Embarking on our Caribbean Cruise!

Last February Eric and I were talking about places we wanted to go in 2016. We decided one of the adventures we wanted to have this year was a cruise. After doing our research we booked a Caribbean cruise through Royal Caribbean. We didn’t care as much where the cruise went (although we didn’t really want to go to Mexico). We decided we wanted a cruise that made a lot of stops and didn’t have too many days at sea. We found the perfect one leaving out of Puerto Rico in December 2016. As an added bonus we would be on our cruise after a very busy semester and during the week of Eric’s birthday!

After many months of anticipation, we boarded a plane headed to San Juan. It took two very long flights to get there. We had a layover in JFK. By the time we arrived, we were starving. Since we were in New York we got Shake Shack for dinner. We love Shake Shack – such good burgers and ice cream. After flying for four additional hours we landed in San Juan. We arrived at 1am local time. Since we were getting in so late we made arrangements to stay at the San Juan airport hotel. It is literally in the airport. We got off our flight, picked up our bags, and walked one terminal over to check-in. It was the best, especially after a long travel day. Within 30 or so minutes we were in bed and asleep.

Day 1 – Embark

We slept in until almost noon (checkout time) and then grabbed a quick breakfast at the San Juan airport. It wasn’t great food, but we were starving and didn’t know how long it would take us to get onto the ship. We decided it was better to get food than end up being hungry for hours.

We grabbed a cab at the airport and headed straight to the cruise ship. This was Eric’s very first time cruising. We arrived at the ship and got all checked in. We were pleasantly surprised by the ease of the process. Before we knew it we were on board.

The first stop was our stateroom. We opted for an interior room, both because it was less expensive and because we were a little worried we would get seasick. I was pleasantly surprised by how roomy our stateroom seemed. I cruised a few times when I was younger, and remembered the rooms being a lot smaller. However, after some of the small rooms, we have stayed in during trips to Chicago and New York, our room on board was more than adequate.

Next, we explored the ship. We were cruising on the Jewel of the Seas. It was a little bit of an older ship but has recently been refurbished. It was a very nice ship, and we found plenty of activities to keep us occupied. We grabbed lunch at the Windjammer Café. People always say there is lots of food on cruise ships, but that is an understatement. The amount of food is unreal. Our favorite part of lunch would have to be the soft-serve ice cream. One of Eric’s good buddies told him the best part of cruising was the soft serve and they may have been right. We found ourselves going by the Windjammer two or three times a day to get soft serve.

We continued our exploration of the ship. After we were done exploring we changed into swimsuits and sat in deckchairs by the pool. I read a book (we bought a couple of paperback books, Inferno for me and Killing Kennedy for Eric, at the SLC airport) while Eric took a nap. After relaxing it was time for dinner. We headed to the dining room. While many people look to make friends while they cruise, Eric and I were more interested in focusing on time together. To get a table for two we used my time dining. This lets us choose our dinnertime and get a table for two every day. We loved my time dining. We made our reservations right after we got on the ship, and decided to have dinner at 6pm each day. Since we went at the same time we always got the same table, which meant we always had the same servers. We absolutely loved our servers, Jaquelina “Jackie” Grampin and Kadek Suryanta. Seeing them at dinner each day became a highlight. We particularly loved how direct Jackie was when she talked to us. Even on day one, Jackie told us that she didn’t agree with the Chef’s recommendation, instead, she gave us her personal recommendation. I listened closely and followed Jackie’s recommendation, and I was not disappointed.

After dinner, we had to participate in the muster drill. It is amazing how quickly they are able to move, organize, and account for the thousands of passengers who were on board. I was impressed with the precision and friendliness of the staff. With the muster drill completed, it was time for the ship to set sail. By now we were pretty excited. Eric and I headed up to the top deck to watch the ship leave port. It was exciting to watch as we made our way into the open ocean.

From our vantage point on top of the ship, we could hear a dance party. My interest was piqued so we headed over. We participated in a little line dancing. This was our introduction to the constant stream of activities aboard the cruise ship. After some dancing, we enjoyed live music in the centrum before calling it a night. By the time we were heading to bed the motion of the ship was getting to Eric. He wasn’t sick per se but the motion was bothering him.

Day 2 – St. Croix

We slept in a little bit and when we got up we were docked at our first island, St. Croix. We ate a quick breakfast at the Windjammer and then disembarked. We didn’t have any activities planned so we got off the ship and walked around. There were plenty of taxis taking people to various parts of the island, but we decided to walk to a beach about a ½ mile away from the ship. However, when we got there, we discovered it was a pretty disappointing beach and decided to keep walking. We ended up walking for over an hour, but we found the most perfect beach. The beaches in St. Croix are really rocky, which makes it hard to find a place to set up, but we eventually found a spot without rocks and no one around for more than a mile. It was a white sandy beach with beautiful turquoise water. The entire day we were there, we probably saw fewer than 10 people. It was perfect. It was such a private beach we decided to go skinny dipping in the Caribbean Sea. We also had sex on the beach. We can cross that off the bucket list.

We laid on our beach towels and read books, talked, and played in the ocean. It was an awesome, relaxing day, and the perfect way to start our cruise. Late in the afternoon, we decided to trek back to the ship. Eric picked up sand dollars along the beach on the way back. Walking through sand is really hard, so we ended up getting on the road and walking there which made walking back to the ship much quicker than our initial walk to our beach. We got to the main area and did a little bit of shopping. We bought a Christmas Tree ornament that looks like a turtle and a hot plate. One of our traditions in our marriage is to buy a Christmas Tree ornament everywhere we go on vacation. We can’t wait to decorate our tree every year and remember all the fun places we’ve been to! It’s an awesome tradition that we plan to carry on with our kids.

We got back to the ship and ate a snack at the Windjammer (with soft serve) and then relaxed by the pool until it was time to get ready for dinner. Monday night was the first formal night. Eric was worried because he sent his shirts to get pressed and they weren’t back until an hour before dinner time – fortunately they made it just in time. Dinner was delicious! Eric had chicken and I had shrimp ravioli at Jackie’s suggestion – delicious! Jackie quickly became one of our favorite people on the ship.

After dinner, we stayed in our fancy clothes and went to the Captain's Reception. It was really great to see the Sr. Officers and the captain. Captain Liz is one of just 5 female cruise ship captains. The feminist in me was overjoyed! Our next stop was the show. A cover band called Spectrum performed. They are typically in Vegas playing the music of Motown. Eric and I had seen their advertisements in Vegas, but we aren’t big Motown fans, so we didn’t think much of it. Turns out they were awesome! We thoroughly enjoyed the show. They sang songs like My Girl, Loving Feeling, Sugar Pie Honeybunch, and Stand By Me.

After the show, they held a tree lighting in the Centrum. We knew the trip was close to Christmas, but it seemed like it would be hard to get into the Christmas spirit in the Caribbean. We were wrong. The entire centrum had garlands and there was a beautiful tree in the middle. Throughout the cruise, there was Christmas music playing in the hallways. While we were getting ready for dinner every day we would also turn on the TV and there were Christmas movies playing without commercials. And just one channel up there was a fireplace channel with Christmas music playing. The cruise really helped us get into the Christmas spirit. During the tree lighting, Dennis, the Cruise Director read the history of Christmas Trees and then they lit it up. It was very exciting!