In December 2022, we took a 20-day cruise around the Caribbean. It was two 10-day cruises back-to-back. We were looking for a warm vacation and wanted to take a cruise to build up some sea days prior to booking a longer cruise in the future. This was our first travel outside of the US and Mexico since the pandemic.
Because this was a long trip, I have split this post into three parts. This instalment, Part 3, will describe life onboard the ship. Part 1 described the first 10-day cruise, and Part 2 described the second 10-day cruise.
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This was our longest cruise to date (20 days), and as was the case with every prior cruise, we would have been happy to stay on the ship longer! We love cruising for many reasons. The purpose of this post is to give a general overview of how we spend our time onboard the ship.
For those who haven’t been on cruises, you can do as much or as little as you want. We tend to take a more relaxed approach (as we do in life in general), but we do take in some of the shipboard activities, particularly on sea days.
Boarding the Ship and our Cabin
We had the easiest boarding experience we have had on any cruise we have been on. This probably is in part due to changes in technology that we took advantage of.
Prior to the cruise we uploaded scans of our passports, credit card information, and photos of us using the cruise line’s app and selected a preferred check in time. In the past I had resisted doing things like this due to security concerns, but have recently surrendered because it becomes difficult to do just about anything related to travel without providing requested information in advance.
We arrived at the cruise terminal where our ship was docked a few minutes before the time we had selected, but once our time arrived we were directed to an express check in lane (because we had provided our documents in advance). It took five minutes or so to for both of us check in with an agent, and then another five minutes to pickup our “medallion” that acted as a card key and method of payment on board, and we were then directed to board the ship!
Once aboard, there are required security and safety activities that must be completed by all passengers before the ship can leave port. We watched a security video on our TV in our cabin, checked in with our medallion at our “muster station” (the location we would go in a ship’s emergency), and located our life vests.
Next, we settled into our cabin. For our last several cruises, we have gotten cabins with balconies. For us it is worth the extra money to have private outdoor space, particularly because many of the areas of the ship often have music playing or activities going on. We also enjoy having a floor to ceiling view of whatever is outside the ship, whether it is a port, land, or the sea.
We choose to have separate beds because we sleep better. This would not be for everyone, but it is what works for us.
The cabin is small but adequate, and it didn’t bother us to be in close quarters with each other for 20 days.
Food and Dining Experience
What many people associate with cruises is a lot of food! It is true that you can eat 24×7 if you choose to. We do not. We try as best we can to eat relatively healthy, but there are some splurges that we indulge in. We noticed that, because this was a longer cruise, we started out eating “treats” and drinking more than normal, backed off to closer to our normal diet in the middle of the cruise, and then started having a few more “treats” again near the end. It was also the holiday season during our cruise, so that had an impact on our choices.
Our normal pattern is to eat breakfast from the buffet, because we find that there are more healthy choices, more variety of options (so we don’t get bored), and we are able to eat a larger portion of fruit than when have breakfast in the dining room. It is also faster. One nice thing about the ship we were on is that there were places just outside of the buffet area where we could dine outside, which we did on all but a few days when it was too windy and/or raining.
Our plan for lunch on “sea days” varies, depending on a few factors. Normally, we eat lunch from the buffet for the same reasons that we eat breakfast from the buffet. But, we also do not participate in the formal nights, so if we are not planning to eat in the formal dining room for dinner, we usually choose other options. We ate in the one of the formal dining rooms for lunch several times, and enjoyed the meal and the peace and quiet; there generally were few other diners compared to the size of the room. There was also a pizza restaurant on board that we ate in for lunch at least once.
Our normal plan for dinner is to eat in the formal dining room. We love fine dining, and we find the food and experience to be very enjoyable; generally, this is our primary entertainment for the evening. Many cruise lines are now more flexible and do not require eating at a specific table at a set time, although some people still enjoy doing that and make reservations so they can do so. We never had a problem getting a seat within 5-10 minutes of showing up for dinner when we were ready. We found that our preference is to get a table for two. On the ship we were on, they are positioned next to others’ tables for two, so generally you can have some conversation with the others dining near you, but you aren’t obligated to talk to a large group of people throughout an entire meal as is the case if you join a larger shared group table.
On formal nights, we usually ate at the buffet or in the pizza restaurant. Another fun dinner experience we enjoyed was on a few occasions when NFL football games were playing on the large screen over the pool during dinner time. We got food from the buffet and hung out and watched the game and ate. This is like what we would do at home during an evening game.
Towards the end of the cruise, we settled on requesting a particular section of a particular dining room that we liked, because we liked the waiter and assistant waiter. In that way, we were able to enjoy one of the positive aspects of dining at the same table each night (the staff get to know you and your preferences), but we didn’t need to select a precise time to eat.
On the final night of Princess Cruises, there is a tradition that Baked Alaska is one of the desserts. Being lactose intolerant that wasn’t my choice, but the fun part is that there is a parade of waiters and kitchen staff, including some of the chefs. It is a fun event and we get to show our appreciation for the hard work they do on our behalf throughout the cruise.
Entertainment and Activities
There is no reason to ever be bored on a cruise ship! There are many, many activities every day, particularly on sea days. We do not participate in most of them (our life is fairly relaxed), but we do participate in some.
Every sea day, we walked the “jogging” track (most people walked). Those of you who know me well know how much I love to walk! This is one of the highlights of each day for me. I love being outside, experiencing the weather (whatever it is, including rain), and looking out to sea.
I tried to keep up with my online Spanish class while we were away. The Wi-Fi wasn’t always up to the task, but I did my best so as not to fall too far behind, particularly with little opportunity to speak Spanish as regularly as at home in Mexico.
We usually spent some of the day reading. Towards the end of the cruise Kevin discovered a nice outdoor area that was quiet and did not play music. This became our favorite spot.
There was a small art gallery on board the ship, and occasionally members of the gallery team present lectures, something that I enjoy attending. On this cruise, I attended a seminar on Thomas Kincaid. He is a well-known painter, but I confess that I was unfamiliar with him or his work. His works that were on board the ship were displayed and there was a presentation on his life and career. I enjoyed the presentation and his art.
We attended a wine tasting event. We had also done this on a prior cruise. The head waiters provided the presentation, giving us information about each wine and winery before we tasted it. Each wine was paired with a canape. We tasted the following wines, in this order:
- Cattier Brut, French Champagne
- Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, NZ
- Shafer Red Shoulder Ranch Chardonnay, California, US
- Masi Compofiorin, Veneto, IT
- CARO, Mendoza, AR
- Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
As mentioned previously, we watched several NFL football games on board wherever they were being shown, sometimes on the big screen over the pool, and sometimes in one of the lounges. We watched parts of some of them in our cabin on our stateroom TV.
We attended a lecture titled “Navigation @Sea,” presented by one of the officers on board. This covered not only navigation, but a lot of information on ship operations. As boaters, we found this to be very interesting, and was one of the highlights of the cruise for me.
Each night before dinner, we enjoyed happy hour. There are several lounges onboard, but the one we settled on was the Crown Grill Bar. It was open by 5:00 (several others opened later), it was relatively quiet, and had good people watching.
One night after dinner we went to see a comedian. We found the theater to be very crowded, more than we found comfortable. We decided to forgo events in the theater for the remainder of the cruise, but many people enjoy the entertainment that is performed in the theater in the evenings.
Holidays Onboard
This cruise was during the holidays, so the ship was quite festive. We particularly enjoyed celebrating Christmas Eve.
Turnaround Day
Because this cruise was two 10-day cruises back-to-back, we had a new experience that we didn’t know about, a “turnaround day.” I do not know if this is true in all ports worldwide, but US regulations require all passengers to disembark (leave) the ship, present themselves to US Customs and Immigration, and then reboard, even if continuing on the cruise. The process is well organized and does not take long. It could have been even shorter if a few passengers didn’t try to stay on the ship longer than they were supposed to (everyone had to disembark by a certain time, even if their flights were later in the day).
Leaving the Ship
Related to the above description of the turnaround day, we learned that if we have a later flight we should probably make some type of arrangement to do something the day we leave the ship, probably one of the tours organized by the ship to see some sights and then eventually end up at the airport. We got off the ship as late we could (in our case we were assigned 8:00 am) and then had a lot of time to kill in the airport. We spent time walking the airport and then had a good Cuban lunch at a restaurant, an appropriate end to our Caribbean adventure!
