Royal Caribbean Cruise with Kids: Boarding and First Day

After getting down to the Port of Miami on Sunday morning and standing in several lines for what seemed like hours, we finally met up with my whole family in the last line. That was cool.

Then we got onto the second largest cruise ship on the water: The Liberty of the Seas.

First we found our staterooms, and then we had to go find our muster stations. That’s the place you go to board your lifeboat in case of an emergency. The last cruise we went on required you to go with your life jacket on, but this one didn’t. We just had to know where our station was (and interestingly, it was a bar, so I never really knew how to get there again anyway) and listen to the spiel.

And then, naturally, the kids wanted to go swimming.

The boat had a really wonderful swimming/splash area for children, along with two other pool areas with more “grown-up” pools.

Fun!

Pretty cool play area! The kids were super excited about it.

Cousins

The kids had a blast together with their cousins.

Chloe and TychonWe Be Jammin'Singin' in the Rain?SophiaSwimming SistersChloe in the Blue

Meanwhile, we were still docked in Miami.

Miami SkylineMiami skyline

And the sun started to set.

Sunset over Miami

And my youngest daughter got into water that was over her head and was not too happy.

Tears

Then we went to eat dinner. That was quite the whirlwind to get dressed in time! The boat pulled away from the dock just as we left the pool area.

After dinner we went to sign the children up for the kids’ clubs that are onboard. They are amazing on Royal Caribbean, and we were really impressed. We left the kids with them a lot more than I thought we would, and they begged to go back all the time. That first night we got to stay with them as they got comfy with the surroundings and they also got their faces painted.

Fancy Kitty

My youngest was a kitty cat of some sort.

Tigress

My middle daughter was a tigress.

Island Sunset

And my oldest was a tropical sunset. It’s so her to ask for something a little out of the box, and she was thrilled that they could do it!

Facepainted

And then, horrid mother that I am, I made them wash it off and go to bed at midnight.

Good night!

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Hansonpatch

That tropical sunset really seems to suit Bria. It actually looks like high fashion art. How cool that they provided that.

Pitterle Postings

Looks like one of the best days ever!! Love the face painting.

LisAway

Yeah, not surprised that that's the second largest. Holy. Hannah.

Fun! Super Fun! Jealous! 🙂

Barbaloot

What a great pool area-especially for kids! I've been a two cruises and both of the pools were totally crummy.

Lacy@uphillandsmiling

Amazing pictures!!! 🙂 oh, that looks so fun…

Melanie Jacobson

The only downside to our family cruise is that it's ruined our kids for all other vacations!

Rae

Awesome!!

lesa

We took our kids on the last cruise we went on. Our youngest used the kids club (and wanted to go there) more than we thought we'd use it. Cruise lines do a great job with their kids club! Looking forward to seeing the rest of your pictures. Looks like so much fun!

Andrea

I'm so excited to read about the rest of your trip. 🙂

Anne-Marie

Gorgeous Pictures! Wow. What an adventure you all had-I would love to take a cruise one day-that splash pad is so cool! Glad you had an amazing vacation!

*

Facing painting, splashing, looks like fun!

peachytiffers

Those are some of the best face paintings I've seen!