Caribbean Cruise
Days 1-2
DAY ONE- SATURDAY, DECEMBER 1ST
This was my first cruise, and I admit I felt a bit anxious, worried, thrilled, all in one. I was most afraid of getting motion sickness and ending up in bed most of my trip. I am also worried that we’d end up like the titanic, fighting for boats and hoping we survive! But, I was still very excited-who doesn’t get excited to get away from their everyday, mundane life?
In order to board the cruise, we had to bring our passport cards and our setsail pass. We had to check in online, like one would do for a flight. After our check in, we received our setsail pass, which is just a sheet of paper with a barcode.
We flew to Ft. Lauderdale on Friday, the night before our cruise. We stayed at a cute little hotel near the beach-Nobleton Hotel. It was a 10 minute walk from the beach, which is our favorite place in ft. Lauderdale. I go there once a year for a work conference, and the beach walk is a must!
The next morning, Sat., the day of our cruise, we had breakfast on the boardwalk and then we took an Uber to the port where our cruise was.
Once we got there, we had to take out our passport cards and our setsail passes, and stand in line for over an hour. It could have been worse- there are over 6000 people onboard our ship, so we had assumed we’d be waiting in line for hours upon hours. The line went by much quicker than we had anticipated, thank God.
After security, we boarded the ship. Once we entered the main floor, we saw the sheet beauty of the ship-it was decorated with huge hanging snowflakes, Christmas lights everywhere, extremely tall and full Christmas trees, over 100 ft waterslides, restaurants everywhere, and lots of cute little shops.
There are 17 floors on this ship. Nearly every floor has a host of restaurants, shops, and activities to keep us busy not only all day, but also all day. (Only the richy people can go to the 17th floor, as that deck is just for them-all to themselves)
By the time we boarded the ship, it was nearly 3PM. We finally go to our room and we couldn’t have been more excited-it was a decent size, but the view was why we paid extra for our room-our balcony overlooked the ocean.
We sat there for a little while, enjoying the beauty of the ocean. I am completely fascinated with the ocean. Every time I look at it, well I stare, I am mesmerized because I think of everything that lays beneath it-the jellyfish, the sharks, whales, dolphins, lost ships, etc. There is a whole other world down there that we cannot see. It simply amazes me. So, while my family wanted to explore every damn inch of the ship, all I wanted to do the entire time we were on the ship was sit on my balcony and stare at the ocean. Of course, I could not, and I was super hungry.
That night, we just wandered the ship and ate at one of the buffets. The buffet, WindJammer, was included with our room purchase. We expected the food to be amazing based on the pictures and descriptions on the website, and also by word of mouth.
We got to the buffet, and they first make you wash your hands before you enter. I guess this is their way of preventing the spread of diseases. Once our hands were clean, we entered the buffet. It felt like all 6000 people came on the ship and were hungry at the same time. There were SO many people there that it took about 20 minutes to find a table for all of us to sit at (5 of us), including my mom who has to travel around in a scooter due to cancer meds making her legs incredibly weak.
People there were rude and just not watching or caring where they were going. It was as if everyone had run out of patience from waiting in line to get to the ship, so I was understanding as we all were uptight too.
The food was definitely not what we expected-it was bland and just tasted like it was old. It was a terrible first impression. But, we realized we came at the end of the buffet; it was the first day, and there were so many people there, that we sort of brushed it off- we were fed.
We went to bed Sat. night around midnight because at night, that’s when the fun seems to really begin.
We saw an amazing aqua show-The Fine Line, which consisted of around 20 people who danced, walked a tightrope, dove, did tricks in the air while tied to a rope, and did water tricks. It was such a cool show!
My husband wasn’t too thrilled though, because he had a cute little Chinese woman who decided to dance during most of the show, and she had no clue how to dance. Her arms were flailing, and she was incredibly close to my husband. It was pretty funny for the rest of us to watch, though.
Then, after the show ended, we wandered around some more, sightseeing the many different activities on the ship. We came across a bar that had live music and some DJ music. We walked in and they were playing some of our favorite 90s songs. I absolutely love to dance, so I got into it right away!
You would have thought I had a couple of drinks in me, but I was actually completely sober. Again, I love dancing-it makes me feel so good. One of my favorite songs came on and I started dancing the way I normally do-inappropriately, and of course, my sister was secretly recording me.
Where I danced, though, was what made it more thrilling. I was basically on the second floor of the bar, overlooking the dancefloor and many seats which several people occupied. So while I was dancing, everyone on the first floor got a great view of me shaking my ass. I had a couple people cheer me on, so I kept going. That was the most fun I have had on this trip so far.
We didn’t get to bed until about midnight that night. But the next morning when I woke up, I knew I just felt off. I felt a little off the first night, but not enough to think much about it. However, on Sunday morning, I could tell I was going to have a long day.
DAY TWO- SUNDAY, DECEMBER 3RD
After our breakfast of oatmeal, fruit, and a bagel, we went to an incredibly lame shopping show that was supposed to inform us of the unique shops at the different ports the cruise was to stop at. Instead, we got a long-winded sales pitch on why we should buy diamonds at these ports. It was terrible, but we stayed the entire hour and a half because they had raffle prizes at the end. No, we did not win a damn thing, and boy we were pissed because we just wasted almost 2 hrs of our morning just hoping for a damn prize lol.
Maybe it worked, because my husband bought me a beautiful bracelet that had to get resized, so he had the stone that was cut out turned into a necklace. Also, he bought himself a nice, expensive watch. I guess it worked-dammit, he got jewelry into our heads!
This show though, was where I knew my day was going to end with me hovering over the toilet.
The location of the shopping show was near the front of the ship, and apparently, the front of the ship is where you can feel the motion of the ship the most. So, while the diamond salesmen was giving us his terrible pitch, I was feeling completely nauseated. I could feel the ship swaying back and forth, and it just did not sit well with my head and with my body. Everyone else could feel it too, but I was the lucky one of my family who got the sickness end of it.
After that, we went to eat, which I chose not to because I simply did not have an appetite.
The rest of the day, we explored some more and as the day progressed, so did my sickness. We sat down around 2 or 3PM and got some ice cream, which seemed to help. I noticed that when I lay down, I feel much better. Walking all over the ship made me nauseous. I hated it. Every second.
I tried to keep my sickness to myself because I didn’t want my family to know; I didn’t want them to worry and I didn’t want their fun to end.
I caved and took a Dramamine from my sister, who said it was supposed to help with motion sickness. This was about 5 PM. We were to eat at a formal dinner at 530, which was the captain’s welcome dinner. Everyone dressed nicely; my husband did as well. He looked so nice. I wore a dress that I love, so I was a little excited, even though I was holding in how horrible I felt.
Once we got to the dinner, we sat next to a circular window, which reminded us all of Titanic. We took some silly pictures and some nice ones as well. The floor we were eating one was the 3rd-so it was close to sea level. I looked out the window and because we were near sea level, looking at the ocean exasperated my sickness because it appeared as if we were going much faster. This did me in.
My head just did not feel right. I felt, all day actually, like I could have slept for days. It was such a horrible, icky feeling.
We received our bread, our appetizers, our main course, and then finally, dessert. Out of all of this delicious food, I ate about 4 bites in total. Near the end, I could feel the huge lump in my throat, and I knew I needed to get back to our cabin so I throw up.
After what felt like forever, we finally got up to leave the table. My husband said we should check out the 15th floor to miniature golf, and I looked at him and said, “No. We are going to 9. I HAVE to go to the bathroom. Now!”
Once we got to our room, I jumped in the bathroom and threw up. I did feel a little better though. It was as if all I needed to do for the past two days was vomit, and then I would be good to go!
After I brushed my teeth, I told Andrew that there was just no way I was going to be fun tonight; I needed my rest.
I then laid in our bed. It felt so good to lay down. I still felt the sickness a bit in my head, which was the worst, but at least it was subsiding.
The next morning, I felt better, but still lightheaded. However, I took another Dramamine, and was fine the entire rest of the trip. It was the most incredible experience of my life! Stay tuned for why this cruise was so amazing, and why you need to take a cruise vacation at least once in your life!