Hi everyone! :) I wanted to share some photos from my most recent adventure...I went on my first cruise this passed week !
It was such a great experience. We decided on a 7-day cruise through the caribbean on Carnival's newest ship...the Vista ! The cruise went through Grand Turk in Turks & Caicos, La Romana in the Dominican Republic, Curacao, and Aruba ! It was absolutely incredible..there is so much to do on the ship that some days we felt like we barely had enough time. Each day is jam-packed with activities, every hour, on the hour! Wether you're looking for some adventure on each stop or some relaxation on aboard the ship, Carnival truly has something for everyone. So to continue... we arrived at a decent time at the port of Miami. It was my first time there so it felt a bit overwhelming. People everywhere, kids screaming, workers trying to load luggage...BUT, thankfully everything went smoothly. When we finally boarded the ship, we were literally just wondering around because our room was not ready yet. We stayed around the top deck where the pool was and also to catch a beautiful view of Miami ! There was two huge water slides, an obstacle course in the air and also a bike called the sky-ride which feels like you're peddling in the sky..I'm kinda bummed that I didnt get any photos of it because it was super cool and scary at the same time. Anyways, when we finally got to our room, I was pleasantly surprised by the size. I was expecting a miniature room with bunk beds for some reason LOL.. it was pretty spacious with a king bed and a decent closet and bathroom. Our room was in deck one..to give you an idea of where we were.. just picture where Jack was from the movie Titanic LOL. We were basically one deck above the crew! It didn't bother us at all actually and we BARELY felt the ship move..which was great! I was afraid I would get seasick or something..but nothing of the sort happened!
I don't want to make this post too long because then I lose you guys lol...so here are some quick and helpful tips when planning / packing for a cruise!
Also stay 'til the end...where I highlight our first stop on the cruise...Grand Turk !!
ok so....
- If you're planning a cruise, specifially, a cruise more than 4 days...plan in ADVANCE! I went on this cruise during Christmas time, but this had been in the works since the beginning of Feb 2017! The best part is that Carnival lets you pay in installments/monthly payments..so its more managable if you can't pay it all at once!
- Don't forget to the pay the gratuity online before boarding the cruise! It is so much better for it to be pre-paid and not worry about it...then wait til the day before you're going home to pay a hefty chunk of money. Since our cruise was 7-days...our gratuity was close to $200...about $100 per person. This is calculated by the length of the cruise. Of course, for shorter cruises, it would be way less!
- Plan your outfits! I honestly didn't and wish I did...although I did wear almost everything I brought in my luggage...there was a handful of things that did not get touched; A lot of it was shirts to my surprise. I lived in rompers, coverups and dresses!
- Try to hold off and not purchase excursions through the ship! Wait til you get to the port and purchase them while you are at the destination. At each stop, there are tons of people waiting for you off the ship...ready to offer you local excursions. Those turn out to be WAY LESS than purchasing through the cruise line! Great way to save $$. For instance, in Aruba, my bf and I went on a excursion on a open-windowed bus and we had a great time. Our driver was very knowledgable and funny..and we stopped at some key places there. This excursion was around $25 per person...on the cruise a similar tour was more than double this price!!!! ;)
-Bring only the essentials when you're off the ship. You will later regret bringing a heavy backpack.
- I found that around $80-$100 per day(per stop) was more than enough. Unless you're planning to shop alot..bring more lol !
-If you're the drinking type, know that you could bring one bottle of wine per person the ship! You have to be 21+ yrs old though (duh lol)...but if you're feeling like a rebel...purchase these discreet flasks and fill them up with some happy juice... LOL. It worked for us!
If you have any questions please leave them in the comments! I will update this post as I remember other important key points :)
View aboard the cruise!
His face half of the time while I take photos LOL
This was our room! I ordered it to be decorated before we got to the room for the 1st time! Its "anniversary" themed bc we made four yrs on the 17th! How corny...i know ;)
GRAND TURK!
So Grand Turk was our first stop! Although the beach was beautiful, there wasn't much to do here to be honest! When we first got there we were released in an area that I'd like to call the "tourist trap". Filled with endless souvenir shops and boujee restaurants lol. We were quick to walk passed it to find a local taxi/car to take us around the island. That's exactly what we did. She was a really nice lady and was very knowledgable about each area we passed. Unfortunately many places around Grand Turk are still devastated due to the hurricanes we had a couple months ago :( So that was a bit sad to see. Other than that, the area has a lot of character and beautiful beaches. My bf was set on moving there already because its quiet and theres plenty of land to build lol. The first stop on the bus tour was to the Grand Turk lighthouse. Its a really nice area where you pay $3 to enter the premises where the lighthouse is. It includes a vouncher for snacks and drinks! Here you see beautiful views of the ocean ! There was also ziplining offered there; we didnt get to try it out, but we did at our next stop, so stay tuned for that ! :) Towards the end of the tour we stopped at a local market where we found vodka and cranberry in a can and some bombbbb conch fritters! Delicious! This was also a good area to get souvenirs at a better price. They had so many unique little trinkets :)
thanks for stopping by! Stay tuned nxt week for our next stop...Dominican Republic! ;)
The crewwww!
Grand Turk Lighthouse
(not sure if thats the official name though lol)
This area was just outside the cruise port...the water/beach was so beautiful !
Did I miss something in Grand Turk? have you visited before?
Let me know in the comments :)
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