Carnival Cruise. Carnival Triumph.
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| In Cozumel waiting for our catamaran. |
So this wasn't my first cruise, but it was my husbands first and a first for our family of 3.
We sailed out of Galveston for a 5 day cruise. This was great because it's about an hour from Adam's parent's house in Houston (where we stayed a night to visit & left our car). It's only about a 3.5-4 hour drive from Austin where we live. We choose to take a cruise because financially it's the best deal you can get for a family. Especially with young kids who cannot venture off on their own yet. E was only 15 months old when we took our cruise. He wasn't old enough to do the on board daycare Camp Carnival so he was in tow 24/7.
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| E having his morning "coffee" a.k.a milk |
We had a stateroom with one full size bed & they brought in a portacrib for him, which to my amazement attached to the wall so it wouldn't roll around! Pretty nifty!
We had 2 ports of call, Progresso, Yucatan, Mexico & Cozumel, Mexico. In Progresso we had booked an excursion to Chichen Itza. Adam is a huge history buff. He studied Latin American Studies at The University of Texas. So he was all about this excursion! It was about a 2 hour bus ride from port to the ruins. Before we arrived at the ruins we stopped at a "pit stop" where they had gifts & bathrooms. The gift shops were typical Mexican handmade pottery, baskets, and knick knacks. There was also a snack bar type place that sold sodas and chips. Glad we grabbed some snacks! Lunch was included in the excursion price, but it was a simple brown bag sandwich. Which left us mighty hungry (typical Americans, right?) After the potty break & lunch, we headed off to Chichen Itza. E fell asleep within the first few minutes of the bus ride & slept through the pit stop. Babywearing to the rescue! When we got to Chichen Itza we had to go through a ticketing area and meet with our tour guide. We walked down a dirt trail with little booths set up by the locals selling all kinds of handmade goods. This is how a lot of the local families made a living. There were a lot of kids running around trying to sell little wooden whistles that made Jaguar sounds. They were cool, but annoying by the end of the day. Once we got to the ruins E was awake & ready to run! Adam was all about seeing the ruins! You can't go inside but they show you how the acoustics worked & talked about Mayan history. It was pretty neat. E liked being able to run around the big grassy areas. We were there a couple hours, first guided then they let us off on our own to explore more or shop the many many vendors. We didn't get to see all of the ruins, we would have had to walk extremely fast or even run to some to give us enough time to get back to the buses. With a toddler in tow, that's impossible. Adam was happy with what we go to see & I'm happy to check off one of the "Wonders of The World"!
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| Adam & E at Chichen Itza |
We had 2 ports of call, Progresso, Yucatan, Mexico & Cozumel, Mexico. In Progresso we had booked an excursion to Chichen Itza. Adam is a huge history buff. He studied Latin American Studies at The University of Texas. So he was all about this excursion! It was about a 2 hour bus ride from port to the ruins. Before we arrived at the ruins we stopped at a "pit stop" where they had gifts & bathrooms. The gift shops were typical Mexican handmade pottery, baskets, and knick knacks. There was also a snack bar type place that sold sodas and chips. Glad we grabbed some snacks! Lunch was included in the excursion price, but it was a simple brown bag sandwich. Which left us mighty hungry (typical Americans, right?) After the potty break & lunch, we headed off to Chichen Itza. E fell asleep within the first few minutes of the bus ride & slept through the pit stop. Babywearing to the rescue! When we got to Chichen Itza we had to go through a ticketing area and meet with our tour guide. We walked down a dirt trail with little booths set up by the locals selling all kinds of handmade goods. This is how a lot of the local families made a living. There were a lot of kids running around trying to sell little wooden whistles that made Jaguar sounds. They were cool, but annoying by the end of the day. Once we got to the ruins E was awake & ready to run! Adam was all about seeing the ruins! You can't go inside but they show you how the acoustics worked & talked about Mayan history. It was pretty neat. E liked being able to run around the big grassy areas. We were there a couple hours, first guided then they let us off on our own to explore more or shop the many many vendors. We didn't get to see all of the ruins, we would have had to walk extremely fast or even run to some to give us enough time to get back to the buses. With a toddler in tow, that's impossible. Adam was happy with what we go to see & I'm happy to check off one of the "Wonders of The World"!
Tips for Chichen Itza:
Wear "weather appropriate" clothes & good running/walking/hiking shoes.
Maybe bring a book or magazine for the bus ride.
Babies or toddlers in tow: Babywear!! There is a decent amount of walking and I wouldn't want E to go running off too far; there were a lot of people (both tourists & locals).
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| Me & E at Chichen Itza |
Our next port of call brought us to Cozumel. We arrived early in the morning, most shops were just opening & we had a little time to wander before we set off on our excursion. We had booked a catamaran to a secluded beach.
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| Our family on the catamaran heading to the secluded beach off Cozumel |
This was my kind of excursion! It almost sounds romantic, which it could be, but there were many water sport & beach sports to do. They had volleyball nets set up & you would borrow a water bike or paddle boat . They also had a huge water trampoline. I wish we could have gone on it, but alas, with an adventurous toddler, he would have wanted to join the fun! We sat opposite most of the group, which were mostly people our age without kids, so they enjoyed the open bar and water sports. We indulged in the open bar as well & had fun watching E experience his first beach & ocean. We were wondering how he would take to the sand. This kid doesn't like to get dirty much like most kids. He can go through a stack of napkins eating one PBJ sandwich! But, he did great! Dug in the sand and even played in the water! They also offered a lunch with this excursion. It was a buffet of traditional Mexican food. E loved the rice.. It had carrots, peas & squash mixed in. I was surprised how much he loved it! The beach was very well kept. Clean sand & roped off swimming areas. There were decent restrooms & vendors of local handmade goods as well.
Tips :
Bring sunscreen, bathing suit & sunglasses! Sit back & enjoy!!
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| E playing in the beautiful sand |
On board, we had a great experience in the dining room as well. On the "at sea" days we ate in the dining room. We were a little hesitant at first with a toddler, but we decided to go for it. It was so great the first night, that we went back 3 other nights! They hostesses treated E like he was a a gentleman dining with them, rather than just some kid that usually gets half ignored when being seated. They had a special menu & high chairs for kids. The wait staff was great! They did all they could to please E. Dining out with a toddler is not always pleasant. I can speak from both a mom & waitstaff point of view. The servers we had knew how to treat E to engage him & make him feel special. They really know how to do a great job! They got him to try foods I never would have probably ever thought to give him. He loved the pumpkin soup! Who knew!?
On other nights & at lunch we dined at the buffet style dining. Babywearing for the win here! Waiting in line wasn't bad at all, but with a little one who just wants to wander off, babywearing was the way to go! The food here is only slightly not as good as the formal dining, but that could be due to the service. As someone who has worked in restaurants, you tend to notice top notch service! The "bussers" in the casual dining where great as well. They were always on top of grabbing us a highchair as soon as they saw us coming! Nice to have people to jump to help when you have little ones!
We went to a couple of the trivia events on board & tried to do the on deck movie (but ...squirmy baby). We didn't try to go "out" to the bars or nightclub or casino. They did offer a late night babysitting service at the Camp Carnival, but it ran from 10pm - 3 am. E's bedtime is 8 & we didn't want to wake him up to move him to Camp Carnival & then back later on. Maybe another time we can convince the grandparents to sail with us & watch the little ones! We did a lot of walking & people watching on board. Outside the deck where camp carnival was the toddler pool. Shallow & shaded! It was nice! They say no to diapered babies in the regular pools, which I wish they could change that policy. Approved swim diapers that are allowed in most public pools would work just fine here as well.
All in all it was a great trip. I don't know if Adam was 100% swayed. Maybe we'll take another cruise once the kids are older & can do Camp Carnival. He did enjoy the excursions & I think I can convince him to sail with me again.
Bon voyage mon amis!
