Holy moly! We cruised for Christmas! And let me tell you what… it was everything we dreamed it would be! But.. I feel like I should go back? Or make this a 2 or 3 part? Maybe not.. where to start?
First.. when we planned this trip in May, my Husband didn’t have plans of deploying to Colombia. 🇨🇴 So, when he got the word, I was so sad! Christmas is our favorite holiday! But! Things worked out perfectly and the stars aligned and with enough prayers, we were able to buy him a flight home and surprise the kids! The kids didn’t know about the cruise until right before we left and they didn’t find out he was home until they sat on Santa’s lap 😉
here is our video of the kids finding out about their surprise (they thought Sam was missing the cruise) – http://📸 Look at this post on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/share/r/5Uu19ja5mrJsHyxu/?mibextid=QRhQuG
and here is a few pictures of the kids seeing “Santa” aka Daddy when he came home from Colombia ->
On 12/22/23 we left for New Orleans and on 12/23/23 we boarded the Carnival Glory! It was bigger than the last few ships we had been on (Carnival Elation and Carnival Ecstasy) but not too huge. We had watched a few YouTube videos about the ship so we had an idea about the layout. Our kids were excited for Camp Ocean and the arcade haha! The process to board in New Orleans is pretty simple. We had a check in time of 10-10:30 (which I prefer). My mom is Platinum so she was a boarding zone right ahead of us but we were about 5 minutes behind her. I *DID* stay up until 12:01am to check in for anyone who is cruising soon and wants a “good” boarding time/zone. We chose not to park right at the port but down the street a little at a garage called “Fulton place” to save a little money. They do have a shuttle so the guys dropped us off with the bags at the terminal and went and parked then shuttled back.
Once we boarded the ship we took our bags to our rooms and headed to the Lido for pizza and ice cream! Now lets talk about what Christmas was like on the ship..
Leading up to the trip, I was very worried about how our 4 children would handle Christmas being away from home. Normally, at home, we tend to go above and beyond with gifts and it gets a little overwhelming honestly. Santa brought a stocking for each child and one gift each. (Andrew- Apple watch, Genevieve-high top Nikes, Daryl-Ozobot, Charlie-Reborn doll). They were then given a Dolphin swim experience for the next day at our first port at Costa Maya, Mexico by the Grandparents. Like I said, I was worried, and in my head I thought that somehow it wasn’t “enough”.. but..
I had Andrew look at me and say “this is the BEST. CHRISTMAS. EVER!” as we were sitting under the lobby tree in the quiet morning before everyone else woke up. It was so fulfilling. So full of love. And everything we could have asked for.
Now… lets talk about ship details!
The ship was fully decorated for Christmas, with Christmas music playing and there was even a Holiday service on Christmas morning. The Kids were able to practice a song/dance for the Christmas Program on Christmas night. The playlist cast sang and danced for us then the kids came out at the end.. so sweet!
The Carnival Glory has multiple pools/hot tubs, a dive in movie theatre aka a movie theatre next to the pool (imagine watching The Grinch in the pool!) a pickleball court, basketball court, jogging track, mini golf, library and arcade. For the adults they have a full casino, multiple bars, sports bar, and comedy club! Lets chat about food.. they offer everything from the buffet at the Lido, Guy’s burger joint, Mexican cantina, Emerald’s steakhouse, seafood, a deli, Pizza pirate and the Main Dining Room. We chose to eat dinner at “my time dining” around 5:30-6pm every night in the main dining room. For breakfast and lunch we normally would eat off the buffet at the Lido or grab some pizza. Of course we had to follow it with an ice cream cone!
We did an 8 day cruise out of New Orleans from 12/23/23-12/31/23 to 4 ports. Our itinerary was:
12/23- leave 12/24-Fun day at sea 12/25- fun day at sea 12/26-Costa Maya, Mexico 12/27- Mahogany Bay, Honduras 12/28-Belize 12/29-Cozumel, Mexico 12/30-Fun day at sea 12/31-return
We had an interior room on deck 2, mid ship and loved it! We decorated our doors so it was easier to find our room and also brought a 4′ mini tree and stockings to decorate our room! yay for 3M hooks! We had a room that had drop down beds and if we had to do it again, we would choose to separate our bed like my parents did. It gave a lot more floor space! We packed the red fuzzy blanket in a space bag to add to the Christmas vibe! The main tip with an interior.. you have to stay tidy at ALL TIMES! It can become chaos in a second. Also, the second we had access to our rooms I let Sam take the kids to the pool on the lido deck and I fully unpacked and decorated. It gave me a few mommy minutes to just breathe! I had already pulled their bathing suits out that morning so it was easy for them to change.
Ferdinand the Elf came with us!
A few tips..
- bring a power strip – theres usually only one outlet in the room
- 3M hooks
- over the door shoe holder
- magnetic clips to hold things
- always pack an “ailment bag” aka tylenol/pepto/cough syrup etc
- bring wrinkle release spray
- pre-pay for internet and photos (you’ll save money)
- speaking of saving money- buy carnival gift cards through AARP for a discount
- once you get on the ship you can load the gift card onto your account as cruise cash
- if you plan on cruising again in the future, play in the casino even just a little and make sure your card is inserted. you will get offers for discounts, on board credit possibly and drinks on us!
- bring a lanyard (I prefer a nicer necklace looking one from my Paparazzi dealer.
I’ll share some more moments from our trip…
Long story short…. we would do it again in a heart beat.
I’m sure I missed a ton, and there’s a lot to tell… let me know how I can help you find your family a great trip! Helping is my favorite thing to do!
