Travel Diary: First Time Cruiser, Caribbean 2021

A first-time cruise traveler's experience with cruising in 2021
Vicki Parsons, AAA Domestic Travel Services Counselor

As a first-time cruiser, I was thrilled with the opportunity to experience cruising for the first time and also filled with anticipation on what to expect! My husband and I flew from Minneapolis to Miami to begin our cruising adventure with Royal Caribbean.

Getting Ready and Boarding the Cruise Ship

A Focus on Health & Safety from the Start

You're required to fill out a health screen questionnaire the day prior to departure, so that was taken care of before we arrived in Miami. The concierges recommended using Uber to get from Miami International Airport to Port of Miami as they are more timely and half the price of a taxi, so we scheduled one to take us right in time for boarding the ship. You are not allowed to board early so make sure you arrive at your designated boarding time. When boarding the ship, they had a team ready to escort anyone who has tested positive for COVID- 19 or is showing symptoms away from the port. They remained at the ship's side until 6 p.m. to ensure this part of the process is taken seriously. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reviews all of Royal Caribbean processes regularly and makes changes where necessary. Royal Caribbean employees are required to quarantine before they board planes to Miami and are quarantined after they get off the planes in Miami, before boarding the ships.

Onboard Experiences: Food & Entertainment

We boarded the Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas ship and were immediately impressed with the size, beauty and feeling of safety. There are sanitizing stations at all entrances (pools, casinos, restaurants, etc.) and guests are required to wear masks indoors. All Royal Caribbean employees wore their masks both indoors and outside on the ship. Fully vaccinated cruisers wore a purple bracelet to indicate such and keep it on during the entire cruise. Some events on board were marked as “fully vaccinated cruisers only”. There were 900 guests on board with 1,147 crew members.

At the coffee stations, a server assisted us with his mask and gloves on and handed us our coffee and food choices. We were not allowed to touch the carafes. We opted for "On Your Own Dining" and were always seated immediately upon arrival. There was no buffet, instead we ordered from the menu on our Royal Caribbean app. The tenderloin, jerk pork chop and ribeye steak were all excellent. Plus an Italian restaurant (included) that was fantastic! The desserts were also excellent. On the day we arrived, we were given an incredible offer; if you buy a drink package, you get a second drink package for half price. We immediately opted in for it.

We left Port of Miami and went to a Perfect Day at Coco Cay. This island is a playground for this ship; free live music, free food and the largest swimming pool in the Caribbean. After a Perfect Day at Coco Cay, we went to Nassau, Bahamas. Upon arrival, we hired a taxi driver/tour guide/comedian to take us around the island and had a fantastic time seeing all of the sites.

From beginning to end, we were blown away by the service we received. Every single employee we passed wanted to help us accomplish something. They are all working very hard to be the best in the Caribbean.

We arrived home safely and are now new fans of cruising!

 

Vicki Parsons is a AAA Minneapolis Domestic Travel Services Counselor at our St. Louis Park headquarters. Contact Vicki to plan your next vacation!