As soon as I finished my first cruise this past spring, I knew going on cruises was going to be my vacation of choice. Not only is it an affordable way to visit new places, but the level of care you are given on a cruise ship is hard to match anywhere else. Everywhere you look there is someone to take care of your every need. From a room steward who makes fun towel animals for you each night to a waiter who remembers your name and your drink of choice every evening, you are well taken care of. I booked my second cruise less than a week after getting off my first cruise. I'll be leaving in less than two weeks and can't wait to share my pictures and experiences with you on this blog when I get back! I just got an email today that had an article called, "How to Cure Post-Cruise Depression". I didn't even have to read the article because I have already figured out my own personal cure, which is to have another cruise booked before I get back from my next one! Originally I booked a 5-night cruise for February 2015 on the Liberty of the Seas, which is the first ship I sailed on. But then I kept reading reviews on Cruise Critic that got me thinking about how I might want to check out a bigger class of ship, specifically either Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas or the Oasis of the Seas. Today I took the plunge and changed my reservation on the 5-night cruise to a 7-night Eastern Caribbean cruise on Oasis of the Seas (pictured above). Ever since changing my reservation I have been looking at Google images of the ship and there were so many amazing pictures that I knew I had to share them. I also found a great YouTube video that you can check out if you are interested. So here are some of the incredible pictures I found of Oasis of the Seas: Doesn't this ship look amazing? I am so excited that I will have 7 days to explore all she has to offer! I would like to say that this will be my room... …but seeing as how the Sky Loft Suite with Balcony runs $13k for this cruise, I'll have to settle for an interior instead! I could honestly be sleeping in a broom closet for all I care, I'm just excited to be on this amazing ship! I am sure that a ship this size can be overwhelming and I probably won't be able to see every single thing there is to see. If you've been on Oasis or Allure and you have some must-see or must-do ideas, please let me know!
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First of all, happy Labor Day to everyone! Can you believe it's already September?! I've been using my day off to check the prices for my cruise, which starts exactly 3 weeks from today. I have been hoping I would be able to upgrade to a Junior Suite for a reasonable price and today I hit the jackpot! Here is the layout for a Junior Suite: I was lucky enough to be in a Junior Suite on my last cruise and here are my favorite features:
My room is on the very back of the ship and from what I've seen the balconies are even bigger than the usual Junior Suite balconies that are on the side of the ship! Here are two panoramic shots of the balcony above mine: Here's a layout of deck 7 so you can see my room, cabin 7172, at the very back center of the ship. The only downside is that last time I was right by the elevator and it was very easy to find my room. Now I'm the farthest away from the elevator, but at least it's a good excuse to get in some extra walking! I really like the look of the bathrooms on the Enchantment of the Seas! I have read on Cruise Critic that the shower curtains are almost too short, so I'm bringing some magnetic clips to weigh down the curtain and also hold it in place. So that's the tour of my new room. I was already excited about the cruise but now I am even more excited for it to start! If you have a cruise coming up and would like to upgrade your room, my best advice would be to check the prices every day so that you know exactly when the price drops. The prices change frequently from what I've seen, so you might miss the best price if you're not checking every day.
I think it also helps to know exactly how much extra you are willing to pay for an upgrade. Once you have a set dollar amount in mind it makes it much easier to make a final decision to do the upgrade. Of course a free upgrade is the best, but sometimes it's worth a few extra dollars per night in order to get a better room! My Bahamas cruise starts exactly four weeks from today! I've already started putting together my packing list and I also just went clothes shopping over the weekend, so I figured now would be a good time to do a post on all of my cruise outfits. Some of them are the same outfits I wore on my last cruise, mostly because I haven't really added many summer clothes to my wardrobe since the last cruise. Here are the outfits I'll be wearing on my 8-day trip: Here are all of my clothes laid out. It was slightly less overwhelming to pack for an 8-day trip instead of my last trip, which was an 11-day trip.
In 77 days I will be boarding Royal Caribbean's Enchantment of the Seas to head to the Bahamas for four days. I booked this trip less than one week after getting off my first cruise, so I guess it's safe to say I enjoyed my first cruise experience! Here's my entire itinerary for my next trip:
Here are some pictures of the places I'll be staying and the things I'll be seeing: Just like last time I'll be sure to post my packing tips and probably some pictures of packing too!
I have wanted to go on a cruise for a really long time, so I was super excited to get the opportunity to take a cruise this year. Here are some final thoughts now that it's over. Packing & Organizing: As you've seen on my blog posts, I am a highly organized planner and tried to account for every potential situation while doing my packing. Overall, I think I did a good job of only taking things that would be useful. I used pretty much everything I took with me, except (thankfully) for some of the first-aid stuff. I was lucky enough to be in a Junior Suite by myself, so space wasn't an issue on this trip. However, I still like to be unpacked and feel at home when I'm traveling, so here are some of the ways I made my cabin feel more like home:
Drink Package: Before the cruise I decided to splurge and purchase the Ultimate Drink Package, which costs $65 per day and automatically includes a 15% gratuity on all drinks. I wanted to make sure that I could relax on the trip and not worry about how much I was spending on drinks each day. Being the planner that I am, I went online and looked at all the drink menus for Royal Caribbean and made a list of all the specialty drinks I wanted to try. I ended up with a list of 35 drinks, which is quite a lot for a 5-day cruise! In the end I was able to try 26 out of 35 drinks on my list! During the trip I wrote down every drink I had and when I got home I tallied up the total cost. In the end I was $4.90 shy of breaking even, which is a pretty good deal! Looking back I am happy I tried the drink package on my first cruise and was able to try that many drinks without worrying about how much each one cost. Now that I've done it once, I probably won't do it again. By the end of the trip I felt like I was getting drinks just to meet my "quota" and not because I wanted them. In the long run, all of the fruity and frozen drinks ended up tasting the same! Future Cruises: Before going on this cruise I wasn't 100% sure if I would like it, mostly because people seem to fall into two camps of either loving to cruise or not liking it at all. It turns out I am in the first camp and absolutely love it! I was so sad that this cruise was over that I have already booked my next one! Nine days after getting off my first cruise I booked another cruise for September. This one will be a 4-night cruise to the Bahamas and I will be in a balcony room (unless I get another free upgrade to a Junior Suite). I may end up going by myself on this one, depending on whether anyone else is able to join me or not. Either way, I am super excited to have another cruise to plan for and pack for! So that's the end of my trip report! I think I've covered pretty much everything I wanted to share. Please let me know if you have any questions that I can answer related to any upcoming cruises you have planned. A great source of information is Cruise Critic! The message boards are really helpful and informative, so definitely check them out if you have an upcoming cruise.
Day 9: On Friday, May 2 I had to work from the condo so I could finish up end of month for my job. I woke up early and got caught up on work emails and then went to lunch with Marisa, Mark, and Cynthia at Steve's Famous Diner, which is right across the street from the condo. After lunch I went back to the condo to work for the afternoon. I was done at about 4:30, so I relaxed while I waited for everyone to get back from their activities. That evening we went out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant called Maria Bonita. After dinner we went back to the condo to play a game of Phase 10 and Mark won. Day 10: On Saturday, May 3 the weather was cloudy and rainy, so we didn't get to play miniature golf like we wanted to. Instead the girls went to the movie theater to see The Other Woman. I liked the movie and I thought it was really funny. We went shopping after the movie and I bought a souvenir t-shirt, a really cool hand-made candle, and a pair of Tory Burch sunglasses. The guys picked us up and we went back to the condo and played another game of Phase 10. This time Marisa won the game. When we were done playing we went to dinner at a seafood restaurant called Down the Hatch. It was really cool to sit right on the riverfront. Yet again, we went back to the condo and played more Phase 10 until everyone got tired and went to bed. Day 11: Our last day of the trip was Sunday, May 4. Everyone else laid by the pool and got some sun. I've already gotten too much sun on this trip, so I stayed inside and relaxed. The girls went for a quick lunch at Ruby Tuesday and then we went back to the condo to finish packing. We left the condo at 2:45 to head to Orlando. About an hour later we got to the airport and went our separate ways. Cynthia was in a different terminal and I was in a different gate from everyone headed to Indianapolis. Overall, this was a great trip! It was nice to have time before and after the cruise to hang out and relax because our time on the cruise was really busy. I am happy that I was able to do and see so much on the cruise, but it did make the time go by really fast and the cruise was over too soon.
I will have some final thoughts and some exciting news in tomorrow's post. Stay tuned! Day 7: The next day was Wednesday, April 30 and our last full day on the ship. I had ordered room service the night before for breakfast at 8am and ate it out on the balcony again. I could feel a tradition starting for eating breakfast on my balcony on sea days, hopefully one that will last for future cruises too! Again, the room service coffee wasn't that great, so I went to the cafe and got a mocha. Then I went to the casino and played slots until I won almost $200! After that I went back to the room and got on my bathing suit so I could meet everyone at the pool. I stopped at Squeeze, my favorite bar, to get a drink and then walked over to the main pool area to meet my friends. Later I got another drink at the Sky Bar, which is one of two bars near the pool. They also had a bingo game going for a $500 prize. I was only one spot away when two other people won. After leaving the pool, we went to get lunch at the buffet before going to the ice show at 2pm. I had read online that it was a good idea to have reservations for the ice show, but when we go there no one was checking for reservations. Everyone just grabbed the first spots they could find. I liked the ice show. I thought it was really impressive what the skaters were able to do in such a small space. After the ice show I walked around and took some more pictures of the ship. Then I went to my room to get ready for dinner. It felt nice to be able to take my time instead of rushing like I had the two nights before after each of our excursions. I was ready for dinner earlier than I needed to be, so I went back to the casino again and didn't really win or lose anything. At dinner I gave thank you cards to our waiter, Cesar, and our assistant waiter, Adrian. We walked to the back of the ship after eating and saw the last few minutes of sunset. After that we went to go see Saturday Night Fever, which was good but I still liked In The Air better. After the show everyone else went to bed, but I still wanted to get some nighttime shots of the pool area. I also still had a casino slip for $36, so I went back to the slots to use it up. I was down to about $4 when I won the progressive for $436 on the candy slot machine! It was a great way to end the night and the trip! After that I finally headed back to my room and finished packing for our departure the next day. Day 8:
The next morning was Thursday, May 1 and we met at 8:30 at the buffet and then got in line at 9:20 to get off the ship. There were delays at immigration, so we waited a couple of hours to be let off the ship. I did get pulled aside at immigration to pay duties on the jewelry I bought in Cozumel, but it was less than I expected, so I didn't mind doing it. And then we were on our way back to Daytona. We stopped at Applebee's for lunch and got back to the condo at around 6:30pm. That night we at guacamole, frozen pizzas, and queso dip for dinner and played some Phase 10. Todd won the game and then we went to bed. Day 6: Our second port day was on Tuesday, April 29. On this day it was only four of us on the excursion together: me, Marisa, Mark, and Todd. Everyone else went and did their own excursions. Cozumel has a dock, so it was much faster to get off the ship than it was with using the tender in Belize. Cozumel is on an island, so in order to start our tour from the mainland we had to take a 45-minute ferry ride to Playa Del Carmen. The ferry ride was pretty rough with a lot of people looking like they were feeling sea sick by the end. Thankfully my Dramamine worked and I felt totally fine! When the ferry landed we went straight to a charter bus that would take us to Tulum. Our first tour guide, Julio, told us about Mayan civilization while we were on the bus. We made a quick restroom break and also shopped for some souvenirs. I found a really cool Mayan mask to hang somewhere in my apartment. We finished the drive to Tulum and our other tour guide, Arnando, guided us through the ruins telling us all kinds of interesting stuff about what we were seeing. After about an hour of listening to him we were given 20 minutes to explore on our own. We wandered over to the back of the main temple and looked out over the cliff to the ocean below. It was really pretty! Once we left the ruins it was time for us to re-trace our steps and take the bus back to the ferry that would return us to Cozumel. Our first stop was Diamonds International. We didn't find anything we liked at that location, so we walked four blocks to the next store. I ended up finding a pair of earrings that I fell in love with and Marisa also found a pair she really liked! Poor Todd had been sitting around waiting for us the whole time we shopped, so we decided he needed an authentic Mexican margarita with chips & guacamole. We went to Pancho's Backyard and then caught a taxi to get back to the ship. We hurried and got ready for dinner and met back up at the dining room. After dinner we went to the bar and all did a lemon drop shot. I went to the casino for a little while and then I went to bed. According to my Fitbit we walked 6 miles this day, so I was ready to relax! Tomorrow I will share pictures from our last day at sea. This was when I took most of my pictures of the ship, so you will finally get to see more of Liberty of the Seas!
Day 5: On the morning of Monday, April 28 we arrived in Belize, our first port of the cruise. There isn't a dock in Belize City, so the ship had to stay out in the water and we had to use tender boats to get to and from land. The whole process of getting everyone off the ship took a long time, so even though we met with our excursion group at 8:30, we didn't start our tour until about 10. Once we got off the tender boat we got on another boat to tour the river for the first part of our excursion. We saw manatees, crocodiles, howler monkeys, and iguanas while we were on the river tour. The only bad thing was that it was 96 degrees and we were all melting on the boat!! I kept applying sunblock all day long but still ended up getting some redness because we were in the sun all day long. After the river tour we stopped for lunch and then got on a bus that would take us to go see the Mayan ruins called Altun Ha. We even climbed to the top of one of the temples, which was really cool! After we were done at the ruins we got back on the bus and then took another tender boat back to our ship. We got back to the ship just in time for dinner, so we all met in the dining room and ate together. After that we went to see a band play and then went to bed. Tomorrow I will write about our day in Cozumel, which included more Mayan ruins along with some jewelry shopping!
Day 4: Sunday, April 27 was our first full day at sea. The picture above is my room service breakfast that I ate out on my balcony. Once I was done eating, I had a craving for a good coffee, so I went down to the promenade for a mocha at the Promenade Cafe. I wandered through the promenade but none of the shops were open, so I went down to the casino. I started with $50 and at one point got up to over $150! I was excited to have tripled my money in an hour and a half, so I called it quits and went back to the promenade where they were having a watch sale. I didn't find any watches I wanted, so I went back to my room. Marisa had left a message that her and Cynthia were headed to the pool, so I changed into my bathing suit and went to meet them. They had gotten chairs by the pool for all of us, so we hung out by the pool for about an hour. Then it was time to head back to the casino for a slot tournament. I paid $25 to enter and didn't make it to the top ten, otherwise I would have been eligible for the top prize of a cruise for two...oh well! After the slot tournament we all went to the buffet for lunch. I was really tired after lunch, so I went back to my room to soak my feet and take a nap. Before it was time to meet everyone for dinner I went down to a Swarovski sale and found earrings that match the ring I bought myself for my 30th birthday! I wore them to dinner that night to show them to everyone. Dinner was at 6 and then there was a Cirque du Soleil type show called "In the Air" at 9pm, so we went and got seats for that after eating. The show was really good! I was pretty tired after the show, so I went back to my room to get some rest before our excursion that we had the next day. That's it for our first sea day! Tomorrow I will share stories and pictures from our first port in Belize and our excursion to the Mayan ruins called Altun Ha.
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AuthorMy name is Beth and I live in Denver. I am a single lady in my 30's and wanted to start sharing my awesome and amazing life through a blog. Categories
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