Carvinal Pride Feb 25th- March 4th review

[TalesFromTheCrib]

Hi everyone! Sorry for my absence, I’ve been traveling again for work. I’m actually in the car now riding to another conference. I’m going to finish the review, I promise and hope to have day 3 up later today

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Clarea]

Interesting review, looking forward to the rest.:)

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[Caygal18]

Loving the review...thank you!

[pacruise804]

Glad to have you back! Looking forward to the rest of the review :)

[TalesFromTheCrib]

Apologies for the long break, I have been traveling again! This past week I was in Seattle for work conference. It was my first solo trip since having baby B 2 years ago. In any case, here is my overview of our second sea day on the Pride!

I didnt make it up in time to work out today, but gave myself a pass. We once again hit up the sea day brunch. Our waiter this day was really great and an improvement from the previous day’s brunch. He gave us some good tips about the next day in Princess Cays (ie go to the right when you get off the ship for a quieter area), and was on top of our orders. I decided to try the “funnest french toast”, which was french toast coated with your choice of cereal. I opted for fruit loops and it was very good. Others in the party had eggs, bacon, fruit plates, and pancakes. The brunch was enjoyable and we liked it better than doing the buffet in the mornings.

There really wasn't a whole lot that sounded interesting to us in the morning, but we took B to play in Camp Ocean for a few minutes after brunch, and then to win another rubber duck. I should note that this game became addicting and once we got home, my parents took him to play a claw machine elsewhere and he was VERY upset to not get a prize, since the duck machine lets you play until you win.

We hit up the buffet for lunch and then I wanted to catch the lip sync battle auditions out by the pool. They had a really hard time getting contestants involved, and I was persuaded to join in as one of the 5 females. I was worried B would be upset to have me taken away from him, but he did alright. Basically they bring up 5 females and 5 males and whittle that down to 1 male and female finalist. The first round they had us showcase our superstar look by borrowing whatever items we could find to complete our “look”. I don’t have any photos of this because i was participating, but some were quite funny. One girl grabbed a large pepper off the blue iguana display and someone else had gotten a cane. I found a pink drink umbrella which was my only creative piece, plus a woman’s hat and sunglasses. Needless to say I was out in the first round. The next was I believe dancing, and then they didn’t actually have contestants lip sync until the final round. Both of the finalists were really good, but the one woman knew the dance moves to “single ladies” so she took the cake. The two male finalists, one was definitely better (in my opinion) but the other gentleman had quite a crowd following. At the last round he made it clear he didn’t want to win, so luckily the more deserving guy got it. I wish I had some photos from this, but since I was participating I didnt take any.

After lunch we wandered a bit until it was time for the Dr Seuss parade and storytime. We got to the atrium where they were preparing for the parade and decided we would skip that part and meet them in the theater for storytime. It seemed they would be going through the casino and we tried to avoid that as much as possible during the cruise due to the smoke. Story time was cute and Saffie did a good job handling the children participants even when they didn’t cooperate. The children (and parents) were encouraged to come sit on the stage if they desired and from the crowd some kids and parents were selected to be characters in the story. I can’t remember most of the kids involved but we saw “mayor Braden” several times after that, and one super cute little girl named Vayla was involved in some other things later on on the cruise as well. B did not want to go on the stage at first, but about halfway through the story we went up there and he mostly sat still for it. If you have young kids I would recommend this. It does keep them entertained for an hour or so.

After storytime we went back for a nap, and then my parents and I went to tea time. It seemed the second day the secret was out and it was much more crowded. I was a little disappointed since I had raved about it to my parents, but the pastry/dessert cart didn’t come around this time. We had the same sandwiches and I believe scones, but no special tarts or cakes. My parents still enjoyed it though, so that was good.

B woke up just in time for us to head to the CC Meet and Mingle, which was held in the Ivory Piano Bar. There was a large crowd there, much more that I remembered interacting with on our roll call. They had some cakes and cookies for us, as well as coffee water and tea. I didn’t get to chat to too many people as B was being a bit wild, but did meet a few people from the roll call, including one couple that we interacted with several other times throughout the trip (Hi M&S!). Despite talking for months ahead of time online, I still feel a bit awkward at the roll call. Saffie (cruise director) and a few other crew members were there. It was definitely one of the better attended roll calls I have been to

Tonight’s dinner was cruise casual, so we didn’t have to spend much time getting ready. We took B to the atrium to listen to the Liberty Trio again before dinner, since he liked having a little space to run and dance. I think this was probably our slowest night for dinner. I don’t know why, but it took forever. Again the same thing would happen and the table next to us would be ordering dessert when we got our appetizers, even though we all arrived at the same time. B wasn’t having it, and we had to resort to letting him watch Moana on G’s phone for most of the meal. I may come back and add in some photos of the menu and food, but as you can see from previous posts my photos arent the best.

Since our meal took forever, we thought we might be late to the show. We still managed to get there a few minutes early and grab seats down on the floor to the left of the stage. B didnt seem to enjoy this show as much as previous ones, but I thought it was very cute. The show was called Getaway Island and has alot of good beachy songs (Jimmy Buffett, Beach Boys, etc). It also has a story and isn’t just a bunch of singing. There are some adult jokes hidden in the show/preshow fun, but if your kid get’s them, then they are probably old enough to. At one point they bring out a bartender (who I assume is an actual bartender on the ship), who does some impressive tricks with bottles and cups. I did think this went on a little too long, but maybe just because I was trying to wrangle B. It also seemed rather obvious in this show that there were more male performers than female, as all were coupled up except for one young man.

After the show, we were tired! My parents hit up the casino and comedy shows again, but G, B and I hit the hay early. We wanted to be nice and rested for our fun day at Princess Cays (coming soon)!

[Caygal18]

Thanks for the continuing report...I must have checked twenty times since the last one.☺

[sparks1093]

We did participate in the Seuss parade and they took us all up one deck so we could avoid the casino. I think I remember seeing you at the meet and greet but I don't think we got a chance to chat. I didn't think B was that out of hand. It was a good turn out.

[pacruise804]

Apologies for the long break, I have been traveling again! This past week I was in Seattle for work conference. It was my first solo trip since having baby B 2 years ago. In any case, here is my overview of our second sea day on the Pride!

Welcome home! I'm guessing it was nice to get away but you were missing that sweet boy too;)

 

I didnt make it up in time to work out today, but gave myself a pass. We once again hit up the sea day brunch. Our waiter this day was really great and an improvement from the previous day’s brunch. He gave us some good tips about the next day in Princess Cays (ie go to the right when you get off the ship for a quieter area), and was on top of our orders. I decided to try the “funnest french toast”, which was french toast coated with your choice of cereal. I opted for fruit loops and it was very good. Others in the party had eggs, bacon, fruit plates, and pancakes. The brunch was enjoyable and we liked it better than doing the buffet in the mornings.

We did a long walk on the upper decks on Day 2, but Pride does have a fairly well stocked fitness area.

There really wasn't a whole lot that sounded interesting to us in the morning, but we took B to play in Camp Ocean for a few minutes after brunch, and then to win another rubber duck. I should note that this game became addicting and once we got home, my parents took him to play a claw machine elsewhere and he was VERY upset to not get a prize, since the duck machine lets you play until you win.

We hit up the buffet for lunch and then I wanted to catch the lip sync battle auditions out by the pool. They had a really hard time getting contestants involved, and I was persuaded to join in as one of the 5 females. I was worried B would be upset to have me taken away from him, but he did alright. Basically they bring up 5 females and 5 males and whittle that down to 1 male and female finalist. The first round they had us showcase our superstar look by borrowing whatever items we could find to complete our “look”. I don’t have any photos of this because i was participating, but some were quite funny. One girl grabbed a large pepper off the blue iguana display and someone else had gotten a cane. I found a pink drink umbrella which was my only creative piece, plus a woman’s hat and sunglasses. Needless to say I was out in the first round. The next was I believe dancing, and then they didn’t actually have contestants lip sync until the final round. Both of the finalists were really good, but the one woman knew the dance moves to “single ladies” so she took the cake. The two male finalists, one was definitely better (in my opinion) but the other gentleman had quite a crowd following. At the last round he made it clear he didn’t want to win, so luckily the more deserving guy got it. I wish I had some photos from this, but since I was participating I didnt take any.

Wish we'd caught you, we didn't see any of the LSB until the Saturday matinee. The guy that won was on one of our excursions (or maybe the tender to PC?) and was definitely working the crowd

After lunch we wandered a bit until it was time for the Dr Seuss parade and storytime. We got to the atrium where they were preparing for the parade and decided we would skip that part and meet them in the theater for storytime. It seemed they would be going through the casino and we tried to avoid that as much as possible during the cruise due to the smoke. Story time was cute and Saffie did a good job handling the children participants even when they didn’t cooperate. The children (and parents) were encouraged to come sit on the stage if they desired and from the crowd some kids and parents were selected to be characters in the story. I can’t remember most of the kids involved but we saw “mayor Braden” several times after that, and one super cute little girl named Vayla was involved in some other things later on on the cruise as well. B did not want to go on the stage at first, but about halfway through the story we went up there and he mostly sat still for it. If you have young kids I would recommend this. It does keep them entertained for an hour or so.

We were impressed with the how Carnival took care of the children. There was a little girl (possibly Vayla) that stole the show at the kids portion of the LSB show.

 

After storytime we went back for a nap, and then my parents and I went to tea time. It seemed the second day the secret was out and it was much more crowded. I was a little disappointed since I had raved about it to my parents, but the pastry/dessert cart didn’t come around this time. We had the same sandwiches and I believe scones, but no special tarts or cakes. My parents still enjoyed it though, so that was good.

I'm glad they enjoyed it. We went the second day and had the cart, but it seems like service is inconsistent:(

 

B woke up just in time for us to head to the CC Meet and Mingle, which was held in the Ivory Piano Bar. There was a large crowd there, much more that I remembered interacting with on our roll call. They had some cakes and cookies for us, as well as coffee water and tea. I didn’t get to chat to too many people as B was being a bit wild, but did meet a few people from the roll call, including one couple that we interacted with several other times throughout the trip (Hi M&S!). Despite talking for months ahead of time online, I still feel a bit awkward at the roll call. Saffie (cruise director) and a few other crew members were there. It was definitely one of the better attended roll calls I have been to

Hi! (Silly story - I thought it would be cute to have M&M's and Skittles as favors for our wedding, until M had me reverse the letters:eek:) Warning to future Meet & Mingles - the tea was apple juice:o Nice, but a shock when expecting unsweetened tea;))

Tonight’s dinner was cruise casual, so we didn’t have to spend much time getting ready. We took B to the atrium to listen to the Liberty Trio again before dinner, since he liked having a little space to run and dance. I think this was probably our slowest night for dinner. I don’t know why, but it took forever. Again the same thing would happen and the table next to us would be ordering dessert when we got our appetizers, even though we all arrived at the same time. B wasn’t having it, and we had to resort to letting him watch Moana on G’s phone for most of the meal. I may come back and add in some photos of the menu and food, but as you can see from previous posts my photos arent the best.

Since our meal took forever, we thought we might be late to the show. We still managed to get there a few minutes early and grab seats down on the floor to the left of the stage. B didnt seem to enjoy this show as much as previous ones, but I thought it was very cute. The show was called Getaway Island and has alot of good beachy songs (Jimmy Buffett, Beach Boys, etc). It also has a story and isn’t just a bunch of singing. There are some adult jokes hidden in the show/preshow fun, but if your kid get’s them, then they are probably old enough to. At one point they bring out a bartender (who I assume is an actual bartender on the ship), who does some impressive tricks with bottles and cups. I did think this went on a little too long, but maybe just because I was trying to wrangle B. It also seemed rather obvious in this show that there were more male performers than female, as all were coupled up except for one young man.

We liked Getaway Island, too. It may not be Broadway, but still a pleasant way to spend a half an hour or so. I could see k-tape on one of the dancer's knees the night before and wondered if they were intentionally short a performer or if she had an injury.

After the show, we were tired! My parents hit up the casino and comedy shows again, but G, B and I hit the hay early. We wanted to be nice and rested for our fun day at Princess Cays (coming soon)!

 

I'm so glad we knew about the quiet side of Princess Cay. Looking forward to reliving it through your review

[TalesFromTheCrib]

I'm so glad we knew about the quiet side of Princess Cay. Looking forward to reliving it through your review

 

When I first started typing out this review I switched your initials since you are the one I "knew", but then I had to switch and put M first :)

 

And yes that was Vayla at the LSB finale. Wasnt she adorable? There were some cute and pretty well behaved kids on this cruise

[TalesFromTheCrib]

We made it to our first port day! We were definitely looking forward to Princess Cays as it was to be our only real beach day. Before we went to bed the previous night, we all made plans to grab an early breakfast on our own and then grab the early tender with our Faster to the Fun.

B, G and I went to the buffet to get breakfast, which was pretty good. French toast, bacon, fruit, and some really good hot chocolate were our go to. Plus we grabbed boxes of cereal for B to snack on later. I like that they still have those little boxes, and the hot chocolate is seriously very good. My parents ordered room service and my dad didnt feel he had enough to fill him up and wished he had gone to the buffet as well.

Once we finished up breakfast, we packed up the rest of our beach bag (aka double checked what I packed the night before), and watched the tender boats line up. They were right outside our room, so that was exciting for B

Since we had faster to the Fun, that meant we were able to get on a priority tender and be one of the first people off the boat. The night before we received a notice in our room telling us this, and that we should meet in the butterflies lounge at 8 am (I think that was the time) if we wanted to take advantage of it. The notice said that if you had am excursion to disregard, as the excursions would be the first off. However I dont think some people read this as they came to the butterflies lounge with all their stuff for an excursion, and then eventually ended up leaving and Im assuming getting to the correct place. If you didn’t have faster to the fun or an excursion, then starting at 7:15 you could pick up a sticker to assign you to a tender. I have no idea how many tenders they sent off first thing in the morning, but I saw people with the number 20 wandering around. That doesn’t mean they were on tender 20 though, as I saw people with 3’s on our boat. There wasn’t too much instruction in the butterflies lounge as to what as going on, but there were crew members there that I could has asked if needed. Once all the excursion people were on their way though, so were we. There had been announcements for people to not line up in the stairs waiting for the tenders, but of course they did and had to move out of the way to let our group through.

Boarding the tender itself was fairly easy, even with the swell of the waves. The crew were very helpful in getting people on and off if they needed it. They can pack these things pretty full, but made sure that everyone had a seat ( and thus a life jacket, I’m assuming) before they would take off. The ride was pretty and the day starting to clear and warm up a bit.

Once docked there was a mad rush to get off the tender boat, but basically the island was still pretty empty. We ran into M&S from the Meet and Mingle by the map board and we all pondered a minute how to get to the quiet side. We split up, with my family doubling back by the tender and them continuing around the corner. All roads apparently lead to the beach though, as they showed up a few minutes after us and took chairs nearby. Again, being one of the first groups off has its advantages as we were able to grab a group of chairs by a couple palm trees to get some shade. They had clam shells for rent, to put over two chairs. The price was reasonable, but I didnt think we needed one. Our spot was nicely located near the food, but not too far from the bathrooms or bar either.

After everyone was sunscreened up, we took B down to the water and needless to say he had a blast!

The water was a bit cold at first, but not unbearable. It felt good as the day got hotter! You definitely want water shoes on though as the shoreline is very rocky and will cut up your feet otherwise. We had fun showing B some periwinkles (snails) and hermit crabs we found, and one other little girl was very excited when we pointed out the crabs to her. There were small fish swimming by too that we tried to point out to B, but I dont know if he ever saw.

G and I went snorkeling a bit later in the morning, and the snorkeling was really great! I bought one of those weird new one piece snorkel masks off Amazon, and I have to say it worked great. We saw alot of different fish and found sea biscuits and conch shells to keep. There is a life guard and at one point he and G were chatting about the fish, when we told G to “wait a minute”, went off and got a hot dog from the buffet and then threw it down into the water below him in a rocky area. We were pleased to see a grouper come out and snatch the hotdog pieces as they came floating by. He must hang out there a lot since the lifeguard new about him and was nice of the guard to share that trick with us. I got some good video and photos with my goPro that I will try to share later.

As we were coming back in from snorkeling, something glittering in the sun caught my eye in the shallows. I reached down and picked up a wedding band! I asked around to the people who were nearby and no one had lost it. Looking at it closer I noticed some encrusting on the band from some sort of coral or algae, so it likely had been in there a little while and not from someone on our boat. I turned it in to Carnival guest services on the ship, and hopefully the rightful owner was able to claim it. I was surprised with how shiny it was that no one had found it earlier, but it was probably just uncovered again with the movement of the waves/tide

Once we finished snorkeling, we dried off a bit, grabbed a couple bud light limes from the bar, and had lunch. Lunch was typical cookout foods; burgers, hotdogs, salads, fruits, and some underwhelming desserts. It wasnt bad by any means, but nothing to write home about either. B was getting a bit tired after lunch, as you can see from the photo, so we snuggled him up in a towel to try to get him to nap a bit.

By early afternoon we decided we’d had enough and started making our way back to the tender area. G and I had a quick look through some stalls set up just outside of the private area, and you need to have your sign and sail card to get in and out of there. I ended up buying a license plate, as its the souvenir I get from every country we visit. Getting back on the tender was a little more chaotic as they scanned all of our bags and checked everything at the dock, rather than on the boat. I did see a couple people have conch shells taken away from them, but they looked like they still had an animal in them, where as our conch and sea biscuits were very clearly long dead. Maybe that was the difference? In any case we werent hiding the shells and they definitely saw them.

Once back on board we put B down for a nap for a bit and all just relaxed. While he was napping and G was in the shower, I was standing at the window watching the tender boats come in. I must have been staring pretty hard at one spot, because all of the sudden a girl waved at me. I was momentarily caught off guard, but waved back. Her mother then noticed her waving and must have asked what she was doing, because the girl pointed to my window. I waved at the mom, who waved back. So let this be a warning to anyone who has a 1st floor, mid boat, starboard side window; you are very close to the tender boats and your windows are not tinted.

At 4:15 they were doing a Build A Bear workshop, and I thought it would be fun for B. He was a little late getting up from his nap and still tired, so he wasnt all that enthralled by it at first. He did enjoy the cookie though (yes they had snacks)

He picked out a turtle to make which was really cute. The shell actually comes off like a backpack. For those that are interested in doing this, they have snacks and music, and you simply put your name on a list when you get there. They they call up about 5 kids (or adults!) at a time to make their bear so that the stations don’t get too crowded. There are coloring pages to keep the kids occupied as well while they wait. Its expensive for a stuffed animal, but you are paying for the fun experience really. We opted not to purchase any clothes for our turtle, but he came with a birth certificate as well as a little backpack that B could wear to carry him around. The ships photographer was there to take a photo.

More later on dinner, the show, and the rest of the evening!

[pacruise804]

When I first started typing out this review I switched your initials since you are the one I "knew", but then I had to switch and put M first :)

 

And yes that was Vayla at the LSB finale. Wasnt she adorable? There were some cute and pretty well behaved kids on this cruise

 

Since being on these boards I probably paid more attention to our surroundings, and I agree that the little ones on our cruise were very well behaved. It made me wonder a little about all the complaints I'd read about cruises with kids.

 

We made it to our first port day! We were definitely looking forward to Princess Cays as it was to be our only real beach day. Before we went to bed the previous night, we all made plans to grab an early breakfast on our own and then grab the early tender with our Faster to the Fun.

B, G and I went to the buffet to get breakfast, which was pretty good. French toast, bacon, fruit, and some really good hot chocolate were our go to. Plus we grabbed boxes of cereal for B to snack on later. I like that they still have those little boxes, and the hot chocolate is seriously very good. My parents ordered room service and my dad didnt feel he had enough to fill him up and wished he had gone to the buffet as well.

That hot chocolate is amazing! I love that one pump was only half a cup - it made for a nice splurge without being too much.

Once we finished up breakfast, we packed up the rest of our beach bag (aka double checked what I packed the night before), and watched the tender boats line up. They were right outside our room, so that was exciting for B

Since we had faster to the Fun, that meant we were able to get on a priority tender and be one of the first people off the boat. The night before we received a notice in our room telling us this, and that we should meet in the butterflies lounge at 8 am (I think that was the time) if we wanted to take advantage of it. The notice said that if you had am excursion to disregard, as the excursions would be the first off. However I dont think some people read this as they came to the butterflies lounge with all their stuff for an excursion, and then eventually ended up leaving and Im assuming getting to the correct place. If you didn’t have faster to the fun or an excursion, then starting at 7:15 you could pick up a sticker to assign you to a tender. I have no idea how many tenders they sent off first thing in the morning, but I saw people with the number 20 wandering around. That doesn’t mean they were on tender 20 though, as I saw people with 3’s on our boat. There wasn’t too much instruction in the butterflies lounge as to what as going on, but there were crew members there that I could has asked if needed. Once all the excursion people were on their way though, so were we. There had been announcements for people to not line up in the stairs waiting for the tenders, but of course they did and had to move out of the way to let our group through.

Boarding the tender itself was fairly easy, even with the swell of the waves. The crew were very helpful in getting people on and off if they needed it. They can pack these things pretty full, but made sure that everyone had a seat ( and thus a life jacket, I’m assuming) before they would take off. The ride was pretty and the day starting to clear and warm up a bit.

Once docked there was a mad rush to get off the tender boat, but basically the island was still pretty empty. We ran into M&S from the Meet and Mingle by the map board and we all pondered a minute how to get to the quiet side. We split up, with my family doubling back by the tender and them continuing around the corner. All roads apparently lead to the beach though, as they showed up a few minutes after us and took chairs nearby. Again, being one of the first groups off has its advantages as we were able to grab a group of chairs by a couple palm trees to get some shade. They had clam shells for rent, to put over two chairs. The price was reasonable, but I didnt think we needed one. Our spot was nicely located near the food, but not too far from the bathrooms or bar either.

I thought our area was great - nice amount of shade and very relaxing.

After everyone was sunscreened up, we took B down to the water and needless to say he had a blast!

:hearteyes: Love his enthusiasm!

The water was a bit cold at first, but not unbearable. It felt good as the day got hotter! You definitely want water shoes on though as the shoreline is very rocky and will cut up your feet otherwise. We had fun showing B some periwinkles (snails) and hermit crabs we found, and one other little girl was very excited when we pointed out the crabs to her. There were small fish swimming by too that we tried to point out to B, but I dont know if he ever saw.

G and I went snorkeling a bit later in the morning, and the snorkeling was really great! I bought one of those weird new one piece snorkel masks off Amazon, and I have to say it worked great. We saw alot of different fish and found sea biscuits and conch shells to keep. There is a life guard and at one point he and G were chatting about the fish, when we told G to “wait a minute”, went off and got a hot dog from the buffet and then threw it down into the water below him in a rocky area. We were pleased to see a grouper come out and snatch the hotdog pieces as they came floating by. He must hang out there a lot since the lifeguard new about him and was nice of the guard to share that trick with us. I got some good video and photos with my goPro that I will try to share later.

As we were coming back in from snorkeling, something glittering in the sun caught my eye in the shallows. I reached down and picked up a wedding band! I asked around to the people who were nearby and no one had lost it. Looking at it closer I noticed some encrusting on the band from some sort of coral or algae, so it likely had been in there a little while and not from someone on our boat. I turned it in to Carnival guest services on the ship, and hopefully the rightful owner was able to claim it. I was surprised with how shiny it was that no one had found it earlier, but it was probably just uncovered again with the movement of the waves/tide

Once we finished snorkeling, we dried off a bit, grabbed a couple bud light limes from the bar, and had lunch. Lunch was typical cookout foods; burgers, hotdogs, salads, fruits, and some underwhelming desserts. It wasnt bad by any means, but nothing to write home about either. B was getting a bit tired after lunch, as you can see from the photo, so we snuggled him up in a towel to try to get him to nap a bit.

I think you caught our legs in the background :')It was a perfect day for a nap.

By early afternoon we decided we’d had enough and started making our way back to the tender area. G and I had a quick look through some stalls set up just outside of the private area, and you need to have your sign and sail card to get in and out of there. I ended up buying a license plate, as its the souvenir I get from every country we visit. Getting back on the tender was a little more chaotic as they scanned all of our bags and checked everything at the dock, rather than on the boat. I did see a couple people have conch shells taken away from them, but they looked like they still had an animal in them, where as our conch and sea biscuits were very clearly long dead. Maybe that was the difference? In any case we werent hiding the shells and they definitely saw them.

Once back on board we put B down for a nap for a bit and all just relaxed. While he was napping and G was in the shower, I was standing at the window watching the tender boats come in. I must have been staring pretty hard at one spot, because all of the sudden a girl waved at me. I was momentarily caught off guard, but waved back. Her mother then noticed her waving and must have asked what she was doing, because the girl pointed to my window. I waved at the mom, who waved back. So let this be a warning to anyone who has a 1st floor, mid boat, starboard side window; you are very close to the tender boats and your windows are not tinted.

Good to know!

At 4:15 they were doing a Build A Bear workshop, and I thought it would be fun for B. He was a little late getting up from his nap and still tired, so he wasnt all that enthralled by it at first. He did enjoy the cookie though (yes they had snacks)

He picked out a turtle to make which was really cute. The shell actually comes off like a backpack. For those that are interested in doing this, they have snacks and music, and you simply put your name on a list when you get there. They they call up about 5 kids (or adults!) at a time to make their bear so that the stations don’t get too crowded. There are coloring pages to keep the kids occupied as well while they wait. Its expensive for a stuffed animal, but you are paying for the fun experience really. We opted not to purchase any clothes for our turtle, but he came with a birth certificate as well as a little backpack that B could wear to carry him around. The ships photographer was there to take a photo.

That looks like a good sized turtle - glad he had fun.

More later on dinner, the show, and the rest of the evening!

[weluvcruising9804]

G and I went snorkeling a bit later in the morning, and the snorkeling was really great! I bought one of those weird new one piece snorkel masks off Amazon, and I have to say it worked great. We saw alot of different fish and found sea biscuits and conch shells to keep. There is a life guard and at one point he and G were chatting about the fish, when we told G to “wait a minute”, went off and got a hot dog from the buffet and then threw it down into the water below him in a rocky area. We were pleased to see a grouper come out and snatch the hotdog pieces as they came floating by. He must hang out there a lot since the lifeguard new about him and was nice of the guard to share that trick with us. I got some good video and photos with my goPro that I will try to share later.

At 4:15 they were doing a Build A Bear workshop, and I thought it would be fun for B. He was a little late getting up from his nap and still tired, so he wasnt all that enthralled by it at first. He did enjoy the cookie though (yes they had snacks).

 

He picked out a turtle to make which was really cute. The shell actually comes off like a backpack. For those that are interested in doing this, they have snacks and music, and you simply put your name on a list when you get there. They they call up about 5 kids (or adults!) at a time to make their bear so that the stations don’t get too crowded. There are coloring pages to keep the kids occupied as well while they wait. Its expensive for a stuffed animal, but you are paying for the fun experience really. We opted not to purchase any clothes for our turtle, but he came with a birth certificate as well as a little backpack that B could wear to carry him around. The ships photographer was there to take a photo.

 

Great to hear about the snorkeling. We purchased the Beach Party excursion that comes with snorkel gear and the paddleboat. Which snorkel mask did you purchase from Amazon and what was the price?

Also, how much for the Build a Bear turtle that you purchased for your son? My daughter is much older than your son, but I think she will enjoy it--but for a reasonable price.

[TalesFromTheCrib]

Great to hear about the snorkeling. We purchased the Beach Party excursion that comes with snorkel gear and the paddleboat. Which snorkel mask did you purchase from Amazon and what was the price?

 

 

 

Also, how much for the Build a Bear turtle that you purchased for your son? My daughter is much older than your son, but I think she will enjoy it--but for a reasonable price.

 

 

 

I don’t know if links are allowed or not, but this is the mask I purchased. Snorkel Mask Teal S/M https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01L3FHZQM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apip_t9vFsLVmUC9MQ

 

My parents just went on another cruise and my dad ended up buying the same one as well and was pleased with it. I have a small head and did the P S/M size. P for this brand stands for panoramic, not petite as some people seemed to think. It really was a great, full face panoramic view

 

As for the build a bear I just threw out the receipt last week, but I was to say it was $25. Not horrible but more than for average stuffed animal. Steer clear of the outfits and accessories if you can, as those are what really drive up the price

 

 

 

 

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