We were so excited to be hosted onboard Carnival Cruise Line’s beautiful Carnival Luminosa cruise ship for a fun four night cruise to Moreton Island, Queensland.

Carnival Cruises offer such great value family holidays, because so much is included. Your accommodation, your meals….but exactly what kind of other inclusions can you expect?

Never a travel family to sit around the pool all day, we immediately got to work test-running as many included attractions and activities on board as we possibly could fit in –  and we’ve come up with our Top Ten list of favourite things included in Carnival’s low-price fare!

Here are our Top 10 favourites things included on our Carnival Cruise!

1 – Dive In Movies

We adored Carnival’s Dive In Movies and saw a couple of them during our cruise – the best one was the latest Ghostbusters Movie which we had all been dying to see, and it certainly didn’t disappoint! We bought popcorn from the bar and settled onto pool deck chairs to sit back and enjoy some awesome outdoor cinema. With the soft lapping of the pool nearby and air gently warming as we approached the tropics , this experience was something we just couldn’t get enough of. You really can’t beat Carnival’s Dive-In Movies for  that I’m-on-holiday atmosphere!

2 – Unlimited ice cream!

Yep, this was a big favourite with our family…we must have eaten at least two (okay, maybe three!) ice creams a day! It was really fun to just wander up to the Swirls Ice Cream machine and pull yourself an ice cream on tap whenever you felt like it! There were two flavours to choose from – chocolate and vanilla – both if you like! And it wasn’t just the kids helping themselves to the delicious ice creams! Oh no – people of all ages could be seen strolling around enjoying a fresh soft serve – it’s just one of the Carnival Cruise perks we loved everyday!

3 – Frightfully Fun Halloween Activities

If you think you’re missing out on Halloween because you’re on a cruise ship, think again! In addition to the Carnival Luminosa Halloween party (so fun!), there were so many Halloween themed activities!

Carnival really get into Halloween with pumpkin-themed ship decorations, Halloween trivia, and even the cruise equivalent of trick or treating – the traditional family Halloween Hunt! It was so much fun to scavenger hunt around the ship, and at the end all the kids got a prize too! It’s just one fun activity after another – there’s nothing quite like a Carnival Halloween at sea!

4 – Themed cruise parties

There were several big themed parties held during our four night cruise, and we had a ball at them!

The Carnival Cruises Sailaway Party has the happiest vibes ever – how do you beat the feeling of a joyful conga-line as you pull away from the Sydney Harbour Bridge? It’s the best feeling knowing you have a whole, fabulous cruise ahead of you!

The Carnival Cruises Halloween Party was so much fun because lots of people dressed up – it was hilarious! I never knew there were so many spooky fun dances. We even won a costume competition prize medal! (To be fair, there were quite a few up for grabs!)

Then there was the Carnival Cruises 80’s Rock N Glow Party, which we were so ready for – give me a fluoro wig, a pair of shades, some fingerless gloves, and I’m all in!

Complimentary foam rainbow lights were handed out, the DJ had Love Shack belting out over the pool deck and everyone was having the best time learning the 80’s dance moves… even if we were pretty slow at it! I ask you – how can that not be a fantastically fun experience?! (Props to the couple in the 80’s tracksuits too!)

5 – Late night Pizzeria

Pizzeria Del Capitano is Carnival’s Pizzeria that operates from early until late – 9am-4am to be exact! Yet again, all included – can you believe it?! Whenever we got the midnight munchies we would simply send someone out for Pizza! (That is, up to Deck 9 – two minutes from our cabin!). You could watch the Chefs making your Pizza to order – and it tasted so good! The Pizzeria Del Capitano was definitely one of our favourite food destinations during our cruise.

6 – Free charm a day – One thing we pretty much planned our days around was our free barrel charm necklace from the jewellery store at the Galleria Shops. On day one everyone was given a chain and the first barrel, then each day we collected a new barrel of a different colour. At the end of the cruise we had a really lovely memento of our cruise that we could wear. We absolutely love them – and we didn’t pay a cent for them!

7 – SEUSS-A-PALOOZA Parade and Story Time – this gorgeous activity is perfect for the little ones – and those of us still a Dr Seuss child at heart! Much to the delight of all, the characters first appeared in the main Carnival Luminosa Supernova Atrium – a bit like the Beatles at the airport! Then what felt like the whole ship marched along behind them to the theatre. There the characters took to the stage, shortly followed with an absolutely precious story time – not to be missed by any big or small Dr Seuss fan – there is no way at all!

8 – Adults Only cruise activities – Okay so this favourite was exclusively for me! When my teenagers were off at the O2 Teen Club, Mini Golf or the basketball court, I’d take some me time.

I loved heading to the huge onboard Gym – working out was much easier somehow with the amazing sea view! There was plenty of equipment available to use, and given the size of the gym, you hardly knew there were others in there most of the time! There was an exercise track around the open upper deck too which was great for a walk or jog.

After the gym, I would undo all of my good work and go and lie around at the Serenity Adults Only area. Equipped with an adults-only pool and huge private or open lounges, this was the perfect way to kick back and watch the ocean drift by.

For those who had any energy left to go grooving into the night there was even a night club – and an Adults Only Comedy Show. Mums and Dads deserve some time off too, you know!

9 – Carnival Elegant Night – call me old fashioned, but I love Elegant Night! It’s the perfect excuse to don your fanciest dress, highest heels (who cares, because if your feet hurt you can just nip back to your cabin to change them) and strut your stuff!

You can’t be too dressed up for Elegant Night – but of course you can still keep it casual if you’d rather, and have a great time anyhow! Elegant Night is also the perfect opportunity to get a family photo of everyone looking fabulous at one of the photographers set up around the Atrium – now that’s one for the pool room!

10 – On Board Entertainment You won’t believe the scope of shows and activities included to keep you entertained during your Carnival sailing! Here’s just some on offer…

The evening stage shows were one thing during our sailing which we never missed. The stage shows were truly a delight! With two show times, it was easy to have a late or early dinner and then choose a showtime to suit. Flick – The Power Of Motion Pictures was a completely unique Carnival production and it was totally spellbinding. My girls wanted to watch it again and again, and we even got a photo with the Carnival entertainment cast after the show! The quality of all of the Carnival theatre productions was just outstanding.

Throughout the day there were some surprisingly good day shows too! The Wave morning show was great to find out what was coming up, and they even gave away trophies! Sadly, my hopeless random Trivia answers failed miserably – but it was fun trying! Then there was a Guess That Groove show which was lots of fun, and the Love and Marriage show was absolutely hysterical! I don’t know who was worse – the newly married couples or the long-time ones! Either way, I would highly recommend seeing it for a great belly-laugh – the whole theatre was in an uproar!

In fact there was so many things to do on board that we needed to mark our favourites on the Carnival Hub App. This was a great way to make sure that we didn’t miss anything, because the App would send us reminders! I really liked how we could do so many different things each day that we wouldn’t normally get the opportunity to do.

Karaoke was often on in the evening, there were dance classes and even a towel animal folding class! Piano Bar Family Time was great, because you could pop in to grab a board game and play together. It was such a nice way to relax and reconnect as a family.

Trivia was held each day, and it was a big favourite of ours too. And it felt like live music was always on somewhere on the ship! The Piano Bar had some great solo artists every night and the Supernova Atrium featured live music often.

I really couldn’t get over the variety and quality of entertainment and activities available during our cruise. No matter where we went on the ship there was always something to do – or not do, of course! Sometimes there was nothing nicer than sitting in a lovely lounge corner to relax or have a cosy chat. Plus on our port day it was very exciting to be able to hop aboard the complimentary Carnival water shuttle service boats to go and explore Moreton Island!

Our four-night Queensland Carnival Cruise was such a fantastic and cheap family getaway! We did so much together on board, and I still managed to sneak in quite a bit of that elusive mummy me-time too! Who could ask for more?! I truly couldn’t believe just how much was actually included on board. Carnival Cruises really do offer great budget getaway cruises for Aussie families.

How do I book an Australian Carnival Cruise?

Our Carnival Cruise sailed from Sydney, Australia to Moreton Island, Queensland. It was a 4 night return-cruise to Sydney.

See the latest Carnival Cruise Lines latest sailings here.

You can watch my Instagram Reel all about Carnival Cruises inclusions here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Barbara Bryan (@letsgomum)

Have you ever been on a Carnival Cruise, or perhaps you have some questions? Don’t hesitate to drop a comment below! 

The Let’s Go Mum family were invited guests of the Carnival Cruise Line. As always, all opinions remain firmly my own.

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