Tender in Grand Cayman

Happy Hump Day Everyone!

I am so excited to announce that I have just posted my first real Youtube Vlog!  It is going to be the the first part of a three part series on my cruise vacation from last week.  The first one is an overview on the cruise itself, the second will be on my adventures on Grand Cayman and the third will be on the excitements that were had in Jamaica!

https://youtu.be/wWCNv76mpH8

These are a few of the questions that I have had friends ask me in the past:

Why do I like cruising versus an all inclusive? I personally like cruising because I like to be able to stop and see different destinations.  I am not one of those people who could lay in the same beach chair for 6 days.  There are also so many activities onboard as well.  The biggest reason is that I love being on the sea.  I love being on my balcony, the helopad or the decks and just seeing the sun set and smelling the sea air.

What is included in your cruise fare?  Your room, most of the activities onboard (there are some pay activities), food and beverage (cafe promenade, windjammer buffet, main dining room, room service between 5am-12am, ice cream machines and more), onboard entertainment and port fees.

Notes from this cruise:

• The new diamond lounge on this boat is awesome!  It is a nice quiet place during the day with a beautiful view on Deck 14!  It also had an outdoor patio area that overlooked the golf/basketball area.
• There is no longer a Chamber nightclub on this boat.  Instead there is the Cosmopolitan Club on Deck 14 as well (formerly was the Viking Crown Lounge).
• There is a NextCruise office on Deck 6 that was offering amazing promotions.  We booked our cruise of January 2017 here.  We reserved a superior balcony stateroom for $100 total for 3 of us, received $100 onboard credit to use on the current cruise we were on as well as $200 for our January 2017 cruise!
• We were unable to stop at Labadee due to the protests.  See this article: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/tourism-cruises/article56710248.html
• If you are a Diamond Member or above, check out the nightly cocktail reception in the Diamond Lounge.  The concierge was great and so were the appetizers.

Tips for Booking Your First/Next Cruise:

• Book with a promo.  My favorite promo is when they do Buy One Get One 50% off, Reduced Deposit and extra onboard credit.
• I personally like booking with Royal Caribbean directly so I have more control over my reservation.
• Book with friends/family.  When I got married in December 2014, we had 22 people come with us.  This most recent cruise, there were 10 of us.  It is so much fun and we met some really great people
• Plan out your excursions ahead of time.  Research the ports and don’t be afraid to ask questions!
• Fly in the day before.  I typically fly during the winter so I like to play it safe and travel a day ahead of time.  Plus it is nice not to have the stress of traveling plus embarkation in one day!

Here are a few of my favorite sites to check out when I’m cruise planning:

http://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/

http://www.cruisecritic.com/ftc/

Of course I do a lot of research via tripadvisor and youtube as well!

Thank you so much for your time and I hope you enjoy the post and the video.  Please let me know if you have any questions!

Halee

Liked it? Take a second to support Halee with a Flair on Patreon!