The Cruise - In Words

Ok, this post will be about the cruise - in words. Check back later this weekend for the cruise - in pictures. I'll have to blog later this weekend about Harrison's bday party, which was this evening. Lots to catch up on.

Overall, it was a good vacation. It was wonderful to have time together as a family without any activities that we had to be at, without any other people, without homework, without cooking or household chores, and without work. There were definitely some high points, but there were also some low points, which is what keeps me from saying it was a great vacation. You all know that we travel quite a bit, so you know we take lots of vacations and trips. Unfortunately, this was just not our best trip ever.

Let's start with the negative, so I can end on a positive note. This was our 2nd cruise with the kids, our 3rd cruise together and my 6th or so. Of all of those cruises, however, this was our first time on Carnival and in some ways it was just not as good as the other cruise lines we have sailed, like Royal Caribbean. The main negative was that the boat was very rocky and there was a lot more movement of the ship back and forth than we had experienced on prior cruises. I don't know if it was because it was the Pacific Ocean vs. the Atlantic Ocean (or gulf of Mexico), or if it was the weather or if there was a problem with the boat's stabilizers, but we were really rockin' and rollin' out there. I noticed it more, but it doesn't bother me. It did, however, bother Marlon A LOT! He didn't get sick to his stomach and throw up (Michela did one day!) but he felt off balance, dizzy and lightheaded most of the time and he absolutely hated it. He's never been a huge fan of cruises and that put him over the edge. Needless to say, he has warned me that this was his last cruise and if I want to go on another one, that is fine, but count him out. He hated the feeling of the movement and could hardly wait to get back to land.

The other main negative was that I was really, really disappointed with the kids program. On our last cruise 3 years ago, the kids loved the kids program so much that I had to beg them to spend time with us. This time was much different. Harrison's "teen" activities were "ok," but not great. Jacob and Michela's activities for the 9-11 year olds were downright awful. They lacked creativity and originality and had only a couple of events a day. The schedule didnt' work well for us, either. They were closed from 12 to 2 and 4 to 8, which was the main time our kids wanted to do stuff. Around 2-3 is when we were eating lunch (b/c we had late dining, so ate dinner at 8:15) and in the evening we were in the dining room, then going to the shows, etc. The best kids activities seemed to be on the port days, when we were doing fun stuff in the ports, and the day that we spent at sea, they had some fun stuff planned (water balloon toss, relay races at the pool, etc. and the kids were excited about it, but then disappointed when we found out those things were for adults only!)

Without the kids activities, the kids were actually bored at times. They went in the pool some, enjoyed the water slide (but how much can you do that?!) and we played ping pong and miniature golf. We also played poker, yahtzee and backgammon in the various lounges. But they didnt' really do much on their own or with the Kids Club, so I didn't really have any time to relax on my own, which I was hoping to do.

Those were the two main negatives, but they were big negatives. The food in the buffet was "ok." Plentiful and a good variety (and of course the kids really loved just going to get food whenever they wanted) but just not that great quality. The food in the dining room, however, was superb and our wait staff was also excellent. We had wonderful dinners and breakfasts - it was dining in a 5 star restaurant every night and it's so nice that the kids can order steak, prime rib, lobster, etc. without us worrying abou the bill. Our dinner meals would easily have been $150 and up in a nice restaurant.

Our cabin was also great and our cabin steward was fantastic. So attentive and cleaned/straightened our room twice a day. The kids loved the towel creations he made for them. Surprisingly, having 5 people in the cabin wasn't a big deal at all. There was plenty of room for us and our stuff and it didn't feel like we were tripping over each other.

the ports were fun. In Catalina, we rented a golf cart and drove around the island and explored. In Ensenada, we just got off the ship and started to explore on our own, but then took a bus to the downtown where we signed up for a tour to La Bufadora, one of only three natural geysers in the world. It was cool and we enjoyed shopping and bargaining with the guys at the open air flea market.

More tomorrow, I'm exhausted!