Cruising is Back!

For my birthday back in fall 2019, my mom offered to take me and my daughters on a girls’ cruise!  Fast forward a few months, Covid hits, and our cruise planning was put on hold.  But thankfully, cruising is back, and we were finally able to make our trip happen!  This March, we sailed from Miami on Royal Caribbean’s Jewel of the Seas with stops in the Bahamas and Mexico!

We arrived in Miami the day before our sailing (highly recommended in case of any issues) and spent our pre-cruise day on a campus tour of the University of Miami and checking out Bayside Marketplace. My girls loved touring the campus and seeing the sights of Miami!

The next day we took an Uber to the port, passing our ship along the way.  This was my girls’ first cruise experience, and it did not disappoint!  From the moment we stepped onto the Jewel, they were loving it.  We made sure to be on deck for the sail away party and waved to onlookers as we left the port and headed out to the open sea!

One of my favorite things about cruising is waking up in a different port of call nearly every day.  Our cruise’s first stop on day 2 was Bimini, a small but gorgeous island in the Bahamas, famous for being Ernest Hemingway’s favorite escape.  For that day’s shore excursion, we chose to spend the afternoon soaking up the sun at a beautiful beach resort.  It was literally picture-postcard perfect!

Another fun thing about cruising is that there are so many options of things to do.  Each day, you can find a list of activities on the daily onboard guide or ship’s app… from trivia to bingo, fun game shows to headliner acts, you can fill your day with as much (or as little) as you like.  We spent our sea days playing trivia, participating in family scavenger hunts, relaxing on the pool deck, listening to live music, and taking in shows at the theater.  Our favorite performance was the Barricade Boys, a theatrical vocal group from the UK.  We were even lucky enough to catch a ride in the elevator the next morning with one of the performers!

Unfortunately, due to weather, we were unable to dock at our second stop, Costa Maya.  Instead, we headed to Cozumel early and had an overnight there.  We were able to disembark after dinner and took a taxi to Cozumel’s main square where we shopped and had dinner and drinks.  The next day my girls and I had our planned shore excursion, a Fury catamaran & snorkeling tour.  We took a catamaran out to a snorkeling site (I’ve never seen so many fish in my life) and then spent some time at Fury’s private beach with water park inflatables.  My mom, aunt, and brother did a VIP dolphin excursion and absolutely loved it!

Like I mentioned, there are so many things to do on the ship… ours featured a kids’ club, teen club, arcade, cinema, mini-golf, rock-climbing wall, basketball court, theater, waterslide, pools, spa, sauna, fitness center, casino, shops, and more!  And of course, there’s the FOOD!  We typically ate breakfast and lunch at the Windjammer buffet and dinner at the Tides, the main dining room.  My girls & I enjoyed dressing up each night for dinner and getting our choice of a full-course meal complete with dessert.  We loved our “my time” dining spot with an ocean view every night, and the service was top-notch!  Thankfully, cruise calories don’t count, right?

All in all, it was the perfect return to cruising for me, and an amazing first cruise for my girls.  The Jewel of the Seas is a Radiance-class ship with a capacity of 2,702 passengers and 852 crew.  I last cruised on Harmony of the Seas, an Oasis-class ship, which serves up to 6,687 passengers and 2,193 crew.  Two totally different experiences but both a ton of fun!

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