Why You Should Cruise

If you had asked me prior to August 2012, I would have told you that I really wouldn't be sad if I never went on a cruise, ever.   I figured that you can't really experience a place in 6 hours and that it would be better to just go on a regular vacation.   Oh, how wrong I was!!

Josh and I were looking for a good vacation for our 2 year anniversary and he suggested a cruise.  I was a little bit apprehensive about it and tried to find other options.  However, cruising seemed to be the best option financially.  Plus, since we were driving to FL we got to visit Savannah and Wilmington on our way home.  So, I caved and went ahead and booked a 5 day cruise to Nassau and Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas.

I was really nervous about this trip because of my history of motion sickness.  I took the advice of a friend who said try not using anything the first night and if you start to feel sick then take something, but if not then you'll be good unless you hit a storm.  I was so surprised that I didn't feel a thing!  I only had to take one Dramamine the whole trip because of a storm.  We loved cruising so much that we decided to cruise for our honeymoon as well which  was just as incredible!  Now we are about to embark on our third cruise!

So why should you cruise??

I have never had a vacation where I was catered to as much as on our cruises!  We never had to lift a finger for anything!  Our housekeepers took care of everything and our service at dinner was incredible.  You really can't beat customer service on a cruise ship (assuming you are a reasonable person).   It was the first vacation I took where I actually felt truly relaxed.

This was such a huge help.  I literally paid for everything except for alcohol and souvenirs before we went.  I even paid for my tips before hand (we left a little something extra for our housekeeper and server because we wanted to but didn't have to).   I loved not having to worry about how much we were spending on food and hotel etc.  The only thing that we spent a lot on was alcohol which we were prepared for. We also brought a few rolls of quarters to play slots but that was decided in advance and we broke even on the first cruise because my slot machine was awesome!

My biggest thing against cruises was that you didn't get much time at the ports but I learned a few things on the cruises that we've taken:
a) It is enough time to get a feel for a place and if you like it.  I could tell just by spending a few hours on Nassau that unless we booked excursions with Atlantis or spent the whole day at Senor Frogs, I wouldn't want to go back.  We even got back on the ship early because we just weren't enjoying it.
b) A short time is better than no time.  I probably never would have gone to the Bahamas on my own if it wasn't for this cruise so it was nice to be able to spend even a little bit of time there.  
c) The private islands.  Each cruise line has private islands that they take their guest to.  We got to go to Half Moon Cay and we LOVED it!   We would never have been able to go there if not for the cruise.

 I can admit that when I meet new people I can be a bit awkward.  Josh is the opposite, he'll talk to anyone.  So, I was nervous when I found out that we were being seated at dinner with 4 other couples on our first cruise.  I told Josh that we could check it out the first night and go for the fancy dinner but if it was too weird we'd just eat from the buffets.  Yeah, that never happened!  We loved our dinner table and even hung out with them all at different times.  We went to see shows, went to one of the lame clubs and hung out on the deck.  Unfortunately, we didn't have the same luck on our second cruise as we were seated by ourselves probably because we were on our honeymoon.  However, we did meet some great people on our excursion in Honduras!

I know, everyone says this .... because it's true!!  I swear I gained 10 pounds on each cruise!  All of it was just delicious!  The bad part (for my scale) was that food was pretty much available 24/7.  I mean, I don't even know what else to say about this except be prepared for the scale to make you cry when you get home.

The drinks on our cruise were amazing!  One of the best parts is that I hardly had to go to the bar and ask for one!  If the people working saw that I was low on my drink, they would ask if I want another and get it for me.  Also, I tried a few different drinks but the Pina Colada was by far the best!  I have not been able to find one that compares to the one on our cruises!

 

We decided to have breakfast in our room a few times and it was amazing!  It is really simple to order and the people bring it exactly when you say you want it,  I swear, my alarm was going off right when they knocked at the door.  They were truly incredible!  Our housekeeper knew us by name by the second day, now that is awesome service because he had our entire hallway!  Also, our room was always in great shape and I really loved the little animals they made from our towels!

 Yes, sometimes the on-board entertainment can be cheesy, but we actually saw quite a few really good shows on each cruise!  We saw a dance show which was really impressive on both cruises and even stayed to watch twice on the second cruise.  We also watched the talent show on our first cruise which was really entertaining!  I also really loved the hairiest man contest!  We just happened upon it and it was freakin' hilarious!  I was so mad at Josh for not participating because he would have been great!

We did two excursions on our first cruise, both on Half Moon Cay  The first, Horseback riding on the beach, was amazing and a complete dream come true for this horse lover!  Our second excursion was kayaking which was just OK.  Our second cruise we did one excursion in each port.  We swam with Dolphins and hung with Sea Turtles in Grand Cayman, Snorkeled in Belize, Ziplined in Honduras, and did a Helmet Dive in Mexico - all of which were amazing.  These excursions were all very well organized and for the most part, the guides were great!  We were all given meeting places which were easy to find and from there everything was mapped out for us, it was so easy and stress free!