The One About the Cruise
It’s finally time to tell you about the cruise I went on with my cousins! They are a private bunch, so while I will use their names (less confusing that way, and none are rare names) I will not be sharing photos of them. Unfortunate, because they’re a good looking crew. The cast are:
Ethan – I mention him first, because in their family, each kid gets a trip with at least one parent as a gift for their 16th birthday. His sisters went on the offered trip, but Ethan thought outside of the box and said he wanted a trip with the whole family, and they said yes.
Kim and Jim – My cousin and her husband. Carey and Kim are my first cousins, their father was my mom’s younger brother.
Carey – The cousin I know best. She is the closest in age to me, and we always gravitated toward each other at family gatherings. We had a PE class together in 7th grade, and used to hang out at lunch time as well. As adults, we were co-trustees of our grandmother’s estate, so had to manage that after she died and our Great Aunt was still living in the house, and we managed the sale of the house after Aunt Flo moved out. She and I went to France together in 2022.
Megan and Kurt – Megan is Kim’s oldest daughter. She is about 5 weeks younger than Maya, and is currently working on her PhD and working for NASA. Kurt is her charming boyfriend, whom I met for the first time on this trip. He’s a great guy, they’ve been together for 13 years, uncommon at such a young age.
Grace – Grace is Kim and Jim’s middle child, 18. She recently graduated from High School, and is going to attend UC Berkeley this fall. I think she’s a physics major, but I don’t remember entirely. She is also very artistic, and paints and makes her own jewelry.
Me – Rounding out the group is me, included because Carey had to make the decision about going on the cruise in only a couple of hours (I don’t know why, a deal the cruise line was having perhaps?) and booked for herself and her wife, Diane. Turns out that Diane didn’t want to go, so Carey invited me to join. As I’ve said, I have never been that excited by the idea of a cruise, but I was very interested in the opportunity to get to know Kim’s family. They’ve lived in Los Angeles for several decades and I don’t know any of them all that well.
OK, here are 3 of the 4 ‘kids’, since they have their backs to the camera. Grace, Megan, and Kurt.
The cruise was a six night trip to Baja California on Royal Caribbean, and the ship was the Ovation of the Seas. It’s 16 stories tall, and has a maximum capacity of something like 6,400 people, which includes about 1,500 staff.
The cruise was from Wednesday to Tuesday, with the following schedule:
- Wednesday – Depart Los Angeles
- Thursday – Day at Sea
- Friday – Cabo San Lucas (snorkeling excursion)
- Saturday – Cabo San Lucas*
- Sunday – Day at Sea
- Monday – Ensenada*
- Tuesday – Arrive in Los Angeles
*There were excursions on these days that some of our crew went on, but Carey and I did not. One was off roading, the other was zip lining. Nope.
I really enjoyed the family time, playing Werewolf and Ravine, sitting with my feet in the hot tub, eating dinners together in one of the main dining rooms. Ethan and Kurt ate SO MUCH ICE CREAM. All of the kids enjoyed the fact that you could eat as much as you wanted, and that it was perfectly acceptable to order 2 or 3 appetizers, 2 entrees, and 2 or 3 desserts whenever you wanted, all for the same pre-paid price. This happened a couple of times, but I never saw much waste. Servings are not huge, and they were a hungry bunch.
There are a lot of dining options on a big cruise ship. There were 2 buffets that serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner. There were 4 main dining rooms where you can have 2 sit down meals a day, and this is where we had dinner most evenings. There was a place for fish and chips, a pizza place, a soft serve ice cream spot. All of these are included in the price of your trip. Or you can pay extra for a more special meal, like a fancy steak dinner, a fancy sushi dinner, an Alice in Wonderland themed restaurant, or a fancy Italian restaurant. There was a pub with pub type finger food. There was a patisserie for little sweets. There were bars all over the place, you were never more than a few feet from a drink if you wanted one.
There was a casino if you were so inclined. There is a promenade with lots of shops where you can buy everything from beauty products and hand bags to fine jewelry. There were 2 pools (no lap pools, people just hung out in them mostly), and maybe 6 or 8 hot tubs. There were areas that were 18 and up, which were nice and a lot quieter. They weren’t strict, they didn’t come and check on Ethan’s age, likely because he wasn’t acting like a little kid. There was a spa (we never went in) and an arcade with games, as well as a court that alternated between basketball, roller skating, bumper cars, and pickleball. There was a lot to do. Sometimes the majority of our group would go to the arcade, and a few others would do something quieter. (Guess which group I was in.)
We saw some shows…our first night there was a stand up comic that Carey really wanted to see (she loves stand up). He sucked. She wanted to leave in the middle of the show, but I wouldn’t let her, we were in the middle of a row and it would have been disruptive to those around us. (I’m the older cousin and I wield that power often.) The woman on her other side was asleep. There was an 80s dance party one night that was kind of wacky fun. There was another comic who also did magic tricks, and I enjoyed his show. But mostly I liked going and sitting in one of the little bars and listening to music.
There were several clubs/bars. The ones I went to had classical guitar, contemporary piano, contemporary guitar, and an R&B / jazz group. I enjoyed them all, but especially the R&B / jazz group we saw the final evening. Unlike most clubs I have been to in the real world, the sound levels were mostly manageable, and you could sit and enjoy listening to music without worrying about losing your hearing.
There was a piano player dressed as a pirate who changed locations daily. At first he was in lobbies and so on. Imagine our delight when our elevator door opened and there he was! What fun! I loved the kids and how excited they got when this happened.
I went to the gym every day and did some strength training, and I did a daily yoga video in our room. Once or twice I walked around the running track and admired the view, but mostly the view was just open water, which isn’t all that exciting after a turn or two. But we got our steps in walking from one end of the ship to another, and averaged 5 to 7 miles a day.
I pictured myself reading a lot. I brought 4 books. I knew that was unrealistic, but didn’t want to be caught without a book if we ended up having a lot of downtime. I read 1/2 of one book.
Carey and I joined the rest of the family for one excursion, snorkeling in Cabo San Lucas. I really enjoy how peaceful snorkeling is, and seeing the brightly colored fish. I’ve only been three times, all in Hawaii, and I have loved it every time. This time, we were on a luxury catamaran, and it was a lot of fun getting from the port to the snorkeling spot. Just a quiet vibe, some music, enjoying the sun and the sea.
Once we got there and got in the water, however, disaster struck. We had been in the water for about 5 minutes when Carey started yelling that there was something twisted around her arm, maybe fishing line or something, and it REALLY HURT. I swam to her but could not see anything. It was not getting better, and she was yelling that it was all around her. So I swam away and started yelling and waving my arms for help from the crew on the boat. In the meantime, other family members were also coming to help and to try to figure out what was going on. Kim came to help. Jim called for help and tried to give Carey a lifejacket in case she needed it. It was not good.
They got her back to the catamaran, and the rest of us wondered what to do…we decided that she was being helped, and was surely OK, so we went on and continued snorkeling. We saw some beautiful reefs and lovely fish, but the water was kind of murky, it was overall so-so. When the time came to swim back so we could sail to our next location, we discovered that she was NOT OK, she was not any better, still in excruciating pain, still felt like she was being bitten or stung or stabbed. They had determined that she was stung by a siphonophore, or perhaps a Portuguese Man of War. No one ever saw its body, but apparently when the (very long) tentacles come off of a dead body, they are just as venomous and as far as we can tell, she swam into one, and it wrapped around her arms and legs and she was stung dozens of times, perhaps even more. There is a new show on Netflix (that I have not yet seen), The Waterfront, that has a scene with a person being tortured by a Portuguese Man of War. It was certainly torturous for Carey.
When she didn’t get better with the treatments that the crew had on board (vinegar on the stings, tequila shots) she was sent back to the ship for medical treatment. Kim and I went with her, and the rest of the family stayed behind on the catamaran. It was horrible (is it horrible for me to tell you that the speed boat ride back to the dock was kind of fun, aside from my cousin being in excruciating pain? Yes, it’s horrible. But speedboats are fun.) and the medical staff on the ship were kind and tried, but they had a tough time getting to that pain. They gave her opioids (I think) and it didn’t touch it. Part of the problem is that what you need is to soak the stung area in warm water, and she had rings on her hand, and her hand was swollen, so they had to get the rings off. So they had to put her hand in ice water, which made the pain much worse. It was HORRIBLE. 4 or 5 hours later, the painkillers and warm water started to help, she was able to be calm, and we decided to take the night off and go back to the room. Our options were that or going to the ER in Cabo San Lucas, and as neither of us speak Spanish, we were not thrilled with that idea. They gave her large doses of ibuprofen and acetaminophen to take with us, and off we went. Kim and I got some dinner, and brought her a plate of food to take with her pills, and we called it a night.
The next morning, we woke up and her pain was SO much better. She was still in pain, but it was manageable. She couldn’t move some of the fingers on her hand, but she wanted to go into town while we had the chance. So we took the tender in to town, and met up with Kim. Kim’s family had gone on an off roading excursion, but she didn’t want to go, so she met us and we walked around a bit. We wanted to see Cabo Wabo, Sammy Hagar’s bar and restaurant, but by the time we got there, Kim was wanting to get back to the port to meet with her family. It was a bit of a sketchy walk for someone alone, so we went with her until we got pretty close, and then Carey and I stopped for lunch and Kim went to meet the fam (She hadn’t heard from them, didn’t know if they would be back in 2 minutes or 2 hours…internet was a bit spotty).
So Carey and I had lunch, margaritas, guacamole, and our second tacos of the vacation.
We did a little shopping in the touristy area, before returning to the ship. We found a quiet spot on board to have a glass of wine and read our books, but Carey was still in shock from the day before, and fell asleep while we were sitting there. So I sent her to the room for a nap, and I found another quiet spot to read.
I hung out on the deck and read my book and got my picture taken by some shipmates. A couple of hours later, we got together with the family for dinner, and then she went up for an early bedtime, and I spent some time in one of the pubs listening to music, and then did some drunk shopping. (Meaning I had had a couple of glasses of wine, and went and looked at fancy jewelry. Don’t worry, I wasn’t drunk enough to buy a $1,500 ring I don’t need.)
Happily, the following day when we woke up, Carey could move all of her fingers, and the pain was much, much better. This was a day at sea, and was mostly quiet. We had an excellent lunch for Father’s Day at Jamie Oliver’s Italian restaurant, and played some family games. Dinner was at a steak restaurant, which was supposed to be the highlight of the trip, and ended up being a big disappointment. Bad service, cold food, bah. Onward.
The next day was Ensenada, where Kim and her family were going zip lining, and Carey and I started our day a bit more slowly. We had breakfast on the ship in the solarium (pic above is not from our breakfast, but is the general area), and then moseyed into town.
We met them for tacos for lunch. Look at that bill! We felt like big spenders when our taco lunch was $2,613, but that was Mexican dollars. Then we went to Ethan’s favorite restaurant, McDonalds, for dessert.
I’ve never had a McFlurry before, but Megan and Kurt were intrigued by the Sponch flavor, so they gave it a try. Have you heard of Sponch? I have not, but it is either a Mexican cookie marshmallow thing or an American cookie marshmallow thing, who knows. They liked it.
It is vanilla ice cream, and strawberry based, with a cookie, and I didn’t have the nerve to try any, after my French fries came to me cold. I wanted to try the French fries, wondering if they were fried in a different kind of fat. I don’t think they do, they tasted like US French fries, just cold. Blah.
On our way back to the ship, we saw more pelicans! I love pelicans. They look so prehistoric, like a pterodactyl or something. After returning to the ship, we all got cleaned up and then met for dinner in a pub to listen to some music, then the kids went up to sit in the hot tub (it’s not so crowded after midnight) and Carey and I went to listen to the R&B/Jazz band. It was a really good day.
So…cruising. The things I expected to not like about it (crowded, so-so Vegas type shows, so-so food) were there. The things I really enjoyed were also there, though. Quiet spots if you seek them out. Pretty decent food, though nothing adventurous. The things that I enjoyed the most were time with family, and the evenings sitting in a club listening to music. It felt like being in a really nice resort/hotel, really. Would I go again? If someone wanted to go, I would happily go along. Would it be my first choice over staying in a location in a hotel or an AirBnB? Unlikely. Exceptions might be an Alaskan cruise because the scenery would be so beautiful, or a European river cruise, because I think you spend more time in port.
One thing that I really enjoyed was unplugging from the news. I looked at The NY Times every morning, so I wasn’t completely out of the loop, but that was it. The family didn’t really talk about politics either, or current events. I can’t live my life that way, I need to know what is going on to a certain extent, but it was really, really nice to take a break.
Another thing that was relaxing was not cooking or planning meals. OMG, I loved that break from real life! And not working…I told my coworkers that if anything batshit crazy happened, to text my cell phone, but I didn’t bring my work phone with me, and after a day or two I stopped thinking about work at all, and it was really, really nice.
Edited to add that one interesting thing about being on the ship was that most of the time you didn’t feel much like you were moving, but then sometimes you did. When I felt it, it reminded me of the vestibular issues I had in 2022 – 2023. Like almost exactly like that, though with my vestibular thing, I occasionally felt like I might fall down, whereas on the ship I never felt that way. I brought some bonine tablets in case of seasickness, and I did take them for the excursion just in case, but I have never felt seasick, so probably it was not necessary.
Also, I totally cribbed most of these photos. We did a big photo dump when we got back to the house, and everyone shared with everyone. I know which are mine, but they got some great pictures that I loved (like the sunset, for example, I think that was Jim’s photo.)
Overall, aside from the truly horrible part, it was a fun experience, and I’m glad that I went. Have you been on a cruise? Have you been stung by a jellyfish or something similar? If you’ve not been on a cruise, do you have any questions about it that I can answer? Let’s rap.
30 Comments
Ally Bean
Fun photos! How great to have family that wants to go on vacation together. So much to see and experience on a cruise. I’ve never been on one, figuring I’d be seasick the whole time. I’m intrigued by sponch. Horrified by the price of dinner even when I realize it represents a different currency.
J
Ally, I brought bonine with me for seasickness, but you barely feel the ship moving. Actually, it felt a lot like the vestibular issues I had in 2022 – 2023. Like the ground is moving just a bit.
Ally Bean
Interesting. Thanks for the information. I might be able to do a cruise…
J
I think you could if you wanted to! It’s nothing like being on a little boat.
Elisabeth
I just watched a documentary about Diana Nyad (swimming from Cuba to Florida) and it talked numerous times about the risk of jellyfish and she was stung multiple times. Eeks. It sounds horrid.
The pain sounds horrendous and everyone must have felt helpless since nothing seemed to be working. Thank goodness she recovered and was able to salvage most of the trip in good health.
I’ve never been on a cruise. Part of me is intrigued and the other part of me has no interest. I think I’d like to try it once at some point, but I don’t see it being something we do with the kids, so it will be a few years yet!
J
I’ll tell you, cruising is nothing I have ever had any interest in, and I still wouldn’t pick it over a trip to Montreal or Venice or PARIS or whatever, but now that I’ve given it a shot, I am more open to it if someone else wants to go.
Kids on cruises – there were so many families, clearly it can be done. But if it’s not something you’re interested in doing with them, don’t do it. There were so many activities that kids would love (some free, some extra) – rock climbing, a wave pool for surfing, a sky diving simulator. It’s not like they would be bored. More that maybe you want to sit in the bar and listen to cool music, and they want to swim or hot tub. Probably best to wait until they are both old enough that you could feel comfortable going separate ways.
UGH on the jellyfish, and yes, we all felt SO helpless!
nance
Loved these photos, no matter whose they are.
Rick and I took an Alaskan cruise for our 25th anniversary, and we loved it. It was on a much smaller boat (the Love Boat, for real) on the Carnival Cruise Line. No kids, and the food was very good, except they kept trying to shove salmon at us (understandable, but we hate the stuff).
What bad luck for your cousin to run into the man-o-war. I’ve never experienced that and hope I never will. Like you, I didn’t get seasick, even on our whale-watching day, although we did encounter very rough seas one day. Lots of people were getting sick all over the place, but I just felt a little unsteady and sort of drunk.
Four books! I can’t imagine.
J
LOL, yeah, 4 books. Admittedly I took one for my cousin in case she wanted to read, but still, I only managed 1/2 of a short book.
I’m not sure why I always worry about being seasick. When Carey and I were in France we took a day trip to San Tropez, and the ride back to Cannes was pretty rough, and some people were getting sick. We were completely fine. And yet I always bring bonine, because I hate that queasy feeling and don’t want it to ruin my fun.
Regarding the man-o-war, yeah, I’m not sure she will ever snorkel again, it was definitely traumatic.
M
Oh, your poor cousin! That sounds so painful and an awful experience!
I’m so glad to read your account of your first cruise! I’m always curious how people who have never cruised and never really had a desire to cruise do on their first voyage. It sounds like it was mostly fun, specially the time spent with family.
My husband loves being out on the sea. I love the convenience of being able to get on the ship and go places without packing and unpacking. We (my husband and son) went on a 10-day cruise from Barcelona to Rome last summer. We had a port everyday except for 2 sea days; overnight around Pisa/Florence. I liked not having to haul luggage around Europe. I do wish that cruise ships had more overnight ports — one day just doesn’t seem enough. But I know that people repeat cruises so they can do other things in the ports/cities they’ve already been to so they can go/do other excursions. We were gone for almost 30days and I really appreciated the no packing/moving ourselves with luggage when we did our own travel on trains — from Rome to a small town south of Naples then to Florence and to Bologna. We were tired by the end of it.
I was also very curious what cruise line you went on — I thought it was departing San Diego. I thought maybe either Holland America or Disney. But yeah…more cruiselines depart from LA. We’ve taken a few from there — so convenient to not have to fly to get on a ship. We could pack as much as we want! LOL I want to repeat our Coastal Pacific cruise we took 2 years ago that went from LA to San Francisco (with ports in Catalina, Ensenada and San Diego) so my husband can go to The Rock at night. We did the daytime tour and he really enjoyed it — wants to do the night time tour!
I just came back from my 3rd Alaska cruise, my first on this one cruise line. Alaska never gets old — but I didn’t enjoy it much because we both got sick a few days into the cruise. We must have picked up a bug in the airport or on the plane. It was least-enjoyable cruise….sigh….
J
Oh, being sick on a much anticipated vacation is horrible! Your 1 month trip to Europe sounds amazing, and yes, hauling luggage around can be a real pain in the butt. We have a neighbor who spends her retirement going on cruises. Meaning, she saves and plans, and then takes a long cruise, then comes home, recovers, then saves and plans again. She recently returned from a 4 month cruise where she circumnavigated the Earth. She said she was ready to be home by the end of it, but when I saw her a few days later she said she changed her mind and wanted to be on a cruise again. Tired of the household chores!
M
We met a woman who is staying on the ship for the entirety of the Alaska cruise season (late April to early October)!! We were on a 35day cruise in Feb-Mar (Hawaii and Tahiti islands) and we enjoyed it and think it was a perfect length. I don’t know if we’d enjoy anything longer. The thing about longer cruises that I found with that 35day cruise with many sea days is that you get to know more of the passengers and you develop friendships. Very different from shorter and port-intensive itineraries because everyone is so busy. I thought I’d read a lot, too, but I didn’t even finish a book! We were working out, doing ukelele land hula lessons, line dancing lessons, and going to one of the evening shows and dancing at the music venues.
I told my husband I’m traveled out for the year — but we will see! We’re 65 (him) and 58 (me) and I retired 2yrs ago (he retired 18 years ago) so we tell ourselves to go and enjoy while we are still able to. I will learn to pace myself a bit later because it was too much being away for a homebody like me!
Yes, One of the perks of being on a cruise — yes, you don’t have to think about what to eat/where to eat! 🙂 And of course, no chores!
J
My neighbor has said the same thing about the friends she has made. Often they plan their cruises so they will be there together, what fun!
Oh, Hawaii and Tahiti! That sounds like fun! I agree that traveling while you can is important if you enjoy it (as you clearly do, and as do I!) I’ve been trying to not say no when opportunities arise.
Birchie
I have not been on a cruise, and I think I would like it. Certainly I want to try it at least once. I feel like an Alaska cruise would be my speed. In theory I think I would read a lot, but if that didn’t happen for you, it speaks to you being busy and having a good time.
Bummer about the man o’war. I’m glad that she is OK, but how scary and painful while they were figuring out what happened and getting the pain under control.
I would pass on ziplining too! There are some experiences that I don’t need to have.
J
I think either an Alaska cruise or a European river cruise would be ideal. Beautiful scenery from the ship, lots of ports to see. I think I would have had more time to read if I had been with a different crowd…there was a LOT of family time, which was the entire point, but if I had been with my husband and daughter, we might have spent some time chilling with our books.
Margaret
Many adventures, mostly great although getting stung by that Portuguese man of war would be a nightmare. Poor Carey! It took SO long to get better! I’m not very interested in cruising although Alaska does interest me. It’s an easy trip from Seattle. I’ve never heard of Sponch but doubt that I’d like it since I dislike marshmallows. However, I would still try a bite of it just to see. 🙂
J
I’ll confess that I didn’t try the Sponch, even when offered to me. LOL. I missed my chance.
Lisa’s Yarns
Oh geez the man of war attack sounds awful!! Your poor cousin.
I can see why the snorkeling was a bit of a let down compared to Hawaii. I feel like Hawaii has some of the best snorkeling in the world! It’s tough to beat!!
Now that you are back, you could watch ‘poop cruise’ on Netflix which is about a cruise in 2014 that when horribly wrong! I do not remember the new story but Phil does. It’s only about an hour long so a short watch. But wow it does not make me want to take a cruise! My parents did a Viking European cruise from Barcelona to London in January and loved it. They had done a Caribbean cruise many years ago but much preferred this Viking cruise. They signed up for another one next spring but a river boat cruise next time, either in the Rhine or Rhone. That is something I would love to do someday!!
J
Oh, a river boat cruise sounds perfect to me. I would go on a week or 10 day cruise, and then spend another week or 10 days in Paris. Awesome, right?
Lisa’s Yarns
Yes that would be dreamy!! Hopefully I can do something like that when we are retired!!
J
Totally dreamy! #GOALS
K @ TS
Oh my gosh, that man o war! I remember reading a book about them when I was little and always being kind of worried about them being in the ocean. When I was in Australia, there were (of course) stinging jellies in the water, but you have to just swim with a wetsuit and you are good to go, although I did feel them on my hands, feet and face a little. However, these ones were just stingy, like when you rub up on a nettle or something. There are much worse ones, and some places were we could not get in the water because of it! I am so glad that it resolved on it’s own!
J
WOW, I am pretty sure I do not want to snorkel in Australia if there are jellies stinging you!
Nicole MacPherson
OMG poor Carey! That sounds like such an awful experience. It sounds worse than jellyfish even! Not that I’ve had either happen but wow, what a painful experience.
I would be super into the 80s dance party! But too bad about the stand up comic. “the woman beside her was asleep” – lol. When I was in university I waitressed with some people who had worked on cruise ships and it always sounded both terrible and kind of fun.
I’ve been to Cabo a few times – although never to Cabo Wabo – and it’s a beautiful area. Cruising is not for me but I have several friends who really love it. I have been to all-inclusive resorts many times and the best thing about them is the “not thinking about making or procuring food.” It’s less important now but when the kids were younger it felt like my whole life revolved around groceries, preparing food, cleaning the kitchen, etc., and the first time we went to an all-inclusive – I think the boys were 13 and 11.5 – it was amazing. They could just…go get themselves lunch. We didn’t have to do anything. I’m at a stage now where that is less appealing but it was SO great.
J
The 80s dance party was cheesy fun, just the hits, dancers on stage in ridiculous costumes. Lots of fun, but not my jam as much as the other music on the cruise.
I’m afraid that with the limited time we had, we didn’t see much of Cabo. I’ve heard how lovely it is, and I would go back, but probably not on a cruise. The port area wasn’t great, and we didn’t take a cab or anything to go anywhere else. Kind of like going to San Francisco and ONLY going to Fisherman’s Wharf. Which maybe people do when cruise ships stop there, actually.
We have a neighbor that loves the all inclusive places, and yeah, the food aspect is pretty awesome. Not even really having to figure out what restaurant to go to, just, here it is. Nice rest for the brain.
AC
I always taught that I would love to snorkel in tropical waters, but now I am not so sure. What an awful experience for her.
J
If you ever get to Hawaii, I recommend it! Chances of being stung are pretty slight. You could wear a wetsuit, like Kyria suggested. I do not think that this horrible experience has made me swear it off entirely, but yeah, that may be it for Carey. Definitely traumatic.
Ernie
Oh my gosh – that sting incident sounds awful. I can’t imagine. Such a buzz kill on a wonderful vacation.
I’ve never been on a cruise. I always hear people say how great the food is. This looks like a ton of fun. Like you, I wouldn’t have been all that interested in the day trips. I don’t know if I’ll ever do a cruise. I’ve seen a trailer for a show called Poop Cruise on Netflix and I’m guessing if I watch that – I’ll never want to do a cruise. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
J
It was totally a buzz kill!
I would say that the food was all good, but not better than a good restaurant. What it was was available…you could order as much as you wanted, or if you ate at the buffet, there are a lot of options.
Someone else mentioned poop cruise, I think I should probably avoid that one! HA!
Stephany
Oh goodness, that man-of-war sting sounds atrocious! I’m so sorry your cousin had to deal with that. I came back from a snorkel excursion once with a bunch of bites all over my arms from sea lice. I didn’t even know it was a thing! That’s awful.
I’m glad your cruise was a good (ish) experience! I always bring wayyyy more books than I know I will ever be able to read, but who knows! Maybe I’ll get in a reading groove and actually finish a book every day of my cruise. HA.
J
OMG Stephany! I just looked up sea lice and I WILL NEVER SLEEP AGAIN. Jellyfish larvae??? What the even fuck is with that???
Glad to know I’m not alone in over packing my books. I’ve been back for a few weeks and I still haven’t finished the slim book I brought with me. I’m just a really slow reader of physical books.