You guys were right I had nothing to worry about with my daughter (though on our shore excursions she was never more than 3 feet away from me). We drenched her in sunscreen everywhere we went too, youre right Jarhead, the UV rays are more of a direct hit in the tropics. We went on the Carnival Conquest, and man, that thing is a behemoth. We had a great time and we stayed in the posh hoity-toity suite, which was very cool. Next time we cruise we probably wont get as much of a room as we did, as this was our first cruise and we wanted to play it safe and not get a closet for a room.
There was always something to do and the Kids Club was great. The Kids Club staff will give you a pager (free of charge unless you lose it) so they can contact you if needed. We never received a page (our daughter is an angel of course :halo: ) though one of couples we hung out with received a page during the Fat Tuesday Pub Crawl; their three year-old little girl just wanted to kiss mommy good night. Our daughter loved it in the Kids Club, they cater to the kids as much as they do the adults and you could tell if you saw their playroom, I kind of wanted to hang out there too, it was cool.
Our Cabin Steward was an Indonesian named Nyomin and he was incredible, and he knew our daughters name after the first day. He would bring her cookies in the evening before dinner (she normally doesnt eat sweets before dinner but we didnt care, it was her vacation too) and at night he would turn down the bed and make a towel animal for her to play with (her favorite was the monkey).
The Casino was okay if all you wanted were slots, video poker, roulette, craps, and Blackjack, no real poker games happening that I could find. I didnt start playing Blackjack until the last night and I broke even. My Wife cleaned house on the slots and she won about $500 net. Almost all of the Bars were cool including the disco; there is a bar for almost every personality type too. The food was good too and there was always plenty of it. There was always something to eat somewhere. If you were hungry, you weren't for long. There was food ranging from Indian cuisine to Pizza and from deli sandwiches to sushi. We smuggled some liquor on board too. I carried a "poor mans flask" around with me (water bottle filled with Bacardi) and spiked my cokes. You can purchase a beverage card for about $30 and show it to the bartender and you get "free" cokes, it paid for itself a couple of times.
Jamaica, well at least Montego Bay appeared a little run-down. Grand Cayman is very very nice but you could still tell that it got beat up by Hurricane Ivan. Cozumel is nice and laid back but the cab drivers are crooks.
I could only complain about two things, maybe three. Leaving out of New Orleans in February it was somewhat cold (50 degrees upon departure, not exactly poolside bathing suit weather) and it didnt get very warm until we got around the western tip of Cuba, which was on the evening of our 2nd day of the cruise. Another thing, which is just my personal preference, is that we spent too little time in port. After our tour in Grand Cayman (we swam with the Stingrays), we only had enough time to take a picture of the Hard Rock Café before we had to be back on the ship. It was also too late to buy some local booze because allegedly their customs laws state they have to package it and deliver it to the boat themselves and we missed that deadline. To me it just isnt enough time to experience enough. The last minor thing was the bar service during dinner, there was only one guy serving and taking drink orders for the whole dining room. We saw him only once during dinner. It wouldnt have been a big deal if we didnt have to order our soft drinks and juice through him but we did, oh well we could still get water and iced tea through our dinner servers so it wasn't catastrophic.
Overall we had an awesome time, were actually thinking about booking another cruise in September, and Ive found a Royal Caribbean cruise that stays in Aruba all day from 8:00 am until 11:30 pm. I get three weeks of vacation a year so what the hell.
I think cruises are great if you cannot decide on where to go for a Caribbean vacation and dont want to go overboard (pardon the pun) with your budget then a Caribbean cruise is the way to go. On a Caribbean cruise, you can hit a few islands and take your hotel with you. However, it still doesnt beat our Sandals Honeymoon in St Lucia (we spent a week at the Sandals Grande St. Lucian Spa and Resort) but the Carnival Conquest is a very very close second place winner.
Im going to put some of my cruise pictures in the picture forum just for you Dillo.
There was always something to do and the Kids Club was great. The Kids Club staff will give you a pager (free of charge unless you lose it) so they can contact you if needed. We never received a page (our daughter is an angel of course :halo: ) though one of couples we hung out with received a page during the Fat Tuesday Pub Crawl; their three year-old little girl just wanted to kiss mommy good night. Our daughter loved it in the Kids Club, they cater to the kids as much as they do the adults and you could tell if you saw their playroom, I kind of wanted to hang out there too, it was cool.
Our Cabin Steward was an Indonesian named Nyomin and he was incredible, and he knew our daughters name after the first day. He would bring her cookies in the evening before dinner (she normally doesnt eat sweets before dinner but we didnt care, it was her vacation too) and at night he would turn down the bed and make a towel animal for her to play with (her favorite was the monkey).
The Casino was okay if all you wanted were slots, video poker, roulette, craps, and Blackjack, no real poker games happening that I could find. I didnt start playing Blackjack until the last night and I broke even. My Wife cleaned house on the slots and she won about $500 net. Almost all of the Bars were cool including the disco; there is a bar for almost every personality type too. The food was good too and there was always plenty of it. There was always something to eat somewhere. If you were hungry, you weren't for long. There was food ranging from Indian cuisine to Pizza and from deli sandwiches to sushi. We smuggled some liquor on board too. I carried a "poor mans flask" around with me (water bottle filled with Bacardi) and spiked my cokes. You can purchase a beverage card for about $30 and show it to the bartender and you get "free" cokes, it paid for itself a couple of times.
Jamaica, well at least Montego Bay appeared a little run-down. Grand Cayman is very very nice but you could still tell that it got beat up by Hurricane Ivan. Cozumel is nice and laid back but the cab drivers are crooks.
I could only complain about two things, maybe three. Leaving out of New Orleans in February it was somewhat cold (50 degrees upon departure, not exactly poolside bathing suit weather) and it didnt get very warm until we got around the western tip of Cuba, which was on the evening of our 2nd day of the cruise. Another thing, which is just my personal preference, is that we spent too little time in port. After our tour in Grand Cayman (we swam with the Stingrays), we only had enough time to take a picture of the Hard Rock Café before we had to be back on the ship. It was also too late to buy some local booze because allegedly their customs laws state they have to package it and deliver it to the boat themselves and we missed that deadline. To me it just isnt enough time to experience enough. The last minor thing was the bar service during dinner, there was only one guy serving and taking drink orders for the whole dining room. We saw him only once during dinner. It wouldnt have been a big deal if we didnt have to order our soft drinks and juice through him but we did, oh well we could still get water and iced tea through our dinner servers so it wasn't catastrophic.
Overall we had an awesome time, were actually thinking about booking another cruise in September, and Ive found a Royal Caribbean cruise that stays in Aruba all day from 8:00 am until 11:30 pm. I get three weeks of vacation a year so what the hell.
I think cruises are great if you cannot decide on where to go for a Caribbean vacation and dont want to go overboard (pardon the pun) with your budget then a Caribbean cruise is the way to go. On a Caribbean cruise, you can hit a few islands and take your hotel with you. However, it still doesnt beat our Sandals Honeymoon in St Lucia (we spent a week at the Sandals Grande St. Lucian Spa and Resort) but the Carnival Conquest is a very very close second place winner.
Im going to put some of my cruise pictures in the picture forum just for you Dillo.
That sea sick feeling is no fun!!
took a while to get those sea legs.......
