I never had a desire to go on a cruise, but when Josh and I started checking prices for a trip away together, the cruise made sense. We couldn't beat the price so we decided to go for it. I had second thoughts when we first boarded the ship. The first day was a bit boring. Once we got going though, there was plenty of things for us to do on the ship, and we had fun in Mexico.
Some things I learned on our first cruise...
1. As much as I needed (and enjoyed) a break from the kids, I'm glad we spent some special time together before departing on our separate vacations. By the third night away, I was ready for some Skype time with the kids.
2. Traveling to the port was half the fun (at least on the way there). We took the scenic route stopping to take pictures. We started a great book. We even went to a late movie once we got to the hotel like the old days of dating.
3. Take lots of pictures. I think this trip produced the most pictures we have of ourselves in a long time.
4. The relaxed boat schedule was just what we needed. Our lives are so busy, especially during the school year - it was good for us to just relax and not really have anywhere we needed to be most of the time. Not to mention the fact that we were pretty much "unplugged" the entire trip. I didn't use my cell phone and laptop for 5 days. And lived.
5. Don't bring so much. I've always been an awful packer. I bring everything I *might* need which translates into waaaay too many clothes. I should've brought less everyday clothes and more swimsuits. Thanks to my cousin Becky, I had plenty of dresses on the cruise to dress up in at night (and some for just the day - just because!).
6. I probably wouldn't bring kids on a cruise. Well, let me clarify. I definitely wouldn't bring little ones on a cruise. I think it would be difficult to keep them away from the edge of the boat. Most of the parents of small kids that I saw didn't look like they were on vacation. Once the kids were older and wouldn't jump off the ship, I still think a cruise like this wouldn't be for them. A disney cruise probably would be more appropriate; pretty sure kids were bored on our ship.
7. We ported in two spots - Progresso and Cozumel. Progresso was pretty undeveloped with a beach that had cold water. I'm glad we had opted to take a Mayan Ruins tour there. A bonus was that some of our friends from dinner ended up being on our tour bus so we got to hang together at the Ruins and meet up with some other friends once we got to the beach.
8. I loved Cozumel. I probably would do another cruise, but I would prefer to just go back to Cozumel and stay in a resort there. We only had about 8 hours in Cozumel so I would love to go back and experience more. Josh and I haven't done a lot of traveling so Cozumel was a good spot for us to have our own adventure instead of signing up for a scheduled excursion. Renting a scooter was a blast...even though it was a bit scary driving on the highway there on it and when we got a flat on the edge of town...the beach was the best I've been to ever (I've been to a couple in California, one in Florida, and several off the coast of Texas in the Gulf)....and exploring the shops around town was fun despite the heat.
9. Meeting people was fun...even for an introvert like myself. We had assigned seating every night for dinner. I'm glad we had such a great group of people we ate with every night. Good conversation and new friends - wasn't counting on that on this trip.*
10. Coming home to the kids was awesome. There was much celebrating.
*I should clarify: I didn't think I'd have good conversation with anyone else besides my husband.
3 comments:
SO glad ya'll got to do this! Looks like you had an amazing time. It sounds simply delightful!
it's Jacqueline, as Jordy. oops.
i was wondering who Sole Doc was : )
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