Cruising on Easter with Carnival - What to expect?

[Liverpoollovely]

I have sailed Carnival during many holidays/ celebrations like:  Halloween, Thanksgiving, St Patricks Day, Cinco De Mayo, Dia de los muertos, and even Earth Day.

 

But we have never sailed during Easter ...

 

• Do Carnival do anything to celebrate or acknowledge this holiday?
• If you have sailed during Easter what was this like? 

 

I look forward to your responses and if you have any reviews to share I would love to read these also 🙂 

[shof515]

Easter
When:  March 31, 2024 | April 20, 2025
Activities for guests of all ages and some specific for children and their families will take place on Easter Sunday.

    Family Easter Hop N’ Stop Hunt
    Family Hidden Egg Hunt
    Easter Egg-stravaganza Bingo
    Easter Traditions Trivia
    Themed Youth Activities
    Non-denominational Easter Service (excluding those ships in their home port on Sunday)

 

[ninjacat123]

I would expect more kids because Easter can be the start or end of a school's spring break. I have cruised over Thanksgiving eight times (I think) and even though it's heavy on the kids, I have had a good time.  The adults this last Thanksgiving cruise, not so much.  Fortunately we cruised over Martin Luther King Day which is the third Monday of January (a Federal Holiday that Americans get off of work usually) and the adults were much better behaved.  I hope you have a wonderful cruise!

Edited January 30 by ninjacat123

[WhiteOptima]

19 minutes ago, shof515 said:

Easter
When:  March 31, 2024 | April 20, 2025
Activities for guests of all ages and some specific for children and their families will take place on Easter Sunday.

    Family Easter Hop N’ Stop Hunt
    Family Hidden Egg Hunt
    Easter Egg-stravaganza Bingo
    Easter Traditions Trivia
    Themed Youth Activities
    Non-denominational Easter Service (excluding those ships in their home port on Sunday)

 

This👆🏻.  We cruised on Celebration last year and Easter was embarkation day.  We ate at Rudi’s that night so not sure about menu in MDR but they did do the Easter egg hunts.  And yes to a lot of kids!  The bulk were of course teenagers left on their own playing on the elevators, running down the halls and taking ridiculous amounts of food in the buffet and leaving piles of it on the tables.

[Crusin Karen]

I am too (Venezia) had no

idea it was over Easter when I booked so kind of bummed. We’ll be in San Juan Easter Sunday and was worried they would not have any excursions but they do and  I booked one. I bet they’ll have at least an Easter dessert theme! Coconut bunny cakes?!? 

[kwokpot]

Easter is a terrible time to cruise if you're looking to avoid crowds and families with kids. It's probably the worst time to cruise during the Spring months in the US, even worse than the dreaded College/University Spring Break weeks. There will be kids everywhere on the ship, everywhere. 

Edited January 31 by kwokpot

[Crusin Karen]

54 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

Easter is a terrible time to cruise if you're looking to avoid crowds and families with kids. It's probably the worst time to cruise during the Spring months in the US, even worse than the dreaded College/University Spring Break weeks. There will be kids everywhere on the ship, everywhere. 

Yep-I’m sure. Wish I had checked calendar before I booked. Didn’t think Easter would be so early this year. Oh well-I believe

in “fate” so you never know-might be my best cruise yet! I have 8 young grands (whom I’m goung to miss seeing on Easter 😣) so I’m pretty much bullet proof!!! 🫣🤞

[Liverpoollovely]

18 hours ago, shof515 said:

Easter
When:  March 31, 2024 | April 20, 2025
Activities for guests of all ages and some specific for children and their families will take place on Easter Sunday.

    Family Easter Hop N’ Stop Hunt
    Family Hidden Egg Hunt
    Easter Egg-stravaganza Bingo
    Easter Traditions Trivia
    Themed Youth Activities
    Non-denominational Easter Service (excluding those ships in their home port on Sunday)

 

 

Thank you, looks like a lot of family fun to be had 🙂

[Liverpoollovely]

19 hours ago, ninjacat123 said:

I would expect more kids because Easter can be the start or end of a school's spring break. I have cruised over Thanksgiving eight times (I think) and even though it's heavy on the kids, I have had a good time.  The adults this last Thanksgiving cruise, not so much.  Fortunately we cruised over Martin Luther King Day which is the third Monday of January (a Federal Holiday that Americans get off of work usually) and the adults were much better behaved.  I hope you have a wonderful cruise!

Thank you, I am looking forward to it, ten days of not cooking, cleaning, being on a beautiful ship with my family. I am sure I will have a good time regardless. 

 

19 hours ago, WhiteOptima said:

This👆🏻.  We cruised on Celebration last year and Easter was embarkation day.  We ate at Rudi’s that night so not sure about menu in MDR but they did do the Easter egg hunts.  And yes to a lot of kids!  The bulk were of course teenagers left on their own playing on the elevators, running down the halls and taking ridiculous amounts of food in the buffet and leaving piles of it on the tables.

Perfect thank you, I have Steakhouse booked for Easter Sunday. I will be aware of a busy ship for this sailing 🙂 

 

5 hours ago, Crusin Karen said:

I am too (Venezia) had no

idea it was over Easter when I booked so kind of bummed. We’ll be in San Juan Easter Sunday and was worried they would not have any excursions but they do and  I booked one. I bet they’ll have at least an Easter dessert theme! Coconut bunny cakes?!? 

Hi Karen, I have not booked anything for San Juan, But excited to see if there is anything on offer or open when we get into San Juan. Coconut anything sounds delicious! 

 

2 hours ago, kwokpot said:

Easter is a terrible time to cruise if you're looking to avoid crowds and families with kids. It's probably the worst time to cruise during the Spring months in the US, even worse than the dreaded College/University Spring Break weeks. There will be kids everywhere on the ship, everywhere. 

thank you 🙂 I am sure my family and I will have a great time regardless of crowds. 

 

1 hour ago, Crusin Karen said:

Yep-I’m sure. Wish I had checked calendar before I booked. Didn’t think Easter would be so early this year. Oh well-I believe

in “fate” so you never know-might be my best cruise yet! I have 8 young grands (whom I’m goung to miss seeing on Easter 😣) so I’m pretty much bullet proof!!! 🫣🤞

Yes Karen I believe in Fate, I am sure you will have an amazing cruise, and I intend on doing so with my family too 😄 

[Crusin Karen]

Liverpool lovey, we will be on the same cruise! This will be my 3rd time on Venezia. If you need any info let me know! 

[ChuckF]

Wife and I were on the Magic on Easter 2023.  Without kids, so all of those kids activities had no appeal to us, but were excited to see that they offered a non-denominational Easter service. Unfortunately, it was led by one of the Fun Squad members who apparently had never heard the Easter story. She was reading scripture from Matthew and could not pronounce any of the names or places that those of us who have heard that story over and over.  It was very sad. On the bright side, one of the Playlist performers sang a beautiful hymn, and a little girl from the audience said an amazing prayer. It's just sad that they assigned this activity just like any other Fun Squad activity rather than assigning it to someone who knew and cherished the story. 

[Haljo1935]

1 hour ago, ChuckF said:

Wife and I were on the Magic on Easter 2023.  Without kids, so all of those kids activities had no appeal to us, but were excited to see that they offered a non-denominational Easter service. Unfortunately, it was led by one of the Fun Squad members who apparently had never heard the Easter story. She was reading scripture from Matthew and could not pronounce any of the names or places that those of us who have heard that story over and over.  It was very sad. On the bright side, one of the Playlist performers sang a beautiful hymn, and a little girl from the audience said an amazing prayer. It's just sad that they assigned this activity just like any other Fun Squad activity rather than assigning it to someone who knew and cherished the story. 

Very nice the little girl was allowed to say the prayer and the Playlist performer singer. Unfortunate about the service itself. I hope you included that in your post-cruise survey.

[Liverpoollovely]

15 hours ago, Crusin Karen said:

Liverpool lovey, we will be on the same cruise! This will be my 3rd time on Venezia. If you need any info let me know! 

 

woohoo that is fantastic! oh wow so you must really like the ship, this will be my second time I do enjoy her layout. Do you know who will be the cruise director? last time I was on it was Joey Boyes.

[Liverpoollovely]

14 hours ago, ChuckF said:

Wife and I were on the Magic on Easter 2023.  Without kids, so all of those kids activities had no appeal to us, but were excited to see that they offered a non-denominational Easter service. Unfortunately, it was led by one of the Fun Squad members who apparently had never heard the Easter story. She was reading scripture from Matthew and could not pronounce any of the names or places that those of us who have heard that story over and over.  It was very sad. On the bright side, one of the Playlist performers sang a beautiful hymn, and a little girl from the audience said an amazing prayer. It's just sad that they assigned this activity just like any other Fun Squad activity rather than assigning it to someone who knew and cherished the story. 

 

we don't have children on board with us for this Easter cruise, it might be nice to attend a non denominational service for Easter. I think it was kind that the fun squad member offered to be apart of a special Easter non denominational service, I would be very supportive of anyone who put themselves forward like that, not everyone shares the same beliefs. I must say though I am very excited thank you for sharing your experience. 

 

 

[Davechipp74]

A Carnival cruise with Spring Breakers + all the extra small children because of Easter recess 😯

I wouldn't take that cruise if someone else paid for it.   

[Liverpoollovely]

2 minutes ago, Davechipp74 said:

A Carnival cruise with Spring Breakers + all the extra small children because of Easter recess 😯

I wouldn't take that cruise if someone else paid for it.   

haha thank you for sharing your opinion, I am sure it will be a different cruise 🙂 I am still looking forward to the possible chaos 😄 

[Crusin Karen]

4 hours ago, Liverpoollovely said:

 

woohoo that is fantastic! oh wow so you must really like the ship, this will be my second time I do enjoy her layout. Do you know who will be the cruise director? last time I was on it was Joey Boyes.

1/6-1/14 was Marq Anthony. I don’t pay much attention to CD’s but he was very good ! Not sure what his schedule is. 

[Crusin Karen]

2 hours ago, Davechipp74 said:

A Carnival cruise with Spring Breakers + all the extra small children because of Easter recess 😯

I wouldn't take that cruise if someone else paid for it.   

Our very first cruise was the celebrity horizon in 1992. It was a PBA chartered cruise with our town and neighboring town PBA. Our next cruise was during SPRING  BREAK 1998 with our 2 young sons. Oh yes, I remember kids and college students with their beer funnels! 🙄🫣 As you can see from my signature we survived  that first spring break cruise and it was the beginning of a love affair with cruising. I may not have picked this week if I knew ahead of time, but there is no doubt in my mind it will be another wonderful and memorable cruise. Our sons are now grown with families of their own and sadly my husband is no longer with us so I’ve cruised solo my past 3 cruises. But I am as excited about this cruise as I was for my first! Looking forward to coconut Easter bunny cakes! My Easter bonnet is already packed! 👏🌷🐇 

[Crusin Karen]

3 hours ago, Liverpoollovely said:

haha thank you for sharing your opinion, I am sure it will be a different cruise 🙂 I am still looking forward to the possible chaos 😄 

I googled. Jaky Tang is CD that week. Marq will be on vacation 😣 I’m sure he/she (?lol) will be great! 

[dlphn501]

I will be cruising over Easter with my hellacious kids 🤣

Haha, just kidding; I raised them right 🙂  

I thought there might be a ton of other spring breakers at that time, but when you have kids, you tend to notice the other ones a lot less.  We can ONLY cruise when school is out and the ships are loaded with kids, so we don't know any differently.  And totally agree with the no responsibility (to a point) - no cooking, cleaning, etc, for a week!

[Liverpoollovely]

20 hours ago, Crusin Karen said:

Our very first cruise was the celebrity horizon in 1992. It was a PBA chartered cruise with our town and neighboring town PBA. Our next cruise was during SPRING  BREAK 1998 with our 2 young sons. Oh yes, I remember kids and college students with their beer funnels! 🙄🫣 As you can see from my signature we survived  that first spring break cruise and it was the beginning of a love affair with cruising. I may not have picked this week if I knew ahead of time, but there is no doubt in my mind it will be another wonderful and memorable cruise. Our sons are now grown with families of their own and sadly my husband is no longer with us so I’ve cruised solo my past 3 cruises. But I am as excited about this cruise as I was for my first! Looking forward to coconut Easter bunny cakes! My Easter bonnet is already packed! 👏🌷🐇 

 

No doubt in my mind me and my family will have fun regardless! Sorry for your loss of your husband, my sister and I have brought my dad on board with us since 2012 since our mum passed away, my dad is 84 years old and loves cruising. I have never had a coconut Easter bunny cake so I am all about trying that 🙂 

 

20 hours ago, Crusin Karen said:

I googled. Jaky Tang is CD that week. Marq will be on vacation 😣 I’m sure he/she (?lol) will be great! 

 

Ohh looking forward to Jaky, I have never sailed with him, I love MarQ remember sailing with him when he was a cruise director and when he was fun squad he is a cool person. 

 

16 hours ago, dlphn501 said:

I will be cruising over Easter with my hellacious kids 🤣

Haha, just kidding; I raised them right 🙂  

I thought there might be a ton of other spring breakers at that time, but when you have kids, you tend to notice the other ones a lot less.  We can ONLY cruise when school is out and the ships are loaded with kids, so we don't know any differently.  And totally agree with the no responsibility (to a point) - no cooking, cleaning, etc, for a week!

 

perfect, will you be on the Venezia or another ship? I hope you have an amazing Easter cruise, I don't think children = chaos ... sometimes adults can just be as chaotic 😄 and cruising with a large amount of children is a bad thing, I like Carnival for its family friendly 🙂 

[geovet]

There are a couple of Catholic Churches in San Juan walking distance from port if your looking for a mass on Sunday.

 

 

[dlphn501]

5 hours ago, Liverpoollovely said:

will you be on the Venezia or another ship?

 

Horizon!  We've been looking forward to this for almost 400 days!!

[VentureMan_2000]

I'm bringing a newspaper that I can wad up and shake at the kids...   🤣

[Crusin Karen]

There are always a few “bad apples” no matter what age! I think for kids and teens it’s kind of the excitement of being on this beautiful ship, having freedom to do what they want, eat what they want, etc. they don’t mean to be troublesome. Two of the lessons I’d like to tell kids is: when the elevator door opens, wait until people get off before you barge on. And DON’T RUN! How many times I’ve carried a plate of food, a cup of coffee or a drink I paid $16 for and don’t want a drop spilled and wasted  lol and have had to move to the side of the walkway so as not to be tackled! Be the kid or teen someone recalls being courteous or kind when they talk about their cruise.  Then we’ll both have a good memory of a small passing moment.