What is better for a first time Carnival cruiser?

[skrufy]

2 hours ago, Beardface said:

She'd be 3 to 3 and a half by the time we went.  Wanted to get past the 2s before we took her on a vacation just so we could somewhat reason and bargain with her in public to avoid complete meltdowns, which is why we didn't bring her on our MSC cruise in February.

 

As for the itineraries, the ones we are looking at are all essentially trips to the Bahamas and back.  Don't really want to go too crazy with an itinerary with a 3-4 year old, we'll save that for when she's a little older.

 

And I should probably mention that while it looks like we can book any of the other 3 pretty much year round, the Magic only sails out of Norfolk in late Sept/Oct.  Given hurricane season, especially around here, I'm a little hesitant there.

The Pride and Legend are both Spirit class ships and are the older and smaller ships. Many cruisers like the smaller ships including myself. The Sunshine and Magic are newer ships, although the Sunshine is a conquest class ship redone. Have sailed on both Sunshine and Legend, enjoyed both. I don’t think you can go wrong on any of them for a short cruise to the Bahamas. I too would choose the one closest to you. The one advantage to cruising in the fall months is the cost is much lower than the summer months. Keep in mind if you choose the late fall to early spring the Bahamas are in the Atlantic and can have cool weather. The Carnival kids clubs are really good, don’t hesitate to use them. 
 

[firefly333]

15 minutes ago, skrufy said:

The Sunshine and Magic are newer ships, although the Sunshine is a conquest class ship redone. 
 

Carnival Sunshine (formerly Carnival Destiny) is a cruise ship operated by Carnival Cruise Line. Upon entering service in 1996, she was the first passenger ship ever built to be over 100,000 gross tons.^[5] 

 

Sunshine wasnt even a conquest class, like triumph class.. just took a class many didnt like and put in extra cabins on a ship smaller than conquest.. but the upgrades are nice for kids.

[skrufy]

6 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Carnival Sunshine (formerly Carnival Destiny) is a cruise ship operated by Carnival Cruise Line. Upon entering service in 1996, she was the first passenger ship ever built to be over 100,000 gross tons.^[5] 

 

Sunshine wasnt even a conquest class, like triumph class.. just took a class many didnt like and put in extra cabins on a ship smaller than conquest.. but the upgrades are nice for kids.

Thanks for the correction firefly333. 

[firefly333]

Just now, skrufy said:

Thanks for the correction firefly333. 

Sorry I'm showing my age that I remember when it was done. 😞

[lazydayz]

3 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

Based on your child’s age, I would recommend Pride or Legend. Both of these are Spirit class ships, which are very well designed and are the least crowded ships in Carnival’s fleet based on my experience. If your child was a little older I would have recommended Magic since there are a lot more activities for kids to enjoy. 

 

I agree with this.  For older kids, the Magic.  But for a three year old, I would take the Legend. 

[angelsfort]

my daughter was 3 when she went on her first cruise.  She absolutely had a blast in the kids club and she participated in the Talent Show too (sang a song from the Little mermaid, I think).  they also had a build-a-bear on our ship, so she got to do that as well.   She became best friends with the Head Waiter in the main dining room and because of that we got a lot of special treatment at dinner!  (my daughter was always very outgoing and caring... she would hug anyone and her smile could melt anyone!  She's 17 now and still has that affect with her smile 🙂  I tell her to use her powers wisely!)

 

I made sure that she was potty trained before we left on the cruise (like, REALLY potty trained) so there would be no issues with going in the pools or the kiddie play areas.

 

we picked excursions that had things she'd enjoy too...  Nassau (if you go there) has the Ardastra Zoo and Gardens which is fun and any "beach day" excursion was always a hit with her too (she loved to play in the sand and jump in the waves with us)

 

one of the beach excursions we went on, they had an egg toss game and she got to participate (her team-mate was another little girl about her age...  so as you can imagine, their egg tossing was a bit off base! LOL  they were real eggs, so it was a bit messy too!)

 

We also brought a small camera for her to use to take whatever pictures she wanted (it was digital, and we had extra memory cards - so the sky really was the limit for her) and she had a BLAST taking pictures of things that she deemed worthy (including everyone traveling with us LOL).  Some of our best memories are captured in the photos that SHE took - they are from her angle, so they're pretty cool too.  There were also a few "what in the heck is that?!" pictures  LOL (I think that one of them is a very close up shot of her nostrils... not 100% sure though)  Just make sure that there's a strap on the camera and she knows NOT to take it off the strap.  (it would be terrible if she set it down somewhere and forgot to pick it back up again!)

[crusinpsychRN]

On 4/28/2020 at 1:06 PM, firefly333 said:

5 is good for a newbie. We did a 5 first time I took my sister with epilepsy to see how she did. She loved it. 

 

tbh when I book a 5 now, I try and pair it with another leg. I got a 5/4 booked next april 2021.

 

You can make 5 feel longer, get a hotel at the beach if there is one, go sooner and visit with relatives.

 

Great idea!