Cruising With Royal Caribbean

In this blog post, I will discuss my recent experience on a cruise. This was my first time being on a cruise ever and I want to share my experience with you all. This is my story time and review of Royal Caribbean.

Just a disclaimer, my experience my not be your experience. Do not take my experience as a measure for what your trip may be like. Thank you.

Let's dive into this story.

So my trip was 5 days long going from Galveston to Cozumel, Mexico and back. On the first day, it was very cold. Being in the middle of the ocean made it worse; the breeze from the ship made the cold even more aggressive. But that's neither here nore there.

The process of getting on to the ship is similar to getting on a flight. You have to go through some form of TSA and you have to show your passport. After going through all of that, you finally get on to the ship.

Seeing as though this was my first cruise, I didn't know what to expect. This ship was so huge. In fact, it was intimidating up close.

The ship may not look as big from afar, but when you are close to it, it's humbling.

Getting onto the ship, they all the passengers go through a saftey briefing. Which was nice. Trust me, I was tuned in. The whole time, that I was on this trip, I kept thinking about 'The Titanic.' As soon as a I got on the boat, and finished the onboarding the process, I started counting how many life boats they had. I started looking for my life jacket. I was not playing around.

After being on this cruise ship, I can firmly say, that when the Titanic situation happened in real life, the boats surrounding area was most definitely pitch black. I can imagine how scary that event was.

The Food

Moving foward, I was hungry. Luckily for me, the dining area was open. The main dining area was a buffet. They had all types of food- Indian, Chinese, Caribbean, American, etc. The options were unbelievable.

To the credit of Royal Caribbean, your staff is efficient. They are quick. I was eating my food and I forgot to get my drink. So I got up from the table to get water. I turned my head for a moment, within two seconds, my table was cleared as of I was never there. It didn't matter that my plate was full of food, the cleaning team was going to grab it and dump it. I appreciate the staff for being efficient but at the same time...dang.

The food was nice, I must say. The chefs were working overtime. The food did not stop. I was eating like a hoodlum on this trip. I was so greedy on this trip when it can to food, and I don't even feel guilty about it. The food was just good. The highlight for me was breakfast.

The Activities

There were so many things to do on the cruise ship. Literally, every hour on the hour, there is a new activity. There is no way you wouldn't be entertained on this cruise ship.

A few of the activities available:

• Volleyball
• Silent Parties
• Rock climbing
• Ice Skating
• Movie Nights
• Dancing
• Casino's
• Comedy Specials
• Yoga
• Hottest Man Contests

And many more things. There is a bit of everything for everyone. For the parents, there is a daycare onboard. For the teens/pre-teens, there is dedicated area such as the arcade and lounge area for teens.

In Mexico, there were many things for people to do including, jet skiing, paragliding, cave diving, city tours (which is what I did), etc.

The Views

As a christian, I must say this...God is the ultimate creator. The world is so beautiful, especially the ocean. The views from this cruise ship were beautiful. I spent a lot of my time just looking at the ocean in awe of how beautiful the world is. There was a point where I just got lost looking at the ocean.

Look at the material! The world is gorgeous, I hope many of you get the opportunity to see as much of the world as you possibly can. It's beautiful.

Cleanliness

The cleaning staff as a whole were brilliant. They were awesome. Whenever I would eat in my room, all I needed to do was leave my plate outside of my room and they would take care of the rest. Honestly, it didn't matter where I left my plate, someone would take care of it. The ship was always clean.

I also appreciate the dog made out of towels. It was very cute.

Money

As per the time of my trip, Royal Caribbean has an 18% automatic gratuity per day, I did not like that. Especially since, I was planning to give my tips in cash. Another thing I didn't like was the random onboard credit. I looked at my account and I saw -$100 I was very confused. I think Royal Caribbean needs to get rid of that give their passengers the option. I though that was the whole point of putting our card on file, so that whenever we want to spend our money, we can. I felt like I was forced to spend money. Luckily, they didn't charge my card it's just a hold they put on the card. Royal Caribbean does give its passengers a non-refundable onboard credit, the amount depends on type of room and the time in which the ticket was purchased.

So to the rest of you, in order to avoid a crazy bill when you get home, make sure to ask for an itemized receipt before your cruise trip is concluded. Kindly ask the people at guest services to remove any unwarranted charges on your account.

Time To Go

Royal Caribbean did a great job with getting everyone off the ship in a smooth manner. They get everyone off ship going deck by deck, that way lines don't get crowded.

Side note: The elevators were fast as well. I need malls and hotels to take notes from Royal Caribbean.

Thank You Royal Caribbean

For a first time cruiser, this was a nice experience. Thank you all for showing such hospitalility. Everyone was immaculate from the chefs, to the cleaners, to the captain. You guys are awesome.

Thank you so much for reading! If you are planning on going on a cruise ship, check out Royal Caribbean.

Have a lovely day!