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Price and I had been to Key West in 2013 for a day as part of our “Babymoon” in the Florida Keys when I was pregnant with Autumn, so we were really looking forward to going back to Key West. We had so much fun the first time that I was really excited that this was a port of call for us on this cruise.
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We took a 7-day Royal Caribbean cruise on the Vision of the Seas to visit the Western Caribbean for my 30th birthday/pre-wedding honeymoon. We visited Cozumel and Costa Maya in Mexico, Georgetown in Grand Cayman, and Belize City in Belize, sandwiched between 2 days at sea cruising.
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While it would have been so nice to have been able to sleep in, it was always so enjoyable to watch the sun rise over the Gulf of Mexico.
We headed right over to the Windjammer Cafe when it opened at 7am. We did our usual divide and conquer with us grabbing plates of food on our way to the table to have things at the ready for Autumn to eat. And then we’d take turns getting whatever else we need for ourselves, like omelets.
As a birthday gift to me, Price sent me off to the Spa for a massage while Autumn napped. I had seen a flyer earlier in the week for a special package called “Top to Toe Heaven”. It was a 75-minute package that included a Full Body Ginger and Lime Exfoliation, Full Body Swedish Massage, Foot and Ankle Massage, and a Scalp Massage. Some of the prices for things in the spa can be really expensive (manicures!) but this was a real deal for $149, down from $291.
The spa is located at the aft (back) of the boat, just off the Serenity Pool. The waiting room overlooks the back of the boat so you have a clear view out to watch the wake of the ship while sipping on some chilled lemon water. My room also had a great view but I didn’t enjoy it very much with my head down in the passage table. At least I really enjoyed my massage. Pure bliss!!
After my massage we went to lunch in the Aquarius Dining Room. Autumn loved the olive studded rolls they served but I decided that I much more preferred to eat lunch at the Windjammer Cafe. I liked the lovely service that was provided by the waiters and waitresses but I much more preferred the selection at the Windjammer Cafe. While they had a great salad bar, I found that the meals they served were similar to the Cafe, but just slightly off. For example, the sliders I had enjoyed on Thursday were served in Aquarius dining room on Friday, but without the aioli, which really made the sliders.
We headed to the Nursery after lunch so that Autumn could enjoy the Open Play time that afternoon. We then left her there for some time so that both Price and I could enjoy some time by the pool. It really worked well for all of us as Autumn got to nap and play at the nursery and we got to enjoy some fun in the sun!
We spent some time packing up all our stuff just before dinner. This allowed us to sort the the clothes we wouldn’t need for that night and next morning into the big suitcase. We left it outside of our room later that night so that it would be round up by the ship staff to be unloaded into the Port of Tampa building the following morning. Packing up the night before you leave can make the morning of departure much more efficient and smoother.
We had a lovely last dinner together in the Aquarius dining room. It was bittersweet as we had to say ‘good-bye’ to our amazing servers. They really made the dinner experience with Autumn so amazing.
Dinner was great, but so was the sunset.
I took a walk after dinner while Price stayed with a sleeping Autumn in the room. I caught the end of the cruise celebration put on by the cruise crew in the Centrum (7.45pm). Representatives from every country that the staff participate in The International Parade of Flags. Every country is announced and they wave flags while there there is fun music playing. It was so cute. I loved every second of it.
Autumn must have been super excited about getting on dry land again as she was up bright and early to start her day. How early? 3.30 in the morning!! No Joke. Her abnormally early waking hours while on the cruise was compounded that morning with the time change back to East Coast time. Ugh!
Thankfully the 24 Hour Windjammer Cafe Coffee Bar was well stocked!!
We hit the cafe as soon as it opened to avoid the crush of people having breakfast before the trip was over. I was going to miss all those options!
Oh, nice nap eh?
Thankfully, everyone was busy with breakfast or doing last minute packing in their rooms so I could walk loop after loop around the 5th and 6th decks while Autumn snoozed.
We had to wait in our designated area outside the theater on Deck 5 until we were cleared to disembark the ship.
Thankfully the process was painless as we followed the crowds, grabbed out big suitcase, and joined the (well organized) line to get through customs. They estimated the processing taking 45+ minutes but it took us less than half the time. So easy.
And then all we had to do was wait for my dad to come to pick us up.
We were all worn out from the cruise but it was so worth the vacation and experience. It was a good feeling. Tired but relaxed. We felt accomplished that we visited every port. And very full from all the great food. It was so special that we brought Autumn on her first cruise and I got to celebrate my 30th birthday while on vacation. The Royal Caribbean experience was a blast. We can’t wait for our next cruise!
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Check out my other cruise recaps!
Our 2014 Vision of the Seas Cruise: Days 1 & 2 Recap
We took a 7-day Royal Caribbean cruise on the Vision of the Seas to visit the Western Caribbean for my 30th birthday/pre-wedding honeymoon. We visited Cozumel and Costa Maya in Mexico, Georgetown in Grand Cayman, and Belize City in Belize, sandwiched between 2 days at sea cruising.
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Our first stop on the cruise was Georgetown in Grand Cayman.
I had been there previously about 15 years ago but was really looking forward to the 3 of us going to explore together. Our main for the day was to enjoy the beach. We felt that we couldn’t pass up having a beach day when Seven-Mile Beach was a short cab ride from the tender dock.
We headed to the Aquarius dining room shortly after it opened for breakfast at 7.00am. We wanted to give the service and food a try to change things up from going to the Windjammer, where you serve yourself. It was nice to get the service and different selections, includng the best sugary donuts, but it was tough to wait for the food to come with Autumn getting frigidity.
After breakfast we headed back to the room to give Autumn time to nap, for me to pump, and to get ready for the day on shore and at the beach. We packed up the canvas beach tote (my dad lent us) with our water shoes, sun blocks, water bottles, snacks for Autumn, and her bottles.
Price grabbed us tender tickets while Autumn was finishing up her nap so that we would be in the queue and ready to go when it was our turn. It worked out well as we were ready to go when the tender before ours was called. The only ‘issue’ we ran into was that I completely forgot that the towels were handed out right before you got on the tender, and not on the 9th deck, where they are kept. So I sprinted up 5 flights of stairs and ran to the towel hut for no reason. ha!
When we arrived in port we walked around a bit trying to get some wifi as the Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville advertised wifi, but they were not open yet. So we headed back to the cab area to get a cab to bring us to the free public beach at Seven-Mile Beach. We grabbed a cab for $4 a person for the 10 minute cab ride.
The public beach was clean and adjacent to an open area that had a playground for little kids. There were vendors there that rented out jetski’s, snorkel equipment, beach chairs, and umbrellas. We rented a pair of chairs and an umbrella for $20.
Naps on the beach are the best.
We stayed at the beach for several hours taking turns layout out, taking dips in water, and playing with Autumn. It was so relaxing and fun. It had started to drizzle when we first got there but it quickly stopped. It was rather cloudy, but it just meant that the sun wasn’t too intense, thankfully.
There was an adjacent pavilion like restaurant that I considered getting food from, especially since the vendors that rented out the beach chairs and umbrellas were running orders back and forth. But we decided just to grab a snack at one of food trucks. They had a lot to ofer from fresh mad conch salad to fried fish, but I just grabbed us some fries to share for $4.
We shared a van back to the port with a few others as there were a few vans stationed at the lot near the beach. It was more affordable at $2 a person, plus the driver didn’t charge for Autumn as she was on a lap.
We grabbed some Tortuga Rum Cakes on the way back to the tender dock. They are a classic delicious souvenir to bring back home. Or just eat in the cabin!
As we only had shared a basket of fries while at the beach, we were still really hungry for lunch when we got back. We were cutting it close to make it to the Windjammer before it closed for lunch service (12.00- 3.30pm) so I ran up first to grab food, and then Price took his turn while Autumn napped through our running around.
The rest of the afternoon was about showers and enjoying the nice weather up on deck in between lounging around in the room. Not a bad way to spend the afternoon.
The Caribbean sunsets are hard to beat!
We were greeted with friendly hello’s when we arrived for our dinner at 5.30. The hostess and our servers remarked how they missed us as we had dinner at Izumi the night before to celebrate my birthday. Everyone’s enthusiasm is just fantastic, as well as the service and the food.
Mom, you didn’t want your dessert, right?!?!?
We were so tired from the day in the sun that we made it an early night. We went back to the room to get Autumn down for the night as close as possible to her normal bed time, but it was still a tough time (and night as a whole). Price headed up to talk a walk and I crash hard… before 8! Oh man, I’d almost feel bad about it but it’s vacation and my real chance to catch up on sleep. ha!
I might have felt bad for going to bed really, really early the night before, but Autumn slept poorly and was up early. So going to bed before 8 (oh, boy!) was totally worth it!
We were up early walking around on the 9th and 10th decks killing time before the Windjammer Cafe opened. We even enjoyed the sunrise (6.25am) out on deck.
The one thing that really bugged me was that the crew would wash down the deck in the morning. I understand why the do it and when they do it but it was really tricky to get around without the fear of slipping as the deck was soaked as it was power washed. I really just felt bad for the runners and power walkers as they were constantly adjusting their routes to avoid the wet spots and the guys doing the power washing.
This face just kills me. Oh, she has my heart.
And the sunrises too! Just incredible.
We headed into the Windjammer (7.00-11.00am) when it was open to have some breakfast. The best thing about having a buffet right at your finger tips is that it gives us plenty of options for Autumn to try a bunch of different things. The tater tots were always a big hit. but it was nice to get her to try different kinds of pancakes, eggs, fruit, sausage, and biscuits.
While it would have been nice to have had breakfast and gotten off the boat with the first tenders, it worked well to let Autumn nap. Interrupting her napping schedule can make things tricky for us so it was important to give her that opportunity to get a solid nap in. Plus, it gave me a chance to pump and Price to pack us up for the day off the boat.
Having to use a tender, instead of docking at a pier, requires a lot more coordination and planning as there are a limited number of people that can get on a boat at one time. This means there can be some waiting for your turn, which is why you should get a tender ticket to hold a spot for you. As well, loading the ferry-boat, getting ashore, and unloading can take quite a bit of time, so that is important to plan for. That does effect your time ashore. For example, if everyone is to be loaded on the ship by 5, then the last tender is 4pm to provide enough time for the boat to be fully loaded, get to the boat, and unloaded. You always have to keep that in mind!!
During the shopping information session on Sunday the head of onshore shopping explained to everyone that there is not too much shopping to do where the port is. The best shopping is a cab ride away. I asked him about this later as a mile and a half walk for us is no big deal and I was hoping to get some real exercise in, but he really pushed that we should just take a cab as the road is busy and rough. He wasn’t exactly saying it was unsafe but he wasn’t a fan of the idea of us walking.
As well, when asking for a cab it is important to ask to go to the “Forum Shops“, a high-end shopping center, as it is a specific destination, instead of asking to go ‘downtown.’ This prevents the cab driver for taking you to some random place. Also, asking to go to the Forum Shops basically brings you to the end of the main shopping district, which allows you to shop along the way as you head back towards the port. There are several taxi stands along the strip, which will allow you to get a cab in various spots along the way. Our cab ride to the Forum shops was $7 a person (not including Autumn).
We had lunch as Palmeras Restaurant while in Cozumel.
I’m honestly not a fan of buying lunch while in port as we have paid for all our meals on the ship, but when it’s lunch time, it’s lunch time! Thankfully, we had a great lunch at Palmeras. We shared some chips and salsa, fish tacos, and a chicken caesar salad. Autumn helped herself to all our guacamole.
We had talked about going to the beach while in Cozumel but had decided that it would be our shopping day instead. We had hoped to find wedding bands while on the cruise as shopping in the Caribbean is duty and tax-free. As well, different ports are known for different things, like gold, diamonds, tanzanite, etc.
Unfortunately, we did not find rings that we liked as the majority of the rings had diamonds on them, even the men’s. Plus, we wanted brushed white gold bands and not many shops carried brushed things. As well, we had continued to search for an anchor necklace for me, but didn’t find one that was the right size of the right price.
Tired babe? ha!
After our adventurous cab ride back to the port, we boarded our tender to take a ride back to the ship. Once through security (very similar to security at the airport), we our way back to the room to give Autumn a chance to take her afternoon nap. Which really meant that Autumn and I napped and Price snuck away for a pina colada. Perfection for both of us.
We just about missed the “Renaissance Aerial Spectacular” show in the Centrum, but we caught the end of it. The artistry of the dancers and aerialists is amazing. They perform several times throughout the cruise, even 2x a night (5.15-5.30pm & 9.45-10.00pm), so there are quite a few chances to see them perform.
Good bye Cozumel!
As usual, dinner was amazing.
That food theme for the night was shitaki mushrooms, which were featured in the dumplings that I ordered. I could have easily eaten 2 plates of these, especially since I shared with a little hungry babe! I had the strawberry topped pavlova for dessert. It was the first time I had a pavlova, but now I am in love with them.
Another day down! It’s so fun to go from place to place but it just means that vacation is speeding along.
We took a 7- day Royal Caribbean cruise on the Vision of the Seas to visit the Western Caribbean for my 30th birthday/pre-wedding honeymoon. We visited Cozumel and Costa Maya in Mexico, Georgetown in Grand Cayman, and Belize City in Belize, sandwiched between 2 days at sea cruising.
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Our cruise departed on Saturday from the port of Tampa. As my dad lives about 30ish minutes South of Tampa we stayed with him prior to leaving for our cruise. We left Boston on Thursday night so that we could spend Friday with him checking out Tampa, doing some relaxing, and having dinner with family. Plus, it gave us plenty of added time to ensure that we wouldn’t have any issues making the cruise in case of bad weather and our flight down was greatly delayed/canceled.
He dropped us off at the port and we said our good byes for the week.
We only dropped off our BIG bag at the curb and took the rest (carry on sized suitcase, a stroller we borrowed from one of my dad’s friends, Price’s diaper bag, my diaper bag, and a big canvas tote that held my pumping bag, packages of wipes and diapers, and wine) with us through security. It all was pretty painless with quick moving lines and accommodating Port of Tampa staff who bumped us to the front of the line as we were traveling with an infant (win!).
Once through security and on the boat we headed up to the 9th deck to have lunch and kill some time until our rooms were ready at 1pm.
Autumn had her first try of ice cream. I wish I was recording and not taking pictures because her reaction was priceless. She definitely didn’t like how cold it was. ha!
As soon as we were done with lunch we headed to our room on the 4th deck. Our room 4010 was located near the bow (front) of the boat and on the port (left) side. Our big bag was in a staging area on its way to get delieverd to our room so we grabbed it on our way. We then spent the next hour or so getting all unpacked and getting our stuff organized in the room.
The pack and play had not yet arrived so Autumn took a nap on the bed. The pack and play actually gets delivered with the luggage that gets delivered to your room so they have until 8pm to do so. I didn’t know that but it makes sense considering everything that the house keeping staff has to do that day as one ship of passengers disembarks and shortly afterwards another ship of passengers embarks.
Price hung out in the room but I took a walk around the boat while Autumn napped before out Muster station (station 2) drill. I took that time to make a 5.30pm at the Aquarius dining room (4th and 5th decks). As we had the flexible My Time dining serve we have to make dinner reservations for when we want dinner. I picked 5.30 as it was when they opened and at Autumn’s normal dinner time
Thankfully autumn woke on her own before the Muster drill sounded so it didn’t scare her and we were ready to bring her up. The drill was run quickly and efficiently. Before long we were back to the room to get ready for dinner, stop by the nursery to sign up to use it, and watch as the boat left Tampa.
While at dinner, our mini fridge, for storing my pumped breastmilk, arrived and within about 10 minutes of getting back to the room our room steward Julio Benjamin, who went by Benjamin, brought in a set up the pack and play. As this was about an hour after Autumn’s normal bed time, she was exhausted so she easily went to bed.
Price wandered around a bit while I briefly read before taking a nap, which basically turned into going to bed around 8pm. HA! VACATION!!
Happy 30th Birthday to me!!!
As Autumn didn’t have her normal bed time bottle since she was so tired, she woke around 1.30am for it. Once full, she again went to sleep quickly and slept until about 6am. We gave her another bottle and she played around and kinda watch Tom and Jerry cartoons while I pumped. Ready to start the day we got ready quickly and headed up to have breakfast in the Windjammer restaurant (9th deck).
After breakfast we headed up to the 10th deck to walk around before heading back in to wander around the 5th and 6th decks. Basically we were just checking out the main atrium, casino, and shopping areas while we killed some time before getting back to the room for Autumn’s nap.
Autumn and Price napped while I read and worked on random blog stuff- sans internet.
After the morning nap session, Autumn and I got ready quickly and headed out giving Price some time to get ready. There was a sushi making demonstration from the restaurant Izumi in the main atrium so we watched that a bit. After the demonstration there were samples to try. Yum!
We met Price and then grabbed some cocktails to solidify the birthday celebrating. I had the cocktail of the day and Price had a Miami Vice- a strawberry daiquiri & pina colada combo.
And of course I had to wear Lilly pants on my birthday. They just make me so happy. Overall it was my goal to wear as much prep as possible during the trip and I think I nailed it with all my Vineyard Vines, Sperry’s, and Lilly.
We grabbed lunch at the Park Cafe, located on the 9th deck next to the Solarium (adult pool), which honestly was really bad. Thankfully it was the only bad meal of the whole cruise, but it was really blah and just bad overall. We ditched it and Price ran into the Windjammer Cafe and got other food for us. Much better.
As we finished up our lunch we got to enjoy the start of the belly flop contest.
The cruise director introduced crew that would help out judging in the contest. It was fun getting to see all the different people that help in the operations to run a fun cruise ship.
The group of guys that participated in the belly flop contest were hilarious dancing and strutting their stuff before taking that big, loud jump into the pool.
There are “Open Play Sessions” every day in nursery for the kids (6 months- 3 years) and parents to come in to play together. We wanted to check it out so we stopped by so Autumn could really stretch her legs to crawl around on a clean surface and play with a bunch of toys. And there were tons of toys! She loved it, so we all loved it.
Oh my goodness!! The cutest thing ever! Our room steward Benjamin really went above and beyond by always making Autumn’s crib up. Often Owl got tucked in. Adorable.
We came back to the room so Autumn could take her afternoon nap. Once she got settled I left so that I could check out a shopping information session put on by the shopping guides. While I knew that we wouldn’t be doing much shopping I wanted to have a better understanding of the islands we were going to. I didn’t stay for the whole thing since I actually started to get tired and was afraid I’d fall asleep in the auditorium (ha!), so I left mid way through. But it was successful as I got maps to all the places, which were really beneficial to have on hand for every stop.
We got ourselves ready for dinner and Autumn ready for her time at the nursery before we heading up to the 9th and 10th decks to enjoy the beautiful night. Plus, it was so much fun getting to watch the Seahawks play the NFC Championship game on such a big screen.
To celebrate my birthday Price and I went to dinner at Izumi, one of the specialty restaurants on the ship. We hadn’t had sushi in awhile so I was thinking that would be a fun dinner, and then I solidified my decision after trying the sushi after the demonstration I had seen that morning.
The food and service at Izumi was so fantastic.
We enjoyed drinks, appetizers, entrees, and dessert. The staff came out and sang happy birthday to me too. Normally that would give me the chills and make me want to hide under the table but I enjoyed it as 30 is 30 and, hell, I was on a cruise. Live it up!
After dinner we went up to the nursery to get Autumn, who did really well there. The nursery staff was awesome with her giving her dinner, a bottle, and putting her down. She snuggled in my arms on the way down to our room and went back to sleep really quickly.
And a towel animal to end the night.
It was such a wonderful birthday. I loved every bit of it.
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Stay tuned for my upcoming cruise recaps for the rest of the trip!