NCconnection: Cruise Review

Hey everyone!
I just wanted to recap our little 3-day cruise that we went on. We rode the Carnival Paradise out of Long Beach to Ensenada(Mexico) and back. Unfortunately, we picked the stormiest weekend of the past year to go. The first couple days out at sea were pretty rocky. Joyce got really seasick. I could feel it, but never got sick.

Well, as you would expect, there was non-stop eating. As soon as we boarded the ship(around 2PM) there was a buffet waiting for us. There was a 24 hour pizzeria, fancy restaurants, buffets, grills, anything you can imagine. And despite hitting the gym each day on board, I'm sure we both put on a few pounds.

There were jacuzzis, pools, mini-golf, a casino, shopping, live shows, and several nightclubs. Poor Josh wanted to jump into every pool and jacuzzi he saw, but it was too cold. I did try the slide once, but had to run straight into the jacuzzi after hitting the water.

I also played poker one night, winning enough money to cover all our tips. :)

Josh loved seeing the ocean and the birds. We pretty much had a great view whenever we ate. Josh was always pressing up against the windows or trying to run for the doors. :)

Our room was small but had everything we needed. Our stewards were so nice and even helped tape up a bedsheet so that Josh couldn't see us from his crib. We're used to sleeping in our own rooms at home, so we figured we had to create the illusion of separate spaces. At night, we would basically put him down, wait outside the room until he was asleep, and then go eat a nice dinner in the formal restaurant. Are we horrible parents for leaving him alone in the room?

We got the idea from other parents who also did the same thing. We figured once he's asleep, he's pretty much out until the morning.

The dinners were amazing, lobster, steaks, fancy appetizers that I couldn't even spell. For $200/person the food alone was worth the price of the trip. The buffet food was hit and miss, but I did enjoy the frozen yogurt about 5 times a day. And Joyce couldn't stay away from the hot pizza for more than a couple hours.

All in all, it was a fun time. I have to scratch my travel itch every once in a while and it was Joyce and Josh's first cruise. We'll probably go again with our parents in a couple years. It'll really be sweet once the kids are old enough for kids' club(starts at 2yo).