Missing Vacation in the Islands

Okay so to join in Lola’s Diner’s Cabin Fever Margaritaville Carnival, I am going to reminisce about my favorite vacation. Mainly I am doing this because we have not really been on vacation since and it doesn’t look like we will be going on another one anytime soon!

So my favorite vacation was my honeymoon in October 2005 which we did a Royal Caribbean cruise to San Juan, St. Thomas, Puerto Rico, and the Bahamas. We were gone 7 whole days and it was wonderful. I remember being so nervous because I had never been on a ship before, let alone one that big! Royal Caribbean had like 15 floors, as we were on the newest boat they had out at the time. The only drawback was that we left two weeks after our wedding and I was still stressed from the wedding and nervous about the ship and being in other countries, that I really did not enjoy it as much as I should have. Either way it was the best vacation I have ever had and I am glad we got to do it before we started our family. (This picture is from one of the two nights we had formal dinners and got dressed up. Luckily my husband had bought his tux for our wedding and we knew to bring it on our cruise.)

The best part was, and I am glad we splurged on this, was that we got a balcony room right on the back of the boat so every night we enjoyed sitting out on our balcony and when we arrived and departed at each destination we had the best view! Actually now that I think about it, the cost was decent too as we paid around $2000 total for 7 days with food included. We did have to pay for alcohol and we bought a mug that we could refill with soda each time for free. I think that was a good price as there was so much entertainment for free on the ship that we really could have not paid for anything extra; however, we did. Since this was our honeymoon and we didn’t know if we would get to do all this again, we splurged on all the excursions at each island. That is where it gets expensive. We did snorkeling, para sailing, jet skis, motor boats, and tours. It was like we stopped at an island and immediately were shuttled to our excursion and then shuttled back.

One night on the cruise we went to a party-like dance for newlyweds/couples and we won a spa package. It was pretty neat as neither of us had ever had any spa treatments done. We won a mud package where we got to slop mud on each other, weird I know but it actually left my skin really nice! The food too on the ship was incredible. We had two nights were we had midnight buffets of food that looked too good to eat. I mean they actually let people in early to view the food and take pictures. Other than the buffets we had a set dinner time and we got 3 course meals of whatever we wanted off certain menus. For breakfast and lunch we had basic buffets and room service was free too but boring foods.

Another great aspect of our trip was the wonderful service we received. Everyone was so nice and helpful and not one associate was rude. We had a maid I guess you would call him that cleaned our room each morning and turned down our bed each night with chocolates and pamphlets for the next day’s events. He also every day made this incredible towel animals for us and it really brightened our days. Wow I really miss those towel animals, now I do find towels but they are thrown on the floor from my husband!

Next time we do a cruise (if there is a next time!) I want to just sit and enjoy the ship. I mean of course I want to get off the ship and do a little sightseeing, but I really want to take advantage of the free amenities on the ship and just so basic sightseeing. Some amenities they offered for free were a nice gym, pools, shows, ice skating, crafts/classes, tours, and since we didn’t really do any I can’t remember the rest. I want to relax, oh do I need to relax. I feel like since our honeymoon, I have been go go going… I got pregnant 6 months after our honeymoon and then had my first son in January 2007 then a little break and pregnant again with my second son arriving in June 2008. So for now I will dream and look at pictures and remember how much we were in love and how much fun we had. Kids just make vacationing harder and who has the extra money now. I am looking forward to taking them on a cruise when they are old enough, probably a Disney cruise, but then again Royal Caribbean did have some nice child activities, I think.

So I leave you with my cruise memories and ask about yours. Where was your favorite vacation or where is your dream vacation?