First Cruise

By Ronda Skinner Ronda Skinner


My significant other told me a year or so ago that he would like to take a cruise once in his lifetime. Neither of us had ever been on one and were unsure for how long, or to where we should go the first time. Since he was financing the trip, I let him make the decisions; other than whether I thought I would like anything longer than a few days to see whether I'd like it. We decided on a Royal Caribbean Enchantment of the Seas, 3 night, 4 day, Western Caribbean cruise leaving from Fort Lauderdale, North America, with stops at Key West, Florida and Cozumel, Mexico.


Getting ready for boarding and actual boarding were quite an experience in themselves, mostly involving waiting in line, and showing our passports and identification. Once we got travel on board, it was a four hour wait for our luggage to arrive at our stateroom. We had a reasonably nice stateroom, although the tiny shower and bathroom took some getting used to, as were the excessive prices for a bottle of water or a can of soda. Once we had checked into our room, we were invited to partake of the Windjammer Cafe's wide selection of buffet-style foods of every type. This cafe was one of the highlights of the trip, the food selection varied throughout the day from breakfast to supper, with something always available to whet the appetite.

On board the ship were various forms of entertainment including music, shopping, spas, live lounge shows, casino, colorful drinks, and pools for either swimming or sunbathing, to name a few. Much of what was offered was not to our taste; although we enjoyed the Windjammer, the live music and dance/singing shows at the Orpheum Theater, the more formal sit down dinners in the evening, and the site seeing on the ship.

We were happy that we decided to take this one cruise, just to see what it would be like, but I seriously doubt we will ever take another. It was an exciting experience, but a rather expensive one for something we were not totally thrilled with. We took advantage of the over-abundance of good food, a drink or two, listened to some good music, and saw some beautiful sites, but I think it was a once in a lifetime experience for both of us.

I work from home. For more information, click here: http://trylneror2blog.blogspot.com/