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I was anxious when we booked a Carnival Cruise with kids to the Bahamas over New Year’s. It was our first time cruising with kids, so I researched a lot beforehand about what to expect on a Carnival Cruise and all the family cruise tips I could find. I found a lot of helpful information online from blogs and Facebook groups, but there’s nothing like experiencing it for yourself. I’m sharing some of the family cruise tips I wish I knew before we boarded; what we loved, what stressed me out, and what left me pleasantly surprised. If you’ve ever wondered whether a Carnival cruise with kids is worth it, this is for you!
Why We Chose Carnival for a Family Cruise
Carnival was our first choice for our cruise because we had a great experience taking a Western Caribbean Carnival Cruise on our honeymoon. We still did our research for our family cruise to compare prices and offerings on other cruise lines to be sure, and ultimately, we felt that you get the most bang for your buck with Carnival.
We wanted to do something a little different from what we had done before, so we booked a 7-day Eastern Caribbean cruise to the Bahamas over the kids’ winter break from school. That meant we would be cruising on New Year’s, with a formal dining night on New Year’s Eve, along with some fun parties that evening. We also invited some other family members to join us, making it an even more special event.
Our Carnival Cabin Setup for a Family
We decided to book two balcony rooms with adjoining doors so that our family would have plenty of room. The upside of booking two rooms is that you have two bathrooms and double the storage, which we felt made a HUGE difference in how much we enjoyed the time spent in our cabins. We kept the adjoining doors open most of the time, so it was almost like one big cabin, but we could also close them for privacy and quiet time when needed.
The balcony was the icing on the cake. We ALL absolutely loved being able to look at the water whenever we wanted, and it also provided another space somewhat separate from others when you wanted a few moments alone. My husband and I definitely took advantage of that. All of these features in our rooms helped everyone feel like they had enough space so we weren’t crammed together and the kids would be less annoyed with each other.
Food, Snacks, and Kid-Friendly Dining on Carnival
We were one floor below the Lido deck (which is where the buffet, pools, and other food spots are located) near the back of the ship, and I absolutely loved this location. The kids could go up and down the stairs by themselves to grab food (especially the pizza station, which is at the back of the ship) without us having to go with them every time. It was incredibly easy to navigate with only one flight of stairs, and it made it an efficient way to get food and drinks at almost any time of the day. My kids especially loved going upstairs to get an ice cream cone at almost any time they wanted. If your kids are fairly independent but you still worry about them navigating on their own, I highly recommend this setup!
We chose to eat dinner most nights in the dining room at an early dinner time. Reserving the early dinner time was perfect, and we thoroughly enjoyed the dining room experience as a family. Our servers were incredible, and the kids enjoyed getting to order whatever they wanted each night (especially the desserts). There was entertainment by the servers and staff with singing, dancing, and more every night. We even got to see a few magic tricks! The kids loved it, and the staff was kind and accommodating to all of us.
We had two “elegant nights” on our 7-day cruise, one of which was on New Year’s Eve. The staff went all out to make it special. They also have photographers walking throughout the dining room to take professional photos during dinner so you can capture the memories.
We chose to get breakfast most mornings on the Lido deck buffet. It was pretty good, but I wish they served bacon every single day. It was usually only every other day.
At the time we took this cruise on the Carnival Dream, Carnival provided Pepsi products. We brought a few 12 packs of Diet Coke onboard with us, and also picked up a few more at our first port in Key West so we had enough for the adults. The good news is Carnival now has Coke products, so next time we will just get the soda pass!
What Our Kids Loved Most on the Cruise
The towel animals!
The towel animals were a huge hit! We saw new ones every day and it was always so much fun to see what our room stewards came up with. They tidy your room twice a day which is amazing, especially with kids.
Carnival also hosted a free towel-folding class to teach kids how to fold several different towel animals. Of course, my youngest child talked us into buying the instruction book to take home so he could continue his new passion for folding towel animals!
The silent dance party
This was another favorite activity. You pick up a set of headphones and can select from a few different channels. There was even a live DJ mixing one of the channels. We had a blast!
The Shows
We went to see the “Deal or No Deal” game, where real cruise guests compete for prizes. We weren’t sure how into it the kids would be, but they WERE OBSESSED. The crowd got really into the game, yelling out their opinion on “deal” or no deal!” and it was crazy and hilarious. We also watched the “American Rock Show,” and everyone really enjoyed that, too. I appreciated the many choices of entertainment onboard so we could find something everyone liked.
CRUISE DUCKS!!!
This was my youngest child’s favorite thing! In case you weren’t aware, there is a really fun trend of hiding and finding little rubber ducks all around cruise ships. You can write on them or add tags to the ducks telling people where they came, and it’s a fun quest to see how many different kinds you can find from different places. Hiding them was as fun as finding them. You never really know where you might come across one, and it’s also fun to walk by where you know you previously hid a duck and see if anyone found it. If you want to bring some ducks on your next cruise, you can get some here! You can even find some themed ducks, like these patriotic ducks!
Games and Water Slides on the Carnival Dream
Another aspect of the cruise my kids loved was the different options for play on the ship. We played life-sized Chess, minigolf, played our own board games we brought with us in some of the lounge areas during the day, and went down the water slides a bunch of times. I even went down the water slide! Lucky for me, my husband recorded it all, and you can hear me screaming all the way down!
Minigolf was a universal fave!
Our Bahamas Port Experience as a Family
We visited four ports on our Carnival Eastern Caribbean Cruise: Key West, FL; Freeport, Bahamas; Princess Cays, Bahamas; and Nassau, Bahamas. Each one had something different to offer. Here are just a few highlights. I hope to share even more details about this in another post.
Key West, Florida
We absolutely LOVED Key West. My husband and I had been here before, so we knew what to expect. Honestly, the best thing about Key West is the vibes. It just feels awesome to be there. It’s hard to describe. The nature around the island is really pretty, and there are, of course, Key Lime themed shops and bakeries on all the popular streets.
We decided to keep things fairly low-key and see a few landmarks and eat a “Cheeseburger in Paradise” at Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville, which is a family tradition. We STILL laugh about how much lemonade my oldest son drank at the restaurant and how is sloshed around in his tummy the rest of the day. He learned a lesson there!
The southernmost point in the continental US is just 90 miles from Cuba. My son who loves geography and maps was THRILLED to visit this spot! There was a line to take pictures in this spot, but it didn’t take too long.
Freeport, Bahamas
We decided to take it very easy at this port. Since we had four port days in a row on this cruise, and we know our kids’ limits, we knew we would probably just visit Freeport for an hour or two. We visited some shops and focused on finding a Bahamas flag for my son who likes to collect flags.
Princess Cays, Bahamas
Princess Cays is Carnival’s private island. It set up for going to the beach and they serve lunch on shore. The beach area isn’t huge but there was plenty of seating for our family. My kids loved exploring the water with their snorkel sets we brough with us because the water was SO clear, and it was shallow enough where they could walk around and look at things, and come and go as they pleased, rather than a snorkeling excursion which is a little more intentional. The weather was perfect. The water was cold at first, but you got used to it pretty quickly, and the sun really warmed things up. This was one of my youngest’s favorite stops, he had fun looking at fish, hunting for rocks, and burying his feet in the sand.
There were some areas where the water got a little deeper, which my older son enjoyed.
Nassau, Bahamas
Here, we booked an excursion with a short tour sea explorer semi-submersible. The kids all loved it, which is saying something! It’s hard to get good pictures through the windows because they are spotted and the camera can’t focus, but that’s okay. It just means it’s a really “in-the-moment” experience. We saw a nurse shark, lots of fish, coral, and a barracuda.
Our guide was really fantastic and gave a lot of interesting information, like how conservation efforts in the Bahamas keep the water so clear and beautiful. We took a boat to and from shore to the semi-submersible, and on the way, we saw lots of fancy houses, many of them owned by celebrities like Oprah.
Leaving The Carnival Dream
I’m usually ready to go home at the end of vacations, but this one I really didn’t want to leave. I highly recommend going on a Carnival Cruise with kids, and I hope these family cruise tips were helpful. This trip was the perfect combination of relaxation and activities. No stress of deciding where and what to eat to make everyone happy and not hangry. 5 stars!!!
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