Back from Carnival Splendor with 2-year-old

[calikak]

Just off Carnival Splendor yesterday with our two-year-old. Overall, I'd rate our cruise as "Meh." Not outstanding, not horrible. Some family-related highlights and lowlights:

 

-We seemed to have hit the terrible-cabin-steward lottery. Despite asking for a laundry bag (to send our formal wear out to be pressed) and a crib immediately upon arriving at our cabin, we never did get the laundry bag, and the crib took a follow-up phone call at 8:15 at night followed by another 15-minute wait. I would just chalk that up to first-day snafus, but the lack of service continued throughout the cruise. "Oh, I thought you had late dinner" was the excuse for our room not being turned down yet; we never did get an excuse why it took until 1PM to get our room made up each day, when we were out of the cabin by 8 each morning (the little guy doesn't sleep in). He was a very friendly man, but didn't seem interested in doing his job.

 

-Overall, the space for the kids' club seemed to be a good facility with tons of appropriate toys, and the list of activities for the kids was extensive and varied, so props to Carnival on that. There were 100 kids onboard just in the 2-5 age group, and that's a lot of kids to juggle for the number of staff they seemed to have (I think 2?). One of the women working in the 2-5 room was really nice and seemed genuinely interested in making sure the kids had a great time; the other one never smiled and acted like we were putting her out by bringing our kid to the kids' club. DS didn't like the kids' club much--he was fine when we dropped him off and picked him up the first time (laughing and smiling both at drop-off and pick-up), but after that he cried and cried and said "No kids club!" when we tried to drop him off there. I think he just wanted to spend time with Mom and Dad, and that was OK with us. So, parents of 2-year-olds, mentally prepare yourself in case you child decides that kids' club isn't for them. I'm glad we'd mentally prepared for that.

 

-I guess to make up for the cabin steward, we hit the jackpot on the great-dining-room-staff lottery. Mario was super nice and took great care of us at dinner time. He would recommend items DS might like from the regular menu and also brought items from the kids' menu if they were more appropriate. And he did his best to keep things moving for us when DS was antsy.

 

-Shout-out to a bartender named Moses who always high-fived DS if he saw him around the ship. DS is still talking about Moses. Also a shout-out to Funship Freddy, who DS LOVED. Seriously, I find Freddy a little bizarre but DS thought he was the coolest thing ever.

 

-The second day of the cruise, a bartender at the lobby bar was happy to refill Jim's sippy cup of milk for us. The second to last day of the cruise, a different bartender at that same bar told us we had to go up to the buffet to get it instead or else she'd have to charge us for the milk. It's spotty weird service issues like that--where one crew member will do something for you and the next day another crew member says it's against the rules--that drive me up the wall, especially because it's not the crew member's fault, it's management's fault for not ensuring consistency. Also, I think it's a stupid rule--why should milk be free at the buffet, but not at a bar at the exact same time of day?

 

-We brought a pool like that duck pool everyone has (we got ours from One Step Ahead during some kind of sale) and put that in the shower for bath time. Worked out great. We could have also taken it up on deck to use I'm sure, but chose not to--weather wasn't that warm. I would highly recommend bringing one of those along, bath time would not have been much fun without it because DS is afraid of the shower.

 

-We brought our Maclaren stroller (I think it's a Volo?), which I love and which was mostly easy to navigate around the ship. I found the route on Deck 10 from the forward elevators past the pool to the kids' club to be difficult to navigate with a stroller because of the two different doors you have to go through from the atrium to the pool area. Better to take the midship elevator to the kids' club.

 

-Most crew members were friendly to DS, smiling and saying hi to him (a few didn't but nobody was rude or anything like that). Most passengers were too. Once in a while we seemed to be getting a cold look in an elevator, but a special shout-out to the wonderful family seated near us in the dining room who did everything they could to help us feel welcome at dinner time. They were so nice--even the night when DS was clearly being disruptive and we left early, they told us we should stay and that he wasn't bothering them. Very nice people, but of course we left anyway before DS got ugly!

 

-Early dinner (6PM) worked pretty well for us. We'd take DS and put him to bed after that, and we'd watch TV (quietly) or read while he slept. We took turns doing something out of the cabin (casino, hot tub, etc.) while DS was napping or after he'd gone to bed for the night.

 

-Carnival balcony cabins are a great size, even with the crib. We put the crib next to the sofa and that worked out fine, still plenty of room for DH to make a giant mess by leaving his dirty clothes in piles. :D

 

That's about all I can think of that's family-related...let me know if you have questions!

[crusinmama06]

Welcome back. :D

 

What was your itinerary? Did you get off the ship and do any excursions? Likes/dislikes about those if you did.

[calikak]

We were on the last revised itinerary to Canada instead of Mexico (we booked it after the itinerary change, at an extreme discount, so the change in itinerary wasn't a disappointment for us). We didn't get off the ship in Astoria--we were only there a few hours, and a dear friend of mine is the port agent for the ship there, so she came aboard and we hung out instead of going into town. In Victoria, we took the shuttle to downtown ($6.50 round-trip per person, under 3 was free) and went to the Royal BC Museum. They currently have a visiting exhibition from the British Museum that is very cool--anyone stopping there this summer, that's definitely worth going to. That museum is ideal for school-aged kids, it's really well done. DS stayed in his stroller most of the time we were touring there but also did some riding-on-shoulders and that worked out pretty well. We also went to the wax museum, which is super-cheesy but in a guilty pleasure sort of way. DS is into baseball right now and he loved the Babe Ruth figure. The downstairs part of the museum has a bunch of Disney and Wizard of Oz figures, along with a marginally scary dungeon section (which you can bypass if you so choose). We also did a little shopping at Murchies (the tea place). Victoria is a charming and very walkable port with lots to see and do. In Vancouver, we met up with friends who live there and had a picnic at a park, so, nothing that would work for families. But if we didn't have friends there, we would have definitely gone to Stanley Park and visited the aquarium. We had looked at booking excursions through the ship but they were WAY expensive, like $90 for the Buchart Gardens tour. In Victoria, you can book those for less than half that price if you do it when you get off the ship--there are tons of reputable tour companies there to book with. In Vancouver, there are I think 2 or 3 different hop-on-hop-off bus tours right there at Canada Place, and I know at least one of them stops at the aquarium in Stanley Park.

 

OH! I almost forgot--in Long Beach, we stayed at the Westin (nice) through a special that came with 4 free passes to the Aquarium of the Pacific. That place was awesome, I would definitely do that with kids of any age. You can even pet some sting rays there, very cool and a great way to spend the morning before embarkation. There's a free bus service that runs around Long Beach, so we were able to get on the bus right in front of the aquarium and get off right by the Queen Mary (which is at the same pier as where Carnival's ships are berthed). Long Beach was a great place to embark from--there's shopping and lots of kid-friendly chain restaurants, and it's very easy to get around. We had done the early check-in thing, so we dropped our luggage with a porter and then checked in and got our boarding zone card, then went to the aquarium, then came back to the ship when embarkation was going on and basically walked right on the ship, there was hardly any wait. Props to Carnival on the embarkation/disembarkation process too, it was very smooth.

[crusinmama06]

Ohhh good you departed from Long Beach. So did you fly into LAX? Or did you drive to Long Beach? There is another mom here that wanted to know the easiest way to get from LAX to Long Beach Carnival port. Any ideas?

[calikak]

Yep, we flew into LAX. I really wanted to fly into Long Beach airport instead--so much easier to get around than LAX, I always try to fly through LGB instead of LAX--but the flight times just didn't work out for us this trip. Tangent: we ended up on Virgin America, which gets a lot of hype for being so much nicer than other airlines. I thought it was just like any other airline but with more technology (all seats have their own TV with video games etc.) and a hipster vibe (the safety video was entertaining; the flight attendants were young hipsters). But I will give extra props to them for giving DH a free cocktail for father's day on the flight home, and the staff were almost universally friendly. If you had a teen/tween, they'd probably think VA was SO COOL, especially with the tech stuff.

 

On the way there, we rented a car with Budget. Budget and one other rental company (Avis maybe? I just don't remember...) have locations in downtown Long Beach rather than just at Long Beach airport, and Budget was the cheaper of the two, so that's who we went with. Horrendous wait to get the car at the location at LAX, but easy drop-off in Long Beach. Having the car made it easy to do the early check-in too--we drove up to the drop-off spot where I offloaded with the luggage and waited for a porter, while DH parked the car with DS. Then they came and met me, and we did the actual early check-in part. Then we got back in the car and could drive back to downtown Long Beach to drop off the car and go to the aquarium (which was only a couple blocks from the Budget office). Easy peasy.

 

On the return, the car rentals were all sold out when I tried to book it, so we took a taxi. It was $60 flat rate to LAX (plus I gave the guy a good tip because he helped with our massive amount of luggage). Shuttle to LAX would have been $17 per person, so with 3 people, the taxi wasn't much more, and then I didn't have to worry if DS decided to act up in the car (he didn't, thankfully--just fell asleep!).

 

I actually looked into doing a town car at first, because we were thinking of staying at the Queen Mary, so we wouldn't have needed a car to drive the luggage to the pier in the morning, since it's right next door to where Carnival berths (that was before we found the deal with the aquarium tickets at the Westin, it was $50 less than the QM if I remember correctly). It would have been $100 one-way from LAX to the pier for the towncar service, plus more if you want them to meet you at baggage claim. Taxi seems a much better option.

 

We brought our Eddie Bauer portable car seat (shout out to you, Michele, for suggesting that--it's been handy on both our cruises already!) for all the taxi/driving, but Budget also rents car seats. I doubt the shuttle company has car seats handy at the pier, nor would a taxi company.

[MnAsMom]

They only had 2 people available for supervising 100 children?

 

How many kids would you say were in the club most of the time? Did it seem there were more children in the 2-3 year old age group or 4-5 year olds?

 

We're trying to figure out if we want to go with the Splendor or the Mariner for the mexican riviera .... want to book this week hopefully. I just know my 4 year old would be bummed if he walked into a room of toddlers... he is so used to hanging out with his 8 year old brother and his friends. He's on a "I'm a big boy, I don't play with babies" kick and I want to make sure he has a good time. wondering if we'd be better off with RCCL since the kids programs starts with 3 year olds and no diapers!

[calikak]

They only had 2 people available for supervising 100 children?

 

How many kids would you say were in the club most of the time? Did it seem there were more children in the 2-3 year old age group or 4-5 year olds?

 

We're trying to figure out if we want to go with the Splendor or the Mariner for the mexican riviera .... want to book this week hopefully. I just know my 4 year old would be bummed if he walked into a room of toddlers... he is so used to hanging out with his 8 year old brother and his friends. He's on a "I'm a big boy, I don't play with babies" kick and I want to make sure he has a good time. wondering if we'd be better off with RCCL since the kids programs starts with 3 year olds and no diapers!

 

Well, we only ever met 2 people working in the 2-5 room, and at the orientation they only introduced 2 people. The first day, there were a LOT of kids in the 2-5 club, I mean, a LOT. After that, the few times we went to drop him off, there weren't that many. We did see a lot of large family groups (there were several reunions on this sailing) with kids of all ages, including what looked like 2-5 year olds, hanging around the indoor pool all day. And I'm not going to lie, there were kids in swim diapers in the pool...not our kid, and not a lot of kids, but a few.

 

Honestly, I'd go with the Mariner. I wasn't impressed with the Splendor overall (beyond just the kids' club), and if your son is going through the big boy thing, he'll probably be better off on the Mariner.

[MnAsMom]

Well, we only ever met 2 people working in the 2-5 room, and at the orientation they only introduced 2 people. The first day, there were a LOT of kids in the 2-5 club, I mean, a LOT. After that, the few times we went to drop him off, there weren't that many. We did see a lot of large family groups (there were several reunions on this sailing) with kids of all ages, including what looked like 2-5 year olds, hanging around the indoor pool all day. And I'm not going to lie, there were kids in swim diapers in the pool...not our kid, and not a lot of kids, but a few.

 

Honestly, I'd go with the Mariner. I wasn't impressed with the Splendor overall (beyond just the kids' club), and if your son is going through the big boy thing, he'll probably be better off on the Mariner.

 

thanks for your honest response. I read a review from another person who had similar issues to what I was fearing with their 5 and 8 year olds.... just feeling like they were too young for their groups. Kinda sealed the deal to go with Mariner! It's nice to just have that decision made FINALLY! Now we have all kinds of stuff to consider as far as excursions and port days go! It is going to be HOT in August so I am not sure my kids will want to do anything besides be in a pool or in the ocean.... I think horseback riding is out. We are looking into a dolphin encounter thing.... I think they would really like it!

[calikak]

thanks for your honest response. I read a review from another person who had similar issues to what I was fearing with their 5 and 8 year olds.... just feeling like they were too young for their groups. Kinda sealed the deal to go with Mariner! It's nice to just have that decision made FINALLY! Now we have all kinds of stuff to consider as far as excursions and port days go! It is going to be HOT in August so I am not sure my kids will want to do anything besides be in a pool or in the ocean.... I think horseback riding is out. We are looking into a dolphin encounter thing.... I think they would really like it!

 

Definitely go to the Krystal Resort in Puerto Vallarta. Right by the ship, FREE, and with a playground, pools, and beach. Good margaritas for the parents too. :)

 

Hope you have a great cruise!

[Baxter]

Hi Calikak,

 

I am hoping to take my 3 year old to the Krystal in 2 weeks time. I have read descriptions of how to get there, but they didn't work for me. Could you tell me how you got there from the ship?

 

Much appreciated

[Sandpiper10]

thanks so much for the great review. we sail 5/3 with our daughters age 6 adn 3, their 1st cruise, our 3rd....appreciate all the info you put in your review!