After graduating high school in 2013, I took two trips - one to Rockville, Maryland with my god-family, and another to Atlanta, Georgia with a few friends. Four years later, after receiving my undergraduate degree, I went to Disney World in Orlando with my boyfriend (still one of my favorite trips). Now, I've graduated with my Master's degree in advertising and public relations from the University of Alabama, and to celebrate, I TOOK A CRUISE TO MEXICO!!! It was one of my favorite memories of this year, and now I want to share it with you.
Before I get into it, there are two things I've learned:
1. Traveling is NOT hard. Especially cruises, which you can usually book on a payment plan. You just have to be disciplined enough to budget and set aside money for what you want to do.
2. My boyfriend is my favorite person to travel with. 🤗 Seriously. He's a very laidback person, so he lets me do whatever I want - and he ends up enjoying it, sometimes even a lot more than I do. Traveling with friends is great (but lets be real, when a bunch of girls are traveling together, it can get hectic), traveling alone is l i t (I went to Nashville by myself earlier in the summer, and it was the most relaxing things I've ever done), but "baecations" might just be my fave.
ALL ABOUT BOOKING:
We booked the cruise in March 2018, after I finally settled on what I wanted to do. The cruise was through Carnival, which is one of the cheaper options for cruising (didn't know that at the time, but it worked out well). The deposit was $300, and we both paid $150. I wrote down the date the last payment was due, and worked out periods for us to both have smaller portions of the money turned in by. Closer to the cruise, we decided on excursions. I was wildin' a little at first - I thought we should do two a day, but we settled on one in each port, and we both picked something we'd like to do. Picking one excursion a day was the PERFECT decision, and if you cruise soon, I encourage you to do the same. I think anything else is overkill. One excursion gives you time to have fun, then relax, eat, and shop in the port destination.
Of course, I picked swimming with the dolphins ♥️ and Kevin picked wave runners (aka jet-skis), and snorkeling. Stayed tuned for pictures!
BOARDING:
Kevin stays in Hattiesburg, MS, which is an hour and a half away from Mobile, AL, where the ship was to depart. Once we made it to the terminal, parked, and went inside, it shocked me at how similar to an airport the process was. We checked our bags, and like at an airport, they had to be underneath 50 pounds. We kept our carry-ons with us as we went through security, and since we were leaving the country, had our passports checked. Once we made it through all that, and I saw how huge the ship was, I was amazed. We entered the vessel, and I was taken aback again by the sheer size of the thing. There was a casino, a nightclub, various places to eat, bars, a library, a kind of shopping mall area, and the list goes on. We went to our room first, and though it wasn't the fanciest one available - it WAS the cheapest 😂 We weren't in there much anyway unless we were sleeping, so it worked out for us.
FUN DAYS AT SEA!
We booked a 5-day cruise. Two days were spent at sea, and two days in each port city. During our days at sea, we found a lot to get into to keep ourselves occupied.
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| Drinks on the Lido Deck |
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We drank, chilled poolside and in the pool, ordered room service, watched the sunset on the deck, played chess EVERY SINGLE DAY, and I lost EVERY SINGLE TIME! We also went to Electricity Night Club (I swear it was so weird to be in our room, like "are we going out tonight?" ...when we were on the boat...in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico).
THE FOOD
We had dinner every evening in the Jubilee Dining Room at 6pm. We also ate at the burger shack, or the pizza spot when we got hungry. Or, we ordered room service. I have never eaten as good as I did on this cruise, and I probably won't again - until my next one 😉
FIRST STOP: COSTA MAYA
We docked in Costa Maya at 8am. Our excursion for swimming with the dolphins was scheduled for 9am. We got off the boat, and to my dismay our passports were checked, but not stamped. We made our way to our guides for the excursion, stripped down to our swimsuits, and put on lifejackets. We were paired with another couple from the boat. There was a professional photographer who took pictures of us before we got in the water. And then...I started to get nervous. First of all, I can swim - but, I can't swim SWIM. I could only hope the life jacket would do its job - and it did! Then, I was worried about the dolphins. Would they bite me? Would they like me? We got in the water, and the dolphins did tricks for us at their trainer's command. We shook hands, danced, splashed each other, and even got to ride them through the water. IT WAS SURREAL, and my description is not doing it justice. You just had to be there. As I said earlier, this was my pick for our first excursion, and to my great pleasure, Kevin really liked it. After the dolphins, we walked through the shops and I got a souvenir for my mom and one for myself. We ate (and honestly, the quest I've had in America was better to me), then took a cab into "downtown," near the beach. I ordered a drink that was $7. I gave the man a $10 bill and he never came back with the rest of my money. It was a little rainy, but the dolphins were definitely the highlight of that day!
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| P.S. I love lighthouses. |
SECOND STOP: COZUMEL
Cozumel was BEAUTIFUL. I have never seen waters so blue!!! If you go back to the beginning of this blog, that's the place where the first picture was taken. At this point, it was time to do what Kevin wanted: the jet-skis. I was pretty sure I'd love it, because who doesn't love jet-skiing? We got in a van to transport us to where we would prepare for our first excursion, and I was blown away by the beauty of the place. Once we got there, we watched a (hilarious) informational video on how to operate the skis. And then we walked down to where they were. Kevin and I took a picture before getting into the water and swimming to our skis, then they took pictures of us separately on the ski. I knew I would be the slowest one in the group, so I rode separately at first with an instructor while everyone else was skiing along. After some guidance, I was speeding along with everyone else. My absolute favorite part of this excursion was when we'd gone far into the ocean, and turned the skis off. The water was a light blue, and the guides told us we could jump in the water and swim around if we wanted to do. I did - and it was amazing. I'd NEVER done anything like that before. At that moment, I wished that I'd been able to bring my phone out there to record that. It was bliss. After what felt like an hour, we went back to shore, docked the boats, and it was time for snorkeling. I didn't participate in this one because I was tired (and more honestly, didn't want to put my entire face underwater with makeup on), but Kevin did. When he finished, we ate, sat on the beach and took pictures, talked to our parents, visited the gift shops, and before we knew it, it was time to get back on the boat.
If you've made it to the end of this blog, I am appreciative of you.
5 days of cruising is a lot to cover, and there's still so much more I could have told you. Next time I travel, I'll be sure to break it up by days so its easier. I highly suggest everyone cruise at least once in their life. It's extremely relaxing and fun if you do it with the right people/person. Until next time! Muah!
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