On Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, that is. We cruised to Nassau, Coco Cay (both in the Bahamas) and then Key West, Florida. We embarked and disembarked in Miami, Florida. A few weeks into our cruise, I really did some research on the ship we were going to be on (Majesty of the Seas, fyi). I read about a $35 million renovation, how it was a beautiful ship, new beddings (and very small cabins), that they had a rock climbing wall (this was a yayy for E), a nice fitness room (again, supposedly a yayyy for E), etcetcetc!
Our first impressions? Well, no, MY first impression? 2-3 minutes on the ship, I knew I wasn’t going to be impressed at all. But I kept quiet because, this being hubby’s first cruise, I didn’t want to spoil his experience. And I knew he’d been excited about this cruise, what with all my stories of my 1st and 2nd cruises in the past.
Heh, turns out hubby wasn’t all that impressed with the whole experience either! The food, the service, the cabins, the people (err, the type of people, I should say.. much as this sounds bad on my/our part) — I could go on and on. One word to describe MY experience: Walmart. NOT that there’s anything wrong with shopping at Walmart, I swear. Just don’t make me shop there every single day of my life is all.
But the biggest disappointment during the whole cruise? RCCL’s private island, Coco Cay. I just can’t express to you how bad I felt when the tender boat finally arrived on the island. It wasn’t to the point where I wanted to cry but again, once you’ve seen heaven, why would you want to go to hell? I HATED THEIR PRIVATE ISLAND! For me, the private island was going to mean total relaxation on the beach, some snorkeling, yummy food and nothing but sun and beautiful waters — almost a make or break situation, if you will. HEH! I’ll sit and play on Boracay’s beaches over RCCL’s ugly private island a.n.y.d.a.y (and I’m not even impressed with Boracay!). Tsk, the water wasn’t even clear turquoise or blue — it was almost green and get this, there was seaweed and rocks all over! Not to mention, jellyfish everywhere. E and I had rented 2 snorkeling gears so that we can look at the fishes. I ended up not even using mine. Just getting off the ship was a waste of my time, I’d said. As a result, we went back onto the ship about an hour later and hung out onboard. And you want to know the crazy thing? There were these two ladies in the water with me and one of them was literally gushing over how beautiful the beach was and how heavenly it was and I have to quote her, “What more could you ask for?” ARE YOU KIDDING LADY?! ARE YOU SERIOUSLY KIDDING ME??!?!?!! I literally bit my tongue to shut up and nod. In the end, the maldita in me (or was it bragging? perhaps the snootiness in me?) had to tell her I’d seen much better. Which was the truth, why lie? And who cares what she thought? She’d never see me again anyways. Hahaha.
But really, you’re probably wondering where I’ve been that my attitude is this poor. Holland America has a private island called Half Moon Cay. That guys? That’s where God lives because there can’t be any other Heaven on this planet but there. It is beyond breathtaking and I’m just so sad that I don’t have a scanner to show you guys what I mean. But go ahead, google it and you’ll find photos of Half Moon Cay — not a piece of seaweed or rock to be found on the beach! Add to that, the blue waters! Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. Still waters and everything. True, I haven’t seen much of the world but I swear I had died and gone to heaven when I saw Half Moon Cay. The sand itself is amazing as it’s practically like very, very fine sugar — so soft and clean! All this I was expecting to find at Coco Cay (E too as I’d just gush and gush about HMC over and over again). Needless to say, my innocence was completely shattered upon arrival at Coco Cay. In fact, I was willing to forgive RCCL if they faltered in other aspects of our experience so long as their private island was beautiful and worth our time. Not. After Coco Cay, E and I quickly regretted not heading to Atlantis Resort to swim in their waters. Even Atlantis is better than Coco Cay! (By the way, I went ahead and posted these pictures of Half Moon Cay that I found on the internet. Is there a rule on this?).
Gorgeous, I told you! But oh well, right? At least we’ve tried RCCL. And that saying you get what you pay for? So true. What did we expect in paying a little over $200? BUT. I do agree that a cruise is what you make of it. I think that is absolutely true — cruising with a bunch of retired 70-90yo’s on Holland America, you HAVE to make the most of it and I really did (some of the best times of my life, really). But RCCL had a different effect. Maybe my problem is that I kept silently comparing Holland to RCCL. It could be we just didn’t pick the right cruise and ports. Or well, it could be that I can’t find happiness in anything. LOL.
There was one couple around the same age as E and I that had their daughter in tow. Same age as Erynne. They almost looked down on us that we didn’t bring Erynne with mommy and daddy, like we were selfish or something. The ship was pretty big so we hardly saw the same people, but them? We saw and shared the elevator at least twice and then, we’d see glimpses of them in the buffet resto. Weren’t all that friendly with us despite my efforts to make small talk with their little girl as I was already missing Erynne. Fine, who needs new friends anyways? LOL. Well, get this. Finally, the night before our cruise was going to end, I bumped into the husband while in line for food at the buffet resto. I smiled, said hi, he said hi and we continued in our opposite directions. But get this, guys — he actually stopped me to converse. So the snobs actually talk, heh!
“By the way..” he started.
“Yep?” I answered.
“I just wanted to tell you… leaving your daughter behind was the best decision you could’ve made for this cruise,” he said.
“Oh?” Like I didn’t know that.
“We didn’t get to do anything.” He looked regretful.
So we’re not bad parents afterall, eh? I thought. “Aww, I’m sorry.” No, I’m not. “Well, at least next time you know. At least the little girl had fun, that’s all that matters,” I offered as I looked towards his daughter who was being fed by her mom at their table, not too far from our own.
“Weellllll.. I guess. Next time, we’re leaving her behind!”
And what? Be a bad parent? LOL.
I laugh it off and wish him well.
Well gee, I know I’m a stranger but I would have taken pity on you guys and offered to babysit your cute little girl had you guys not been so snooty.
I’ll share some more later and post the very few pics we took during our cruise. Someone’s screaming for food!
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