My first ever cruise – SOUTHERN CARIBBEAN CRUISE April 2022 – Royal Caribbean – Vision of the Seas

I never even considered going on a cruise until my best friend said that is what she was thinking of doing as part of her 50th birthday celebrations.  I always thought that cruises were for old people and were also very expensive!  But as that’s what she decided to do, we ended up booking a 2 night stay in South Beach Miami followed by a 10 night Caribbean cruise with flights to Miami.  We got a great offer as we booked it near the end of the dreaded covid year that was 2020.  It was a bit risky as it may be cancelled, but we would get money returned if this was the case anyway.

7 of us travelled to Heathrow to depart in April 2022.  It was very stressful though as we had to do a covid test at Heathrow airport before we were allowed to travel!  So we got there a little early, went to all have our tests, and then waited for the dreaded results on our mobiles, not really knowing what we would do if one of us tested positive!  Luckily, the results all came through clear so we went to check in with this evidence on our phones.  On check in, we found out that our seats were all over the place on the plane as our travel agent didn’t inform us that we would have to pay extra for seats together!  Not the best start but at least we tested negative and were allowed to go!

We travelled with American Airlines and we were lucky that we managed to ask nice people to swap seats so we could at least sit with 1 other person in our group. We were very grateful for this.  The flight was okay although they only served wine out of a bottle rather than the selection of small bottles you had the option of before covid. The meals were usual airplane food and the staff were quite friendly.  When we arrived at Miami there were massive queues for passport control.  It was very tiring but we managed to get through and then on our way to the hotel with the transfer that had been booked with the package.

We stayed in a nice small boutique hotel in the South Beach area of Miami called South Beach Hotel.  The rooms had comfy beds and good air conditioning.  The hotel had a fantastic roof top pool with amazing views of the area.  It also had a lovely all day restaurant where we enjoyed breakfast/brunch with fizz each of the mornings to start our days off.  We went to the beach for a couple of hours on the first day but sunbeds were so expensive and it was also so hot, we decided to go back to the amazing roof top pool instead.  From reading the hotels website, it seems like they now have a reserved beach area and sunbeds & towels are included with your stay which is great!

The day finally came to travel to Fort Lauderdale to finally embark on our first cruise!  It was amazing seeing the ship for the first time and seeing how big it was, even though it was one of the smallest ships in Royal Caribbean’s fleet!  When we did all of the checking in and security, we finally walked onto the ship and just wow!  The gangway led you straight to the atrium area and it looked just amazing as you walked in.  First impressions were just great!

We went straight to our cabin to pick up our cruise card so we could get drinks on it as we had a drinks package.  Then went back to the pool area waiting for the sail away party.  This was delayed a bit as we were next to the biggest ship at the time, Wonder of the Seas and they had to depart first.  The sail away party consisted of the entertainment staff doing a couple of dances and that was about it!

After leaving the port and high rise buildings behind us, we went back to the cabin to get changed for the evening.  Met in the atrium bar for drinks before dinner then into the main dining room for an amazing 3 course meal!  The waiters were just great and everything we asked for, they got straight away.  They could not do enough for us.  It was so much different then all inclusive hotels we have been to before, although we have always done that on a budget with our 4 kids so not sure what the more expensive hotels are like.

We had a lovely relaxing day at sea to start with.  We just chilled round the pool area drinking cocktails and enjoying amazing food from the buffet which was just stunning!  We had a lovely evening which was our first formal night on the cruise ship.  Lovely to dress up and the menu was slightly different than other nights in the main dining room but not much different as every night was amazing!

Our first stop was Labadee which is a small part of Haiti, which is owned and secured by Royal Caribbean themselves.  My friend, whose 50th it was, treated me and my hubby to an amazing experience here as I helped her book and organise things for her special cruise.  The longest zip wire over the sea!!!! I was terrified!  I really did not want to do it!  But our slot was first thing in the morning at 9am, so we headed off to the trial training zip wire!  I nearly bottled it here!  I just found myself not being able to jump off the side to start and it was only a small zip wire but I somehow managed to do it even though I was totally petrified!

The main zipwire came, and oh wow!  It was totally and utterly amazing!  I loved it!  It was just so beautiful going over the trees from the mountain and then over the beautiful Caribbean sea.  I remember just joking with the 3 other people I did it with saying I was faster than them (although probably that is the weight difference!!!).  I loved the experience so much though and would never have done it without my friend booking it for us!

We spent the rest of the morning chilling on the beach and enjoying the warm sea.  Lunchtime was a barbecue all included with all inclusive drinks (as we had the drinks package) and there was entertainment too with music and caribbean dancing which was fun.  Chilled for a couple more hours on the beach before heading back to the ship for another lovely evening with good entertainment and lovely food.

Our next stop was Puerto Rico.  We wasn’t really sure what we should do here as we love beaches and just being lazy and chilling but the ship only docked here in the afternoon till late evening.  We decided just to walk around the local area which was nice enough but was just a town/city and it was so hot!  We looked around for outside bars to sit in like you have in Spain etc but no, was not like that and had to go inside instead.  Was lovely and air conditioned though and we had a couple of drinks in a local bar after walking round a couple of shops and local view points before heading back to the ship.  It was lovely seeing Puerto Rico in the dark with all the lights though before departing.

In the evening we headed for our usual lovely 3 course meal and then up to the pool deck for a party in the stars evening.  We had fun dancing away although all the Americans knew every single step to some of the songs and it was like line dancing which we had no idea how to join in!!!

Next stop was St Maartin!  Me being me, I was so excited to go to Malo beach to see the planes coming down to land! There are probably so many more beautiful beaches than this one we visited but it was an absolute must for me as I saw so many pictures and videos of it!  The scenery from the ship to the beach was just incredible! An absolutely beautiful island!  And wow!  The beach with airplanes landing just over from the beach!  It was such an experience!  The waves in the water were awful and you got sucked under!  The backdraft from the planes made you have sand all over you but it was a once in a lifetime experience and was just fabulous!  That evening after our dinner we went to a comedy show in the main theatre.  It was really not my cup of tea but it was nice to watch a show to end an incredible day.

Our third stop was at St Lucia. This was a little different as they still had covid restrictions on the island so the only way you could visit somewhere was on a royal caribbean excursion.  We chose to go to a beach called Reduit beach.  To start with we had to meet in the theatre and wait for our excursion number to be called.  Then when finally called, wait in a line outside with your number on it!  I really did not enjoy this as I felt like a lot of time wasted and felt you were literally just a number!  When we arrived at the beach, it was really nice with sunbeds included but soon had people trying to sell you things straight away!  I had a couple of rum cocktails from the bar and a sales person said to me they would come back later after a couple of rum punches and I would buy some jewellery from them! They came back and nope I still did not want to buy anything from them.  Whilst at the beach my husband spoke to someone on the sun bed next to him who was a lot older than us. He was saying about our cruise and that it was like people were waiting to die on the ship?!!!  He was a lot older than us and maybe because it was our first cruise ever, we never felt like this at all.  Yes, there were a lot of different age groups and some were older who just wanted to chill and sit there, but what is the problem with that?

We had our first experience of a silent disco after our amazing dinner!  I was dreading it to be honest and when we walked to it we were a couple of floors up from where it was happening in the atrium and I just thought no way am I going to join in with that!  BUT oh wow!  As soon as you put headphones on, you really do not care at all!  It was so much fun!  And yes we were some of them annoying people who sang the word out a little too loud! 
Our fourth stop was St. John’s in Antigua.  My mum and dad had visited here before and I had been told by my dad about all the rum shacks you can go to.  We got a taxi to Dickenson Bay Beach to start with which was just stunning!  We were right next to the back of the Sandals resort and by the famous red telephone box on the beach with palm trees all around it.  We had such an amazing time here, sunbathing, cooling off in the sea and also walking along the beach.  When we got the taxi back we were planning on visiting a rum shack in the main part of St Johns but as soon as the taxi stopped there were people begging so we decided to just stay in the cruise port area for a drink instead, The lady at the bar there recommended a beach in St Kitts where we were going the following day as she was from that island.

The next day we stopped at Basseterre in St Kitts & Nevis.  We got a taxi to Reggae Beach at Cockleshell Bay which the bar lady the day before recommended.  On the way the taxi driver stopped at an amazing view point where you could see both the caribbean sea as well as the atlantic sea.  He let us take time out to take photos which were just so lovely.  Headed to reggae beach…. When arriving it looked a bit run down and a bit shabby from the back road but when I got there and settled down on a sunbed, it was really quite nice.  Very peaceful, lovely views and an amazing bar!  What more do you need?  On the way back, the taxi driver picked us up and had to pick other people up too, one of them was very drunk and spilled drink everywhere!  But where we stopped to get them, there were some lovely little monkeys which were amazing to see!

The next day was a lovely day, first of two at sea.  We chilled around the pool that day watching the belly flop competition which was very entertaining!  In the evening was a formal night with even more amazing food on offer in the Main dining room.  We went to the theatre to watch the Boogie Nights show which some of us enjoyed and others not so much but afterwards was another silent disco which we all really enjoyed again.  We had a great enjoyable day at sea anyway.

For our last full day, it was another sea day heading back to Fort Lauderdale.  The weather in the morning was not the best and the whole pool deck was soaked with rain.  We spent some time inside the atrium watching the Easter entertainment as it was Easter day.  They were setting up a big easter egg drop from the higher levels of the atrium but the sun made an appearance so we decided to head to the pool deck and enjoy our last afternoon in the sun.  Dinner was amazing as usual and was sad to say bye to our waiters who had looked after us so well over the whole cruise.
We disembarked after another amazing breakfast at the buffet.  As our flight home was not until later in the afternoon, we arranged a trip with Royal Caribbean to visit the Florida Everglades.  The coach picked us up from outside the cruise ship with our luggage onboard and took us for a few hours at the Everglades.  The women in charge of the tour were very rude and bossy which made what should have been an amazing trip, a bit disappointing.  The Airboat ride was really fun and at times really fast!  We saw lots of alligators which was amazing.  Afterwards, we had to queue up for the Alligator show in the direct sunlight as the tour lady moaned at us for standing in the shade!  The Alligator show was informative but I found it quite cruel really as the man running it was teasing the alligator to show its teeth to the crowd.  After the show we headed back to the coach for the trip back to Miami airport.

We had a few hours still to spare in Miami airport.  We walked around the outside of all the terminals to get some exercise in before sitting for hours on our journey home.  I have never seen an airport so big!  It was like a shopping mall even before going through security.  Once we checked in and went through, we found a lovely restaurant for some food before our journey. Again on the departure side, it did not really feel like an airport at all.  The restaurant was really relaxing and there were so many shops and eating outlets it was unreal!

Our journey home was quite tough as we were spread out across the plane and I had to sit in the middle of 2 men which I found very awkward and uncomfortable.  I survived it though and we got home safely after such an amazing first cruise!  I would definitely recommend a cruise to anyone!  For what you pay, you can not get the same quality of food and drinks in an all inclusive hotel.  You would have to pay so much more!  Also, visiting so many different places in one holiday was just amazing!