Seems like it has been forever since Tad and I took our first cruise in 2008. I remember saying to him as we were coming off the ship how much fun the kids would have and how one day I would love to do a family cruise. Seven years later (almost exactly!) we set sail with the kids. It was an item I am grateful we knocked off our bucket list and something we will do again in the future.
Before I get into the ins and outs of our family vacation and the lessons we learned along the way, I want to say something. Something I think needs to be said and given some serious thought to... Every cruise or even family vacation is a unique one. No two experiences will be the same. It is what you make of it. And that being said... I was determined to make the most out of our family vacation. Our children are getting older and as sad as this makes me to say, I know in my heart these family vacations of just the six of us are slowly going to come to an end as they all begin to fly the coop taking on their own life journeys and tackling their own bucket lists. So this post maybe a little lengthy... but every memory carries a mile in my heart and those moments are all little pieces of my family I love to share. I hope you enjoy the stories and I hope you can take a little piece of something from our experience to enhance yours... whatever it may be!
Planning the Vacation
This was not a planned months in advance trip by any means. We had plans to do something with the kids this summer. Tad and I felt we were in desperate need of some much needed family time. We loved Disneyland with the kids, we loved renting a beach house on the ocean, we loved exploring the south west. But we kept going back to the idea of how much we really wanted to cruise with the kids. So after watching the prices fall on the cruise site I use to book our cruises I finally decided it's now or never. Let's do it. For those thinking about doing a vacation cruise and you have the luxury of waiting until the last minute, I highly recommend using www.vacationstogo.com 90 Day Ticker. We have booked through them a few times with positive experiences each time. But for this particular cruise, I booked straight through the Carnival website. There are six of us and I wanted to pick my cabins side by side. Upon booking our 4 day 3 night cruise to Ensenada, Mexico, I was offered a discount on shore excursions. I chose one I felt would best work for all of us... a city shopping tour. Ensenada doesn't have a lot of kid friendly excursions. Thankfully, we have older kids! Using the Carnival website I was able to manage our whole cruise almost. We checked in via online, we ordered water a head of time for our staterooms. I could change things as I wanted to. From there, I began to do my research... What items did I need to pack... what do I want to make this cruise easiest? Planning for six is never an easy task.
A Few Tips For Cruising With Kids
~Pay the extra money for the FASTER TO FUN program. For $50 per cabin you get VIP boarding on the ship. We were able to get on the ship 2 hours before general boarding and we had the whole ship to ourselves to explore... We got to the lunch buffet before it was crowded and my boys were literally the first ones in the pool and hot tub.
You will be glad you paid the extra money when you are able to enjoy the ship before the thousands of other people start roaming around. But you won't truly appreciate the FASTER TO THE FUN until you de-board the ship at the end of the cruise before everyone else and you walk right through the customs line without the hassle of waiting forever for the lines to move in the muggy terminal. Best $100 we have ever spent on a family vacation!
~ Cruise Card Lanyards
I recommend buying these for the kids before you head out on the cruise. I debated and debated and didn't. And before the safety drill one of our kids was missing their ship key which is your life line for everything on the ship! That was a $36 stop at the gift ship I should have avoided if I had listened to my instincts as I was packing and planning!
http://www.amazon.com/Cosmos-Vertical-Assorted-Leather-Business/dp/B00N1RII62/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1437601932&sr=8-8&keywords=id+lanyard Again... money well spent if you buy them before hand. And while you are on Amazon cruise shopping... I highly recommend these: http://www.amazon.com/Beach-Towel-Clips-Bright-Colors/dp/B00EA3NSSO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1437602062&sr=8-1&keywords=towel+clips They come in handy at the pool to clip your towels to the lounge chairs so they don't fly away. They are also great for clipping up towels for your family members who aren't at the pool yet so you can save some spots. These I did buy before hand!
~ On Board Credit
What they don't tell you is that your children have access to charge anything to the cabins. You need to go to guest services to block access or put a spending limit on it. Hopefully, if you plan to do a $10 a day limit (like we did) your kids will be smart enough to stop before they spend all their money in the arcade in 10 minutes. And by all... I mean all.... You can't do a daily spending limit. It is one lump sum for the whole duration of the cruise. Lesson learned for sure!
For now that is all I have on the tips of traveling with kids... we didn't take advantage of the kid clubs because our kids are old enough to make the decision to go or hang out with family. We did have a buddy rule and no one was allowed to wander alone. And absolutely no one was allowed in any state rooms other than ours. And no one but family in our state room. You may want to decide before hand what you hope to accomplish for family time. We didn't make meals mandatory except one night I requested we all dress up and go to the dinning room together. This gave each of us the freedom to make the cruise our own.
Traveling to Port
We drove from Utah to Long Beach, California. It is roughly a 12 hour drive. On our way there however we stopped in Las Vegas for the night. The car ride was a smooth one. I made an epic play list everyone sang along to and seemed to enjoy. And I bought Trivia Pursuit Family addition and we played trivia to help pass the time. As a whole, we love Vegas.
This wasn't our first Vegas experience. The kids love cruising the strip, radio up, windows down, waving and yelling hello to the bystanders and taking in all the neon signs.
We stayed at The Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino because we wanted to eat lunch at BurgR by Gordon Ramsey.
The kids LOVED the rooms we got. They were awfully excited because this was the first time we booked two rooms and they had their own hotel room.
Peyton took full advantage of his Vegas suite...
Once we got to Long Beach we went out exploring the coast in search of some fresh sea food. We came across the USS Iowa... What a beautiful ship and a great find for the kids!
I did my research before we left the hotel room so as we approached each restaurant I knew what the reviews were and what the best dishes to try were. Logan and I tried the two dishes most raved about... swordfish and salmon. We were not disappointed! Trust me... I know how this is beginning to sound and you are right... we are a family that LOVES food!
All Aboard!
FASTER TO FUN.... If you remember anything about my blog post remember that! We got on the ship early (12pm to be exact) and our rooms were already set up and waiting for us. So we changed into our swim suits, headed for the food and fun! Our first day was nothing but pool side sun!
The experiences on the ship were unforgettable. On our Sea Day it rained but we were able to see whales splash and wave tails and dolphins play for almost an hour out in the middle of the ocean. There is something so serene about being able to watch an animal in it's natural habitat enjoy it's life!
Amazing food!
(Alligator Balls anyone?)
Unforgettable Dinning room Fun!
All you can eat ice cream!
Beautiful Sunset Scenes...
And Even After Hours Adult Time!
But the Best Part! Towel Animals!!!!!
But the fun doesn't stop there... there is a lot of fun to be had in port as well...
Like being able to drink at the age of 18 legally!
Beautiful Natural Wonders of the World...
Cultural Experiences...
And of course the typical tourist traps you can't resist!
In The End...
When your long day is over you board the ship and head home. As the sun sets you have time to sit back and relax and reflect on all the laughs, the once in a life time moments, and the fun you have been blessed to experience with your family.
Life moves faster than you think... I say this a lot. And sometimes you just have to do it now. I am truly grateful I am married to someone who shares that same view with me. There are always going to be bills to pay. There is never going to be a right time. Sometimes you just have to say screw it all and make it the right time. Those I promise you will be the best times. I will never forget this cruise with my children... Having that first beer with our oldest... listening to him talk about the girls on the ship he has met and in depth conversations about heading to college in three weeks. Our daughter walking through the flea market in Ensenada looking up at me with this huge smile on her face as she throws her hands in the air and yells, "I LOVE MEXICO! ENSENADA, YOU ARE GREAT! GIVE ME ANOTHER PINA COLADA!" And we will NEVER forget how she broke out of her shell at dinner and jumped up and danced in the middle of the dinning room with the waiters. Our Autistic child in awe over the dolphins in the ocean... the whale splashing with it's tail... all the towel animals! And our baby (our ten year old not so much of a baby anymore baby!) embracing his independence to go to the hot tub on his own, to go to the buffet and the grill and get all the food he wanted. And one of our most cherished memories we will laugh about forever will be the trip we took to Mexico when Peyton refused to eat or drink anything in Mexico because he was afraid of being poisoned! And the moments I sat with my husband as we did nothing but watch our kids laugh and smile for hours... our kids... our family. Of course this was a family vacation but we as husband and wife make this family. We keep this family alive and thriving by the love and support we give each other... And there were moments on this vacation when we had "our moments"... they may have been small gestures like traditional I love you in (what ever state line we just crossed) or singing our parts in duets on the play list, front seat dancing to a little Rob Base, Vanilla Ice, and John Mellencamp. Sneaking away to the 21 and older hot tub while the kids were off swimming or playing golf. Afternoon napping under the window in our cabin while the rain splashed the ocean and the lightening lit up the sky. We took time for each kid... breakfast with Peyton, afternoon coffee and book reading with Mikayla, shopping with Drew, and lunch with Logan. The boys played miniature golf while the girls sat in a window in a cafe on the ship with their books and lattes laughing about stupid things we do in life. The cruise may have been sold out and crowded but the experience is what you make it. We took advantage of times when we knew we would have quiet time. Early dinning, up before sunrise to claim pool spots and eat a quiet breakfast while the ship slept the morning away, hot tubbing while everyone else was at the shows, bars, and late night dinners... and sunset pictures while everyone partied with ship captain in their ties and ball gowns. We made it what we wanted... our family vacation. You don't have to do what everyone else is doing on the ship to have a good time. You need to find our own purpose for being there and your own piece of happiness. That is the point of vacation... to enjoy yourself, relax, do nothing, have fun, and eat... EAT the amazing food! Nothing makes a 12 year old boy happier than unlimited access to ice cream cones 24 hours a day! Life is short... Life is unexpected... and sometime life is just better unplanned.
I didn't plan for my life to be where it is today. Tad and I followed parallel paths until they crossed unexpectedly and in the most coincidental way... But it was for the best... I could not have planned this any better if I had tried. The Ensenada Experience taught me that it isn't so much about where you dock as much as it is what you do to stay afloat. Ensenada wasn't as beautiful as Grand Cayman Islands nor did it have as much to offer as Cozumel... But it was perfect for us because of how much we wanted to be together and the effort we made to take in the world around us.
Happy Travels my friends.....
