Stephany Writes

Categories: Travel

Charleston, SC | Day 2

Day 2 in Charleston was my mom’s birthday! Yay! We had big plans for this day, so we were up and at ’em early.

My mom and I stopped at the Starbucks in our hotel for a quick breakfast before taking a Lyft to the harbor for our tour of Fort Sumter. You have to take a ferry ride to Fort Sumter since it’s not accessible by car/foot. The ferry ride takes about 30 minutes and one of the park rangers gave us a history lesson about the fort on the way there. Some facts about the fort:

  • In 1861, it was where the Civil War began with the Battle of Fort Sumter.
  • Most of the fort was built by enslaved men, women, and children. You can still see their fingerprints on some of the bricks.
  • The fort was supposed to be built within 15 years but it took more than 30 years and was still never fully completed.
  • When it was originally used, the fort’s walls were much higher than they are today. The fort was decimated during the Civil War and the damaged walls were re-leveled to a lower height.

We were the first tour group of the day, so we got to witness the raising of the flag. It was pretty neat! What I didn’t like is that the park ranger spent a good 20ish minutes continuing his history spiel when we were in the direct sunlight and BAKING on black concrete. I love listening to history, but not when it’s 90+ degrees outside, super humid, and the sun is directly in my eyes. I think all of us were grateful when he finished.

We were given about 45 minutes to explore the fort, and the first thing my mom and I did was escape into the air-conditioned museum to cool down. They had tons of artifacts and history in this museum, but it’s also tinged with the knowledge that these were Confederate soldiers/artifacts, so it feels a bit squicky at the same time. Then again, it’s a part of our history nonetheless and pretending it doesn’t exist doesn’t help anyone.

After we had sufficiently cooled down in the museum, we walked around the outside of the fort, viewing the cannons and seeing the way the fort might have looked at the time it was in regular use. One of the park rangers also pointed out the destruction of part of the fort by a cannonball.

We took the ferry back to Charleston and got a Lyft to the Charleston City Market, which was a little over a mile southeast of the harbor. First, though, we stopped for a quick bite to eat at Henry’s on the Market. I wish we had more time to explore this restaurant as it’s the longest-running one in Charleston, but alas. We were mainly there for sustenance. We ordered a chicken fingers appetizer and two drinks (I got a rum punch that was delicious!), which satisfied both of us. There was this interesting dog competition playing on one of the TVs and when I tell you that the whole bar was engaged in this competition… we were riveted!

After lunch, we spent the next few hours walking up and down all the stalls at the Charleston City Market. There was so much to see here! There was local art, jewelry, touristy tchotchkes, clothing, food, pet items, and on and on and on. I spent a bit too much money here and bought:

  • A gorgeous print of Rainbow Row
  • Two wood bookmarks (one to give to Elizabeth)
  • A Christmas ornament
  • Stickers for my water bottle
  • A magnet for my fridge
  • Two coasters with my beloved Miami Dolphins insignia

There was so much more I wanted to buy (so many beautiful handmade earrings that I was so tempted by!), but I had to stop myself at a certain point. Eventually, we left the market and made our way back to our hotel. It was around 3 p.m. at this point and our dinner reservations weren’t until 7:15, so we both had nice, long naps before taking showers and getting all fancy for dinner.

We had dinner at Oak Steakhouse, which is situated inside a historic bank building that dates back to 1848. There are a few locations around the southeastern U.S., but none in Florida, so this felt like an extra-special treat for us. We enjoyed our meals, although I wouldn’t say it was the best steak I’ve ever had. But the mashed potatoes we got to go along with our steaks were top-notch. So creamy and delicious! We capped off the evening with dessert—layered chocolate cake and a peanut butter pie. I couldn’t tell you which one I enjoyed more!

After dinner, we tried to go to a nearby dueling piano bar but the cover charge was a little steep for us and it was standing room only, so we nixed that plan in favor of walking back to the hotel, getting in our jammies, and playing a round of Yahtzee. We know how to party!

NOTES

Categories: Travel

Charleston, SC | Day 1

 

We had an early flight out of Tampa on Friday morning (7am) and flew for the first time on Silver Airways. (We booked through United, but I didn’t read the fine print that we would be flying on one of their sister airlines.) I’m not someone who gets nervous about flying, but I was a little anxious about using this airline since it’s a small, regional airline that doesn’t even have an app you can use to check in! Plus, the plane is so small that you get on straight from the tarmac. (There were 12 rows with four seats per row.) But all went well and we arrived in Charleston at 9am.

While discussing the convenience of hotel locations, another factor that plays a significant role is the accessibility to local attractions. One of the best examples I’ve encountered in this regard is the https://www.mandolay.com/. Perfectly situated in Guildford, it allows easy access to a variety of local sites and activities, making it an ideal choice for those looking to explore the area. The blend of convenience and quality here is unparalleled.

We took a Lyft to our hotel and were shocked that we were able to get our hotel room so early! We were thinking we’d have to wait until at least 3 or 4 to get our room. We dropped our luggage off and then walked to a nearby diner for breakfast. The biscuits were as big as my face! Breakfast truly hit the spot.

The only activity we had planned for Friday was a harbor tour but it wasn’t until 1:30pm, so we went back to our hotel room where we conked out for an hour and a half, which was much needed!

The harbor tour was a fun way to get a feel for the city. You get a little history, a little architecture talk, and beautiful views of the Charleston harbor. There is inside and outside seating and a bar where you can order (very expensive) drinks. It was a great way to kick off our Charleston adventure.

Some interesting facts I learned on the tour:

  • There’s an abandoned island off Charleston that was used to hang pirates.
  • Charleston’s port is one of the busiest in the U.S.
  • You can take a cruise from the Port of Charleston, but they are preparing to redo that area of the harbor and will shut down all cruising while construction is happening. They may or may not reopen the port for cruises.
  • Sullivan’s Island is one of the most expensive places to live in the southeast US and is reportedly where Reese Witherspoon lives. (We did not see Reese during our visit, unfortunately.)

After the tour, we headed to a local indie bookstore—Blue Bicycle Books—which had such a cute setup. At first, I thought it was a very small one-room bookstore with just a handful of books, but my mom showed me a hallway that leads to all of these interesting rooms. There were 3 or 4 different rooms off the hallway that held more books. There was a fun children’s room, a history room, and more. It was one of those bookstores that just kept going and going and going! I ended up buying a book (Just Us by Claudia Rankine) and a t-shirt.

We went back to the hotel after our bookstore excursion and got inside just as it started pouring rain. Good timing! We chilled in the hotel room until the storm was over and then headed out to Rusty Bull Brewing Co. for dinner. I had a cider that wasn’t very good but the meal itself was delicious! They also had games you could play, so my mom and I challenged each other to Phase 10 while we ate.

And then it was back to the hotel where I took a shower (I was so gross and sweaty and sticky) and then read my book in bed until I was sleepy.

NOTES

Categories: Travel

Jewel of the Seas | Days 5 & 6

Day 5 – Labadee, Haiti

Our last stop on the cruise was in Labadee, Haiti. It was a strange place to visit. Haiti has never been a place I’ve been particularly interested in visiting and right now, the U.S. lists it as a level 4 travel advisory (do not travel). There is a lot of violence and unrest in the country, so it’s not a safe place for people to visit. Labadee is Royal Caribbean’s private island in Haiti, so we were in a secluded part of the country, far from the unrest. Still, I felt very weird being here. It just feels like a very strange location to have a cruise port, you know?

Our excursion in Haiti was “sip and paint” and I was looking forward to that. I’m hoping that these excursions somewhat benefit local Haitians. But I think that may be wishful thinking. We were scheduled to do our excursion around 12:30, which meant we got to sleep in a bit before getting off the ship. I woke up a little earlier than needed, and was greeted to a gorgeous view of the island. It was so pretty! I wanted to sit outside with my book and read, but after just 10 minutes, I had to go inside because the balcony was right in the sun’s path and it was beating down on me.

Eventually, we took showers and got ready for the day. We got off the ship a little after 11 am and there were a few wonderful little photo opps right off the ship. I was really grateful when a man offered to take pictures of my mom and me, and his wife must have trained him very well because he took multiple photos from multiple angles. Instagram husband, FTW!

We strolled around the island for a bit, taking it all in. It was really such a beautiful place! We got drinks and then sat down at the buffet for lunch. Since this is Royal’s private island, all of the food was from the ship, which meant it was free. So that’s nice, at least! I enjoyed some pasta salad, a hamburger, corn on the cob, and a delicious mini chocolate cake for dessert. Yum, yum!

After lunch, we took a tram to the market to poke around in the shops for a bit, since we had time to kill. The shops were filled with local artists’ work, and I really wanted to take home one of the paintings but I didn’t feel like lugging it around until it was time to go back on the ship. Ah, well. Maybe next time!

We checked in for our painting excursion a little bit before 12:30, and we were soon taken to a beautiful little spot that was shady and provided a nice island breeze. It felt so good because we had been walking around in the heat for a while and we were ready to cool down. We had three options to paint: a flower pot, a plate, and a boat. I chose the boat because I figured it would be something fun to paint.

And then we were given rum punch to drink and the freedom to paint our items however we wanted to! I love the meditative nature of painting like this. I don’t care about being creative or making it look particularly beautiful. I just like the act of painting something over and over again. There’s something so soothing about it! My boat did not turn out particularly well, but I couldn’t help painting a cat face on the top and calling it “The LE,” which are the girls’ initials. 🙂

Throughout our time painting, our tour guides talked to us about life in Haiti and the items we were painting. The boat I was painting, in particular, is a version of the boat that carries Haitians around the island: to work, to the grocery store, to school, etc. Afterward, one of the tour guides took us to view a real version of this boat, and that was really cool.

We spent a little more time on the island when we were finished, but eventually made our way back to the ship where we promptly took naps. Are you even surprised by now?! You shouldn’t be. We are napping queens, that’s for sure.

Our night was pretty low-key! We got up around 6 and went down to the dining room for dinner. We had a delicious meal and afterward, we spent some time walking around the ship. Mom wanted to go to the gift shop, so we did that, and then came back to the cabin to play cards and then called it a night.

Day 6 – At Sea

Our last day of the cruise! I’ll be totally honest with you: By day 6, I was ready to be home. I loved this cruise and I had a blast, but I missed my cats a lot and just wanted to be in my own bed. And to have reliable Internet once again.

I woke up to a very rocky cruise ship. For the most part, it’s rare to feel the rockiness of a cruise ship but when the weather gets bad, it becomes very noticeable. I could tell that it was going to be an interesting day on the ship because I could feel the rocking when I was in bed and then stumbled my way to the bathroom. How fun!

Mom and I got up around 11 and put on comfy clothes before going down to the dining room for lunch. The weather looked crummy from our balcony, so I figured it wasn’t going to be a day for laying by the pool! I happily ordered my mozzarella sticks appetizer for lunch as well as a steak quesadilla. Yummmm.

Then, we ventured over to the solarium where they had drained the pool and set up a net to keep people away from it. Apparently, the pool water had been cresting over the pool and onto the deck chairs due to the ship’s rockiness, so they made the choice to drain it. At least it was easy to find a deck chair!

Mom and I ordered drinks and then we read our books for a bit. Around 3, we headed over to the lounge to buy bingo cards. Yay! We didn’t want to miss the opportunity today. Bingo was a lot of fun, although Mom and I didn’t win anything, womp womp. But I just enjoy playing either way. It’s fun to check off the numbers with the dabber.

After bingo, we headed to the centrum area of the ship so we could see the Christmas tree lighting! Funnily enough, the couple we sat next to during lunch was sitting on the couch right next to the Christmas tree and Mom asked if we could share the seat, and they graciously said yes. So we had a great view of the tree! They gave everyone free champagne and played Christmas music, so it really got me in the holiday spirit. The Christmas tree all lit up was so beautiful!

Eventually, we meandered back to our cabin. We both tried to take naps, but we weren’t very tired so instead, we played some cards and then started getting ready for dinner. After dinner, Mom and I played another game of Scrabble in the lounge where Mom absolutely trounced me. It was quite a showing from her. While we were playing Scrabble, we witnessed a major fight between two people that included a lot of f-bombs, so Mom and I couldn’t help repeating their words. “Mom, we need to fucking go back to our fucking cabin so we can fucking pack our shit.” It’s the little things sometimes, you guys. 🙂

And that was our cruise! We went back to our cabin (to “fucking pack our shit,” you know) and were in bed pretty early. I was so excited to get back to Port Canaveral and get home to my kitties. I missed them so, so, SO much.

Categories: Travel

Jewel of the Seas | Days 3 & 4

Day 3 – At Sea

Our third day of the cruise was an at-sea day. I told my mom she could sleep in until about 11 and then we would go down to the dining room for lunch. She loves sleeping in, so it was the least I could do for her! I figured I would wake up earlier in the morning, get a coffee, and then read on the balcony until she woke up. Instead, I also slept until nearly 11am! I was so surprised when I saw what time it was when I woke up. Cruise sleep is the best sleep, my friends. The rocking ship just lulls you into a deep, deep slumber.

We eventually got up, got dressed for the day (bathing suits and coverups, yasss!), and ventured into the dining room for lunch. I was so excited when I saw they had mozzarella sticks as an appetizer. WHAT?! I couldn’t order it fast enough! They were so delicious. I also ordered spaghetti for lunch and apple pie for dessert. Yum, yum, yum.

After lunch, we headed to the solarium where we were lucky enough to snag some deck chairs together (always a feat on a sea day!). I read my book for a bit and then coerced my mom into the pool. We also enjoyed the hot tub, which felt really good. My mom’s been dealing with a hip issue that reared its head the week prior, so the heat and bubbles felt really good on her hip muscles!

Eventually, we needed to make it to bingo! I love playing bingo on the ship. But sadness! We got there too late. They closed down bingo card sales just as we arrived. What a bummer! Instead, we sadly walked back to our cabin, played a few rounds of Uno (I won), and then took naps. You know, because we had had such a busy day! Hehe.

We woke up around 6, took showers, and got fancy for dinner. Dinner was quite the chaotic affair. First, when we ordered our sodas, they brought us diet sodas. So we asked for regular and when the waiter brought us round two, they still had that diet aftertaste (which I hate). This time, I just asked for a Sprite. They can’t get that wrong at least!

The second chaotic thing is that I ordered baked potato soup and they brought me French onion. You guys, I may get blasted for this, but I hate French onion soup. Blech. It makes me nauseous just thinking about it. I don’t know what it is about it: is it the beef broth? is it the soggy bread floating in the soup? Whatever it is, it’s not for me. Thankfully, I was able to get a redo and my baked potato soup was so, so, SO good. It’s my first time ever having baked potato soup, and it will not be my last!

After dinner, we stumbled upon a really fun Lip Sync Battle that was happening in the centrum area of the ship. OMG – it was fantastic! I had a lot of fun dancing on the sidelines and singing along to all of the songs. 🙂 The winner turned out to be this college-aged kid who sang The Circle of Life and really hammed it up during the beginning section. During the chorus, people turned on their phone flashlights and started waving them around, and it just hit me right in my feels, all of us in it together with this kid. It was just so good, and he was the easy winner of the battle!

And then it was time to head back to the cabin and hit the sack. We had an early alarm to set, as we had to check in for our excursion by 7:15am, eeks!

Day 4 – Ocho Rios, Jamaica

We were up early on day 4, as we needed to grab a quick breakfast before getting off the ship to meet for our excursion. One of the anxieties I was having about this excursion is that I didn’t realize until we were on the ship that water shoes were required. Eeks! I was hoping the gift shop would have some (wildly overpriced) water shoes, but they didn’t. So we just had to hope we’d be able to buy water shoes when we were off the ship.

And success! There was a stand for water shoes right by the place we needed to check in for our excursion. Woohoo! And they were only $12 a pop. Unfortunately, it was a cash-only stand and my mom didn’t bring cash (I had enough cash on me to buy a pair of shoes for myself) so she wasn’t able to get water shoes. It ended up working out okay, though.

Soon enough, we were on the bus and heading to our first stop of the excursion: Blue Hole Falls. I didn’t have my phone with me while we were at Blue Hole, so I don’t have any pictures, which makes me sad. But I tried to just enjoy the experience without feeling the need to document every part of it! Blue Hole is a place where you can swim in the clearest, bluest waters you’ve ever seen and enjoy the most magnificent waterfall. We had the option of jumping off a large platform into the waterfall, and before the excursion, I was sure I wasn’t going to partake in this experience. But when we got there and I saw the waterfall… I knew I couldn’t pass up this experience! When will I ever get to jump into a waterfall while in Jamaica?! Sometimes, you just have to do the scary thing. I didn’t want to regret not doing it!

Image from the Internet. (Credit)

My mom opted out of the dive, not because she didn’t want to do it, but because of her hip. She was very bummed, but it just means we’ll have to repeat this excursion the next time we’re in Jamaica, right?

I was terrified of jumping (I don’t even like the high dive at pools) but I took a deep breath and jumped off the platform. I screamed like a banshee and while the platform didn’t seem as high when I was standing on it, it felt like forever before I hit the water. But OMG, it was so much fun, too! I couldn’t believe I did it! I was really proud of myself for saying yes to this experience. It was well worth it!

After everyone had a turn (or turns!) jumping off the platform, we then got to zip-line to get back to where we started. How fun! I love a good zip-line. One of our tour guides, would push us off the edge while we held on to the zip-line handle, and then we were instructed to just fall into the water and swim to the edge, where there was a wood staircase. Unfortunately for me, I got caught up in one of the currents after I dropped from the zip-line and, y’all, I thought it was over for me. This was it. This was my final song. I would be carried away by the Jamaican river and die alone. Dramatic, much?

Just as I was preparing to be one with the river forever, one of our tour guides grabbed me by my lifejacket (not everyone wore lifejackets; even though I’m a strong swimmer, I decided to wear one just in case, and after this experience, I am so glad I did!) and pulled me to safety. Whew! From there, I was able to get to the staircase and climb out of the water, where my mom was waiting for me. I was bummed she didn’t get to do this part of the excursion with me!

After the fun in Blue Hole, we headed back to the bus where we were going to be taken to the White River to go tubing! This was the part of the excursion I was most looking forward to, and it did not disappoint. We all got into big inner tubes that had a solid bottom and were soon sailing down the river.

At different points along the river, there were floating bars where you could snag a rum punch or other drinks. Who doesn’t want to day drink while floating in a river?! It’s a must!

Most of the tubing experience was calm and peaceful, with the tour guides singing and keeping us happy along the way. Every now and then, we’d come to a small rapid that would make you go really fast down a section and douse you with cold river water. Eeks! There were a few stopping points where we would be instructed to hold on to a rope until everyone was bunched up together again. I believe this was just to make sure nobody got lost!

It was also very common to get stuck in a section of the river that didn’t have any current to it. Sometimes you could get yourself out of it, but more often than not, one of the tour guides had to come and rescue you. That happened to me a few times! At the beginning of the tubing excursion, Mom got stuck before we had even gone very far, and I was hysterically laughing about it. Then, a few minutes later, I was stuck in a section and she comes SAILING by me and says, “Oh, are you stuck?!” and keeps sailing by. You guys, I can’t tell you how much this made me laugh. It still makes me laugh! It’s one of those delightful memories that I will cherish forever. It was just so funny the way she just sailed by me, all cool, calm, and collected, while I’m struggling in my tube.

The last rapid of the day was going to be the most dangerous one! The tour guide said that 50% of people fall out of their tube during this rapid because it’s intense and long. We were all wearing lifejackets and helmets, so we were instructed just to float and let the lifejacket do the work if it happened. And I definitely got flipped out of my tube! I was so certain I wasn’t going to get flipped, but I did. Womp, womp!

Unfortunately, Mom also got flipped but it was worse for her because she lost her glasses when she flipped! The tour guides weren’t lying when they said not to bring anything on the tube that you didn’t want to get lost. While the tour guides assured us they would look for the glasses afterward, neither of us was confident they would find them. (And as far as we know, they never did. Wah.)

Anyway, even with that bummer, the river tubing was SO MUCH FUN. I was just laughing as the river twisted and turned me all around and having a blast the whole time.

After our tubing excursion, it was off to lunch at Margaritaville. They were serving us jerk chicken, rice, and beans as part of our excursion, although you could also order off the menu. (Good thing for Mom, as she can’t eat rice and the jerk chicken would have been wayyy too spicy for her.) We both ordered drinks and couldn’t pass up the kamikaze shots when one of the servers offered them to us. When in Jamaica, right?!

After eating, we were given time to poke around in some of the shops near the restaurant. Mom found a great shirt and magnet, and I was excited to find a very cool Jamaica magnet to add to my collection. Yay!

And then it was back to the port! It was around noon, and we had already done SO MUCH this day. We were pooped, for sure, and happily enjoyed naps in our cabin when we got back on the ship. Nothing like a midday nap after being outside and active all morning long!

We woke up from our naps around 4 or 5, and lazed around the cabin for another hour or so. I think we may have played a game? I’m not exactly sure. Or maybe I just read my book.

We had a lovely dinner in the dining room and I told my mom that after we ate, I wanted to check out the ship’s library. Every ship has a library, but I wasn’t sure where it was located because the library didn’t show up on the deck map anywhere. Annnd… that’s because the library is just this nook in the corner of an open area with two glass-cased bookshelves. Woe! It’s sandwiched between a bar and one of the event venues, so it’s not exactly the most peaceful place to be.

Ah, well. We were able to find some games to play while we were there. We started with checkers, which I won, and then played Scrabble. Mom won that one!

And then it was time for our favorite night on the ship: The Love & Marriage Game Show. Fashioned after The Newlywed Game, the Love & Marriage show takes three couples (a couple celebrating their honeymoon, a couple that’s been married for a very long time, and a couple that’s somewhere in the middle). Usually, you get the newlyweds and a couple that’s been married 50 or so years, and then a couple that’s been married around 10ish years. This time, we had the newlyweds, a couple celebrating almost 50 years of marriage, and a couple married for 60 years. So not exactly the range of marriages as normal, but it was fine because the 50-year couple was adorable in every manner of speaking.

Anyway, the show was unbearably cute, especially the older couples. (The couple married for 60 years had their first date at a drive-in! Like, how cute is that?!) It gets raunchy at times, but not so much that I feel awkward sitting next to my mom while I watch the show, haha. 🙂 It was a fun time!

And that was Wednesday! Whew – a long day and a long recap. Next up: a day in Haiti and our last day on the ship.

Categories: Travel

Jewel of the Seas | Days 1 & 2

Who’s ready for some cruise recaps?! Settle in, friends. I had such an amazing time on my birthday cruise. It felt so good to be back on a cruise ship after three years away. We enjoyed ourselves immensely, although the trip ended with my mom losing her glasses on an excursion because something crazy always has to happen to us, right?! At least nobody left with broken bones, like I have done twice on cruises. Silver linings!

I’m breaking my cruise recaps into three sections: days 1 and 2, days 3 and 4, and days 5 and 6. Today, it’s all about embarkation day and our second day of the cruise, which happened to be my birthday!

Day 1 – Embarkation Day

We got to the port near Cape Canaveral right at our scheduled arrival time of noon. From there, getting onto the ship was so easy! I’m guessing Royal Caribbean (and other cruise ships) have streamlined their embarkation and disembarkation processes so that people aren’t waiting in long lines anymore. I remember waiting in MANY long lines in the time before, but there was nary a line here! We got onto the ship so quickly that Mom and I were like, “Is this real? Did we do something wrong?” HA.

Our cabin wouldn’t be ready until 1, so we had some time to kill on the ship. We decided to stroll around for a bit and eventually settled in the solarium, which is the adults-only area of the ship. It’s such a calm and peaceful place! The lido deck, which is where the main pool is located, is always loud and raucous, so I love finding the adults-only area, which is a lot more serene and quiet. We ordered our first drinks of the cruise and then settled into a pair of lounge chairs to people-watch.

Once our cabin was ready, we relaxed in the room for a bit. Royal has also streamlined their safety briefing. In the time before, you would have to report to your “muster station,” which is the area of the ship you have to go to in an emergency. There, they give you some safety instructions and show you how to put on a life jacket and then you have to stand in these long, crowded lines for about 10-15 minutes to ensure everyone is there. Now, you just do the safety briefing through the app and then check in with a Royal staffer to show them you’ve done it. That’s so much better!

And the rest of our day was fairly low-key! We relaxed in the solarium, I ate a snack, and then we got ready for dinner around 6pm. I was starving and was so ready for a delicious meal, and it didn’t disappoint. I ordered a cheese plate and salad for my appetizer, and fried chicken that was so tender and juicy for my main course, and it was so good! Afterward, we strolled around the ship. I bought a magnet in the gift shop. (I have a magnet for every cruise ship I’ve been on!) And then we relaxed in our room for the rest of the night!

Day 2 – CocoCay, Bahamas

On our second day of the cruise, it was my birthday! It was so much fun to wake up on a cruise ship. 🙂 Today, we stopped in our first port of call, which was Royal’s private island in the Bahamas, CocoCay. I love when a cruise ship stops in its private island. There is something really nice about being the only people on a large island!

We had a 12:30pm reservation for our hot air balloon ride, so we were able to take it a bit easy in the morning and ease into the day. We decided to get off the ship around 11am and walk around the island before meeting up for our excursion. There was a tram that would take you from the cruise ship to all sorts of sights around the island, so that was nice. We hopped right on and got to enjoy a tour of CocoCay. When we saw the huge pool with swim-up bar, we were sold. That’s where we would be going right after our hot air balloon ride!

Soon, it was time to meet for our excursion. Throughout the morning, I had seen the hot air balloon taking off for other excursions and while I was a little disappointed to see that it wasn’t a balloon that went anywhere (it just goes way up in the air and comes back down), I was still determined to enjoy the experience. And it was a lot of fun! I didn’t feel scared being so high in the air. I don’t really have a fear of heights, so I mostly just marveled at the view and enjoyed getting to see the entirety of the island from way up high. Mom and I both said we wanted to do a “real” hot air balloon ride now! It was a good first experience, but I want to be able to travel through the air in a hot air balloon. How amazing would that be?!

After our excursion was over, we quickly changed into our swimsuits, grabbed some towels from the towel stand, and headed straight for the pool. The water was cold but I was determined to get myself a fruity beverage from the swim-up bar, so I just forced myself into the water and convinced my mom to do the same. 🙂 Soon, we had drinks in hand and were sipping them in style.

We didn’t do too much on the island afterward. We enjoyed the pool for a bit but eventually got out to scope out the food. There were lots of different restaurants scattered around the island, some that were free and some that you had to pay extra for. We chose the free food!

When we got back on the ship, it was close to 3pm and we were wiped out. We had a reservation for the steakhouse on the ship, but it wasn’t until 8pm, which meant we got to take nice, long naps in our cabin. It was so wonderful! We got up when the ship had left the Bahamas and was sailing onward to Jamaica, got ready for dinner, and then enjoyed some pre-dinner drinks and music in the centrum area of the ship.

Dinner was wonderful! I think my favorite thing was the herb butter they gave you with your bread appetizer. OMG – it was so good! I’m still dreaming about it today. I really enjoyed my steak, although this steakhouse did my least favorite thing that most steakhouses do: the dreaded family portions. I just want to order my own sides! I don’t like when we have to come to a consensus on what sides we want to order. It’s just an annoyance for me. Ah, well. It was still good! We ordered mac and cheese and mashed potatoes because what’s better with steak than carbs and more carbs?!

For dessert, I got a delicious slice of red velvet cake and the waiters at the steakhouse sang happy birthday to me, which was fun. 🙂 I love that they decorated my dessert plate. How cute is that?!

After dinner, we ventured over to the casino to play the slots. My mom loves playing the slots and I’ve developed a fondness for it, too. Online casino like ทางเข้าUFABETอย่างเป็นทางการ offers a convenient way to access a variety of slot games. I never do more than $20 and I try to pick a fun slot machine to play. When I played on this night, I put in my “sail & sign” card (which is the card you’re given at the beginning of the cruise that essentially acts as your ID/credit card/room key) into the machine and it gave me a happy birthday message. So fun!

My mom ended up doubling her money (from $20 to $40, so she cashed out), but I left with no money. Womp, womp. Oh, well! It was a fun 30 minutes at least, hehe.

And then we went back to the room, played a round of Phase 10 (Mom won), and then read out books before going to bed. A fun birthday indeed!

Have you ever been on a cruise?