In 2013, I took my first cruise and I was hooked. After that week on the seas, I realized that I have really found out what it truly feels like to vacation. As opposed to other times when I still have my smartphone begging for my attention in my pocket, when you are at sea it is not connected.
On 2013, I took my first cruise with Royal Carribean on the Enchantment of the Seas. It is a Vision-class cruise ship, which has been in service since 1997. Since 2005, it has been registered to the port of Nassau, Bahamas. In 2005, the ship was split in half and 73 feet of additional ship was inserted to swell the size of vessel to 988 feet in length. This same project was planned for the other ships within the Vision class, but it proved to be too expensive, so this upgrade is unique to the Enchantment of the Seas.
There were so many features on this ship to enjoy even a full day at sea. The dining room is beautifully decorated with a romantic appeal. There is a giant pool side screen to watch movies under the starts. The Centrum, the center of the ship is a venue which not only includes the administration desks, but the grand staircase, escalators and a bar.
While on the ship, everything is already thought of for you. In the morning before you wake up the staff slips a complete itinerary of all the events available throughout the day. Every hour of the day, there is plenty to choose from. This means the most thinking you need to do is to figure out where you want to be at what time, then the staff takes care of the rest. Something my wife and I enjoy is when they have trivia and craft sessions. On our last cruise we learned 8 different ways to fold napkins for your dinner guest.
During our cruise, we stopped in Coco Cay which is Royal Caribbean’s private island and Nassau, Bahamas. Coco Cay was so beautiful and there was so much to do. In Nassau and we went off the ship three different times to check out Atlantis, Straw Market and Senior Frogs. For the record Nassau’s Senior Frogs is the best we have been to so far.
In 2014, we took another Royal Caribbean cruise on the Vision of the Seas. This ship is the namesake for the Vision-class cruise ship however, unlike the rest of the Royal Caribbean fleet, this was the last ship of the six that were built in this class.
This cruise we hit Roatan, Honduras and Cozumel, Mexico. I felt that Roatan was better as the excursion felt more real and not so touristy. I got to see how people lived in that country and reminded of how fortunate we have it in America. When we went to Mexico, we went to one of their hotels to learn how to make Margaritas, Salsa and dance Salsa Meringue. All in all, that was not a bad cruise, but did not quite have the magic that Enchantment of the Seas had.
When I vacation, I cruise. I really love that we do not have to worry about cooking or what to do with our time. Everything is laid out, we just had to show up. We have another visit to the Enchantment of the Seas already booked for this year and I am already eager to get my sea legs on.
Image Credit: Franz Neumeier