Ever since I was young, my parents would always take me on vacation as often as they could. We traveled almost every year, either flying, driving, or sailing. My parents’ goal was to visit as many places we could around the world and expose me to all the different cultures in those areas. Of course, just like how you can’t drive anywhere you want, you can’t fly everywhere either. And that’s where going on vacation though cruises comes in.Throughout my life, I’ve been on a lot of different ships, from a cruise to Alaska to one that sailed in Halong Bay. From all the experiences I’ve had, I can honestly tell you that going on a cruise could be the best experience you’ve ever had in your life or be one that ends with you feeling as if it was waste of time (though usually it’s the former). Disclaimer: remember this is just my personal experience and won’t be like yours.
Back in what was probably 2011, my family and a couple family friends decided to book a cruise through the cruise line Royal Caribbean. Flying down to Fort Lauderdale in Florida, we landed hours before boarding the ship, The Oasis of the Seas, which at that time had one of the largest passenger capacities. Holding over six thousand passengers, one can only imagine how crowded it was on that cruise. That’s a little under three times the population of Silver Creek, all stuck on a boat sailing in the Gulf of Mexico. As scary as that might seem, the interior of the boat really made up for it. From a zipline and a rockwall to a “Central Park” and even a amphitheater, it was one of the most tiring, yet enjoyable cruises I’ve ever been on.
Out of everything that happens on cruises, the one thing my family cares about as much as the port of calls is the food. That might seem a bit odd, but seriously, if there’s no good food, what’s the point of a vacation? My top favorite cruise line for food was Princess Cruises during a cruise leaving from San Francisco to ports in Alaska and Canada. On all cruises, breakfast, lunch, and dinner are all included in the price you pay upfront; if you want to buy drinks or reserve space in the separate and “fancier” restaurants on board, you pay extra. In this case though, my family didn’t end up having a need to try out the other restaurants because we were already satisfied with the main dining room, which like every other cruise, had a daily changing menu with a couple staple dishes. Out of that entire menu, my top favorite dish was the Fettuccine Alfredo, which was a staple dish I could never get sick of.
Even though I’ve had my fair share of amazing times on cruises, I also need to talk about my worst experience. The most recent was just over last holiday break: a cruise on the west coast of Mexico. On the day that my family had been driving down to San Diego for boarding, my mom had come down with the flu. The cruise was over a period of a week, so it wasn’t soon before the older, more compacted rooms caused the sickness to spread to my dad and me. It didn’t hit me as bad as my dad though; at least I was able to wander the ship while he couldn’t even get out of the stateroom for an entire day. My family also ended up really disliking the food being served on the ship, though it’s possible my family just had really high expectations coming onto the cruise. At least on the bright side, we were really able to take advantage of all the movies and TV shows that had been on demand on the ship!
Whether you end up sailing or not, you should always go out and try something new every once and awhile. You never know, you might end up loving something you never expected you to. In fact, it might end up being one of the most memorable times of your life!
Back in what was probably 2011, my family and a couple family friends decided to book a cruise through the cruise line Royal Caribbean. Flying down to Fort Lauderdale in Florida, we landed hours before boarding the ship, The Oasis of the Seas, which at that time had one of the largest passenger capacities. Holding over six thousand passengers, one can only imagine how crowded it was on that cruise. That’s a little under three times the population of Silver Creek, all stuck on a boat sailing in the Gulf of Mexico. As scary as that might seem, the interior of the boat really made up for it. From a zipline and a rockwall to a “Central Park” and even a amphitheater, it was one of the most tiring, yet enjoyable cruises I’ve ever been on.
Out of everything that happens on cruises, the one thing my family cares about as much as the port of calls is the food. That might seem a bit odd, but seriously, if there’s no good food, what’s the point of a vacation? My top favorite cruise line for food was Princess Cruises during a cruise leaving from San Francisco to ports in Alaska and Canada. On all cruises, breakfast, lunch, and dinner are all included in the price you pay upfront; if you want to buy drinks or reserve space in the separate and “fancier” restaurants on board, you pay extra. In this case though, my family didn’t end up having a need to try out the other restaurants because we were already satisfied with the main dining room, which like every other cruise, had a daily changing menu with a couple staple dishes. Out of that entire menu, my top favorite dish was the Fettuccine Alfredo, which was a staple dish I could never get sick of.
Even though I’ve had my fair share of amazing times on cruises, I also need to talk about my worst experience. The most recent was just over last holiday break: a cruise on the west coast of Mexico. On the day that my family had been driving down to San Diego for boarding, my mom had come down with the flu. The cruise was over a period of a week, so it wasn’t soon before the older, more compacted rooms caused the sickness to spread to my dad and me. It didn’t hit me as bad as my dad though; at least I was able to wander the ship while he couldn’t even get out of the stateroom for an entire day. My family also ended up really disliking the food being served on the ship, though it’s possible my family just had really high expectations coming onto the cruise. At least on the bright side, we were really able to take advantage of all the movies and TV shows that had been on demand on the ship!
Whether you end up sailing or not, you should always go out and try something new every once and awhile. You never know, you might end up loving something you never expected you to. In fact, it might end up being one of the most memorable times of your life!