Cruise Expert

Cruising is for everyone!

Nothing is better then being able to see many places in a short amount of time.  Let's face it not everyone has the time or money to take long extensive vacations.  Cruising really helps give you a pre-view of a bunch of places that if you really like one spot in particular you can plan a land vacation to that destination in the future.  Maybe you had heard and seen beautiful pictures of a place so you book that destination only to learn that the beaches look nothing like the pictures or the place is a lot more buggier then you expected or in person the resort you chose looks run down and old.  Being able to see this destination first on a cruise will help alleviate the unknowns and save you from wasting your money.

Perhaps you like all-inclusives, well that's exactly what a cruise is!  It's a floating all-inclusive!  How great is it to have a little bit of everything for everyone all in one spot.  You have your pools, food, drinks, sports court, shows, shopping, gambling, gym, kids clubs, etc.  And on a cruise ship it's easier to keep track of your kids who like to have some freedom and be able to let them roam without the worry of something bad happening to them.  This last point, is one reason why I really enjoy cruising.  I am more at ease with my daughter being able to make friends and do her thing.

I've been on over 70 cruises, sailing on my first ever cruise at 18 years old in 1996 on the Celebrity Century (before Celebrity became a part of Royal Caribbean).  I fell in love with cruising immediately.  I still remember that cruise like it was yesterday.  It was to celebrate my high school graduation.  I had 2 friends come with me along with my younger brother and parents.  I still remember our waiter, Rui, who after the first night, always had our drinks of choice waiting at the table when we arrived.  Making a new friend or two and singing karaoke with my friends - we sang the Mamas and the Papas "California Dreamin" (we tried to look at the demographic of the crowd when we picked that song LOL).  Having fun sunbathing by the pool or gambling in the casino and of course checking out places we had never been to before.  That cruise went to Key West, Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Cozumel.  We went to the southern most point in the US, climbed Dunn's River Falls in Jamaica, and went to the beach in Grand Cayman and Cozumel.  As you can see its a vacation I will never forget.

I lucked out that I found a partner, my husband, who loved traveling and cruising as much as I did.  He was cruising way before I was, going on his first cruise in 1986 on Royal Caribbean's Nordic Prince, sailing from NY to Bermuda.  His family would continue to do this run almost every summer and his sister loved it so much that she would eventually became a youth counselor for Royal Caribbean as her summer job every year she was in college.  

We have been on a few different cruise lines and all different sized ships.  When our daughter was younger we tried to pick ships we knew would keep her entertained.  Now she is 13 and she too just loves cruising that it doesn't matter what size ship she goes on, she's just happy to be cruising.  We've been fortunate enough to cruise so much that a lot of times we don't even get off the ship now when we go to certain ports, instead we take advantage of the amenities on the "empty" ship.

No matter the destination, if it's near water a cruise ship probably goes there.  Anywhere from the Caribbean to Alaska, to Europe, Asia and Australia and even Antarctica!  Start traveling the world on a cruise ship today!