Buckle up it’s a long one! Wowsers. I’m going on a cruise! A first time for me and I’m beyond excited, let’s get into the details. I’m going island hopping around the Caribbean for eight nights with Royal Caribbean, stopping in Curaçao, Aruba, Dominican Republic and Royal Caribbean’s private island, Coco Cay, in the Bahamas! I have a few days at sea too, and am very much looking forward to what cruising has to offer. Like most things, I hear mixed reviews on cruises as I guess it’s down to people’s preferences, so I’m keen to give it a go myself as I’ve always been intrigued.

First up is getting to the cruise embarkation destination, which is Orlando, Florida. I’m flying with British Airways across the pond ready for a very exciting adventure. It was an early start at Gatwick so I had lounge access ready to go so that I could chill and grab some breakfast before my flight, my lounge experience this time round was certainly far more positive than my last. Less children, in fact, no children; peace and quiet, some nice breakfast, and a couple of coffees and juices. It was also significantly less busy which meant I could actually have a space to myself. Before I knew it, it was time to go to gate. I boarded my flight and was praying that the row continued to remain empty and then I heard those magic words ‘boarding complete’ and I had a whole row for my nine and a half hour flight to Florida, happy days!

After a pretty steady flight, as well as a stretch out nap, I landed in Orlando and was off to my hotel for the night, I stayed at the Hampton Inn and Suites, which was in Port Canaveral, right near the cruise terminal. I booked my transfer from the airport through Cocoa Beach Shuttles and it cost $28, and picked me up from right outside the airport terminal and dropped me to my hotel lobby door, I couldn’t have asked for more for the price. The hotel was lovely, they couldn’t have done more for me, I needed my luggage tags printing for my cruise and was asking them so many questions about transfers and what not and they just helped with everything. I had a wander around and grabbed a drink before ordering some dinner and settling in for the night. I was desperately trying to beat the jet lag as soon as possible so had a bath, put a film on and painted my nails to try and stretch out going to sleep as long as possible, with success!

Good morning and we’re off! I had some breakfast at my hotel, before getting ready, checking out, and heading to my shuttle. The hotel helped me book this the night before, it cost $10 and again, super easy. The transfer took care of everything, including making sure my bags were handed over to the port staff so that I got them on the boat! The process of boarding was also super simple. I had an allocated time to checkin when I did my online checks but I arrived at the terminal a bit earlier, no worries though. I checked in and went through security in a breeze and was probably from bus to boat in around 30 minutes. And I was onboard! My home for the next 8 nights.

I genuinely could not believe the sheer size of the cruise ship, and I was on a smaller boat too! I sailed on Adventure of the Seas and I knew I was definitely in for an adventure. I had some time once I boarded to begin finding my way around the ship, that was definitely needed as I was definitely going around in circles for a little while. I found my muster station, which is mandatory when going ona. cruise incase of emergencies, and then picked up some bits like my drinks cup and checked out the promenade which I discovered is really the main ‘street’ on the ship, with all the shops, etc connecting to other parts. It wasn’t long before I could go and find my room and considering I only booked an interior cabin because it was just me, and I knew I wouldn’t be spending lots of time in my room, it was a fair size! It had a huge bed and space for me to get ready, as well as a sofa and TV. My luggage wasn’t arriving until a few hours later so I headed back out exploring more of the ship.

The ship I’m on is insane, it has an ice skating rink, a full sized theatre, the main street, two pool decks, a night club, a casino, and so much more! I didn’t even know where to begin, including the mega number of bars on board too. I was really living my best luxe life. Having been on a range of different adventures from hostels to swanky hotels, cruising was definitely feeling pretty high-life. The Sail Away Party was happening on the pool deck at 4pm with loads of music and dancing and fun for leaving the port in Orlando and heading off to our first stop in the Caribbean. I joined in the fun and met a few people, went back to my cabin to get ready for the evening and met some more lovely people at the solo cruisers event in one of the bars. Jet lag was whipping me good time by now so I went for dinner shortly after, and my god the three course main room dining was a winner for me. Anyway, more about that another day. It was definitely sleep time!

Days two and three were days at sea, which I wasn’t sure about at first but ended up really enjoying. Let’s begin with day two. I woke up and it was sooo choppy. I had definitely fallen foul of sea sickness for the first time in my life. Wow. I woke up and got ready before heading down to have some breakfast and it was at this point I realised that I really knew I wasn’t doing well. After breakfast I tried to go upstairs to the pool but it was very short lived and within moments I was trying to find a spot as low down on the ship as possible to help me with the motion. I spent a fair amount of the morning finding activities to do inside, which wasn’t hard. There was a whole itinerary of things happening every hour of every day within the app for the cruise. By the afternoon it had started to calm down, so was looking forward to being able to explore more of the ship without feeling sea sickness in every step. 

I had enjoyed a full day of activities from morning until eve, and had really got used to ship life quite quickly (after the sea sickness left). It was calm, at whatever pace you wanted and as filled or chilled as you planned. As evening began to fall I got ready for the first formal night onboard and heading back out ready for entertainment and dinner. When I got the itinerary through for the cruise including the theme nights, I was slightly skeptical at first thinking god, having to go back and get changed etc, but I actually came to really enjoy it. It made me feel a bit boujee in the evening, whereas my typical style of travelling is pretty basic, limited clothes and a chuck an outfit on for the day vibe. Anyway, back to it.

Tonight’s main performance was a group called The Las Vegas Tenors, they were sensational! There reaelly is no joke when they say cruise ship entertainment is top class, because for reals that was true. After the performance, I headed to dinner and it was tonight that I really began getting to know my waiters, you are assigned a table on a cruise and eat there each evening, so I got to know them a lot over the eight nights I was onboard and they were wonderful. More about them later. It was a really lovely evening feeling glammed up, finishing off at some of the social events at night including music, dancing and just enjoying the vibe.

Day three, second day at sea and lots of sunshine today, and I woke up and was in the Caribbean! I spent almost all day out on the pool deck sunbathing. The wind on the ship though meant that I tanned / burnt far quicker than normal, even with suncream I was a lovely shade of red on my shoulders and face. The day was filled with live music, ice cream, sunshine and good vibes which I really loved. I got ready for the evening and headed to tonight’s performance from the onboard dancers and singers, who were genuinely sensational. These talented individuals were not only dancing and singing on stage each night, but also on a moving ship, sometimes rocky etc. Mad skills. From here I headed off to dinner again and my goodness, I cannot even with the food on here. Three course dinner each day is the vibe I can get used to, with some sensational options available. I’ve really settled into a routine now of my evenings and what’s on offer to keep me entertained.

Day four and we’d docked in Willemstad, Curaçao. I was very excited to firstly see land for the first time in two days, but also to explore a new country! All four countries that I’m visiting on this cruise are new to me so I’m definitely going to be doing as much exploring as I can each day that I am visiting. Anyway, back to Curaçao. We docked around midday and I booked an excursion called ‘Beauties of Curaçao’ through Royal Caribbean, it didn’t disappoint. First stop was Shete Boka Park and Boka Tabla, a beautiful national park at the west of the island where the sea slams on the rocks, provided the most stunning shades of blue. The sounds was also so luscious. From here we headed to look at some of the plantation and cacti houses and to the Jan Kock Estate, a former house turned into an art exhibition by a local artist, who really did some amazing work. I definitely wanted to take some home with me.

Our last stop was to flamingo lagoon, that’s definitely not the official name but it’s what our guide called it. A green space where flamingos flock to occasionally from Bonaire, a neighbouring island and part of the ABC group, where there are sanctuaries for flamingos. We couldn’t get too close to see them as we were told they are very shy creatures, but managed to get a shot from the distance and was still super happy to see them in person, in the wild.

After the tour concluded I spent a bit of time wandering around Downtown Willemstad by myself, taking in the colourful buildings and beautiful architecture, and making a stop at the Queen Emma Swinging Bridge, before getting back on the ship. Tonight’s theme is Caribbean so I’m looking forward to evening entertainment of steel pan music and Caribbean Cuisine, including the Waiters in the Main Dining Room putting on a performance. I must say, my waiters Tomas and Ryan smashed it.

Okay, let’s chat about them. Tomas, from Indonesia, and Ryan from the Philippines, were my waiters for the week I was cruising and they were two of the most wonderful humans I’ve met, we spoke a lot about their jobs, my travelling, and most things inbetween. They knew I was solo travelling through our conversations and made every effort to ask about my day, chat to me, give me recommendations and so much more. Creds to them both. Tonight’s main performance was an ice skating show! What the hells. It was meant to be a bit earlier into the cruise but because it was too rocky, it was postponed, but it was so worth the wait. As with the dancers, incredible talented humans that just stole the evening.

Fifth day had arrived and today we’d arrived in Oranjestad, Aruba. We docked really early at around 07:30 so it was breakfast and off the boat as quickly as possible! One thing I wasn’t struggling with was getting up early, jet lag and time differences had helped in that sense. My second excursion of the trip and today was a ‘Downtown Walking Tour’, I’m not normally one for planned group activities but because of being on a cruise, it does help with timings etc and ensuring the ship doesn’t leave without you when you’re on one of their tours. As the Captain said in the morning, we were in Aruba for a good time but not a long time, gangway was up at 3:30pm.

I really enjoyed wandering around Oranjestad and enjoyed visiting some key sites from the city, including the famous Blue Horse Statues which are to do with Aruba’s history, and represent things like companionship and freedom, as well as the Paarden Baai Community Project and Fort Zoutman, both of which really cool, and got to try some local food faves too! Part of the tour also included a trip down their very colourful Main Street, where I also got to see the tram in action, as well as seeing Aruba’s Parliament and City Hall. As I did on the last island, I spent a bit of time aimlessly wandering solo once the tour concluded, and visited a local market and the quays where I saw some very cute pelicans waiting for the fishermen to come in.

Back on board and ready to begin the journey to Cabo Rojo in the Dominican Republic, I’m looking forward to another slice of a country to explore. I was getting ready for dinner and an announcement came from the Captain saying that there was a medical emergency on board and that we needed to turn back around to Aruba, we’d be sailing for around 2 hours now so it was quite the mission to turn the boat around and head back. We arrived back in Aruba at around 7:30pm and left again just after 8pm, picking up the pace to get back on track. We had another announcement after we began sailing saying that we would be arriving in the Dominican slightly later than planned but our time there would be extended too, so it all ended well.

Back on track with the evening and the entertainment today was a Magician, Ed Alonzo. I hadn’t heard of Ed before but most Americans on board had, he’d be in TV programmes over there, and had performed in Vegas, done lots of really cool things, and I wasn’t disappointed. He put on a really good performance and truly showed the ‘magic’. Dinner time had arrived and it was lovely to spend time enjoying the atmosphere, before heading off for some evening music and drinks and bed. It was a long day today so I was more than ready for some shuteye.

Day six and we’d docked, although two hours later than planned due to the medical emergency yesterday, in Cabo Rojo, Dominican Republic. I hadn’t booked an exploring excursion today but an adventure one! I absolutely love quad biking so booked an ATV Adventure around Las Mercedes which I was dead excited about. Also included was entry to Baby Beach Club in Cabo Rojo after the adventures to cool off and chill out. Anyway, first off, quad biking. We drove out to the starting point and got kitted up, had a safety briefing and snapped some pics before jumping on our quads and hitting the roads! It was so much fun, loads of twists and turns and ups and downs, and that’s where it went wrong. My first time ever that I’ve been thrown off a quad bike. I very luckily only came away with a few scrapes and some bruises down one side of my body, and was looked after really well, but scary at the time! After that, I was more than ready for some downtime chilling at the beach club, sitting on the sun loungers with the occasional dip in the pool was a lovely way to end the day.

All aboard, and tonight’s theme was white night! Scary for me considering I spill absolutely everything down me, and it was also Italian night for dinner, what a combination! I managed to get all the way through the evening with no mishaps, I was very proud of myseld. I had a lovely dinner which was followed by the performance this evening, which was a singer, who again, without needing to say really, was incredible. I just cannot get over the quality of performances on board. This finished a bit later so I was more than ready to climb into bed after another lovely night.

We’re getting to the end of the cruise now, which was making me really sad I’m not going to lie, but I had another sea day ahead of me today, and as always, there was plenty to do onboard. First up after breakfast I headed to the Captain’s Corner, a Q&A with the Ship’s Captain which I really enjoyed. The Captain was super down to earth and answered so many questions which everyone was interested in knowing the answers too. From here I headed to a mindful colouring session, and headed to the pool deck for a little while to top up the tan. Today was also Royal Caribbean’s ‘Birthday Bash’ so there was loads of things throughout the day to celebrate that, including lots of singing and dancing, and a balloon drop on the promenade which was really cool to see.

Our second formal night tonight, I was actually really excited about dressing up each evening now so got dressed up and then headed out to deck 4 to take some photos with the sunset, which was just stunning, and sometime I’m not sure I’ll ever get over with a neverending backdrop of the ocean. Tonight’s entertainment was a performance, ‘Can’t Stop the Rock’ from the ship’s singers and dancers again, and by now I was really thinking about how much choreography they must learn as there was a lot of dancing, for multiple different shows. It was again sensational, and then it was time for dinner and it was lobster night! Stunning. What a beautiful day it was.

Day eight and it’s our last stop and the turn of Royal Caribbean’s private island, Coco Cay in the Bahamas. Although it’s set out to be the ‘perfect day’, the weather took a huge turn for the worse overnight with massive storms which continued into the day so there was no sunshine on Coco Cay which I got really quite sad about. I was so looking forward to this day for like my whole trip, and had planned to book an excursion for something I’ve wanted to do forever, swimming with piggies! It just was not possible and I did spend a bit of time just not really feeling it. It’s hard when you’re really excited for something and it just can’t happen. I tried to get off the ship to even just explore the island for a little bit, but as soon as I walked down the gangway and onto the pier it started thundering and lightning so I literally just turned around and got back on. Not all is lost though, I still enjoyed some activities on the ship and it was the final night, so I had to make the most of it.

This evening was the Farewell Show, our main entertainment. It was really well put together including a range of performances from the dancers and singers, Cruise Director, comedian and more. It finished with some of the ship’s staff from a whole range of roles joining on stage to celebrate the incredible work that they do every single day aboard, and it actually got me a little emotional! I feel like this has been a turning point in my travels, I’d always been a worried about if I’d enjoy a cruise or not so just held off, but when I found a really good deal, it seemed ridiculous to say no so I chose to give it a go and I’m so glad I did. I had such a truly wonderful week aboard and just loved each minute of it, and would recommend it to anyone.

Day nine and we’d arrived back in Port Canaveral in Orlando, Florida. Adventures don’t stop here though! I have two days here and I’m determined to make the most of it before flying back to good old Blighty. However, all that I get up to back stateside is in the next blog. See you there. Mads x