cruisin' in 2026

As I said in that intro - cruises are great for our family. I love being on a boat in the ocean. I love the gentle (and sometimes not so gentle) rocking. I love staring into the vastness of the sea. There’s a song by Appleseed Cast that captures it really well called Poseidon:

I always know where i am
By the way the road looks
The sea brings me back to you

The music captures the swell of the waves and the ache of the vastness and the lyrics just seal it all: the sea brings me back to you. While I havene’t been able to play it much (my family aren’t Appleseed Cast fans), I’ve had this song running through my being the past week because we’ve been “lost” at sea, cruising.

A couple of months ago we decided we needed a vacation, checked in with a local travel agent and ended up with an awesome deal on a 5-nighter out of Jacksonville on Carnival’s smallest boat.

pre cruise shenanigans

We headed to Florida a couple of days early with the plan to go to the Jacksonville zoo the day before the cruise. It was a long drive and we were met that day with our only issue: when we got to our hotel (a Springhill Suites) we were told they didn’t have any hot water and wouldn’t until several days after we were checking out. That was a bummer but we made it work. We only had two nights and we got creative (baths where we filled up metal water bottles with piping hot water from the tea station). The cruise was imminent and we were going to make the best of it.

First stop though was the Jacksonville zoo and it was so much fun. The zoo was great - it doubled as a conservatory so had lots of interesting things to see and read about animal and environmental preservation. My favorite “exhibit” was the tigers. They were incredible to see (I love big cats).

We also found a pickle factory that I got roped in to stopping out because my family (not me) loves pickles. I didn’t really understand it but they did so it was a win in that regard. My wife and kids visited the beach as well but I passed (I dislike sand a lot). 

the cruise

We sailed 5 nights and had a blast. There was something for everyone to do. My 13yo daughter made fast friends with some fellow teens in the teen club and spent a lot of time hanging out (this was a big win - we weren’t sure how she’d do). They had crafts, got to perform with the professional singers and dancers in a production on the final night, had a prom, roamed the ship in a pack, and generally just had tons of fun. My 10yo was a bit more hesitant about the kids club for his age but ended up finding things to do and enjoyed it as well. It also worked out that he was old enough to check himself in and out so when he got tired at night he could leave and put himself to bed (which mom and dad could stay out late!). 

the food 

We went on Carnival and were surprised at how good the food was, in particular because I’m allergic to gluten (for real - I get sick if I have it) and my daughter is vegetarian. In the main dining room they had a full gluten free menu, a full vegetarian menu and a full vegan menu that changed daily with quality dishes. We’ve done Royal Caribbean in the past and I mostly had the same 3 options every night; not so with Carnival. 

A buffet, deli, pizzeria, taco place and “Guys Burger Joint” were also included in the price. The buffet was crowded and cramped and we mostly avoided it. The deli was OK. My daughter loved the vegetarian tacos from the taco joint and the burger joint had good burgers (with gluten free buns on request!) but the standout (for me) was the pizzeria. Honestly it was some of the best gluten free pizza I’ve had. They used what seemed like a yeast dough so it had some air and lightness (most GF pizza crust is like a hard stale cracker) to it and made the pie fresh on request. It was so good. 

highlights

ports

We weren’t planning to do any excursions but on board got a voucher where one of us would be free on a boat excursion on a small boat with a glass bottom floor over the island’s reef. It was tons of fun and the reef was beautiful. The driver and guide shared all about the lifecycle of coral and the reef and it’s importance in the life of the Bahamas. The stand out creature we saw was a baby sea turtle swimming under the boat. That whole experience was a highlight.

piano bar

The piano bar was also a highlight. The player was not the best player or singer I’ve heard in a piano bar but he was probably the best at working the crowd and getting them involved which made it so much fun. He made my wife do air guitar on her request (Hotel California), would randomly point and yell, ”guy in the flower shirt you need to shalalala louder!” and similar. Hearing a bunch of folks singing/shouting along to ”Alice! Who the fxck is Alice!”* right after Don’t stop believing will stay with me. He had a “family” hour at 9 and then an 18+ hour at 10 til late most nights.

karoake

Karoake happened most nights as well and was fun to pop in to. My wife did a fantastic rendition of HOTTOGO and my daughter and one of her friends did You’ll be back from Hamilton. The crowd made or breaked this though (one night was less fun because people kept picking depressing songs). 

the art auctions

The art auctions had free champagne and mimosas and were a draw for that. We also like art and were curious to see what they had. We ended up winning a free bottle of champagne (after 3 mimosas my wife cheered quite loudly) as well as walking away with 2 free prints that were quite nice and an auction piece we won for a price we were very happy with!

comedy

Carnival ships have a dedicated comedy club apparantly and ours had two comics on board. We went to the first pg13 show and it was a train wreck. A number of families brought there well-under-13 kids and the comic didn’t really know what to do with them. To make it worse, the small kids were heckling as a small kid would and it just threw off the flow. That was actually one of my only complaints - families bringing little kids to things they shouldn’t have. On the last night in the main production lounge they held an 18+ Love and Marriage show and the cruise director (who was hosting) had to spend the first few minutes shaming families to send their kids away (plus one for public shaming; it worked and got the kids out of the room). The Love and Marriage show and adult comedy shows were great though! 

free stuff!

I mentioned the free bottle of champagne and the 2 free prints from the art auction and the “free” ticket on the excursion but we also won another bottle of bubbly for getting picked to stand up at the first production and answer some marriage questions. That was fun! 

worth it?

For us the answer to the above question is a resounding yes. We had so much fun as a family and left the boat way more relaxed than when we got on. It was a fantastic vacation and just what we needed. Unplugging from the world was great (we didn’t get internet packages) and just being for the week was perfect.