Carnival Family Harbor Rooms - Embrace the Journey Travel

Have you ever started your day on a cruise by having to gather your kids and make the trek up to Lido deck for breakfast? What a hassle! Do you wish there were a way to leisurely make your way just across or down the hall to a special lounge and eat breakfast there? Well, there is! Carnival Cruise Line’s Family Harbor rooms solve this issue and offer SO much more as well!

Carnival Ships

Carnival has 4 ships that feature Family Harbor rooms; the Vista, Horizon, and Panorama are all sister ships, and then the Mardi Gras has a smaller Family Harbor area with fewer rooms. The Mardi Gras does not have the Suite that is about to be featured.

Suites

There are Interior, Ocean View, Balcony, and Suite options. My family booked the Suite and let me tell you it was an amazing experience! And it is priced comparable to the other basic suites on the ship, but with so many more amenities! All Suites on Carnival come with VIP check-in and priority tendering for shore excursions as well as a few other little perks. But these special Family Harbor rooms also come with access to the amazing lounge.

Please note that my experience was in 2019, so the experience may be a little different right now.

The Lounge

The Lounge features a buffet continental breakfast which was SUCH a major perk for my family. All the Family Harbor rooms are in one area of the ship so it’s an easy walk right down the hall to get to the lounge. It was so much easier than going up to the Lido deck for breakfast!

The Lounge also features two lounge spaces with large TVs to hang out or play board games. And it also had a few video game stations in another area. Then of course the tables to sit and enjoy your breakfast or snack or just hang out.

It was never crowded, as these lounges are only for Family Harbor rooms and those rooms are very limited.

The Lounge also had a snack buffet in the afternoon. And of course my kid’s favorite thing was the ice cream machines. That’s right, coffee and ice cream available from morning to night while the lounge was open. All of this food and drink is included in the cost of your cruise!

The Lounge does close in the evening, it is not open 24/7.

Rooms

Now for the rooms! The rooms feature a fun nautical theme. The Suite was rather large and very comfortable for my family of 4 with older kids. There are two bathrooms (one does not have a toilet) and a very large closet. Here are some pictures!

Here, you can see the L-shaped couch made into a bed. There is also the option of a pull-down bed from the ceiling. So, these Suites sleep up to 5 people.

Another fun perk with a Suite on Carnival is the robes for you to use. The Family Harbor robes were a nice fleece and very cozy.

Family Harbor Balcony and Suite rooms have these beautiful Cove Balconies. You feel like you are right there on the water. My family just loved the peacefulness. A cup of coffee out there in the morning (or afternoon!) was perfection. My daughter loved to sit out there and read a book away from the mayhem her brother creates.