normal backgrounds. 

Dinner was nice, I had two lobster tails, kids and DW repeated from day 1. Service was slower from day before, but understandable as it was more crowded. They had showtime, with waiters dancing. Kudos to reserving the table from the app, a couple clicks and table was ready when we arrived at the door.

Kids fell asleep so we had to come back to the room. DW stayed with them while I went to the 9pm show. It was the 80s pop one, lots of color and back screen interaction. One of the female singers is great, second female singer is ok, the two males are hit and miss, some songs are good other are terrible. The other 4 on stage have a line here and there, but more backup than anything, so I can't say if they are good or bad. They had a couple MIchael Jackson songs that were nice. Overall show is good and kid friendly (some outfits and dances a bit borderline, but generally ok for the kids)

After show, back to cabin and sleep.

[cjsegninir]

Day 3: Sea Day

For day 3 woke up "early" and went to the gym while the family slept. Arrived at the gym around 7:40am and asked about the aerobics area. They moved it upstairs one floor and you can access it anytime when there are no organized classes. They had one at 8am, so I couldn't go there. Cardio machines were mostly occupied but still easy to get one.

Back in the room before 9, children were awake and I took them for breakfast while DW rested a while longer (after I showered obviously haha). I had huevos rancheros and arepas from Cantina and kids had cereal. The mexican breakfast is quite good, they make their tortillas fresh and food is quite tasty, plus the condiments bar is a nice touch. My only "complain" is that those are not real arepas (I'm venezuelan, so I know what I'm talking about).

We brought some breakfast to the room for DW, rested for a bit and then went to the pool some time before 12. Most chairs were taken, but still could find one relatively easy. The pool was crowded (as expected for a sunny sea day), there were some pool games for about an hour (not really too elaborated and many people did not pay attention at all). The big screen was showing carnival advertising on a loop. I would have preferred music videos or photos from the cruise or something more interesting than the same Carnival ads. Once the games were finished, there was a DJ, but music was more like choosing songs than really DJ'ing.

We didnt stay much, the kids were a bit bored with no pool toys (my bad) and just jumping in and out the pool, which was not to the liking of many around us. There is no real kiddy pool space, the pool is built with a kind of overflow, so that the surrounding of the main water area is very shallow (ankle deep), but this is not interesting for a 3 and 5 years old. I brought their arm floaties so they could swim around but Carnival also provides kids vests if you need them (very useful!).

Went back to the room for a shower and attended the Build a bear party at 2pm. CD Deon did a 5 min speech/game with the bears hearts and then they started calling numbers they gave us at entrance, so that not too many people was at the front. We bought three bears with the clothing for about 140$(!!!). Kids (and DW haha) loved the experience and they keep playing with them. Expensive, but worth it for the kids.

We went for a Guys burger for lunch, I had the one with the bacon patty and DW the one with the onion ring. Kids had fries and fried chicken from lido. Burgers are huge and filling, very greasy but tasty. I love them, but feel my arteries plug with every bite haha

Nothing else to do after, so back in the cabin for a nap and then out for photos around 6pm and dinner at the MDR by 6:30pm. There were 3 or 4 photo backgrounds with the typical beach sunset or ship background. Friendly photographers as usual, but they are becoming very pushy selling the private shooting.

Dinner was good, kids had the pasta and ate every bite, so much than they left the ice cream for more pasta. I had ceviche and lamb, best dinner so far. For dinner showtime, one of the waitress sang a Whitney Houston song, she sings better than the ones in the show productions!

(But of course she is not blonde, just a regular Asian girl... Sorry, i disgress)

After dinner we went to the show production, tonight was the motor town something, basically a concert with everyone siting on chairs and standing to sing their songs. Showcased how some singers are better than the others (expected) and that some are just backup. Overall nice, but you can skip it with no remorse. 

Came back to the cabin early, with nothing else to do with the kids around. 

[RGEDad]

Thank you for your well written narrative on life on the Dream as a cruising parent with two small children with no organized cruise line activity to pawn them off too. 

 

We are on the Dream in January (but without grandkids), and we really appreciate the detail you go into on the day to day activities and life aboard the Dream.

 

What truly astounds me is that you can take care to two kids with only a 2 on 2  parents vs Kiddos - and still have the energy to write a coherent detail dialog on your days activities. I guess that is why people have kids in their 20's & 30's instead of in the 60's like we are. We have the 2 grandkids (3 & 7)  over to visit and we are totally exhausted after only an afternoon visit. 

Anyway -  Thank You for the time and effort you put forth in your write-up - we look forward to reading the remainder of the cruise.

[cjsegninir]

17 hours ago, RGEDad said:

Thank you for your well written narrative on life on the Dream as a cruising parent with two small children with no organized cruise line activity to pawn them off too. 

 

We are on the Dream in January (but without grandkids), and we really appreciate the detail you go into on the day to day activities and life aboard the Dream.

 

What truly astounds me is that you can take care to two kids with only a 2 on 2  parents vs Kiddos - and still have the energy to write a coherent detail dialog on your days activities. I guess that is why people have kids in their 20's & 30's instead of in the 60's like we are. We have the 2 grandkids (3 & 7)  over to visit and we are totally exhausted after only an afternoon visit. 

Anyway -  Thank You for the time and effort you put forth in your write-up - we look forward to reading the remainder of the cruise.

 

Thanks, we are definitely exhausted as well haha. 

But at the same time cruising with kids can be easier than a normal vacation. No need to worry about meals, where do the kids want to go, etc. Though at the same time you miss a lot of cruising activities that you cannot do with kids.

But after hearing your 5 y/o say that this is the best vacation ever and that she doesn't want it to finish, then all is worth it

[cjsegninir]

Day 4: Freeport (sea day for us...)

This is the first port day (Key West was cancelled in advance) so the only option to debark was with a Bubble tour. The only one offered in this port was the beach getaway, which includes chairs and lunch, for 75$ per person. We thought about it, but ultimately decided it was not worth for a couple hours in the beach, especially having Half Moon Cay the next day. So we made it another sea day. Still I wanted to make sure that we, vaccinated adults on a party with kids, could still debark. And we can, no one even looked at me when I walked the gangway, I was just a passenger more.

The port of Freeport is a bit far from town, so you must take a taxi (7$ each way), but there are plenty of food, drinks and souvenir places inside the port itself. There is also free wifi. I only wandered around for 10mins and came back to the ship.

Breakfast was at lido, DW had arepas again, I had an omelette with everything and kids had cereal. The best part of staying on the ship is how empty it is, basically all for ourselves 

We had some homework to do with the kids (don't kill me, not my fault that the school still sent homework for their vacation) and then went for lunch at lido again, maybe around 3pm. I had some Mongolian Wok (not the best, but it is always trustable) and DW and kids are at the Latin America station. Food was good and plentiful as usual. The staff already know our kids and call them by name. They even brought them ice cream to the table.

Then we moved to the pool area, where they were showing a movie in the big screen (Boss Baby 2).

This brings me to something else, there has been barely no (small) kids programs in the cabin TV. Yes there is Nickelodeon, but it mostly shows teenager stuff and cartoon network, which is definitely not for 3-5 y/o. And the movies have not been for small kids either. Carnival needs to step up the game and change the TVs to a "streaming" like service instead of regular channel transmission. And even though I'm paying the full internet plan, it is not enough for Netflix and other streaming, so we ended with nothing to show them. So, my recommendation, get a lot of shows downloaded in your devices for the kids to watch.

Ater the movie we went to the room and changed for dinner and show. We had a late lunch, so planned to go to the show first. We had some time to burn, so we browsed the shops and bought some candy by the lb from Cherry on Top. Nice selection, but obviously very expensive. For the show we had Fantastic Patrick, a juggling act. We thought it would be interesting for the kids, but they were bored very quickly because he talks a lot. I mean, A LOT! It may be funnier for teenagers that can follow his jokes, but definitely not for small kids. We left maybe 15-20mins into the act and went for dinner.

The Crimson restaurant was almost empty, as it tends to happen in port days. Kids ordered pasta again, but it was taking longer, so the waiter brought some nuggets and fries in the meantime. Bad idea, they picked a bit the fries and nuggets, but then left most of the pasta. The 5 yo decided she wanted "white sauce" instead, so she made the chef to improvise something out of the menu. They were very accommodating as usual, but now we had so much food they could not eat. I hate the waste, so I wasn't happy with the kids. Hopefully they won't repeat it again.

I had the beef tenderloin that was delicious and DW had the Salmon cakes, that she didn't like, so she ate from the kids pasta.

Dessert was bitter and Blanc for both of us and the kids had some ice cream again.

After dinner we came back to the room for the night.

 

Let me open a bit of a parenthesis here as there were a few activities that we choose not to participate. This is a Halloween cruise, but we don't celebrate it at home. We don't like it's origins and traditions and we have taught the kids about it as well. They themselves are not attracted to the monsters and witches and other Halloween stuff, so even if we would take them to some of those activities they themselves would not want to participate. 

Said this, there have been a couple pumpkin scavenger hunts (basically images of pumpkins hidden around the ship), yesterday there was trick and treat (not cabin by cabin, but to specific locations that Carnival staff prepared), and last night there was also a costume competition, so lots of people were wearing them. There are also Halloween decorations around, especially in the atrium, and Halloween photo backgrounds. I couldn't say if these have been good or bad, since we didn't participate, but at the same time these are seasonal activities, so in "normal" conditions not sure what would be available 

[mapgirl34]

Hi, thanks for all the detail.  I just found your review while searching bubble tour info.  Did they charge you $150/kid for pre-cruise testing?

• Presenting a negative PCR COVID-19 test at check-in, taken between 72 and 24 hours prior to the sailing date (for example, if the sailing is on Saturday, the test may be taken any time from Wednesday through Friday, but not on the morning of embarkation). Unvaccinated guests must take an additional antigen test at embarkation, and test again within 24 hours of debarkation on all cruises longer than 4 days. A US$150 per person charge will be assessed to the guest’s onboard Sail and Sign account to cover the cost of testing, reporting and health and safety screenings. Children under two are exempt from testing requirements.

[cjsegninir]

8 hours ago, mapgirl34 said:

Hi, thanks for all the detail.  I just found your review while searching bubble tour info.  Did they charge you $150/kid for pre-cruise testing?

• Presenting a negative PCR COVID-19 test at check-in, taken between 72 and 24 hours prior to the sailing date (for example, if the sailing is on Saturday, the test may be taken any time from Wednesday through Friday, but not on the morning of embarkation). Unvaccinated guests must take an additional antigen test at embarkation, and test again within 24 hours of debarkation on all cruises longer than 4 days. A US$150 per person charge will be assessed to the guest’s onboard Sail and Sign account to cover the cost of testing, reporting and health and safety screenings. Children under two are exempt from testing requirements.

So far, no. But also they have not placed the tips charges on the sail and sign account.

 

Today was the last port day (I'm falling behind writing the review here haha), so it means that there are only two more days. Check again by Sunday and I can confirm for sure. 

Edited October 28, 2021 by cjsegninir

[cjsegninir]

Day 5: Half Moon Cay

This was our first time in HMC, in part because I almost intentionally avoided it, thinking there were more interesting places to visit (I still sort of think that). However, after visiting this time I'm sold. HMC is the perfect "beach" port of call, especially with kids. Water is beautifully blue, white powdery sand, mild waves, a kiddy water park and "free" lunch (as in included on the cruise fare).

To get to HMC we need to take the water shuttle. There were announcements the day before explaining the process. As usual, first priority are the ones who purchased Carnival tours and also the Platinum and Diamond guests (for them, there was an especific location and time frame they should respect to make their privilege valid). After that they would be giving numbers you should collect from 7:30am. Once the numbers were finished, going out is just getting to the gangway.

We decided it wasn't worth the hassle to go early to get numbers, so we took our time. I woke up early and went to the gym, then back in the room to get the kids ready with their bathing suit. We were having breakfast at lido around 9 and ready to go ashore by 10. At that time there were no more numbers, so we moved straight to deck 0 and boarded the next shuttle. 

The disadvantage of arriving late is that all the umbrellas were rented and the chairs taken (chairs are free, first come first serve). We arranged our things were we could and within an hour people started going for lunch or back to ship and we found some chairs. We chose to stay near the kiddy water park at the left end of the beach. it is far from the cruise arranged activities and also far from lunch, but it is less crowded and near the playing area for the kids.

By 12ish I went to get lunch and was surprised to see that they were already packing up, but there was enough food available. Hot dogs, cheese burgers, rice and chicken, nachos with salsa and other snack style fare. Lots of fruit and also lemonade and tea. Overall a good lunch for a beach day. I got a few plates and walked back to the chairs to bring to the family. It was a far walk, but doable.

By 2pm we were already baked under the sun and moved back to the ship (last shuttle was 3pm). Even kids were tired! Waiting time was short and we were onboard by 2:30pm.

We spent a few hours resting in the cabin and went for early dinner by 6pm. Kids ordered nuggets and fries again, and I can't remember what I had 😅. DW is faithful to her Caesar and Salmon.

We then went to the first show, another juggler Manny Zúñiga. He's got lots of energy and talks less than the the other. This time we stayed the whole show, despite the kids being bored about halfway. 

After the show we walked around a bit, browsed the shows, looked at the photos and then back to our room. There was a kids movie in the pool area at 9pm, but my kids were not interested.

[cjsegninir]

Day 6: Nassau (Bubble Tour)

In a 3 ports, 8 nights cruise, we needed at least one bubble tour or we would go crazy on the ship. When planning the cruise we compared options between Freeport and Nassau and decided for Nassau. We booked the Dolphin Encounter with beach day in Blue Lagoon. 

When I booked on the website I was charged for the four of us, but once on the ship I read the description and it stated that children 5 or younger were free, so I checked with the excursion team and got a refund in my sail and sign account for half the fare. I think it was a great deal, 2 adults and 2 kids Dolphin Encounter for 240$ all.

On embarkation we received a small envelope with the tickets, which already had the time and location printed. The bad part is that the bubble tours leave the earliest, so that unvaccinated guests mix as less as possible with other guests. Meeting time was 6:30am with departure at 7am.

The night before we filled the room service breakfast form for 5:30-6am time. It probably arrived a tad later than 6. This is one area that Carnival has really made worse. The selection is now even more limited (basically cereal, coffee, bakery and fruits) and even the simplest breakfast is for a charge (3$ for eggs). I wrote a note asking for hard boiled eggs and they brought it with no charge, but this would be at the discretion of the team serving you, not something you should count on.

When breakfast arrived we had a quick bite and moved to the meeting location. By 7:15 we were being escorted out and walked to a smaller shuttle ship that took us through the bay to Blue Lagoon. It's a leisure sail and the team was friendly and tried to explain a few things we were seeing around us (like pointing to Atlantis or some of the homes of the famous people). Arriving in Blue Lagoon they took us directly to the Dolphin Encounter, which was great. We go down some stairs into a waist deep platform where the Dolphins come to interact with us. The trainer was great and the Dolphins happy and playful. You get a dolphin hug, see them jump, rub their bellies, take pictures and more. Your water time with them is maybe some 15-20mins, but you can stay longer outside the water while they interact with other in the group. It's worth the money for the experience in my opinion.

After the dolphins they take you to the photo area where they have some packages. We bought the full set of photos and video for 130$. Then it is to the beach area.

They have a section of beach separated from the rest, so all the guests are from bubble tours. They have chairs and umbrellas, which are included in the price, and they provide with a snack/brunch also included. It was hot dogs, burgers, veggie burgers and chicken with rice (Caribbean style). They give you one drink, but you can additionally purchase alcoholic drinks from a small bar.

There is a staff member doing some games and they have plenty of floaties for the kids. The beach is very quiet with virtually no waves, water is very clear and you can see fishes around you. Some people were snorkeling around us, but I would not expect to see corals or anything like it, just a few fishes. 

In general, it is a great beach for kids, although it feels more like a "marina" beach than a "real" beach, if you know what I mean. They also have many more things to do, like sea lions, touch tank, stingrays, Segway for rent and more, but we were "trapped" in the bubble area, so we could not participate.

By noon time the boat came for us again and we were back on the ship before 1pm, tired and satisfied with the tour. In the morning it was hard to be ready with small kids so early, but the advantage is that we also returned very early and vaccinated ones could go out in Nassau again. I did it and also saw a few others from the group doing the same.

The port itself is in a complete mess. I know they have been renovating for many years, but right now there is nothing left from the past building and nothing built of the new one, so the vendors were moved to an space outside near the entrance. Nassau is very practical because you have everything at walking distance from the port, but at the same time is not so pretty/interesting, just shops and shops, mostly catered to cruise ships. If you want a real feel of Bahamas, better get a taxi and go somewhere else (we love Ardastra Gardens, but could not visit this time).

Came back to the ship, the children were ready, so I took a shower and went for lunch at lido. The kids were very tired, so we came back for an afternoon nap until dinner time.

There were no real shows today, just the Deal or no Deal game show and the marriage show. Both are ok, but once you have seen them once, unless you plan to participate, there is no excitement to attend. Much less with small kids that would be easily bored, so we skipped the Encore lounge completely.

We went for dinner at the MDR and met a lovely couple who introduced us to the rubber duckies. I can't believe I had not read about this before! My daughters were so happy with their duckies that almost didn't eat their dinner. Honestly, I can't remember what I ate. Only remember that my older daughter stole my wife's Salmon haha. And for desert they had Banana Splits.

We had the best attendants this night, a nice gentleman called Indra. We have met him around the ship before and he is the best, always talks to our children and remembers their names. His was the idea of the banana split. There was also Showtime, with the waiters dancing.

After dinner we went back to the room, all tired, and managed to put the girls to bed before 10 which was a record on this cruise!

[cjsegninir]

Day 7: Sea Day (2nd Elegant night)

Do you know what it means when kids go to bed a bit earlier, right? Well, they woke up early as well. Went to have breakfast in lido by 8ish and then tried a few family friendly activities, although kids were not too interested in any. There was arts and crafts, walk-a-mile, pumpkin carving and a dance class. What the kids really wanted to do was go duck hunting!

After learning about the duckies they just wanted more, so we ended walking about the ship most of the morning. After a couple unsuccessful hours we decided to hit the arcade and there we found many duckies, plus some we pulled out of the machine (1$ for a rubber duck!). Content with their new toys they wanted to go to the room to play so I took the advantage to hit the gym. 

(Pause here to say #&@$#$₡€ i lost my draft and have to write again)

After gym and shower we went for lunch at the pasta station. Fresh pasta made to your liking is always delicious, although waiting time was a bit too long, maybe about 30mins or more. 

There was a magician show at 2pm but by the time we got there it was so crowded that it was impossible to sit with the stroller. We tried the Deal or No Deal game show, but kids were bored very quickly. We roamed about a bit longer but with little to do, we ended back in the stateroom and started to get ready for photos.

There were the usual photo backgrounds everywhere. We tried maybe 3-4 before the kids didn't want a photo more. We then decided to do the early show, Flick, that i had been waiting for the whole cruise. However, with the rocking seas, the dancing and lighting was cancelled and they did it in form of a concert, with 4 singers sitting and taking turns to come up front to do their songs. Honestly, they were so bad tonight we could only stay 3-4 songs. Maybe it was the song choices, maybe the fact that there was no lighting and dancing or maybe they are just not too good. 

We then moved to the MDR for dinner. were seated in a new area and the waiter was a bit strange but tried his best. They had showtime again with the waitress singing a Celine Dion song (she really is much better than the show cast). I had beef (can't remember the cut), DW had Salmon Teriyaki, same as my eldest daughter. It was delicious. Food in general was good during the week, although not exceptional.

After dinner we roamed about a bit and then to bed.

[mapgirl34]

I'm stunned when you say crowded.  I really thought ships would be a half capacity!

Just checking back in to see how the billing went as far as charging for Covid testing onboard.

Thanks for sharing so much detail.

[LatinaInTexas]

On 10/30/2021 at 10:45 PM, cjsegninir said:

Day 7: Sea Day (2nd Elegant night)

Do you know what it means when kids go to bed a bit earlier, right? Well, they woke up early as well. Went to have breakfast in lido by 8ish and then tried a few family friendly activities, although kids were not too interested in any. There was arts and crafts, walk-a-mile, pumpkin carving and a dance class. What the kids really wanted to do was go duck hunting!

After learning about the duckies they just wanted more, so we ended walking about the ship most of the morning. After a couple unsuccessful hours we decided to hit the arcade and there we found many duckies, plus some we pulled out of the machine (1$ for a rubber duck!). Content with their new toys they wanted to go to the room to play so I took the advantage to hit the gym. 

(Pause here to say #&@$#$₡€ i lost my draft and have to write again)

After gym and shower we went for lunch at the pasta station. Fresh pasta made to your liking is always delicious, although waiting time was a bit too long, maybe about 30mins or more. 

There was a magician show at 2pm but by the time we got there it was so crowded that it was impossible to sit with the stroller. We tried the Deal or No Deal game show, but kids were bored very quickly. We roamed about a bit longer but with little to do, we ended back in the stateroom and started to get ready for photos.

There were the usual photo backgrounds everywhere. We tried maybe 3-4 before the kids didn't want a photo more. We then decided to do the early show, Flick, that i had been waiting for the whole cruise. However, with the rocking seas, the dancing and lighting was cancelled and they did it in form of a concert, with 4 singers sitting and taking turns to come up front to do their songs. Honestly, they were so bad tonight we could only stay 3-4 songs. Maybe it was the song choices, maybe the fact that there was no lighting and dancing or maybe they are just not too good. 

We then moved to the MDR for dinner. were seated in a new area and the waiter was a bit strange but tried his best. They had showtime again with the waitress singing a Celine Dion song (she really is much better than the show cast). I had beef (can't remember the cut), DW had Salmon Teriyaki, same as my eldest daughter. It was delicious. Food in general was good during the week, although not exceptional.

After dinner we roamed about a bit and then to bed.

 

[LatinaInTexas]

The waitress that sings is Johnamay. She was our server twice and provided the best service and entertainment. She had us laughing non stop, she's so engaging and sweet. Did you by chance get to see her dance, she's very talented all around!