This was my first cruise. I’m not sure what I expected but it captivated me in some ways and disappointed me in others.
Amy and I are used to all-inclusive style resorts and cruising has some amenities included but not anywhere close to the level of inclusiveness that land based resorts have. In planning and booking our trip we uncovered our first disappointment – it is much less inclusive than a land based all inclusive resort. The add ons added up very quickly – I’ll cover in another post which ones were worth the cost.
Sailing or cruising is amazing (which is it?). I honestly hate that it has taken this long for me to discover this form of travel experience. There was a sense of old world travel romance of leaving port on an adventure and the excitement of drawing close the the quay at the first port of call.
We boarded the vessel and found ourselves in the lobby of the ship where a DJ was blaring dance club music and the throngs of people were trying to get to the elevators. The crowds of people were anxious to get to their cabins and many abandoned their manners and common decency. It reminded me of the videos of Black Friday shoppers all wanting to be first to the sales. After much frustration exacerbated by the insult to my ears, I finally just hiked our luggage up 3 decks to our cabin.
On finding our cabin we met our room attendant who greeted us by name and quickly configured our small space to accommodate our family of 4. I went to our balcony to try and settle my nerves and recoup myself from the chaos that was the lobby.
We found our muster station then got the kids ready to swim on the Lido deck for the sail away party. The sail away party took place on the Lido deck – the open deck with pools, slides, bars and sun loungers. Club music filled the air, kids ran all around and people filled the decks. For me this was sensory overload and I found myself wanting to hide from it all.
With the sail away party behind us and some quiet time in our room we got ready for dinner. We easily found our table and our team of waitstaff. The servers were amazing, polite, food was quick and more importantly – absolutely delicious.
On the heels of the wonderful dinner the kids went to Circle C – a club for 12-14 year old kids to hang out. Amy and I went in search of some peace and quiet. We wandered around and there were a few places that were more serene than the lobby and lido deck. But none as quiet as the balcony of our room. Later we gathered our kids and all crashed for a night’s sleep. In the morning we would arrive at our first port of call – Nassau.
As we approached Nassau I felt the romance and excitement building again. I was up early and found coffee then stood out on the deck before the multitudes awoke and cluttered the deck. That was a great cup of coffee – the vast ocean, the breeze and sunrise.
The family woke and got dressed for our visit to Nassau. We grabbed breakfast then made our way up to experience the sights as the ship was moored at the port.
Mooring the boat took time which allowed the excitement to build. Amy and I had been to Nassau before but we had never taken our kids. We then had to work through where to go and when. We landed in the lobby waiting for the announcement that we were permitted to disembark.
We disembarked and found our tour guide. The tour was a 3 hour exploration of Nassau via a “buggy” which was a 4 seater ATV I got to drive. We settled for this because we couldn’t get a jeep tour. The tour took us to the historic sites of Fort Fincastle and the Queen’s Staircase and then by several shops where we could be sold on teas, wine and desserts. Our guide took us by John Watlins distillery but we were short on time and we had visited it before.
We bought some wine, hot sauce and a few small things for the kids. We got back to the ship in time for the kids to swim and play a while before getting dressed for dinner.
Dinner was elevated again by the amazing staff, gourmet food and quick service. Kids went off again to Circle C and Amy and I enjoyed another evening resting and exploring the ship. Tomorrow we were off to Princess Cay and our cabana by the ocean.
Access to Princess Cay is via a smaller boat as there is no deep water port for the ship to dock.
Overall the beach was beautiful, the water was a bit chilly for my comfort but the kids enjoyed snorkeling for short bursts. Lunch was served via 4 buffet lines with typical American food and some Caribbean chicken and rice. We stayed until we had our fill of the island but left early enough to try and beat the rush back to the ship. Again the kids had time to play and we relaxed on the balcony for a bit before dressing up in our best for dinner.
Elegant night is where most dress up formally for dinner. We only brought Sunday dress not really formal for the evening. We all chose prime rib except Bri who got noodles. Both kids loved the creme brûlée. Dressing up did give me a chance to take some great photos of the girls with the sunset.
The sunset was amazing. This is one of the moments that made me fall in love with sailing as a means of vacation. The peace of the balcony, the sunset over the ocean. Elegant dress and a gourmet dinner even made me feel as if I was a wealthy old world traveler.
The next day was a day at sea. The family slept in and then we went off to a sit down brunch. After that the kids went to Circle C and Amy and I again took some time to relax on the balcony and explore the adults only area on the top deck at the front of the ship.
The evening ended with the kids doing a presentation in the main theatre as part of the show. Our hopes of watching the stand up comedians was interrupted by motion of the boat. Tonight was the worst motion we have felt yet. We just packed a bit and got ready for the drive home tomorrow.
Pulling into port at Port Canaveral was bittersweet. I was ready to leave the chaos of the party atmosphere but I also was thankful for this newfound love of exploring the Caribbean via the sea.
We filed off the ship in a quick yet organized fashion – polar opposite of the atmosphere we embarked into. Loaded up we paid our parking fee and hit the road for home.
The trip home was the typical long road day of movies, music, a stop in at Buc-ee’s for fudge and brisket. We each shared our thoughts on the trip: what did we love or hate and would we do it again? At the end of it all – YES. We will sail again – maybe on a different cruise line but we loved the experience.