Back-to-Back Cruise: Our 14-Day Adventure

This trip is a baby step into our full-time travel!! Two full weeks, two back-to-back itineraries, and zero real-world responsibilities. From sun-soaked sea days and high-stakes casino runs to Caribbean beach walks and The Love Boat marathons, here is how our 14-day cruise escape went down.

Cruise #1: Sun & Sea

August 2 | Embarkation Day (Theme: Casual)

We arrived at the port, and I was able to bring my liquid coffee creamer onboard! Yay!! I was so excited!! Since our cabin wasn’t ready yet, we grabbed a seat in the Wheelhouse Lounge. We dropped our bags off around 1:00 PM and unpacked Ryan’s luggage, but mine was still making its way up. We explored the ship, and by the time we got back to the cabin, my bag was waiting. After unpacking, we watched sailaway and headed to the casino before grabbing a spot in the theater for the illusionist. He was okay, but we’d seen a lot of his tricks before. We went to Main Dining Room for dinner. Ryan had Fried Brie, ceviche, rare steak, while I had green chili and corn soup, jerk pork with mashed potatoes, asparagus, collards over rice, and a slice of New York cheesecake. We finished the night with Episode 9 of The Love Boat.

August 3 | Sea Day (Theme: Formal Night)

We woke up, had coffee, and kicked off the morning with a breezy 35-minute, 5-lap walk around the deck. After changing, we headed straight to the pool where Ryan swam, and I dipped my feet in while diving into my book. We grabbed a quick brunch from the buffet, explored a bit, played in the casino, and then headed back to the cabin to get ready for Formal Night while Ryan showered and I read. We watched a little bit of Lord of the Rings. We are going to Hobbington this year, so we wanted to rewatch The Lord of the Rings before going there! Dinner was delicious—I had French onion soup, beef tenderloin, and blueberry cobbler, while Ryan went with Caesar salad, jerk tenderloin, and a fruit plate. Afterwards, we caught the champagne ceremony, hit the casino, and wrapped up the night watching Episode 10 of The Love Boat. (We started The Love Boat on our first Princess Cruise, so we started where we left off!!)

August 4 | Sea Day (Theme: Tropical)

After morning coffee and 6 laps around the ship, we swung back to grab our water bottles. Our steward was cleaning, so we snagged a few things, found a cozy spot to sit, and then headed back to make mimosas while watching Lord of the Rings. Ryan headed to the casino and hit a huge hand—4 5’s!! He joined me poolside to lounge, read, and swim. Later, we played two rounds of Sequence in the lounge, and I won both times! I found a cozy couch in a lounge to read while Ryan gambled. We both got the watermelon feta and carnitas asada; Ryan added a Caesar salad, and I had a really good chicken and chorizo soup, followed by apple tarte with ice cream for me and a fruit plate for Ryan. We walked around the ship and tried to watch Episode 11 of The Love Boat, but I kept falling asleep! lol

August 5 | San Juan, Puerto Rico

Ryan woke up early to watch us sail into San Juan, while I stayed back in bed waiting for room service coffee and doing my Bible study. I’m re-reading The Seen Woman: A Devotional Journey to Encounter the God Who Sees You by Margo Martine (my old neighbor!); it’s really good you should check it out here! Since my She Reads Truth app doesn’t work without Wi-Fi. Once I finished my coffee, we headed into port, walked around town, checked out the old fort and local shops, and grabbed a gasolina drink. We stopped at Barrachina—supposedly the birthplace of the piña colada—and enjoyed a yummy drink, then walked to Colmado Moreno for a beer, a margarita, chicken empanadilla, and plantain balls. Back on board, we cleaned up, watched sailaway, and headed to dinner. Ryan had shrimp cocktail, caprese, fish, and tiramisu, while I had minestrone, chicken parm, and a cappuccino dessert by Cecil. After dinner, we held seats for the Fantastic Journey show; I read while Ryan played in the casino through the performance, but I really loved the show! I met up with Ryan afterwards, and we finished the night watching The Love Boat.

August 6 | Amber Cove, Dominican Republic

Ryan couldn’t sleep, so he went out early to listen to podcasts and journal while I tried to get some extra rest before reading. After coffee arrived, we watched the Wake Show, a bit of Lord of the Rings, and I showered before we headed off the ship after the main rush. We explored the port, walked up the hill for a drink at the Sky Bar, checked out the shops, and then found two loungers near the back of the ship. Ryan swam and did a 20-minute workout while I hung out in the shade and read. We watched a Carnival ship leave port and then got ready for dinner. Ryan had seafood antipasto, Caesar salad, Beef Wellington with truffle-madeira demi-glace, and a fruit plate, while I had French onion soup, Chicken Cordon Bleu, and coconut cream cake. We walked around to watch sailaway and saw two kitesurfers tackling high waves. Ryan hit the casino for a little bit and I read, and we ended the day with Episode 13 of The Love Boat.

August 7 | Grand Turk

We started the day with coffee, grabbed our towels, and got off the ship as soon as we could. We walked along the beach all the way to Governor’s Beach, and a sweet local beach dog followed us the entire way and hung out by our stuff! The water was crystal clear and warm, and we spent hours swimming, lying out, and finding cool sea glass and shells. On our walk back, we stopped at Jack’s Shack for drinks, free Wi-Fi, and a selfie with two wandering donkeys on the beach! So cool!! Back on the ship, we grabbed lunch, showered, played a bit in the casino, and went to dinner—I had a wedge salad and surf & turf, though Ryan ate my lobster tail! We caught the Rock Orchestra Show, visited the casino again, enjoyed the comedy show, and then packed up our bags before turning in with The Love Boat.

August 8 | Sea Day (White Night)

We started turnaround eve with room service coffee and a massive 9-lap walk around the ship! We ate breakfast at the Palm Main Dining Restaurant, then relaxed in the cabin while Ryan napped and I read. Later, we hit the casino and found a spot for more Sequence; after I won two more games, we stuck around in the same room for a fun Men vs. Women competition. Enjoyed dinner in the Main Dining Room, and we prepped our cabin for turnaround day.

Cruise 2: Back to Back!!

August 9 | Turnaround Day!

Ryan woke up early and grabbed us specialty coffees—iced for him, hot for me! We read and relaxed in the cabin while finishing up our packing. Our steward grabbed the extra pillows we asked for and moved our hanging clothes and bags over to our new cabin, saying it was already ready for us. We quickly unpacked, offloaded at 8:40 AM, and walked to Dollar General to grab snorkel goggles, then headed over to Publix for two bottles of champagne, creamer, Sugar Free Red Bull, and Dr Pepper Zero before snagging an Uber back. The picture above is Ryan with all the drinks in his backpack and our Princess tote! It was so heavy!!! Reboarding was super fast, so we changed into our suits and claimed fantastic spots by the Serenity pool to swim, read, listen to podcasts, and enjoyed a drink. Later, while getting ready for sailaway on deck, we spotted a manatee and at least three sea turtles! We spent the rest of the evening exploring the ship and enjoying the fresh vibe of leg two. We went to the comedy Magician show with Michael Misko. And Ryan won $50 free play from the Hot Seat Drawing at the casino!!

August 10 | Nassau, Bahamas

After coffee and bible study, we walked around the Nassau port, browsed the shops, and even spotted another turtle right in the water! The Straw Market was way too crowded, so we moved on to the Pirate Museum (just exploring the gift shop area rather than paying $14 each) and walked down to the public beach, which was pretty despite a bit of litter. Back on board, we watched sailaway, spotted another turtle, and relaxed before dinner. I got a little homesick at dinner, missing the kids, but afterwards, we listened to live music, went dancing, and went to a comedy magic show where Ryan actually got pulled up on stage!

August 11 | Princess Cays

We took a tender over to Princess Cays for our first beach day of the second leg. This was the first time at a tender port!! We went snorkeling right away and saw a stingray, a barracuda, and tons of colorful fish! When we got back to our loungers we had saved earlier, it was super load so we decided to relocate to a peaceful shade spot under a tree to read and relax. We explored outside the port shops, grabbed a drink, and headed back to the ship. After dinner and a casino run, we ended the night with The Love Boat.

August 12 | At Sea

We woke up realizing that exactly a month from today, we leave on our big trip!! We will be gone for 3 months!! We celebrated with coffee, a 10-lap morning walk, and a gym check-in where we found out I’m down 3 pounds and Ryan’s down 8! We spent the day relaxing, reading, and taking naps before getting dressed up for dinner at Crown Grill. Ryan had a T-bone steak, I had filet mignon, and we took our desserts to go. Back at the casino, Ryan won the table drawing for $50 in free play while I caught the evening show! We met up afterwards, ate our steakhouse desserts in bed, and watched The Love Boat.

August 13 | Amber Cove, Dominican Republic (Round 2!!!)

Since we were the only ship in port, Amber Cove was blissfully quiet! We got into the pool and walked the lazy river 5 times for a killer leg workout, then wandered outside the port to find a local beach. I saw a pink bracelet I want to come back for in a few weeks! A tourist police officer let us through a gated road to reach the beach by the Crazy Lobster bar, where we relaxed on a log and took turns swimming. We headed back to the ship for room service lunch, read, and watched The Love Boat. Sailaway got delayed due to high winds and a faulty rotor, leaving us stuck at the dock until after 10:00 PM when a tugboat had to tow us out! We also learned weather would force us to skip Grand Turk tomorrow. Bummer! We love Grand Turk! We made the most of the extra night on board by catching Alex York’s country show, eating at the buffet, and watching a juggler named Charles Peacock who was really good.

August 14 | Sea Day (Diverted from Grand Turk)

We started our bonus sea day with morning coffee followed by 10 laps around the track. I found a nice spot by the pool for the afternoon; I got a lot of reading in!! Formal Night. We had Surf & Turf (I gave Ryan my lobster tail again!) and shared a table with a single guy from Vegas who has been on 71 cruises, and an aunt and niece from Iowa. After dinner, we hit the casino one last time, watched the hilarious Marriage Show, and ended the night with The Love Boat.

August 15 | Sea Day

We started our final full day with coffee, my Bible study, and a unique morning walk where we paced through every single cabin hallway on the ship, ending with a lap on the track. Ryan hit a hole-in-one on the putting green, and we attended a culinary demo, a galley tour, and hit the sushi buffet. Then headed out to the pool to soak up the last bits of sun. After getting ready for White Night, we walked around, found a hidden duck on board, and enjoyed Prime Rib for dinner. We listened to a violinist, sat at the piano bar, packed up our bags, and watched the Season 1 finale of The Love Boat!

August 16 | Disembarkation Day

I got up early, read my devotional, and finished up the last of our packing. We ordered coffee and FaceTimed the kids while hanging out in the cabin until the kids were about 40 minutes away. We went through customs, met the kids outside, and I drove the 2.5-hour leg home—officially wrapping up two incredible weeks at sea!

This blog post is a highlight of our trip! I will do a more detailed blog about each port later! =)

We had an amazing time! Looking forward to our next cruise in just a few days!!

Happy Cruising!!