Loren and I went on our first cruise over Memorial Day weekend! We've put off going on a cruise for years. It just never really seemed like our cup of tea but since moving our usual trip to Vegas became more expensive and the additional travel hours didn't seem worth it. We started searching for some new long weekend alternatives and found a great deal on a Norwegian 3-night Bahamas cruise. Perfect amount of time, and on this cruise the cocktails are included! We were excited about that since we've always heard that's where the cruise ships "get ya". Enough with all that lets get to the fun stuff! :)
We flew to Miami the night before our cruise so we'd have a little bit of time to explore the city. The hotel we stayed at was the Royal Palm South Beach based on a recommendation from a friend and from one of my favorite bloggers Cassie, at Hi Sugarplum.
The hotel was gorgeous and I actually wish we would've had longer to stay and hang out there. It's right on the beach so we did take advantage of that perk...and ended up with some crazy sunburns. But the views, they couldn't be beat.
The hotel was gorgeous and I actually wish we would've had longer to stay and hang out there. It's right on the beach so we did take advantage of that perk...and ended up with some crazy sunburns. But the views, they couldn't be beat.
After sunburning beaching it up, we grabbed our bags and headed to the cruise port terminal. I was so nervous and excited all at the same time. I think I've seen Titanic too many times because the week leading up to the cruise I had several dreams that involved water filling our room and us having to make a run for it. (Obviously I would've shared my door with Loren if it came to that...Rose was so selfish!)
We boarded pretty late in the day so it wasn't long before we were off. The first night was pretty tame. Loren went to the onboard casino for a bit and I read by the pool. The sunset was gorgeous. One that gives you all the feels about life. I was happy to have caught it just in the nick of time.
We woke up Saturday in Nassau!
Loren and I had decided to skip the super spendy Atlantis excursion option and headed to Blue Lagoon Island. It turned out to be the perfect choice for us. Lots of beach chairs, food & drinks, and nice Caribbean water. Of course, it rained briefly while we were there but it wouldn't be vacation for us without getting caught out in the rain! We spent the day alternating between swimming and lounging under our beach umbrella.
We had some FRESH coconut water and man, it was delicious! I don't normally like coconut water but that was some tasty stuff. Loren tried the Bahamas Goombay Punch, I think mostly because the can was funny, but it tasted just like fruit punch. We were able to roam around Nassau before heading back to the ship. The parts available to us seemed like exactly what you'd expect for a tourist area in a beachy locale. We picked up some rum, took a few pics, and called it good.
This is my Kenny G hair style, haha! Saturday night was the White Hot Party on the ship. Loren and I both agreed that we had WAY more fun than we expected to. There was face painting, glow necklaces, and decorations, what's not to like?! We danced it up and had a blast! It seemed like everyone was having fun and it was one of my favorite parts of whole trip.
Sunday morning it seemed like people were slow to rise (us included). A little too much White Hot Partying the night before, perhaps? Sunday we docked at Great Stirrup Cay, Norwegian Cruise Line's private island. Much like our time at Blue Lagoon Island, we just swam and relaxed on the beach. Since the island is owned by the cruise line, lunch and drinks were still complimentary all day. That was really nice! And even though there appeared to be two ships worth of people on the island there was plenty of chairs/space for everyone and waiting for food and drinks was pretty painless.
Sunday night was our final night on the ship. We went to a few shows on board including karaoke. The sweetest little girls were so brave and sang "Let It Go" in front of everyone in the audience and it was too adorable. I cried. Haha!
Final thoughts on the trip - Norwegian Sky was a perfect starter cruise for us. I'm not sure that we're "cruisers" in the sense that we'll want to go every year or anything but it was a good time. The shows were much better than I expected, the food was tasty, and the drinks were plentiful. Throw in the sun and sand and it doesn't get much better (well, maybe not having a sunburn). If you're looking for a cruise intro I'd recommend this one for sure.
If you made it this far, thank you! Haha! Hope everyone had a fun Memorial Day weekend! Happy Summertime!
Love, K
We boarded pretty late in the day so it wasn't long before we were off. The first night was pretty tame. Loren went to the onboard casino for a bit and I read by the pool. The sunset was gorgeous. One that gives you all the feels about life. I was happy to have caught it just in the nick of time.
We woke up Saturday in Nassau!
Loren and I had decided to skip the super spendy Atlantis excursion option and headed to Blue Lagoon Island. It turned out to be the perfect choice for us. Lots of beach chairs, food & drinks, and nice Caribbean water. Of course, it rained briefly while we were there but it wouldn't be vacation for us without getting caught out in the rain! We spent the day alternating between swimming and lounging under our beach umbrella.
We had some FRESH coconut water and man, it was delicious! I don't normally like coconut water but that was some tasty stuff. Loren tried the Bahamas Goombay Punch, I think mostly because the can was funny, but it tasted just like fruit punch. We were able to roam around Nassau before heading back to the ship. The parts available to us seemed like exactly what you'd expect for a tourist area in a beachy locale. We picked up some rum, took a few pics, and called it good.
This is my Kenny G hair style, haha! Saturday night was the White Hot Party on the ship. Loren and I both agreed that we had WAY more fun than we expected to. There was face painting, glow necklaces, and decorations, what's not to like?! We danced it up and had a blast! It seemed like everyone was having fun and it was one of my favorite parts of whole trip.
Sunday morning it seemed like people were slow to rise (us included). A little too much White Hot Partying the night before, perhaps? Sunday we docked at Great Stirrup Cay, Norwegian Cruise Line's private island. Much like our time at Blue Lagoon Island, we just swam and relaxed on the beach. Since the island is owned by the cruise line, lunch and drinks were still complimentary all day. That was really nice! And even though there appeared to be two ships worth of people on the island there was plenty of chairs/space for everyone and waiting for food and drinks was pretty painless.
Sunday night was our final night on the ship. We went to a few shows on board including karaoke. The sweetest little girls were so brave and sang "Let It Go" in front of everyone in the audience and it was too adorable. I cried. Haha!
Final thoughts on the trip - Norwegian Sky was a perfect starter cruise for us. I'm not sure that we're "cruisers" in the sense that we'll want to go every year or anything but it was a good time. The shows were much better than I expected, the food was tasty, and the drinks were plentiful. Throw in the sun and sand and it doesn't get much better (well, maybe not having a sunburn). If you're looking for a cruise intro I'd recommend this one for sure.
If you made it this far, thank you! Haha! Hope everyone had a fun Memorial Day weekend! Happy Summertime!
Love, K
Pro Tip: Don't use coppertone travel spray sunblock. It doesn't work :(
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