Carnival Cruises – a short cruise to the Bahamas

After our Carnival cruise last year I knew that we had to go on another one soon and as soon as we had our trip to Florida booked the first thing I did was take a look at which short cruises were available to us. Taking a short cruise whilst on holiday in Florida could not be easier with cruises departing from Port Canaveral, Fort Lauderdale and Tampa you have lots of different options available which should mean you can find the perfect cruise for your holiday. We opted for a 4 night Carnival Cruise to the Bahamas leaving from Fort Launderdale.

The cruise included one day at sea right at the beginning which was a brilliant bit of down time after a crazy week of theme parks and other activities. The kids went straight to the kids club which they love when on a Carnival Cruise and we were able to relax with some cocktails in the sunshine.

As the cruise was so short we only had two days in port before we had to hear back. The first day was at the beautiful Half Moon Cay where we paid to hire one of the beach front villas. This cost $500 but as there were seven of us and it included drinks, snacks, snorkel equipment, a hot tub and somewhere to keep the kids out of the sun it was definitely worth it. It took me a while to book as I kept looking at the price and trying to talk myself out of it but I am very glad that we did as it made the day so memorable and if you are in a big group then I really recommend it.

Whilst in Half Moon Cay we spent some time on the sea kayaks and snorkelling looking at all the amazing fish in the clear water. We even saw some sting rays laying on the sand as we swam over the top. It was an amazing adventure and definitely one we will remember for a long time.

Our second day in port was in Nassau. We had looked at a variety of shore excursions but decided that we would just get of the boat and go for a wander around the town to see what we could find.

I have to say we were not overly impressed with the parts of the town that we saw however we didn’t really have long to look around as it was so hot that the girls were getting restless and wanted to get back on the cruise ship.

The one thing we really like about Carnival Cruises is the food. Guys burger joint is a family favourite and the relaxed dining meant that we didn’t make it to the other restaurants onboard. However the staff knew we were on that sailing so they hunted us down to invite us to enjoy the chefs tasting table on our last evening. This was an amazing experience where we were all invited into the kitchen to sample a little of each of the dishes that they were serving in the dining room that evening.

We were all well and truly spoilt and it made me realise that it is worth getting changed out of my swim suit to venture into the dining room to eat each evening because the quality of the food, the fabulous waiting staff and the atmosphere was superb.

The Carnival Cruise ships have so much on offer and they really have changed my views on holidays, so much so that I have booked to go on the maiden voyage of the brand new Carnival Horizon in April next year as it sails around Europe for 13 nights.

If you are thinking about a trip to Florida I would definitely recommend taking a little bit of time out of your schedule to enjoy a short cruise somewhere exotic with Carnival Cruises.