Hey loves! The kids and I just got back from our Spring Break trip and I wanted to put together a round up of everything we did and some tips! We went on the Liberty of the Seas Royal Caribbean cruise for three nights that went to the Bahamas and Coco Cay. I feel like it was the perfect length of time for the kids first cruise so that we could feel out if a lengthier cruise or future cruise was a good idea.
Day one of the cruise we boarded the ship. Tip: make sure you filled out all of the pre-boarding documents. That way all you will have to do is show your passports when you check in and they scan the passes on your phone, it was so easy! Also, I would highly recommend wearing your swimsuits and coverups on the cruise and bringing a bag with whatever your change of clothes will be for dinner. As well as your makeup and toiletries in a carry-on. We boarded the cruise around 11:30 am and our room wasn’t ready until around 2, so we went right to the pool and hung out until the room was ready. Our checked luggage didn’t arrive until 20 minutes before our dinner time at 5:15.
The first night dinner theme was cruise casual. It’s so fun for the kids to eat in the fancy dining room where they get to pick a starter a main course and their desserts. They could try a bunch of different foods that they hadn’t had before and they really had fun doing this every single night. Depending on what type of drinks you enjoy, there are beverage packages if you like pop, but the juices and lemonade were free for the kids and there were packages for alcohol for the adults. They were discounted if you purchase them prior to the cruise, so if you know you want a beverage package, get that before the cruise. Same thing with an Internet package. I will say the internet was spotty at times, but once we got to the ports, we didn’t have problems with the internet. I kept my phone on airplane mode the entire time, though to avoid any cellular surcharges.
Our cabin was a floor to ceiling ocean view. I opted for this instead of a balcony because I was worried being the only adult, I didn’t want the kids to have access to the balcony if I was busy taking care of one of the other ones, so I felt safer with this is option. I remember going on cruises when I was younger that having a view can help if you’re feeling any type of sickness. I packed Dramamine just in case, but we didn’t even open it up. No one felt seasick once, but just something to consider depending on the size of the cruise ship you’re on (smaller boats you’ll feel more movement) and if you will be cruising in a place where the waters are choppier, definitely pack Dramamine and consider getting a room that has a view of the water.
The first night we had so many options of fun things to go do after dinner. There was a family karaoke. There was an ice-skating show, which is what we went to go see and it was so cool. There was also a band playing. There was an outdoor movie by the pool and there are kids clubs, so if you want adult time, they have them grouped by different ages but you can drop your kids off. The rate was six dollars an hour so something to consider if you want to have a date night or some adult fun!
The second day of the cruise we were docked in Nassau, Bahamas. There was a ton of short excursions, but those all cost extra. Most of them had a minimum age of five or six years old. I’d also heard from friends who done this cruise before that they preferred to stay on the boat. Because many people get off, the pool and slides didn’t have as much of a wait. I decided since I was a solo parent on this trip, just for safety and the kids were so excited to have more pool and slide time, we didn’t get off the ship in Nassau. We just did the pool and the slides all day. Hayden went to the kids club for two hours so that I could have more one on one time with the older two and we could go on some of the sides that had a height requirement, but the big slides were 52″, so Landon wasn’t tall enough. It is crazy how big some of the slides are on these ships! You could also go ice-skating and there were bands that would play by the pool and even a movie that played at one part of the day by the pool as well! There was always something fun or some kind of activity you could do like bingo. There was a casino for 21 and older. There was an entire promenade with different shops and stores and ice cream parlor, a cupcake shop and a coffee shop. Honestly, three days on the ship I feel like there was still so much more we could’ve explored when it came to spa services. Also there is a huge fitness center that had a steam room and sauna.
The second night was formal dinner night, so it gave me the opportunity to reuse the tuxedos the boys had from my sister’s wedding. Me and Presley both wore sparkly blue dresses. It was so much fun to get dressed up and go down to the dinner where again the kids just got such a kick out of getting to order appetizers and a dinner and all the desserts that they wanted. Our waitress was absolutely amazing. Her name was Kenyisa and her assistant was named Lovely, and they were so sweet to me and the kids! For example, Presley said she loved kiwi so they brought her out a bowl of cut up kiwi with every meal! The last night they made a big deal about Landon ‘s birthday since his birthday is shortly after the cruise.
After dinner, Presley really wanted to go to the family karaoke and sing. She had been practicing most of the day and while we were getting ready, she wanted to sing Taylor Swift. Of course it was pretty funny. They should’ve actually just called Taylor Swift karaoke because I think every song was Taylor Swift besides maybe two or three. But unfortunately, by the time we got to karaoke, the list was already full.
The third day of the cruise was at Coco Cay, which is Royal Caribbean‘s private island in the Bahamas. It is absolutely beautiful. It’s an island just full of beaches and really nice lagoon areas where the kids can go into the water and not worry about big waves. There are tons of lawn chairs everywhere with umbrellas by them. Waiters come around for drinks. There’s a bunch of walk up options to get food as well. For an additional cost there is a waterpark, but because it was just me with a three kids, I thought it would be too overwhelming to figure out which slides the big kids could go on and manage Hayden who would likely be upset he was getting left out, so we opted for some lounge chairs by one of the lagoons and the kids had such a blast trying to catch these little fish that kept swimming around in the water. It was so cute watching them. They had such a good beach day and we definitely had lots of fun in the sun.
The last night dinner was tropical theme and this was the dinner where they sang happy birthday to Landon. It was so sweet of them. We rushed to go to karaoke when we were done eating to make sure that Presley could get signed up! We made it on the list for the last evening and she was so happy she got to sing love story by Taylor Swift and she did such a good job. I was so proud of her!!
We were definitely all tired after three really fun filled days on the cruise so we went back to bed after karaoke. I got up very early to pack our suitcases because Landon really wanted to go to the sit down formal breakfast. The other two days we’d gone to the buffet breakfast, and it was very crowded and hard to find a table whereas the formal breakfast, it was a lot quieter and the menu was still great. I wish we had gone to the sit down formal breakfast the other two mornings.
And after that, it was time to disembark the kids were so great at helping get the luggage off of the cruise while I had Hayden in the stroller with all of our carry-on bags, and it was very easy to get an Uber and head straight to the airport to fly home.
This was one of the best vacations I have ever been on with the kids. We will definitely be looking into future cruises and I think a three night on Royal Caribbean was the perfect way for us to figure out if we liked cruises. I think we definitely try a Disney Cruise in the future. But I would definitely book another cruise on Royal Caribbean because we had a really good experience!
For the cruise the walls and doors are magnetic, so my friend Suzanne was so sweet and let me borrow all of her magnet hooks that she used on their cruise which just makes it so much easier to hang up wetbathing suits, towels and keep clothes and hats organized. I also have seen some other cruises where people decorate the doors with magnets so could be something fun for you to do if you’re celebrating a birthday or anniversary or doing a cruise for a holiday to have magnets on your door to decorate. I would also say if you’re going on a longer cruise, it’s so fun to do the different excursions that they have because this was a shorter one. We really did just enjoy a lot of time on the ship but I think it’s the kids get older. I would definitely look at activities like scuba diving or swimming with dolphins or some of the fun sailboats or jet skis, or other fun activities at each of the ports!
Well, thanks so much for reading my cruise travel diary. I’m looking forward to more cruises in our future!! If you want to see everything I packed and how I packed it, check out this video!
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