This Spring break, my parents-in-law took us on a Carnival cruise. It was a wonderful experience. I would like to share my personal experience of cruise and tips for taking a baby together. Some people like cruising, and some don’t. For me, this cruise reminds the old days when I lived in downtown apartment which was convenient, fun, and close to everywhere but the living space was limited.
. (information updated as of 03/24/2024)
Mardi Gras is the second newest and largest ship, with a capacity of 6500 passengers as of March 2024. It offers diversified entertainment and food. They have water slides, roller coasters, pools, shows, classes, casinos, spas, specialty restaurants, and shopping.
 | | Roller Coaster and Water Slides |
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 | | Grand Central Stage, selecting King and Queen |
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 | | The ultimate pools |
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 | Cooking Class (very popular)
sold out 3 months before the cruise date |
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| Voodoo Moon |
There are always things to do on the cruise, even get off the ship. We were continually busy. There are magic shows, comedy shows, games, and parties. They hosted good shows; one of our favorite shows is Voodoo Moon. It is a 45-minute musical. I enjoyed the scenery, costumes, sight gags, and dance. The singing was tremendous and absorbing. Surprisingly, our baby sat still and stayed quietly during the show. Also, the show was hosted in the open theater, so you can leave anytime you are not sitting in the front seats.
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| We saw Atlantis Resorts during the boat trip. |
This cruise line went to three ports: Nassau, Amber Cover, and Grand Turks. We choose different excursions in these three ports: the glass button boat in Nassau, waterfall hiking in Amber Cove, snorkeling, and watching stingrays in Grand Turks. Long story short, all the excursions we participated in were fun.
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| Snorkeling in Nassau |
We purchased a glass button boat trip, a stingrays-watching trip from Carnival, and waterfall hiking from Viator. Don't forget to use Rakuten to get 10% cash back; the promotion might change. (We forgot to use the promotion although.) The pros of purchasing outside the cruise company are that you can save more (it was $50 lower) and jump into the waterfall (the cruise company won’t allow you to do that due to the insurance liability). The cons are that you might miss the cruise, and you will need to walk all the way to leave the port and go to the pickup location. The walk was approximately 30 minutes for me.
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 | | Pricing of water equipment rental in Amber Cove |
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There are pools (free access) and other water equipment available to rent in Amber Cover.
Overall, grand Turks are my favorite beach. The water is so clear, and the white sand is so soft. The beaches are everywhere, so they are beautiful and not too crowded.
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| Grand Turk Beach |
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| One of the rooms in the Kids' Club |
Carnival Cruise provides baby crib and distilled water upon request and free of charge. However, we would have to independently prepare the diapers, formula, wipes, and baby food. (
See Carnival Infatn policy)They also have a daycare service, around $8 per hour (free for kids above certain ages). We never use the service but talked to the kids' club front desk to get the details. So once you register your child under a certain age, they will give you a phone to contact you in an emergency. The kids' club looks really lovely. We took some pictures before the club officially opened. My niece and nephew had fun at the kids club and made friends.
The food is excellent, with wide selections. We can also get food for our baby; for example, they can provide steamed white rice, steamed vegetables, and fresh fruits upon request. During breakfast, I either went to Palm restaurant to get my smoked salmon broken egg sandwich or to the buffet area on the 16 floor, which has a hot breakfast. When mentioning lunch, my go-to places are Big Chicken (fried chicken)and Chibang (Chinese and Mexican). As for dinner, we always go to Palm restaurant, except for the first night when we went to Pigs and Anchor(BBQ). Last night, we had beef brisket, salmon, and Lobster as entrees and baked Alaska as dessert. My favorite dish is BBQ salmon. The Palm restaurant has vegetarian and gluten-free menus too. Last but not least, only some of you can style restaurants anymore; they will charge you $5 for the third or more of each entree. I also cruised with Royal Caribbean in 2022; I prefer their food to Carnival. For example, Carnival served us only a slice of baked Alaska and already glazed the meringue. Royal Caribbean served us a whole baked Alaska and toasted meringue with a torch in front of us; I was amazed by this beautiful show and dessert.
Lido (buffet area) and Palm restaurant have some baby-friendly options for our baby. Our 6.5-month-old baby had fried eggs, omelets, bananas, grits, salmon, steamed white rice, vegetables, and vegetable soup. I smashed the food, spoon-fed my baby, and gave her small pieces on the higher chair for her to practice eating independently.
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 | | Baby sat on high chair |
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 | | Lido (Buffet Area) |
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The service is generally excellent, and everyone is accommodating and proactive. Our head waiter remembers our names and what we need and provides them very quickly. For instance, I was feeling under the weather, so I asked for hot water for tea for one dinner; he gave me a pot of hot water for the next dinner and the following dinner. Additionally, he shared some of his personal stories with us. He is from Indonesia, and as a crew member, he can take 4 hours off every week. Our stew is also accommodating; they always put cute towel animals on our bed. One of the towel animals was a sea lion, and our daughter happily played (destroyed) with it.
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| Baby played with Towel Sea Lion. |
As for the rooms, there are different room types- suites, rooms with balconies, and rooms with windows interior. The interior is so small that you can only open one suitcase, and there is no more space to walk. But, if you plan to be busy and enjoy all the fun activities, the room size won’t matter. If you like the luxurious resort, their Havana suite is the right choice. The 8th-floor suites have spacious rooms, a balcony, and exclusive access to Havana lunge and glass infinity pool. The following article will introduce transportation, other baby cruising ideas, and some fun facts about diamond members.
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| Havana exclusive pool |
