When my husband and I began to plan for our 10th wedding anniversary, we had barely been married for 8 years. Early in our relationship, we had promised each other to do something spectacular, like travel to Australia by the time we were married a decade. When the suggestion to take a cruise came up, it didn’t compare to some of our other ideas. After all, a cruise seems like a pre-packaged vacation with little room for creativity or spontaneity. In reality, we are rather predictable people. The more research I did, the more a cruise ship looked like an ideal way to spend a week away from the day-to-day responsibilities that running a business, working full time and taking care of a three daughters has to offer.
We had taken a four night cruise in 2005 to celebrate our 7th anniversary. I was very skeptical of cruising prior to this. What can a person expect when they are stuck on a ship with a thousand retired people and an all-you-can-eat mentality? More fat and wrinkles than I care to deal with. But the Majesty of the Seas, operated by Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, was a wonderful way to visit the Bahamas. This four night journey led to our decision to try a week long itinerary to the Western Caribbean on the world’s largest cruise ship.
The Freedom of the Seas, also a Royal Caribbean ship, was built to keep up with the Joneses. Apparently there is a desperate struggle between cruise companies to offer the most extravagant accommodations and activities onboard. We were happy to benefit from their competitive efforts.
I made the reservation for our junior suite in October of 2006. Within minutes of hanging up the phone, my dear friend Dana was reserving the suite next door. She had been listening to me lament over the choices I had when selecting our itinerary. There were so many to choose from. I was concerned about the size of the ship, considering the number of occupants. More people meant longer waits for just about everything. There was also the matter of ports. The Eastern Caribbean is so alluring with it mountains, blue water and European influence. However the Eastern route on this ship left on different dates and I wanted to spend my anniversary onboard. For years, Paul and I have offset our anniversary, rationalizing a major repair or purchase for the home as our “anniversary gift.” For this event, I wanted to wake up on May 2 and be on vacation. We had liked Cozumel when we stayed a week in 2004, and the other Western ports sounded beautiful.
In this process, we had also decided to invite our friends along. In fact, we told just about everyone we know to book a room onboard, if they could. The fact that the ship holds over 3000 passengers meant we were going to be around other people. We might as well know some of them. In the end, only two other couples booked the cruise with us.
For the next 18+ months, I spent countless hours researching everything I could find about our ship and itinerary. I exhausted Paul at times with questions regarding his preference:
“Do you want to go fishing in Jamaica or Cozumel?”
“Are you interested in specialty dining onboard for an additional cost?”
“Should we bring on our own alcohol or pay premium prices for mixed drinks and shots?”
The answers were usually direct, but I detected some irritation and often bit my lip and saved questions for a single conversation, rather than a daily topic. I intentionally avoided too much ‘cruise chat’ with him until shortly before our vacation.
Dana, on the other hand, became a constant resource for cruise conversation. It was a delight to have a travel mate who was as enthusiastic about the cruise as I was to talk to, and we spent many evenings on the phone going over ideas and travel options. We also took several shopping trips together, sometimes out of town, to ensure we were fully prepared for our tropical adventure.
I used online resources, and quickly found cruisecritic.com, where I joined a forum of other passengers planning to cruise on the same itenirary. We chatted daily, and made plans to meet onboard.
As the day of travel approached, I was grateful I had put so much thought in deciding what to wear each day. Aside from the expected heat of the region, I had taken into account our daily activities, as well as suggested dining apparel for the formal dining room onboard. As an avid land traveler, I am usually staying in a resort suite that includes a washer and dryer. Without this amenity in our stateroom, I did not want to risk wearing dirty clothes. My packing list became an evolving piece of research and art. I carried it with me to add items as they would randomly come to mind.
With our luggage ready to go, we did our best to get out of our house on time as planned. The three children, dog, cat, 9 turtles, lizard, 7 chickens, 50 snakes and thousands of rats were left in in good faith with Paul's Dad. Onboard, there is no simple way of reaching us. I wasn't sure if we would make it out the door on time, with all the last minute things to do. Upon checking in at the airport, we checked out from worrying about what we might have forgotten. A nice lunch and a glass of red wine was just what I needed to start my adventure.
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