This cruise was super different than our last Carnival cruise. And the one before that. And the one before that. I’ve been on a few now, and they’ve all been very different depending on the time of my life I was in or the people I traveled with. Which I guess is sort of the appeal– there’s a lot to do (on and off the ship) and unless you hate absolutely everything, there’s fun and adventure or complete relaxation to be found for everyone. We had a bit of both (the fun and the relaxation) on this cruise. This time around I wanted something a bit more low key— I needed that break from this chaotic year. I wasn’t looking for late nights or any craziness (though I had a blast with those in the past). I just wanted to go to bed early, wake up with the sunrise, and enjoy the sunshine and my family each day. I got to do that. It was good.
We always travel with Marlowe. Sure, there was our honeymoon and a few overnight trips here and there that Alex and I got to have our solo time, but we really enjoy traveling with the kiddo. We want her to be a little citizen of the world and explore often and taste new food often and just learn more. We have a few trips coming up this year that we’re not sure if miss Marlowe will be joining us for– they’re more adult themed with two weddings and such, but for the cruise it was a no brainer. She LOVED the first cruise— and this time I thought it would be super rad to bring my dad and step mom — which it was. Not only was I able to sort of (not really, but I tried) to repay them for all their kindness they’ve shared, but also just enjoy our time together. And as a bonus, when traveling with family, it often time means you get an on hand babysitter as needed. We used this to our advantage a little bit, but mostly, we just loved running around as a family. And Marlowe loved it too, her favorite activity by far was leading the way throughout the ship– up and down flights of stairs, through hallways and rooms to see where we’d end up or what we’d find. It was a nice way to spend our time and get a bit of exercise in too 😉
The lazy times were great too. Like I said, we full on planned for relaxation and downtime on this trip and took full advantage of comfortable beds with sunshine flooding into the windows and a bit of tv too.
We shared most meals with my family. My half brother, Chris came too. He was less thrilled by the game of letting Marlowe lead the way, but was always a good sport about it 😉
I’m not going to lie, I highly dislike mini golf. Marlowe and Alex love it though— which means they got to play a lot— and I got to enjoy the sunshine and quiet time.
Submarine! Alex and I decided to explore Grand Cayman by ourselves while Miss Marlowe went off with my family on a submarine trip! We all would have gone, but I think I would have panicked a bit too hard underwater like that 😉 Marlowe however? LOVED it.
We then met up with them after the submarine ride to enjoy a vegan place called, Bread and Chocolate. All vegan, lots of bread and chocolate. So basically, my dream. With my restricted diet, I had to be a bit more careful— but then, I realized they had gf brownies– so we ordered one— with ice-cream and caramel on top. And then Marlowe, Chris, and I fought hard over it— like children—each person trying to get the bigger piece. In their defense, they are children 😉 In my defense it has been a long, long year without chocolate. Then we ordered a second one. And then we fought over that one too 😉
Marlowe took a lot of photos– most of them just blurs though. She did however get some really good ones of me and Alex completely passed out when she woke up from our nap and we both slept an extra hour 😉
We did fulfill Marlowe’s wish of going to Camp Ocean. We didn’t really need to send her since we had family, but she really wanted to. They made some pretty rad kids t-shirts. Which I fit into… because I’m apparently a child.
Some days were long! They started off with loads of energy and adventure and required hard naps in-between.
I think it’s super funny, but one of Marlowe’s absolute favorite things about cruising is having food delivered to the room! And I mean, we can’t say no, it is free after all! It was perfect for the days we planned to sleep in a bit too late for my early bird rising family 😉
All in all we had an amazing super kid and family vacation. It’s great for us to enjoy so much of our time together— no problems, no stress, just family love and fun 🙂
9 Comments
Where are your white shoes from?
vintage!
Looks like you had a blast! Where did you get that gorgeous orange scarf??
Thanks! It's from India!
Love love love your shoes, where are they from?
they're actually vintage! I've already had to repair them once (had them 5 years now). I'm going to be so sad when they reach they're complete end.
I have always said that i would never go on a cruise, the whole idea of being in the middle of the sea just kinda freaks me out, but you do make it tempting! 😉
Love this post. I hope to go on a Cruise one day – I love the Caribbean so much and would love to island hop 🙂 Hey, what kind of camera do you use? It looks kind of like mine 🙂
it's a samsung something or other! I usually just use my iphone though 🙂