September 13th, 2007
Come Sail Away
I recently returned from a five day cruise with my boyfriend, a trip that included two different firsts for me, number 1: the first time I’ve traveled alone with a significant other, and 2: the first time I did my own travel arrangements.
I got the idea to plan a cruise when my father offered me two round trip tickets to any location that South West flies. He does a lot of traveling for his employer and thought it would be nice to give me these tickets as a graduation present. I’ve been on a cruise once before and I had a wonderful time. The biggest perk to cruising is the ability to completely relax on board. There is no worry about what restaurant you’ll go to, or where you’ll spend the night. Everything is right there for you. And, additionally, you can find cruises for a relatively cheap if you know how to search.
For our cruise I spent a good week researching cruises on a few different travel websites. We knew we wanted something around five days, and somewhere with a port we could either fly or drive too, so I narrowed my search down that way. Soon I had a list of possible itineraries and my boyfriend and I settled on a Carnival cruise to Key West and the Bahamas. That is, after he rejected what could have possibly been the most affordable Hawaii adventure I’d ever seen….but I’m not bitter.
Truthfully we had a great time in Key West and the Bahamas. Our fare was 450 dollars per person, less than 100 dollars a day, and that included all our meals and on board entertainment. We booked through expedia.com and I was pleasantly surprised at the ease of the whole endeavor. Our boarding papers arrived in a fair amount of time, and we were able to check in online, speeding up our boarding procedure on departure day. We also decided to book a shore excursion through the carnival website in advance, we knew we wanted to go snorkeling and we found an excursion that included snorkeling and clear bottom kayaking for a reasonable price. I think that peace of mind regarding all of our travel plans was well worth any money we may have been able to save by booking from the company directly.
The excursion was truly the highlight of my trip, and I think a close second to my boyfriend’s love of the ship’s rocking motion and soft mattresses. The water was crystal clear, and lukewarm. We paddled around the filming location for numerous tv shows and movies like “Flipper,” “The Island of the Blue Lagoon,” and “Thunderball,” and the snorkeling was great. We were right above a reef with hundreds of fish, and I, a self-admitted fishphobic, actually enjoyed watching the fish swim about….they didn’t touch me, so I didn’t freak out.
The only downside to cruising is the cost of alcohol. Since my boyfriend and I are in our early twenties we do tend to indulge in some alcoholic beverages frequently. Luckily we thought ahead and put some money away for strictly a cruising-drinking fund. The cruise lines not only charge six or seven dollars for a drink, but they also include a large tip. It is possible to keep your costs down by strictly ordering the drink special, which runs more around four dollars. All in all, after five days on board my total bill was just around 200 dollars, and that included spending 40 dollars on photos.
We had a great time on our cruise and now we’re back to the daily grind, but I’m sure we’ll be cruising again in the near future.
Here’s a few picture to entertain you, I haven’t set up a photobucket yet, but soon I’ll work on embedding pictures in my blogs!
