Yes, a vacation is a vacation. Whether you are on a cruise ship or on land you shouldn’t have much to complain about because you ARE NOT in an office.

All of my life my parents took us to one beach after another. We are big into the all-inclusive resorts where we basically do the same thing every day. While it is extremely relaxing, it also gets rather tedious. You wake up, have the same breakfast, find your same spot on the beach or at the pool, break for lunch, back to your spot, head in for dinner, and then repeat.

I finally got to go on my first cruise as an adult with Royal Caribbean and I really feel like I have been missing out! I am a total cruise junkie now!

I just can’t even explain how much fun we had. It was never tedious and it was always exciting. There was always something new to do, try, and experience!

I could have definitely stayed on the boat another two weeks if they would have let me!

Why Royal Caribbean

*click on the photos to shop the outfits

I have only been on one other cruise in my life and that was when I was 9 years old. Needless to say I don’t remember it much. When comparing cruise ships and companies, I had to rely on other people’s opinions. I brought my friend Laura with me on the trip and she had been on five other cruises in her life and all of them were with a different cruise liner (not Royal Caribbean). By the end of the trip she basically said she was a Royal Caribbean fan for life! The differences were just too drastic!

More about that below…

Our Itinerary

First let me talk about our itinerary and then I will tell you a bit about the boat we were on.

Day 1:

We loaded up on a Sunday afternoon. Our boat left the port at 4:30 pm so Royal Caribbean suggested we get there around 1. The check-in process was EXTREMELY EASY! We couldn’t get over how quick and easy it was.

It was nice being able to drive in since Liberty of the Seas goes out of Galveston. We parked in a lot and they shuttled us to the port. From there we EASILY checked in our luggage and got to go through the rest of the process without having to tug it around with us. The security line was quick and then we went through customs. All in all it took around 20 minutes to get through everything and to get on the boat! How crazy is that?

We then immediately grabbed the drink package since it was 1pm in the afternoon and we knew we would be having some cocktails that day. If you are cruising, I would suggest grabbing the drink package when you buy the cruise! You save so much money! Ours was booked last minute so we didn’t have that option. The drink package is definitely worth it because drinks on the ship are anywhere from $10-12!

After that we put everything in our room and started exploring the boat. Our cruise was late October, or else we could have started laying out on Day 1!

We had dinner, saw a show, and did a little gambling in the casino. I went to bed pretty early but my friends went to the club on the ship and had a blast! They ended up making the disco a nightly occurrence!

Day 2-3:

Days 2 & 3 were at sea. I was so scared I would get sick! I get really bad sea sickness and motion sickness. I never got sick! There was about 30 min one night where the seas were a little rough, but it was late at night so when I laid down to sleep it didn’t bother me at all. If motion sickness is stopping you from cruising it shouldn’t be! Bring some Dramamine. You may have to take it once or twice but it helps right away!

We spent both of these days exploring the ship. I will go into detail below of what the ship has to offer, but let’s just say for now that it kept us super busy!

We definitely did a lot of laying out, eating, playing, etc during these two days! I love playing blackjack so you could usually find me at the tables after dinner. We then would go to the disco and dance until it closed. Then we would grab some late night pizza and go to sleep! We were always meeting new people and eventually we were always with a big group whenever we did anything!

Are you single? One of the friends I went with actually met someone on the ship! They live in different states but I dunno… I can see them actually making it work! Him and the group of friends he went with were our age and so much fun! A cruise is a great way to make friends and meet new people! You don’t really get that experience when you go to a resort because everyone is doing their own thing.’

Day 4:

On day 4 we docked in Roatan, Honduras. I had never been so I was so excited to see the island! We booked an excursion through Royal Caribbean that was a car tour of the island. We stopped at a monkey zoo where we got to zip-line and hold monkeys and SLOTHS!! Holding a sloth was by far one of the coolest things I have ever done! We then went to a private beach for a few hours before heading back to the boat!

I like that you can book your excursions through the boat because they always know where you are at all times. If for some reason you don’t make it back on the ship, they know exactly where to look! Safety first guys!

PS- Honduras was amazing. My dad said I should have done some snorkeling because it is some of the best diving/snorkeling in the world. I have been snorkeling all my life (my parents are huge scuba divers) so I just wanted to take a break from it on this trip! If you go, definitely try to snorkel while you are there!

Day 5:

On day 5 we docked in Costa Maya, Mexico. Another place I had never been and I couldn’t believe how beautiful the water was! It was my friend’s birthday so we let her decide what we were going to do that day. We ended up taking it easy and getting an excursion that led us to a private beach. We just had some drinks, listened to reggae music, and swam all day long. It was a dream!

It just goes to show that you don’t always have to book something that will keep you busy all day. Sometimes it is nice just to give yourself a day of just laying out on the beach with your friends.

Day 6:

On Day 6 we docked in Cozumel. I have been here around 5-6 times so I actually stayed on the boat and worked. I know, horrible right?! My friends did an excursion to another private beach and had an amazing time. I was just so behind on emails and needed to finish everything so that I could enjoy the last couple of days of the trip.

I stepped off briefly to look at the shops around the dock. The water in Cozumel is just too gorgeous and I wanted to see it before we left!

Cozumel is another great place to do some snorkeling if you haven’t done it there already. I also recommend doing one of the excursions that takes you to Tulum!

Day 7:

Last day at sea. We were all sooooo sad that our trip was coming to an end! We made sure to try everything that we may have missed during the week. We ate a lot and did the water slides over and over again! We stayed up super late to try to soak it all in. 8 am the next morning was rough, but wouldn’t have traded that last night for anything.

All in all it was seriously one of my favorite trips! I can’t believe I didn’t know how fun it was to cruise!

The Liberty of the Seas:

*picture of the kids waterpark on the ship

*the three water slides and the rock climbing wall

*the flow-rider

The Liberty of the Seas has been recently re-vamped! The ship added new water slides, two new restaurants, a bar, and more amazing staterooms with panoramic views. There was also some refurbishing done inside the ship. It looked amazing. I mean I never saw it before but it seriously looked brand new when I was onboard!

Dining:

Liberty of the Seas has endless dining options and the food was amazing everywhere we went!

For breakfast we mostly ate at the buffet because we were always waking up at different times each morning. The buffet is different every day so we always had something new to try.

For lunch you had so many places to choose from:

Windjammer (the buffet where we had breakfast)- Windjammer always had something new to offer on their buffet for lunch! We always liked checking out what thai dish or pasta they had that day.

Johnny Rockets- Hot dogs, hamburgers, french fries= ultimate comfort food for when you are feeling homesick!

Room Service- For $7 you could get room service delivered to you!

For dinner we ate at the Dining Room every night. Our server was Nelson and we loved him so much!! We insisted we sit in his section every night so they ended up just reserving the same table for us. The food was always amazing! They had a set menu that was served every night, or another menu with 20 new options for you to try every night!

Sabor- Delicious Mexican food

Chops Grille- for a really great steak!

Giovanni’s Table- amazing Tuscany-inspired menu

Promenade:

The Promenade had a row of shops and restaurants. We loved grabbing Starbucks coffee in the morning. You could get lattes, mochas, and pretty much anything else you may want! It also had a pizza place that was great for late night dining. It had Ben & Jerry’s for ice cream and a cupcake place if you are craving dessert.

Activities:

I could write a hundred page novel on all of the activities you have onboard.

Slides- The Liberty of the Seas has four really fun slides! They are lit up inside in cool and different ways so you get somewhat of a light show when you go through them! Then there is a tidal wave slide that is for the adventurer. It is a two person slide that goes up really high so you can actually see the ocean when you are on it! Exhilarating for sure!

They also had really fun games and contests at the pool, fun casino competitions, amazing shows to watch at night, rock climbing, a basketball/volleyball court, bingo (heck yes), a flow-rider area where you can perfect/practice your surfing, ice skating shows, pool parties, movies on the roof, a disco, an arcade, and so much more. Oh, and I should also point out that the amount of bars on the ship were endless! We loved hanging out at the sky bar with Donna (our favorite bartender on the boat!)

Rooms: The rooms weren’t anything to go home and write about., but we didn’t spend much time in the rooms anyway! It had everything we needed and we were happy with it overall. The cleaning attendant we had was super helpful and so nice. They cleaned our room twice a day!

 

How to Book:

Book your cruise with Royal Caribbean today! You won’t believe how much fun it is!!! You can get a 7 night cruise for as low as $449 a person! They are also running a promo where you can get 50% off the second guest! See that one HERE!

HERE are some cruises coming up from Liberty of the Seas (which leaves out of Galveston!) There are so many options to choose from and so many different places the ships ports at!

HERE are some cruises coming up for Symphony of the Seas. This is Royal Caribbean’s newest ship that launches in January. It will be their biggest ship yet!!! You will definitely be seeing me on it asap!

On the new ship you will find the Broadway musical Hairspray, laser tag, aqua-theater productions (like the O show in Vegas!), a sports bar & arcade, and so much more! Getting so excited just thinking about it!!

Hopefully after this post you are ready to cruise! When I got off the ship I was immediately planning my next one!

Comment below with a cruise you have been on and why you loved it & what places you got to stop at!

xoxo Amanda