Our cruise was a 4-night trip with 2 stops in the Bahamas. The first stop happened on day 3 in Nassau, and the second stop was on day 4 at Coco Cay. Four nights was perfect for us, because I get to a point where I am ready to get back to my routine. BUT, let's start at the beginning.
We made a great decision to get on the ship early, because it gave us plenty of time to explore and get our bearings (and grab a few drinks along the way before the bars got packed). Another thing I am SO glad that we did was to get a room with a balcony. I sat out there every day for a bit, just enjoying the view and chatting with Shawn. It was such a nice bonus feature of the cruise.
The room was actually not too bad! No frills or anything too special (other than having a balcony), but I honestly thought we'd be sleeping in a closet. This was definitely more than a closet. Plus, if you're doing it right, you really only come back to your room to change clothes and to sleep. I will say that the bathroom was TINY. It is VERY hard to shave your legs in that shower, HA, but it was fine. There is a pretty large desk area that has a vanity mirror with bright lights, so I got ready there each night. My only other addition to the room comments is that the bed is not great. Honestly though, it really didn't matter, because I was so tired at the end of each day that I was able to pass out the minute I was ready to.
After checking out our room, we headed to lunch at the buffet. I have heard some negative things about cruise buffets. It definitely gets crowded there. For example, we waited until 9am to eat breakfast on the second day, and it was PACKED. We walked around for 15 minutes before we finally said "Screw it!" and sat at the bar. At least we had easy access to the mimosas at that point. Truly though, the food was not that bad. You just had to look. There are literally a million options to choose from, including a few specialty restaurants if you're willing to spend some extra money.
Now, I don't know about y'all, but I love to eat. Food is definitely life. One of my favorite things about vacation is getting to eat all kinds of foods that I don't normally get to eat back home. Even though I was pumped about eating ALL THE FOODS, I was determined to do a few things throughout my trip:
1. I stuck to a healthier breakfast. I am the type of person that LOVES a good breakfast, but I like to make it myself or go somewhere really great. It wasn't worth it to me to have buffet style pancakes or waffles, or (what seemed to me like) stale pastries. My typical breakfast was an egg white, cheese, and veggie omelet with a side of fruit and ham, scrambled eggs with bacon and fruit, or some combination of those.
2. Similar to how I am at home, I craved salads at lunch. That's what I got each day at lunchtime with some protein from one of the carving stations or in the buffet, and sometimes some extra veggies as well.
3. I avoided the desserts until dinner time. There are desserts EVERYWHERE on the ship. I can totally see how people tend to gain so much weight on cruises. Between the drinks and the availability of food at all hours, it's nuts. I mean there is a hot dog station and a soft serve station on either side of the main pool. For me, that was motivation to stay away. Also, waiting to eat dessert until the end of the day made it that much more enjoyable.
4. For dinners, I always started with a salad (gimme all the greens!), made sure to order a protein and veggies, and whatever else I wanted after that, I ate! Dinner was my chance to kick back, relax, and enjoy the heck out of a delicious meal. That filet at the specialty steakhouse on the ship was on POINT.
5. I splurged on my drinks. I don't typically drink a ton at home, but when in Rome, y'all! We bought a drink package when they started offering a buy one get one half off sale. Plus, ya girl is thinking about having a kid sometime soon. That means, this vacation is one of my last opportunities to live it up for a while. Live it up, we did. I'll be dreaming about that frozen coco loco for a while now.
Day 1 concluded with our trip to the specialty steakhouse called Chops. Shawn brokered a discount with some sales guy and felt like a boss, so I let him have his moment.
Review: It was worth the money. We spent about $75 after tip and got a LOT of food. Even if they were pretty stingy with the veggies.
We each got a salad, an appetizer, a steak, 1-2 sides, and dessert. Service was great, and it was much quieter than the main dining areas. We definitely left full and happy.
After dinner, we walked around exploring a bit more, and then headed back to the room for the night.
Day two was a sea day. I started the day with a 30 minute run on the outdoor track, then grabbed coffee at the Starbucks on board. I grabbed Shawn for a quick breakfast, and then we both headed to the fitness center for a workout (coming to the blog soon!). After that, I felt sufficiently ready to have a relaxing day by the pool.
We spent all day lounging by the pool and fighting for space in the crowded pools (that is the worst part about a sea day). I will say the crowds (and the drinks) make for some pretty incredible people watching, though.
That night was formal night, so I booked a Blow out at the spa. This service is completely worth the money to me, because I didn't have to do my own hair. That shit is priceless. They also brought me champagne, and my hairdresser was the biggest sweetheart. She was super intrigued by my fitness background and we had a good little chat about life. I wish I could have her do my hair every day. Here's the final product:
LOVED IT. She received a solid tip.
We had dinner in the main dining room, where I ordered the lamb. It was amazing. This was probably my favorite meal of the trip.
After dinner, we immediately put on comfy clothes and went for a walk on the upper deck.
We found some cool couches to hang out on, watch the waves, and just talk (that's my fave person right there in the grey shirt).
That wraps up the first couple days in the Caribbean! I'll be back tomorrow with a recap of Day 3 in Nassau + a travel workout for my fitness peeps. Keep crushin' it out there, it's hump day!
