Well, I returned from my cruise Thursday morning. I learned a lot. Cruising is a whole experience, and the first cruise you take is training. I am glad I didn’t go alone because it was more comfortable being with family the first time. However, now I know what I like and what I don’t and would choose my activities more knowledgeably next time.
I am not a beach person or even a pool person. My family are. Maybe it is because my hair gets frizzy, but I probably would not do any beach excursions next time. But you never know. It was too hot to sit by the pool unless you could find a shady spot, and they were generally taken.
People told me some cruisers never get off the boat. Now I understand why. Plenty to do on the boat — and the ports are contrived and man-made like movie sets. At least Costa Maya and Cozumel were. We did do a beach excursion in Cozumel. I thought it was just OK.
So, a day full of activities and meals. Some field trips. Cruising is basically overnight camp for adults!
Here are the things we did:
- Breakfast buffet – Really good. I don’t often have French toast, bacon, omelet, and fruit for breakfast. They have everything, but French toast and bacon? Can’t resist.
- No lunch except on our port days. We would grab ice cream or pizza or mochas on and off. I am glad my son-in-law recommended the coffee card. Fifteen punches for fancy Starbucks drinks. I used every punch.
- Dinner in the dining room was more than outstanding! The waiters were incredible. The menu was great, and the food was excellent. There will be no one serving me French onion soup, shrimp, and pineapple sunshine cake tonight. The wait staff was so incredible to my granddaughter. They noticed she liked the maraschino cherry from someone’s drink one night, and every night thereafter they brought her a bowl of them! We didn’t even remember she liked them. Every night they played Sweet Caroline in the dining room for some reason — bah, bah, bah, So Good, So Good, So Good! The waiters and chefs danced around. A great dining experience.
- I didn’t get the alcohol package because I don’t drink a lot. The drinks I had were good. One was in a glass about a foot and a half long. Costa Maya port.
- My son-in-law did some karaoke, so I watched one night. Everyone was pretty good. No, I did not even try.
- Dance? Of course. The first night my granddaughter made quite a splash dancing, and everyone on the ship knew her by the end of the cruise. I danced that night and for an hour straight on disco night. Oh my hip! My son-in-law danced with me. He is always ready to dance.
- Shows were not great on this ship. I guess they had a comedian and a magician, but we didn’t go. Our dining time also got in the way of shows. The last night we went to a show with a great orchestra and two great vocalists. We loved it — including my granddaughter (who is three).
- The music was good! There were some good small rock bands. There was a guitar and violin duo who were wonderful and played a lot — despite the very sad face on the violinist.
- Ah, the piano man. I fell a little in love with this guy. He played in one of the bars just about every night. He was self taught and could play anything — he knew every Beatles song. He could play Little Richard or Frank Sinatra and had a great singing voice. I believe he is known as the best cruise pianist. I just sat and listened to him every night for a while. He is from Britain.
- A few of us – not me- did Bingo. I didn’t do trivia, but would next time.
I would just kind of hang out more next time. But this was a family trip with eight of us.
Do I like cruising? The first half of the cruise, I couldn’t wait for it to end. The second half, I couldn’t wait for my next cruise because now I know the ropes!
By the way, I didn’t realize rubber ducks were a big cruise thing. My granddaughter LOVES ducks and we all had matching duck shirts in different colors of the rainbow. Fortunately we all have a different favorite color. My granddaughter brought one little rubber duck with her. By the end of the cruise she had a dozen at least. Everyone kept giving her ducks!
Quack! What has been your experience with cruises?
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