Tag: vacation

So… we just got back from a Carnival cruise about two weeks ago and the first thing I said was “we probably won’t go on another one…” Right? Well guess who booked another cruise for next December for our 10th anniversary? Yep, that’s me. Obviously the last one was a trial run and a good opportunity for us to learn things for next time. Here are the things I definitely learned for next time:

1. Bring a plug adapter. We have one plug in our room. Not one outlet. One plug. We could charge our phones on our multi USB port OR we could use our fan. I ordered this one from amazon. It has USB’s and outlets so I’m already loving it. It’ll be a permanent part of my travel stuff now.
2. Don’t bring 1000 pairs of shoes. I ended up wearing my sandals, flip flops and sneakers. My ankle boots and high heels were basically a waste of luggage. However, I will probably bring water shoes for excursions. The shore at Mr. Sancho’s was hard to walk on barefoot.
3. While we are at it, chill with overpacking of productive stuff. I brought 3 books, my laptop (for the car trip, never opened it) and my ipad. I read one chapter in one book and touched nothing else. I joked that it was in case I caught Corona Virus and had to be quarantined for two weeks. This did not happen. (Thank God)
4. I did not need a blanket. I bring one when we travel because my husband likes the hotel room to be 23 degrees. The cabin wasn’t hot, but also not cold. And if you ask for an extra blanket they will get you one.
5. We did not need towels. I packed beach towels for Cozumel. The ship leaves towels for you to use on deck or at port. You just have to return them. That room we could have saved in my suitcase would have been fantastic.
6. Just because you have the drink package (which is highly recommend) doesn’t mean you have to “get your monies worth”. 6 mojitos after dinner was maybe too much. I did love the drink package though. No worrying about budgeting. And it includes soda, and specialty coffee. Order a drink and don’t like it? Who cares. Order something else.
7. We did bring a small fan. I have trouble sleeping in total silence. And it keeps the air in the room moving. We got this one from amazon.
8. If you want a snack, get it before 11 pm. After 11 Pizza was the only thing opened and I did not love the pizza on the Valor.
9. The photo package is not a must do. We bought a photo package for $99. After formal night we looked at our pictures and decided that we wasted our money. Some photos were good but not anything I was dying to purchase. We had to really search to choose our 5 photos, and that was after having a few drinks and running from backdrop to backdrop getting goofy photos on the last available night. Next time we will just purchase one or two as needed.
10. Enjoy and relax. Your first cruise is a learning experience. Once you’ve been on one you know what to expect for the next one!

Today as my husband and I were reflecting on our trip, we are thinking we may want to give another cruise a try after all. It’s hard to say no to all cruises based off of one Eh Experience, right?

Day 2 was Sea Day! We started the day by immediately running to running to the Lido deck in search of Coffee. The free coffee in the dining room is actually not awful. If you want/need fancy flavored creamers make sure to bring some single serving packs with you. Otherwise, you are stuck with sugar and cream.

After getting our caffeine, we went we went to look at the water. Oh my goodness it was gorgeous. The water was so blue… for sure a lot different that the Mississippi River.

After taking in the view we went to the dining room for Sea Day Brunch. I had been told a least a hundred times not to miss out on Sea Day Brunch. I was annoying about how important it was that we did not miss it.

When we arrived in the dining room, they asked if we minded sitting with other people. Of course not! So we were seated at a table with some other cruisers. I ordered steak and eggs, and honestly seeing this picture made me laugh again. The steak is sitting on top of a half of a tomato, with fries, brown gravy, eggs and a dollop of soggy spinach tucked under my eggs. Also, I had a mimosa that tasted like Bud Light. We skipped the second sea day brunch.

The rest of our Sea Day was spent people watching, searching for dolphins (no luck!), and little bit of relaxing on the Serenity deck. If I did it over, I would have found a chair on the serenity deck and claimed it nice and early. I wish I could have gotten some more reading time in!

Reading a book by one of my favorite local authors! Check out her series on Amazon, if you haven’t yet!

The evening of our first day was Formal Night! Basically this is the whole reason for going on a cruise. Forcing my husband to wear a suit. It was so fun to dress up and take some photos. I really wish we had taken more! Here is the formal picture we purchased. Love it!

After dinner we spent the evening with some local friends that were on the same cruise. We really liked having other people around that we knew! Overall it was a fun night! Still some rocking but I was getting a little more used to it. The motion sickness medicine I brought with me told me to not take with alcohol soooooo I chose alcohol. ( I mean, we got the drink package…) Next time I will get some patches!

If you’ve cruised before, what’s your favorite Sea Day activity?

Hi. It’s Me. Michelle. I hope you haven’t forgotten all about me since I fell off the face of the planet for a couple of weeks. I was dealing with a super stressful situation. Preparing for vacation.

Why in the hell is vacation so stressful? It’s supposed to be the exact opposite of that , but somehow I manage to turn it into just another circle of hell. Packing gives me hives. Pre-vacation cleaning goes from “not having things to do when I get home” to “the entire house needs to be Spring Cleaned”. What the heck is that.

And then I get home and I still have 800 billion things to do. So, all that pre-vacation stress was not even worth it. GAH. A friend of mine said “Oh you just got back from vacation, you’re already rested.” And then I laughed so hard that I died and I came back to life and then died again.

Anyway, enough whining. Hi! I’m back. I missed you.

Last week my husband and I took our very first cruise. We sailed out of New Orleans and took a 4 day Carnival cruise to Cozumel.

We live in a small community, so everywhere I go I hear “How was your cruise?!”

And when I look at them and kind of shrug and say “Ehhhh”, it’s fun to watch their head explode.

Don’t get me wrong, because we really did have a good time and Cozumel was gorgeous. But will we rush to book our next one? Probably not.

We boarded the Valor on Thursday afternoon. Remember, this was our first cruise so we weren’t sure what to expect. Oh also, I’ve never flown so I was very lost. After going through customs we got an unflattering picture taken, and sat in rows of chairs elbow to elbow with and knee to knee with strangers. So, have a fully charged phone!

Once we finally got on the ship, we had some time to kill and were pointed in the direction of Deck 9 (The Lido Deck) for lunch. We had done plenty of research so we ran like crazy people straight to Guys Burgers. As we were sitting down we were handed some very delicious tropical drinks. I have no freaking clue what it was, but it was yummy! This wasn’t our last trip to Guys. Definitely one of the best food places on the ship. They also have a topping bar with things like jalapenos, onions, mushrooms, etc.

After eating we did some exploring, because we couldn’t get into our room until after 1:30. The Serenity (Adults Only) deck was amazing. No kids, and this little pod chairs? Yes please. Unfortunately, I never got to lay in one of these in read. Pretty sure we both have ADHD because we never sat anywhere for long.

After our tour we were able to get into our room and get our Sign and Sail Cards. Bring a lanyard so you don’t have to pay for one, to carry your lanyard. Walmart doesn’t have many great options (automotive department for men lanyards), but Lowes has a bunch to choose from. I had already bought him a fancy camo one from Wal-Mart when I found this out. Ha! Your sign and sail card will be your life line for all our cruise. Especially if you bought the drink package. You will want a lanyard. Trust me.

After we got settled it was time for Muster Drill. No, you can not get out of muster drill. If you skip it, they will find you and it will be at a super inconvenient time. Just go do it and stand uncomfortably close to strangers and hope you’ll never need to know the shit they are telling you. It’s a fun time. Its just a run down of what to do if you need to evacuate the ship. No biggie. Anxiety is neat. According to my apple watch heart rate monitor I definitely still have anxiety.

We chose the early dining time 6:00 so after getting lost all over the place, we finally found the Washington Dining Room. We were led to our table and much to our surprise we had table mates. I didn’t know that was even a thing. I can only assume that there is a magical elf at Carnival that pairs up the best potential dinner partners. They totally knocked that one out of the park. We couldn’t have been paired with a better couple, and we ended up hanging out with them on the ship. Good job Carnival match maker, if you are reading this.

I will say I wish I had thrown on a sundress for dinner! I was still in my leggings and pullover, which was FINE but lots of people were dressed up. It isn’t a necessity but I was a little jealous! I wear leggings and t-shirts every day so I should have taken the opportunity to dress up a bit. Eating dinner in the dining room was an interesting experience. Honestly, I wasn’t super impressed by the food. It was kind of flavorless, and maybe too fancy for us. But the table company was great and our wait staff was awesome. Just remember that you can order as many things as you want. You will order your appetizer, main dish, sides and desserts all at the same time. Want a salad and stuffed mushrooms? Do it. No one will judge you and if they do, they are losers. Try all the foods because it’s included, so you might as well!

Also, FYI, pizza is the only thing you can get after 11:00 so when you don’t get enough to eat in the dining room and you want a snack, pizza will do in a pinch. It’s not the best pizza ever but it will work. You can get room service after 11 but you do have to pay extra for it so it’s up to you.

All in all, it wasn’t a bad first day. But MAN, I was not prepared to be woken up at 1:45 in the morning because the boat was rocking all over the place. Our cabinets were flying open and the drawers were slamming. I woke up and said OMG we are going over. I took some sea sickness meds and tried to sleep but it was a rocky night (pun intended).

That’s all for day one! Stayed tuned for more recaps from our trip! Have you ever cruised? Was it a rocky trip?