#FoodieseekerFriday - Our Carnival Journey So Far and Expectations!

Over the last eleven months we have been counting down to our holiday on board Carnival Vista and now the time for us to enjoy this amazing vessel has arrived. For today's Foodieseeker Friday I thought that I would look back over the last eleven months and reflect on our Carnival journey so far.

Back in June 2015 I met the lovely Carnival team while at my first BritMums Live conference in London. I nearly did not apply to be an ambassador as I honestly believed that I would not get selected. But on the second day of the conference I went and had a look and after speaking to Carnival's Lucy I decided to have a go, at the end of the day I had nothing to loose, did I! So I filled in the application form and kind of forgot about it. That was until I received an email that had had the title of...

"Winner! Carnival Cruise Line Fun Seeking Family Competition"

I sat down before opening the email. I simply could not believe that we had been selected as their Foodieseeker Family! Keeping it a secret was so hard but I was over the moon when I could finally make the big announcement on my blog. At that time Vista was still being built and we had the pleasure of following her development. Watching Carnival's videos on their You Tube channel as the development progressed have only added to our excitement. It has been a privilege to watch her go from the ship building yard to water, from completion to her launch.

Over the last eleven month we have looked at the excursions that are available, all of the restaurants that Vista has to offer as well as all of the activities and fun for the kids. The only problem that we have is trying to do as much as we can during our time on Vista. Will we manage to do everything that we want during the 8 days? I certainly hope so and deciding to not go on any excursions has meant that we can dedicate all of our time to enjoying everything that the ship has to offer!

I am going to be sharing our holiday, as it happens, via my Instagram account, Twitter account and will be doing video updates on Hijacked By Twins Facebook page using Facebook Live!

To be honest I still cannot fully believe that we will be going on a cruise. I do not think that you can truly comprehend the immensity of a cruise until you have been on one. I know that despite reading all the information that there is I still cannot imagine the grand scale that the ship will be on. Today I thought that I would share with you my "pre cruise" thoughts. I am going to tell you what I want to get from this cruise both for my family and for myself, how I imagine the cruise to be and how I imagine our once in a lifetime holiday to be. Then when I return I will write a post comparing my before and after cruise thoughts. 

Today let me tell you all about how I envision our holiday from the perspective of a cruise virgin.....

Flying

This holiday is going to be our first holiday abroad as a family of five. I have travelled a lot but have not left the country in six years. Until now we have not been brave enough to even contemplate flying with the twins so this will be their first time up in the air and they are both so excited about it! I am a little nervous, not about flying but about how they will behave. Like most four year olds the twins can be little terrors when they get bored so to deal with this I am planning to keep them busy with games, activities and our saviour, their Kindles. I hope that all of the excitement of flying will keep them busy and me sane!

Family Time

This holiday is not only gong to be our first holiday abroad as a family of five but is also going to be our first holiday just the five of us. We usually go on holiday with either my parents or my mother in law. Since having the twins it has always been easier to have the extra help plus we are all so close it seems like the natural thing to do. So this holiday is going to give us time together, just the five of us. We are a close family but I am hoping that this holiday will allow us to relax together and just spend some quality time together away from the usual grind of day to day life.

Screen Free Time

Yes I am going to be limiting the kids screen time to first thing in the morning only. This is so the hubby and I can have a relaxed wake up while the kids play on their Kindles. But once we have started our day they are going away. I am even planning on having a blogging break. I have posts scheduled but will be on social media various points during the day but I am not going to be stuck to my screen!

Time with the Hubby

I am hoping that the children will have some time in the kids club so that the hubby and I get some time together. Time for us to be husband and wife and not mum and dad. It will be such a treat to have some relaxation time together in the Serenity adult only area!

I thought that I would get the kids perspective on how they envision the cruise to be and compare their answers once we are back home. I asked them all the same 5 questions. This is what they said...

Joseph - Age 11

• What are you most excited about? All the swimming!
• What do you think the ship will be like? Like the Titanic, really, really big but with water slides!
• What food are you looking forward to eating? Green eggs and ham, ice cream and the all you can eat buffet!
• What activities do you want to do? Swimming, cinema, thrill theatre and flying in the plane!
• What do think the kids club will be like? A bit good, with computer games I think!

Isabella - Age 4

• What are you most excited about? I am excited for strawberry milkshakes and the water park!
• What do you think the ship will be like? Like the film that you showed us, big like in the video (the YouTube video below)
• What food are you looking forward to eating? Can we talk about pudding? I want to try their ice cream with a cone and strawberries and strawberry ice cream
• What activities do you want to do? I want to play games, have breakfast, lunch, dinner and play on the water slides!
• What do think the kids club will be like? Frozen and My Little Pony things, games and activities!

Taylor - Age 4

• What are you most excited about? Playing games, going in the swimming pool, the water slides and it will make me say "weeeeeee" and splash!
• What do you think the ship will be like? Red, orange, big and massive!
• What food are you looking forward to eating? Pizza, burgers, bananas and have a drink with it!
• What activities do you want to do? Crocodiles, going in the kids club with my brother and sister!
• What do think the kids club will be like? Blue, fun!

When we get home I will ask the same questions to see what they say!

This is the video that has been played over and over again at the request of the kids!

I cannot wait to "Switch on Fun" with Carnival and show you what Vista has to offer. I hope you enjoy following our adventures as much as we are going to enjoy showing you all about Vista!

Enjoy x

Disclosure: I am Carnival Cruise Lines Foodieseeker Blogger