How did we end up going on two cruises in one year, when we’d never even been on one?
When we initially booked our Alaskan cruise in late 2019, we had no inkling we were about to descend into a global pandemic. Flash forward to March of 2020 and our lives felt like a movie. Our Alaskan cruise, which had been scheduled to set sail in late May, was cancelled. We were given the option to get a refund or a credit to rebook. We chose the credit (as it was more than 100%) and rebooked for 2021. As the pandemic raged on, we were once again postponed and given more credits to our account. Even after rebooking for 2022, including booking all excursions, we still had enough credits to book an entire other cruise.
So why did we go on a second cruise? Because it was essentially free.
We figured it was good to mention costs up front because not paying for this cruise has likely impacted our thoughts on it somewhat. Though the cruise itself was free, we of course spent money on this trip. We probably spent around $1,000 each when all was said and done (between flights, hotels, a food tour and a baseball game in Miami, ride shares, shopping, etc.), but really not too bad for an 8-night vacation.
Having only been on one cruise prior to this one, and that being to an entirely different destination, we weren’t sure what was in store. It ended up being quite different to our first cruise and we learned even more about cruise life. Today, we wanted to share with you a few tips and our overall take on tropical cruises.
FYIs
It is hot. This may seem like an obvious statement. We expected it to be hot, we expected it to be humid. And it was. The only places we really got a bit chilly on the ship were in the theatre and a few common areas, but it was never cold enough for jackets or warm clothes. And not only was it hot on the deck of the ship, it was blazing in all three of our ports.
Do not forget your sunscreen, especially in the Bahamas. As we were getting ready to disembark in the Bahamas, many people onboard reminded us about sunscreen. Of course we will apply sunscreen, we thought. We’d been applying it daily each time we got off the boat or relaxed by the pool. We were still not prepared. If you’re not used to venturing south of Florida, you may underestimate the power of the sun. The closer you get to the equator, the more intense it seems to get. Much like in Hawaii, the sun in the Bahamas beats down on you extra hard. There was very little cloud coverage when we were there, which seemed great at first. We set up shop in the sun and spent time both laying out with a good book and submerging ourselves in the beautiful ocean waters. We even reapplied sunscreen once. Once, my friends, was not enough. If our goal was to become lobsters, we succeeded. Luckily, the Bahamas was our last stop as we were both spent the next few days in pain. Heed the warning.
The Norwegian Sky
This time we were on the Norwegian Sky. Though smaller than the Bliss, the Sky still had a lot to offer. They had a pool deck of course (the most popular hangout spot), along with a basketball court, casino, and theatre. Despite being smaller (11 floors), it still took us a bit of time to figure out how to navigate around. There were two main dining rooms and the Garden Café that were available to all guests. We ate a lot of our meals at the Garden Café because, being a buffet, it was easier to get in and out of. We also had dinner at La Cucina, one of the specialty dining restaurants on board, using our dining tickets.
We spent a bit of time in the Bliss Lounge and nearby Mojito Bar playing trivia games and participating in dances. We attended the infamous glow party on the pool deck, which was quite fun (more so than the glow party on the Alaskan cruise). We also went to a comedy show, juggling act, and the shows Showdown and Rock You Tonight, all of which were enjoyable. We had a balcony room, which was nice aside from the tiny shower and horrendous wall art that we actually had a steward help us cover up. (If you’re interested in a room tour, check out our vlogs from this trip.) We will have another blog coming your way soon comparing this room to our Haven Suite room from our Alaskan cruise.
Key West, Florida
Our first port was in Key West. We decided to seek out Mile 0 and the southernmost point in the continental US first. It was a bit of a walk in the hot sun, but not too bad. We then strolled back up Duval Street, stopping in a few shops along the way. And of course we had to have key lime pie. We stopped in at Kermit’s because we’d read it was really good, and it was.
Key West was an interesting place. There’s not many places (we’ve been) where you will pass a Pride mural and a store with Let’s Go Brandon t-shirts on the same block. We didn’t have a chance to go to any beaches while we were here, but we did get to see a giant lizard lounging on the side of the road. Along with shops, Mallory Square did have a shipwreck museum and aquarium but we didn’t want to pay the fees to visit. After grabbing a Cuban coffee, we headed back to the ship to (somewhat) escape the heat.
Cozumel, Mexico
Our second stop was Cozumel. We initially had an excursion booked for this port, a city tour that would take us around Cozumel, to see Mayan ruins and to a market to shop. Unfortunately, not enough people signed up for it and it was cancelled. We considered booking another excursion, but most everything we were interested in was already full or also cancelled. Instead we chose to hop off the boat and explore the shops along the ocean-side strip. Per the excursion desk, most people were interested in going to the beach (which were excursions that took you to a resort for the day). Though we like a good beach day, we knew we’d have one in the Bahamas so didn’t want to spend the extra money at this stop.
Just a heads up, many shopkeepers in Cozumel are pushy. We’d heard that a lot of people who worked in shops near the port could be intense, but we still weren’t quite prepared for how many of them there would be. Imagine walking in a shopping mall past an insistent kiosk salesman and multiply it by 1,000. We tried to smile, say no gracias and keep on walking, but sometimes it was challenging. A few people would stick items right in your face and insist you come into their shop. They all claimed to offer the best deals on jewelry, leather and designer bags (which seems less than legitimate to skeptics like us). Eventually we started walking on the opposite side of the street, near the water. We did find a few shops with more authentic items (that were supposedly made in Mexico). The first shop we found was Mi Casa and we then visited its sister store Los Cinco Soles which was further down the strip but much larger than Mi Casa. We preferred these shops because the ladies working there were friendly, but not pushy. They weren’t standing outside of their shops shoving merch in our faces. We had also heard some shop owners like to bargain on price. One shop we went into, one of the more kitschy shops, did just that. Did we get a good deal? Who really knows, but we did get a luchador mask.
Before heading back to the ship, we decided to get some authentic Mexican tacos (authentic at least since we bought them in Mexico). We stopped at a restaurant near the ship (The Thirsty Cougar… we didn’t name it) because they had big honking frozen margaritas. We shared steak tacos, which were delicioso. Mal- I had the mango margarita served on a Frozen plate, which was legit. It was good but you really had to watch out for brain freeze. Court- I had a regular Margarita and it was also very good. These things were huge. If you sail with Norwegian to Cozumel, you will definitely see this place.
Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas
Our day in the Bahamas was our official beach day. We disembarked around 8:30 AM, took a small boat to Norwegian’s private island, and found our spot on the beautiful white sandy beach. As previously stated, mistakes were made. We did not apply enough sunscreen over the course of our 7 hour beach day and paid the price. Besides the wicked sunburn, it was such a stunning place to visit. The water was so clear, we could see white sand crabs and multiple kinds of fish swimming around us.
Since Norwegian owns this island, all food was included (and drinks depending on your drink package). We ate at the buffet, which was similar to the buffet onboard. We also had pretty delicious margaritas and pina coladas.
In Conclusion
This trip is not necessarily for the adventurous. We like to joke that we don’t go on vacations, we go on adventures. Whether it be touring a city, visiting landmarks, hiking, exploring museums or taking food tours, we are always doing something. So even though we expected this cruise to be a more relaxing trip, it felt unusual for us to be sitting around so much.
Our impression of cruising, thus far anyway, is that most avid cruisers like these kinds of trips. They like sitting by a pool or on a beach, drinking, reading, or napping (or all three). And that’s largely it. Cruising is a good way to get a taste of a destination, but this cruise in particular was not chocked full of activities. And though we like taking a day or so to chill and do nothing, it can get a bit boring for our tastes. Suffice it to say, cruising probably isn’t set to become our preferred method of travel. But it was nice to experience it and we’re not ready to completely rule out another trip in the future.
WE WENT ON TWO NCL CRUISES IN 2022 & THIS IS WHAT WE LEARNED
Our McTravels 