Travel Neverland: Galveston FAM Weekend

Renee & Alan in front of cruise terminal & the Magic

This past weekend Alan and I went on what they call a FAM weekend in Galveston. This is a trip for travel agents to become more familiar with the products they represent.

The biggest cruise line in Texas right now is Carnival. For most people this is their first experience cruising. Carnival offers a low cost vacation that is comfortable for someone who wants to discover what cruising is like.

My first cruise was on Carnival in the early 90’s with a friend. We were young and single and this was the perfect vacation for us to safely travel to new countries and be entertained along the way. Our table companions were all young and single too and we really had a fun trip. My next cruise was my honeymoon 10 years later. It was on Royal Caribbean and a very different experience, but still a vacation I really enjoyed. We went out of Galveston and it was a good experience.

When our first child was born we discovered how easy it is to travel with young children on a cruise ship! The babies did great! We went on Carnival with Anna when she was four months old. The ship we were on was new and beautiful, but honestly I don’t think Carnival has it going on for infants. We paid regular third person rate for our infant, stood outside in the cold in December with our little baby for several hours waiting to get on the ship and getting off the ship was equally challenging - this was in LA, not Galveston, but the impression was formed.

Moody Gardens Festival of Lights

We spent the next seven years being Disney Cruise Line fans! I know they cost more, but I think they are an incredible value for young children - especially for the under 3 yr. old group where they only charge port fees and taxes! So now my children are 5 & 7 and I am willing to consider the other options out there - especially since I have so many clients that sing Carnival’s praises. With the cost and time of getting to Florida it is good to know the options.

Moody Gardens outdoor ice skating rink

I went on this weekend to be better able to tell you all about options and what is the best choice for your vacation. We had a wonderful time in Galveston. In fact, after this weekend we think it would be fun to spend more time there! They are in the process of adding a pier with rides that will be done by summer 2012. Moody Gardens is incredible and could occupy a day or two of fun and Schlitterbahn next door is rated the #1 indoor water park in the U.S. so Galveston offers year round fun! There are also some great places to eat and stay. We came away from the weekend being big fans of sailing out of Galveston.

Hotel Galvez

Our view from the Galvez

Hotel Galvez view at night

We stayed at the Galvez, which was very nice. The Galvez is a great hotel for the history buff with a museum in the basement and rumors of ghosts in the hallways! We talked to a man who worked there whose mother also worked there during the prohibition. He told stories of the mob and a bakery where they hollowed out the bread for the bottles. Although the rooms are smaller than modern hotels, they are clean and well kept. It has the feel of an old bath house. We had a wonderful view.

Casey's great food on the sea wall!

Breakfast on our first day was the Saint Louis hotel. The Saint Louis was beautifully decorated, had an incredible pool area and was very up scale. The food was exceptional with thick crisp bacon and well seasoned hash browns and fresh fruit. I wasn’t planning on eating that much with lunch on the ship, but I did clear my plate! We watched a great video on Galveston that I will share with you and also watched some cute films Carnival has put together for the first time cruiser.

Carnival Triumph - crew dancing on the tables

We toured the Carnival Triumph after this incredible breakfast. This is a well decorates ship with some nice areas. Our lunch on the ship was exceptionally good! The Triumph is currently sailing the shorter trips and has some nice public spaces and entertainment areas. I found the room layouts and the kids areas to not be as family friendly as I have become spoiled to with Disney. The children’s areas seem more like a lower budget daycare and your children spend more time out of the club area and about the ship than in the dedicated facilities. There are no adults only spaces on the ship until 10:30 PM. Although the ship was nice, I was not tempted to book.

The positive points were the ship was nice and had some great areas and food. The down side was the programs for the young children and room layouts. Now, this would be great for singles or families with teens. Also, this would be the cheapest cruise out of Galveston due to the older ship and the shorter sailings.

Carnival Magic - crew gets down!

The next day we toured Carnival’s newest ship, the Magic. I will tell you now that I was very tempted to book a cruise on this ship! It is beautiful, has some great floor plans for the rooms and has triple the kids space! The kids stay in this club and it did look like fun with big screen TV and lots of games. The public areas were all fantastic with a DJ pumping music from the main lobby that went up for many levels. It had a very fun feel the moment you walked on. A couple features I really liked were the Spa rooms - these come with spa access, are totally non-smoking including the balcony areas (one year we spent a lot of money for a large balcony and then couldn’t use it much due to the chain smoker next to us!) and the adults only area of the ship with hot tubs and big loungers. This ship not only has a party atmosphere, but some areas to get away! The specialty dining areas were very nice as well - and on Carnival the children can eat in the specialty areas too (which is not allowed on Disney) - I’m not sure if I like that or not, but my kids sure would! This ship has rooms with two bathrooms that sleep a family of five. The floor plans are generous. Even the inside rooms seemed spacious. The food on the ship was very good as well. I would recommend this ship for families with children of all ages. It seems to have something for everyone.

Great chocolate lava cake and ice cream...yummmm!

As our fun weekend ended, I had to do a comparison in my head with Disney. We have sailed on the Disney Magic six times for 7+ day cruises, so I know that ship very well. Before touring the Carnival Magic I thought it would be hard for me to push Disney’s older ship with Carnivals new ship in Galveston, but I can honestly say that both have different merits. At this point, Carnival is at a much lower price point. This would change if you travel with children under 3. Disney does not charge for sodas - other ships charge around $5 per day per person. You can bring your own drinks on both Carnival and Disney. Disney has the Characters and lots of them if you want them. They also offer more adults only areas and they do strictly enforce this. Disney hands down has the better children’s club areas. They are a big feature on the ship where it seems like Carnival’s are an afterthought. Disney offers tubs in all the rooms and the rooms have split bathrooms with a sink on the tub side and a sink on the potty side. Carnival offers larger rooms with both a tub and shower - two complete bathrooms, but the smaller rooms have the smaller one bathroom. The shows on Disney are Broadway quality with great sets and musical numbers for the whole family. Carnival’s shows are more like stand up comics, so not as much for the young children. I didn’t see a movie theatre on the Carnival ships - Disney offers first run Disney movies in 3D all day and night. Both have a large screen TV on the pool deck - Disney shows movies mainly - not sure what type programming is normal there on Carnival - there was a football game on when we were there. There is not a casino on the Disney ship.

I hope this helps you if you are trying to decide on a ship out of Galveston. I really did like the Carnival Magic and am tempted to sail on it! I think it would be fun for the whole family. I can honestly also recommend the Disney Magic. Although it is an older ship and not going to Disney’s island from Galveston, it is still a great family vacation that brings a bit of the Disney quality to Galveston!