We made the decision last year that we were going to take a family cruise. Sam and I have cruised in the past, my parents cruise often but we have never gone as a family. We wanted to make the memories with the kids before my dad progressed with his Alzheimers. We chose to go with Carnival cruise line for many reasons, but especially their pricing! When we found the Carnival Vista we were hooked!

With Sam being in the Army, he usually misses the small family trips we take, so this was his first REAL vacation in almost 6 years! And in case you wanted to add anxiety to my already anxious personality.. we didn’t find out until days beforehand that he could get his leave approved by the Army to go! ah! Thankfully it worked out though, and we took a quick very long road trip to Galveston, TX. We packed four adults, and four kids in our Suburban with all of our luggage (and a luggage tray on the back) but it was definitely a trip.

Once we made it to Galveston, we had an AIRBNB that was right off of the ocean (gulf, or whatever you want to call it, Miss specific) and the kids had a blast! We hadn’t even made it to the ship and they were already having an amazing time. My brother and sister who live in NY flew into Houston the day before the ship left and we got to take the kids down to the water and let them find some seashells. It was rainy, damp and freezing but the kids didn’t let that stop them!

We left our AIRBNB house and went to the port to board the ship on Super Bowl Sunday so it made it a little more hectic, but we didn’t mind! The rooms we had were called Family Harbor rooms, which made cruising a little easier with the kids! They were so excited to see our balcony, the open room with the two bed areas and our walk in closet. One of their favorite parts of the family harbor rooms is the exclusive lounge on the floor which is full of snacks, board games and hang out areas!