After a whirlwind start to 2018 we decided to spice up our transition from Central America to South America with a trip to the Caribbean. And what’s better than a Caribbean cruise? Our kids would likely answer: NOTHING!
Our Queventure cruise began in Orlando and turned into eight fun-filled days island-hopping and cruising through the Eastern Caribbean. We visited Puerto Rico, Turks and Caicos, St. Kitts, and St. Maarten.
This was the 2nd cruise my husband and I had ever been on and the first we’d ever taken our children on. Best part was how affordable this all turned out to be. Carnival offers five-person suites, which is a rare find on many cruise lines. We actually fit very comfortably considering how small cabins can be. For those interested in this route we nabbed it on Expedia and paid around $2,500 (after taxes)!
The Sunshine Cruise Ship route came with a ton of family-friendly amenities including a daylong kids club. This is a free program our kids thoroughly enjoyed. The best part is that while our children spent a ton of independent time at the supervised kids club, we spent time ‘adulting’! This was the first leg of our trip where we got to travel with three other adults and I can’t express how much of a difference that made. Thanks Cruise Crew!
Without other adults, we would have likely forgone late-night casino trips, rum factory tours in the PR, and plenty of boozin’ poolside afternoons. To have friends/family along elevates memories to another level and reminds us how much this journey is more than the destinations on our itinerary. Such fulfillment comes from the joy of relationships filled with laughter and experiences. Since this cruise, we’ve already visited with our friends an additional weekend while in Cartagena, Colombia and will have another “cruise crew” visitor early next month in Medellin.
If you’ve never been on a cruise it’s definitely worth experiencing at least once in your lifetime, but do your research! Some helpful tips to bring down costs: be flexible with dates and be willing to fly to a different state to nab your ideal itinerary and cost. We flew LAX to FLORIDA for very cheap and would do it over and over again to journey through the Caribbean and not be limited to the Pacific Coast.
Next, research cruise ships before committing. Our first cruise on Princess Cruises was more adult-centered and higher-end which was perfect for us on a solo trip. Including the kids took us a different route and Carnival Cruises had the best family-friendly activities, meals, and accommodations. So don’t forget to research cruise line reviews and itineraries to get what works for you!
