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?
What a fantastic way to celebrate your birthday!!! Anywhere you can put on a bathing suit & get a tropical drink – that’s a win!
You all gamble like me – $20.00 – win it or lose it – that’s it 🙂 LOL
The best way to gamble! You have a little fun and don’t lose too much money. 🙂
I love reading vacation recaps! How fun to be on a cruise on your birthday!! I have only vacationed on my birthday once, I think, but it was really fun to be away – in that case, I was in Mexico.
That is a bummer that the balloon didn’t go anywhere! So funny story – I went on a hot air balloon ride when I was vacation in New Zealand while studying abroad. It was the 3 girls I traveled with, me, the driver (pilot?) of the balloon and another couple. And then – the guy proposed to his girlfriend! I bet he wasn’t envisioning sharing the balloon with 4 girls in their early 20s. We tried to give them some privacy when we figured out what was happening but it’s pretty cramped in the balloon!
Anyways, this all sounds so lovely! And I”m with you on family style. Especially as someone with a gluten intolerance. I want to have sides but I want people to get what they want to get and not have to sacrifice having mac&cheese, for example, just because I can’t eat it.
Gosh, a hot air balloon proposal is definitely one for the record books! How amazing was that to see?!
I’m such a picky eater that family-style is just not my thing. Let us all get the sides we want!
What fun! I am so glad you had so much fun! I didn’t realize that being on a cruise involved so much napping time – I might reconsider it as a future vacation option. You look so happy and I am RELIEVED that there are no broken bones!
Oh yes! I always say that a cruise can be as relaxing or as active as you want it to be. We try to have a mix of the two, but daily naps are definitely a THING for us!
I’m so happy you got to spend your birthday on a cruise! That cake looks divine. It looks like you had so much fun. I have always wanted to go on a hot air balloon ride! When I was a kid they used to have hot air balloon races, and I loved watching them.
I have never heard of family style steakhouse portions – what does that mean?
Family-style means everyone shares the sides, sort of like a potluck. So rather than getting your own individual-sized portion of sides, you decide as a group the sides you want and they bring out a bigger portion that can be shared by everyone.
This all sounds so lovely. The weather. The food. The time with your Mom.
I have NEVER been on a cruise, but I think I would love it. Especially if I was with a bunch of girlfriends? I don’t really have any desire to go cruising with the kids yet…
That cake looks so good. And, mmmm. I love steak. I have it infrequently, but it is so delicious. I can definitely see enjoying that as a birthday meal. Also – Happy Birthday!!! I’m so glad you were able to celebrate it in such a fun way.
So many people go cruising with their kids, and it sounds so intense to be in a small cabin with your kids! They have lots of fun programs for kids to attend, so at least parents can get some time alone, but oof, it would not be AS relaxing a vacation as you probably want!
That is so great they’ve streamlined so much since your last cruise! It sounds like they are limiting interactions around other people too (waiting in line or crowds), which is awesome.
What a great birthday! I would have expected it to be a hot air balloon that goes somewhere too! Now that I think about it though (and having been on a hot air balloon ride) – that doesn’t make sense since they travel from point to point and you don’t always know where they are going to touch down (when we did ours, we were ride 2 so we chased ride 1 in a van then they touched down in a random field and we did hop in and out to go on our ride, then they landed in some farmer’s crops and had NOT planned that and had to talk to the farmer and make sure it was okay. LOL.)
How did you know which restaurants on the island were free? Did a menu outside say?
Did you have to share sides with your mom or with other people too? Blah either way! Good choice on more carbs though!
Happy Belated! I am so glad you had a great day!
The Royal Caribbean app told us which restaurants were free and which were not. There was a map of the island on the app, and we could see all the different restaurants. The ones with a money sign next to them were the not-free ones!
I just had to share sides with my mom, thankfully!
I love cruising! I’ve been on many RC cruises, glad to hear they’ve changed the muster drills. Remember standing around waiting for the crew to find the one cabin that didn’t show, or was at the wrong station?
We went to CocoCay when it was so new that only the pool was open, I definitely want to go back.
Glad you got to celebrate your birthday on vacation, that’s the best.
CocoCay is so big now! There are so many different beaches and attractions.
I haaated those muster drills. So glad they’ve changed things!
This is so fun to read. I know this is crazy, but I’ve NEVER been on a cruise! When my husband was much younger he worked on cruise ships, so it doesn’t seem like a fun vacation to him. I would definitely like to do it at some point (I’m sure I can convince him, eventually.) For now, I’ll just read your recaps. It sounds very luxurious!
Oh, interesting! I never thought about what it must be like for people who used to work on cruise ships to go on a cruise for a vacation. It would probably feel very weird! That makes sense. Maybe you and your daughter could go on one in the future, who knows?!
What a great start to your vacation and what a lovely birthday. I am sure that was exactly what you had envisioned for your special day. I always thought I wouldn’t love cruise ships, but you do make it sound like fun.
I do find cruising to be such a fun way to vacation, but I know it’s not for everyone!
Oh, your vacation looks lovely (I am still…catching…up). I’m so glad you had the birthday that you really wanted. I’m sorry about the balloon – but it does kind of make sense when you think about how hard it is to predict where a balloon aloft will land! My parents have done several rides (trips?) and have loved them all. And this is making me think it would be a super-fun experience for me to do, too! I can’t wait to read the rest of the recaps!