Family Cruise--Fun Onboard

We chose to do a 4-day cruise on the Carnival Ecstasy. Now, from an adult perspective, Carnival is NOT my favorite cruise line. The only others I've gone on have been Royal Caribbean and Holland America. But for kids, it was great! It was the kids' first cruise and they were so amazed with everything! It was fun to sort of cruise for the first time again through them and their perspective. WE got on board on a Monday, and as early as possible, which turned out to be around 1pm. So we had the rest of that day to explore, get our bearings, eat, and enjoy the boat. We also had one day at sea on our itinerary (Thursday), which gave us a lot more time to do everything we could on the ship.  I'll highlight some of our favorite things through pictures:

Probably our favorite place to be was up on deck, especially that first day when the weather was decent. (Decent means about 70 degrees and breezy.) The port of Miami is super cool to cruise out of as there are a couple small islands with huge mansions on your way out. Also, there is a freeway that goes right alongside you, and the people all honk and wave as you set out. It is a fun and exciting atmosphere and feeling.

Here's me feeling carefree as we say goodbye to land!

One of the kids' favorite places to be was the mini-golf course. It wasn't anything too fancy, but we played LOTS of rounds of mini golf. We had a few problems with some over-competetiveness, but overall, it was just a lot of fun.

One of the main reasons we chose Carnival was the waterslides. And while they were a lot of fun, the kids maybe did about 30 mins to an hour TOTAL of watersliding, taking advantage of the best weather on Monday afternoon and then Thursday morning. Otherwise, it was just too darn cold. BUMMER! 

Inside, they liked the atrium, especially the glass elevators, which we took many times when it really would have been quicker to take the stairs.

The favorite onboard experience for Tony and me (and the kids loved it too!) was definitely the dining room. We love enjoying a fabulous dinner each night with no prices on the menu! The kids were adventurous and tried new things, including escargot and alligator fritters. And there was something they LOVED each night as well. I may have gained a few pounds in this room, but I enjoyed every bite!

Besides the food, the other thing we liked about the dining room is the more formal experience, especially on formal night, when we all got dressed up (minus Tony, who forgot to pack a tie.)

Mariah's favorite dish was salmon, which they had two of the nights. On the other two nights, she opted for the mahi mahi. Every night, she had her side of white rice. Fish and rice. Her favorites!

Mylie enjoyed a variety of things for dinner, but always had a shrimp cocktail (or two!) for an appetizer before.

Connor mixed things up the most, but really loved the beef. Here he is with his prime rib on formal night.

We also really loved all the onboard programs and entertainment. The kids visited their kids clubs every day for activities that they thought sounded fun. Connor probably went the most, which surprised me, but he made a few buddies quickly and like hanging out with kids his age. The also had several scavenger hunts around the ship, as well as all kinds of tournaments for different sports and games, so he was happy there. The girls had fun too, with various activities, crafts, and meeting new friends.  We all enjoyed the musical shows offered, especially their motown show, and british musicians show. The singers and dancers were fun to watch, and I was really impressed with how modest the outfits were. Best I've seen on a cruise. Two of the nights, Tony, the girls, and I went to their show twice! 

Carnival also offers a PG comedy night, or kids' comedy. We went to that and had fun. We went to the Hasboro game show activity and had a great time even though we didn't get on stage. But during the pre-show of one of the shows, Mylie got to do a game, so that was fun for her. Another thing we enjoyed was the ice carving demonstration. this guy was amazing, creating an Indian chief out of an ice block in under 15 minutes.  Although the weather wasn't what we had hoped for, there were still lots of onboard activities that kept us busy and entertained.

Finally, our cabin. We got the cheapest interior cabin available, and it was a tight fit. But the kids still thought it was GREAT! They had a bed rotation worked out within about a minute of seeing the setup, so they rotated who slept on the trundle bed as well as each bunkbed. Tony and I enjoyed the king bed and dark room, but other than that, we were grateful we really didn't spend much time in there. Another highlight about our room was the towel animals each night and our room steward who called us by name in passing from the first day. Very impressive!