Last year my family embarked on an eight-day cruise on Carnival Spirit to Mexico for Thanksgiving with our friends, Vessa and Randy and their son, Tanner. Our dos familias enjoyed the journey from our hometown of San Diego to Acapulco, Zihuatanejo, Manzanillo and back again. Between the seven of us, we explored quite a bit of what the ship had to offer.

Here is a sampling of Carnival Spirit’s onboard family-friendly activities and amenities.

My husband, Phil, playing miniature golf with our son, Leo.

Miniature Golf
Both preschoolers in our travel party, Tanner and my daughter, Karissa, adored playing miniature golf aboard Spirit. It was not the most elaborate course and it was a bit windy on the high deck, but it was a pleasant diversion nonetheless.

Childcare and Youth Programs
Camp Carnival accepts kids aged 2 to 11. In the evening, children can be dropped off to eat an early dinner with other campers but most nights our kids ate with us in the main dining room – until Karissa and Tanner started crawling under the table. That was our cue to cart the three-year-olds off to camp! Each night when I retrieved my little girl, her face was painted up – like a clown, a bunny, a butterfly – or whatever character coincided with the night’s theme. There were arts and crafts, toys, and activities galore. With the exception of one surly woman, the camp counselors were bubbly, sweet twenty-something gals whom the kids adored.

If your kid tends to get seasick (as does my daughter), keep in mind that Camp Carnival is located aft (at the back of the ship) and therefore tends to sway a great deal on rough seas. On most days this was not a problem, but on our last day at sea Karissa opted out of camp activities due to the boat’s rockiness.

Although none in our party qualified for participation, Carnival offers youth activities for older kids too. Circle C provides supervised activities for tweens aged 12 to 14, such as dance parties, board games, sports, and scavenger hunts. For teens aged 15 to 17, there is Club O2, with Karaoke, pool parties, video games and the like.

Beware there is very limited childcare for babies. The Carnival website is cryptic about the times that children under age two are permitted in the childcare program. Here’s the deal – besides the group babysitting late at night, under twos are only allowed in Camp Carnival when the other kids are not permitted (during lunch, mostly). I never did leave my son, Leo (then nine-months-old), because dropping him off for such a short period of time did not seem worth the separation anxiety it would induce, especially when I’d need to take care of Karissa during that time anyway.

Group babysitting for children (babies to age 11) is available from 10:00 pm to 3:00 am daily. My children did not participate since a good night’s sleep is of great import to our family, especially when traveling.

My daughter, Karissa, posing with a bunny-shaped towel sculpture
with her face painted like a clown.

Towel Sculptures
It’s a little thing, but a delightful thing for kids (and grown-ups)! Our room steward shaped our towel into some sort of animal while we were away at dinner each evening. It was always a treat to discover what creature would be waiting upon our return. The stingray sporting sunglasses was my daughter’s favorite!

Teddy Bear Workshop
We paid extra to participate in a Teddy Bear Workshop at Camp Carnival. This was basically an opportunity for Carnival to make some cash by selling a plush toy with a Velcro back into which my daughter stuffed a bunch of fluff. Outfits were for sale separately but all animals came with a Carnival t-shirt. It wasn’t much of a “workshop” but my daughter loved her stuffed dog nonetheless.

Arcade
The ship’s arcade is located in a rocky locale just below Camp Carnival on Spirit. Tanner especially enjoyed playing car-driving video games and air hockey (while standing on a chair) with his dad here.

Chamber Music
Listening to live chamber music one evening in a bar near the Empire Dining Room was one of my favorite family moments aboard Spirit. The entertainment made a nice distraction before dinner service during “the witching hour.” My daughter adores music, so it was a treat for her to watch a pianist, cellist and two violinists perform. Leo was calmed by the soothing songs while my daughter twirled in front of the quartet. The older passengers who gathered to listen probably were counting on less lively fellow audience members but we did a pretty good job of keeping our crowd under control.

My husband taking the waterslide for a test spin.

Water Activities
Some of Carnival’s other ships have extensive splash areas and waterslides. Spirit has just one tall curlicue slide. It is located far from the regular pools so we only visited it once. Since our children were too young, my husband braved the waterslide alone while I waited with the kids at the bottom to cheer his finish. 

Most cruise lines, Carnival included, do not allow non-potty trained children in their pools for sanitary reasons. The only ships I know of that have splash pools with special filtration systems for babies are Disney’s two ships, Wonder and Magic, and Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth 2. Therefore, if you are traveling with a baby or toddler, I recommend bringing a small inflatable baby pool. This worked out well for our family but it would have been more fun if we all could have gone swimming together. My husband and I took turns swimming with Karissa in the big pool while the other parent minded Leo, who splashed about in his mini pool on the deck. The steel drum band and pina coladas deckside were an added bonus!

Summary
Would I recommend a Carnival cruise to traveling families? Yes! There are oodles of enjoyable activities for a variety of ages and interests at an affordable price. However, if you are traveling with a baby, you might want to consider booking a Disney Cruise or waiting to cruise until your child is a tad older. Carnival caters to families, just not to families with babies.

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Do you have any travel tips or questions about cruising or Carnival? Leave a comment below!

For more information on this topic, see:

• Cruise Resources
  
• Beach Day in Zihuatanejo, Mexico

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