ALWAYS FIND TIME FOR THE THINGS THAT MAKE YOU HAPPY TO BE ALIVE
So many ships...So little time.
Lady and The Pirate have vacationed on 35 cruises, sailing on 28 different ships. They've visited 5 continents and too many countries to count. Come along with them here as they take you on each of those adventures across the seven seas.
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(Click on any button to jump to that cruise. The buttons are color coded for each cruise line. Carnival is red, Royal Caribbean is blue, Celebrity is grey, Norwegian (NCL) is green and Holland America (HAL) is brown. Once there, click on any picture to expand it to full screen. Hover your mouse over any picture for more detail. Click on any ship title to open a new page with more ship detail from that cruise line. Hover over picture for picture title or hold down finger on the picture on your phone.)
Tampa, Florida
George Town, Grand Cayman Island
Cozumel, Mexico
Mahogany Bay, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras
Sunday, October the 12th of 2008 was the first day Lady and The Pirate stepped onto a cruise ship. They were invited and sailed with a lot of family, not knowing it would be the first step in their great adventure of seeing the World through cruising. Joining them were The Pirate's two uncles and aunts, along with The Pirate's cousin Tony and other extended family.
Cruising, as Lady and The Pirate found out, is a relatively inexpensive way to see the World. Most cruises visit multiple ports in multiple countries in a relatively short amount of time at a relatively inexpensive cost. Anyone trying to visit all the locales of any cruise by driving, flying and paying for lodging and food will understand the cost per day can be exorbitant. But as with all advantages, there are disadvantages. The biggest being the short amount of time any ship spends in any given port. It can be difficult to immerse oneself into a culture and many times the cruiser is just subjected to tourist based activities. Experience will help in avoiding that last point. Lady and The Pirate recognized that disadvantage early on and decided to use cruising as a means to explore locations for future longer lasting returns.
It takes a few cruises to begin assessing the ins and outs of cruising. Fortunately for many people today, social media sites like Facebook and YouTube have a plethora of content providers that can educate the new cruiser quickly. Lady and The Pirate were limited at the time in that aspect so they made mistakes and learned from them. They also learned what they liked most about cruising and adopted their cruises to those likes. Their first cruise was, as we see here, on Carnival Legend in the Western Caribbean. In that one sentence, The Pirate could dive deeper into a cruise line, a particular ship and all its uniqueness in that line, and a location in the World. Those are generally the three starting points cruisers use to book a cruise. But there are so many more parts that avid cruisers have learned to consider. The Pirate will point out some of these along the way on the site.
There's really nothing unusual about these ports of call on this cruise. If you choose a Western Caribbean cruise, you likely will stop at least at one of these if not all three. Cozumel, Mexico is almost a guarantee. In fact, there's so much cruise traffic at each of the three ports that the locals have built massive sized tourist areas with so many activities and excursions, you'll have to go back many times to see them all. What will be missing is anything steeped in local culture. Sure, you'll get some good Mexican food in Cozumel, but I promise you it will be Americanized. You can, however, find some good art and jewelry made by locals.
As of this writing, it's been almost twenty years since this cruise and The Pirate might have forgotten some of it. His memory ain't what it used to be. Lol. But come along and check out each of their cruises and check out the pics and a few stories. Hopefully, you'll find some diamonds in the rough that might assist you along your journeys.
Notes on this cruise:
If memory serves, this is the only time The Pirate wore a tuxedo on a cruise. He rented it from the cruise line and had to get fitted at home before. Years later, after booking the Queen Mary 2, The Pirate thought he'd have to don another tux. But he learned from social media it wasn't quite as formal on the QM2 as he was led to believe.
This cruise was one of two times that Lady and The Pirate cruised with a large group. They learned the second time it was not something they enjoyed as much as simply cruising alone or with a small party of one other couple. Traveling with a large group is okay as long as all the others plan their own activities and the group perhaps comes together for dinner to share their day. Lady and The Pirate also learned through the years that they really enjoyed the pleasure of sharing their lives and travels with strangers, strangers who became friends.
Carnival used to have a karaoke competition years ago called "Legends". The Pirate competed in this and won a role each of the two times. He played Elvis each time. Here's a link to the YouTube video of The Pirate in action on this very cruise...Fat Elvis on Carnival.
Lady and The Pirate found out just how dangerous it could be to wander into a Senor Frogs. Lol. The pictures below tell no lies.
It was blatantly obvious how poor Honduras is. Lady had a frank conversation with one of the tour guides there and discovered how little they earn. That being said, the people were friendly and the location was beautiful. Lady and The Pirate encourage you to spend your tourist dollars buying local goods and stay out of the ubiquitous Diamonds International stores at the cruise ports.
Lady and The Pirate would sail out of Tampa again on future cruises. The Pirate loves sailing under the Sunshine Skyway Bridge on the way out and always makes sure he's out for the sail under. On this particular cruise, the sky burst into heavy rain, but with a bit of ship cover, Lady and The Pirate still enjoyed the view from below the bridge.
Finally, Lady and The Pirate have not missed many cruise ports due to weather, but they did miss one in this cruise...Belize. A hurricane caused them to miss Belize and they spent an extra night in Cozumel. It would be several cruises later before they would finally make it to Belize.
Port Canaveral, Florida
Nassau, Bahamas
Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas Island
Philipsburg, St. Maarten Island
It would take a little over a year, but Lady and The Pirate decided to try cruising again. They wanted to invite their best friend and daughter on a ship and visit the other side of the Caribbean. The Eastern Caribbean offered some exotic destinations named after saints and they sailed in late 2009.
As was written about in their first cruise, the ports of call on this cruise were mainstays for any seven night Eastern Caribbean cruise sailing out of Florida. Lady and The Pirate stayed in a balcony cabin again for the second time, but their best friend, Sheila, and daughter Kyrstin, split an interior cabin low on the ship. Having never sailed before, it is a wise choice to stay low and toward the middle of the ship. In the end, it was very wise. Both Sheila, and Kyrstin, got a bit seasick from the rocking.
Sheila and Kyrstin would go on to sail with us again, but Sheila would go quite often. In fact, it became a custom for Lady and Sheila to dance at the sail away party and The Pirate has quite a few photos of the two of them over several cruises. For those not used to cruising, most cruise ships like to throw a sail away party as the ship embarks on the journey. It will have either a live band or DJ spinning such tunes as The Electric Slide and other popular line dances. Check out the pic below...
Notes on this cruise:
Lady and The Pirate visit their first nude beach in St. Maarten. Nobody in their group partook in the pleasure, but it was interesting. It turns out that a lot of the good people that like to show off their birthday suits really need to have them pressed before wearing. BTW...Ron White's Squirrel Man was not there.
Atlantis in The Bahamas was worth a visit but there's really so much to do without doing an excursion that you'll easily fill your day.
The Pirate became Elvis Presley again in the Legends Show, but this time, Lady got to be Gloria Estefan from Miami Sound Machine as well. See if you can spot her in the pic below. Also, The Pirate wasn't quite the "Fat Elvis" this time. He had lost a few pounds and the day after day tennis work outs were starting to pay off.
Los Angeles, California
Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Mazatlan, Mexico
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Mariner of The Seas had a lot of firsts for Lady and The Pirate. As their third cruise, Mariner would be the first of a lot of Royal Caribbean ships they would book. As of this writing, Lady and The Pirate are one cruise away from a Diamond Plus status with the cruise line. If you've never cruised before, cruise lines allow cruisers to build status and give perks as one gets higher in status. Lady and The Pirate believe Royal Caribbean has the best perks for two reasons...free drinks, and a dedicated lounge area with free specialty coffees and snacks. Diamonds and above also have a dedicated concierge to assist them whenever needed. All cruise lines have perks for booking expensive suites, but Lady and The Pirate believe that other cruise lines, even though they do have their status perks as well, fall short of Royal Caribbean if for no other reason than the free drinks. At this point, Lady and The Pirate do not need to purchase a premium beverage package, a package that includes all the drinks they love, and a package that can run well into the hundreds per cruiser, per cruise.
Another first for Lady and The Pirate would be their first non-Florida embarkation and a first cruise off the West coast of the United States. Lady and The Pirate's friends, Mike and Jean, joined them and Mike drove to the cruise port the morning of the cruise. Los Angeles is about four hours from where Lady and The Pirate lived at the time. The drive to port would also be a first for Lady and The Pirate in that they had never driven to a cruise port, something they still have never done since. The usual schedule sees Lady and The Pirate flying into a port at least the day before embarkation. As a piece of advice, The Pirate recommends always doing that. You never know when flights might go sour on you.
As with the first two of their cruises, Lady and The Pirate would visit ports on this cruise that are highly frequented by cruise ships. They call this cruise a Mexican Riviera cruise and the three ports of call are usually always visited.
Notes on this cruise:
Lady and The Pirate walked to the bar, Cabo Wabo, to shoot a Cabo Wabo in Cabo. Say that after having a couple of Cabo Wabos.
One of the Lady and The Pirate's excursions took them to see cliff divers. The show was spectacular and The Pirate recommends it. Check out one of the pics below.
Mazatlan was eventually closed to cruising a few years after Lady and The Pirate visited. If memory serves, a cruise excursion fell victim to some crime and the port was deemed too risky. In recent years, Mazatlan reopened and Lady and The Pirate returned on a Princess cruise booked to see the Total Solar Eclipse in 2024. They write all about it below in their 32nd cruise.
Cruise 4...Carnival Breeze
July 21st, 2012...Eastern Mediterranean
Kyrstin joins us for first overseas cruise!
Barcelona, Spain
Monte Carlo, Monaco
Livorno (Florence & Pisa), Italy
Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy
Naples, Italy
Dubrovnik, Croatia
Venice, Italy
Messina, Sicily
This was a big one for Lady and The Pirate. The Carnival Breeze was a new ship. She was a huge ship. And she would take Lady and The Pirate, along with their daughter Kyrstin, to Europe. This was more than a cruise. This was not really as much a vacation as an adventure. This cruise, more than any other, fueled Lady and The Pirate's desires for exploration that would find them later exploring the far reaches of the globe. This was the kind of adventure that leaves one wanting a vacation after it. Every port was special and every port had a fantastic excursion.
The Pirate found out how difficult it is to plan activities after a long plane flight. Flying into Barcelona and getting in early the day before the cruise seemed like a great opportunity to take in a couple of attractions in the Catalan city of Antoni Gaudi. But how many times will one get the chance to see Basilica de la Sagrada Familia, the largest church in the World, as well as a live Flamenco Show from the front row? Just WOW! At least The Pirate thought so. Lady and Kyrstin were dead tired after that long flight. Lady fell asleep in the Flamenco Show. It was loud. How did she do that?
Lady and The Pirate's first port of call on their Mediterranean cruise found them in one of the wealthiest nations on Earth, where the rich bask in the warm Mediterranean sun...Monaco. With only one day in the city of Monte Carlo, there was a planned excursion to Nice, France, and enough time left over to visit the infamous Monte Carlo Casino and place a wager. At 20 years of age, Kyrstin wasn't old enough to gamble in the United States, but she could in Monaco. In fact, even though Lady and The Pirate made money at the Casino, Kyrstin made the most. All three came away winners.
Livorno was Lady and The Pirate's second port of call. This port supports excursions to Florence and Pisa, Italy. With limited time, the Tower of Pisa was a must as The Pirate wanted to climb it to the top. Lady and The Pirate generally plan and purchase their excursions well in advance and when The Pirate saw Pisa had an excursion that included climbing it, he didn't hesitate to book it. Lady stayed on the ground, but The Pirate and Kyrstin went to the top. It was certainly worth it. Florence is certainly a place Lady and The Pirate hope to return. With more time, they'd like to tour all the museums. They did, however click a few pics of statues outside the museums. The pic below of "David" is not the real statue, but a copy outside the museum.
Civitavecchia, Italy was the next port of call for Lady and The Pirate. All larger cruise ships must dock in Civitavecchia and travel to Rome by excursion or some other means. The trip will take about an hour. When it comes to places you simply cannot see in one day, Rome is right up there near the top of the list. Lady and The Pirate would return again to the Eternal City, but even adding another day they never really scratched the surface. Rome really needs an extended vacation to take it all in.
Lady and The Pirate found time to do three things in Naples, Italy. They visited the island of Capri to sample the biggest lemons they'd ever seen, caught an excursion to Pompeii, Italy to see the devastation caused by the 79 C.E. volcanic eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, and grab a lunch with family that lived in the area. It was just a great day altogether.
There were so many pictures The Pirate took in Croatia that he had a hard time choosing what to add here. While in the old town of Dubrovnik, Croatia, The Pirate walked the entire perimeter walls that were littered with canons and damaged areas from the recent Croatian war of Independence.
Venice is simply too exciting for just one day. Lady and The Pirate, along with their daughter, Kyrstin, took in a gondola ride as well as visited St. Mark's Square. There was just so much to do they had to concentrate on the top two must dos. Venice is certainly a place that Lady and The Pirate want to return.
Lady and The Pirate's last port of call was in the town of Messina on the Island of Sicily. They got a chance to stretch their legs with a nice stroll and a visit to Mt. Etna.
Notes on this cruise:
The Pirate made a video of the Flamenco Show and you can catch it by clicking HERE.
The Pirate thought it was neat how they labeled the excursion to France, the Nice and Eze tour.
If you get to visit the Coliseum, don't be surprised if you find it odd how out of place it looks buried in the hustle and bustle of the large and modern metropolitan city of Rome. Lady and The Pirate would visit Stonehenge soon after this trip and feel, like as they did with the Coliseum, that it was smaller than they'd imagined.
Stephanie and Dave were living in Italy at the time. They met us for lunch during our excursion.
Due to so much tourist activity from cruise ships in Venice, large ships now have to port away from the city.
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
Key West, Florida
George Town, Grand Cayman Island
Ocho Rios, Jamaica
Lady and The Pirate set sail with their good friends, Sheila and Jeremy on this cruise and Key West ended up being a blast as Jeremy and The Pirate got wasted at Margaritaville in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. Key West was also rather memorable as Jeremy rented a golf cart and drove The Pirate around the island, including a rather fun stop at Captain Tony's.
Notes on this cruise:
The Pirate and Jeremy barely made it back on the ship from Margaritaville in Ocho Rios, Jamaica.
Renting a golf cart to navigate around Key West ended up being a great idea.
The Pirate performed on the main stage again, singing Elvis' "An American Trilogy". Check out the video below.
The Pirate performs on the ship
How we almost missed the ship
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Cruise Inside Passage, Alaska
Icy Strait Point, Alaska
Cruise Hubbard Glacier, Alaska
Juneau, Alaska
Ketchikan, Alaska
As of this writing, Lady and The Pirate have only sailed on two cruise ships that are no longer in a fleet's service. Celebrity Century was the first and no longer serves Celebrity Cruises, but sails for TUI in the U.K. She is now called the Marella Explorer 2. Celebrity Century also serves as Lady and The Pirate's first Celebrity cruise, first visit to the great state of Alaska, and first employer reimbursed certified medical education (CME) cruise for Lady. On sea days, Lady sat in educational classes in the medical field. The Pirate had to tough it out with drinks in the hot tubs. Hey...Somebody's gotta do it. Celebrity Cruise Line is the sister line of Royal Caribbean and generally is a step up in quality. That being said, of all Lady and The Pirate's cruises, Celebrity Century showed her age and was the worst Celebrity ship they have had to date. The weather was rather disappointing as well. But you know what they say. The worst day on a cruise still beats the best day at work.
Lady and The Pirate flew into Seattle the day before the cruise and spent some time around the city visiting the Museum of Pop Culture, some Seattle totems, and dining atop the Space Needle.
Notes on this cruise:
Lady and The Pirate flew into Seattle and took an Amtrak train to Vancouver. The Pirate loves trains almost as much as he loves ships. Do trains have pirates?
The last time Lady and The Pirate saw the sun on this cruise was in Vancouver just before sail away. It wouldn't be until they got home before the sun showed its face again.
This cruise gave The Pirate one of his favorite and most talked about excursions, a whale watching excursion out of Icy Strait Point, Alaska. From the pictures he posted below, it's obvious how much The Pirate loved Icy Strait Point.
Lady said, after this cruise, she never wanted to return to Alaska again. She thought the weather was miserable. Fortunately, she would return again on another cruise and the weather was magnificent. The Pirate was able to look past the weather and has fond memories of his first time in Alaska.
Check out our video of the cruise...
Los Angeles, California
Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Lady and The Pirate were joined by quite a few friends on this cruise. Jeremy and Sheila Brosnan came along with Sheila's sister and her husband. Howie, a mutual friend of everyone on the cruise also joined the party. But most importantly, this was Steven Blair's first of many cruises with Lady and The Pirate as he would move in with them and venture off around the world any chance he could. As a simple get away cruise out of Los Angeles, there wasn't much to remember at this late date except watching Steven parasail and a memory of thinking Lady and The Pirate's crew were part of a drug deal. On the way out to a beach excursion, the taxi boat had to make a suspicious drop off that had everyone wondering had they booked the wrong excursion. Fortunately, the excursion turned out great and was a peaceful day away from the crowds. The cruise didn't stop in Mazatlan, Mexico this trip, like it had before. Mazatlan was having some violence issues and cruises were avoiding it. Instead, this cruise spent the night in Cabo.
Notes on this cruise:
A hurricane had recently damaged Cabo and Lady and The Pirate worried it would be difficult to navigate the city. It turned out okay.
Steven must have seemed suspicious, being a solo coming back from Mexico, and customs spent a bit more time than usual going through his things.
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
Grand Turk Island
La Romana, Dominican Republic
Willemstad, Curacao
Oranjestad, Aruba
Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao make up what sailors and cruisers refer to as the ABC Islands. They are the three westernmost islands of the Leeward Antilles in the Caribbean Sea. These islands have a shared political history and a status of Dutch underlying ownership and this would be the first time that Lady and The Pirate would visit any of them, as well as Grand Turk Island and the Dominican Republic. It would also be the last cruise to date that Lady and The Pirate would sail on Carnival. Some of the age of the ship, along with a nice jump in quality on future Royal Caribbean and other cruise line ships would see Lady and The Pirate staying away from "The Fun Ships". This cruise would also be Lady and The Pirate's first solo cruise to the Caribbean and they went to relax and have a party all at the same time.
Grand Turk Island was a party waiting to happen. The local Margaritaville has a swim-up bar and Lady and The Pirate took advantage of it all day. There's also some great picture opportunities there but not the kind of port you would like if you're expecting something local and unique. In The Pirate's opinion, Grand Turk was, back then at least, where you go to party. With so many cruise line private islands and resorts now, it's hard to tell whether Grand Turk holds its own these days. Lady and The Pirate find more pleasure these days in exploring local cultures and sampling local dishes and drinks.
Lady and The Pirate's first trip to the Dominican Republic was quite underwhelming, especially since they've returned to a better port since this cruise. La Romana didn't seem to have much without taking an excursion. But that excursion, a Chavon river boat cruise, was a good one. Lady and The Pirate got the chance to dance on the cruise and some of the locals showed us their moves. The Pirate documented the footage in his video "Coconut Martini" below at about the 1:03 mark in the video. Look for the girl bustin' a move on a river boat.
A trip to the island of Curacao would not be complete without, well, sampling some Curacao. Before visiting the island, The Pirate thought that Curacao was that blue liqueur that made that Elvis drink, Blue Hawaii. But The Pirate was wrong. Lady and The Pirate visited the local distillery and sampled some of the other colors, particularly the orange version. The Pirate was blown away with how tasty that libation was. He had to bring some home and did. In the same excursion, Lady and The Pirate visited a local museum and even ventured into a cavern.
Aruba found Lady and The Pirate just chillin'.
Notes on this cruise:
Lady and The Pirate did very little in Aruba. They had been there before for a medical conference and just wanted to chill at a local bar.
Orange Curacao is a great replacement for Triple Sec in any concoction that calls for an orange liqueur.
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
Labadee, Haiti
Falmouth, Jamaica
George Town, Grand Cayman Island
Cozumel, Mexico
Independence of The Seas is probably The Pirate's favorite cruise ship. Independence made Lady and The Pirate fall in love with Royal Caribbean and set them on a course that would lead to a Diamond Plus status on the cruise line. That's a nice place to be for Lady and The Pirate because it comes with great perks like five free drinks each day for each one of them. Royal Caribbean ships also provide a lounge for their Diamond patrons with free specialty coffees and snacks. In The Pirate's opinion, nobody's perks are as good as Royal's.
Lady and The Pirate took advantage of another cruise for one of Lady Michelle's conferences. This one came with a visit to their first cruise private destination, Labadee in Haiti, and also a chance to make friends with the piano player on the ship, David Curtis Mutter. Check out the silly photo below of him at the piano bar.
Notes on this cruise:
Labadee has become a riskier place since Lady and The Pirate cruised there. With the Violence in Haiti, cruisers feel a lot more comfortable sailing to Royal's newer private island, Perfect Day at CocoCay.
The Pirate discovered a great tasting Belgian-style Ale on this cruise, La Fin Du Monde. That's a picture of it below at the ship's pub. Unfortunately, Royal Caribbean ships ran dry of this tasty beverage and The Pirate hasn't seen it in awhile.
The Pirate would run into David Curtis Mutter more than once on a cruise. David would even let The Pirate sing along with him from time to time.
Cruise 10...Adventure of The Seas
January 30th, 2016...Southern Caribbean
First time sailing out of Puerto Rico!
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Frederiksted, St. Croix, U.S.V.I.
Basseterre, St. Kitts Island
Philipsburg, St. Maarten Island
Roseau, Dominica Island
Bridgetown, Barbados Island
Adventure of The Seas looks and feels very much like Independence of The Seas. It is slightly smaller, though, and is part of the Voyager class of ships. To many, the Freedom Class of Royal ships, the class of ships with Independence of The Seas, is little more than a stretched version of the Voyager Class. That being said, The Pirate likes them both. This sailing was another CME for Lady Michelle and they enjoyed dining with some of the other doctors on the ship. Steve, on particular doctor, was a ton of fun and made dinners exciting!
Puerto Rico is a great place to visit and Lady and The Pirate also enjoy sailing away from there. This was the first of a few times they'd visit the island. Leaving San Juan means you get to sail right by the Old San Juan fort on the way out. It's fabulous.
St. Croix belongs to The United States and known as the largest U.S. Virgin Island, islands that also include other popular cruise destinations like St. Thomas and St. John. The beaches are beautiful and the weather incredible, unless, of course, a hurricane blows through. The U.S.V.I. were sold to the United States by Denmark in 1917 for $25 million. Christopher Columbus is thought to have been the first European to see the islands on his second voyage. In the Pirate's opinion, $25 million was well worth it.
One of The Pirate's favorite pictures he ever took of Lady Michelle was the monkey picture below in St. Kitts. St. Kitts actually is referred as St. Kitts and Nevis, two islands forming one nation in the Lesser Antilles islands. As of this writing, Lady and The Pirate have never seen Nevis, but they plan a trip there during their 36th cruise.
Lady and The Pirate visited the Emerald Pool in Dominica and The Pirate went in. He will now live forever...Just Kidding! It is rumored though that the Emerald Pool is the actual fountain of youth.
It's a bit of trivia, but Barbados is not in The Caribbean. It actually sits outside the Caribbean Sea. The island is the most Eastern of all the islands aligned with the Caribbean and is in the Atlantic Ocean. Barbados has a beautiful cave system that Lady and The Pirate visited while there.
Notes on this cruise:
The United States owns Puerto Rico and the only tropical rainforest in the United States is located there...El Yunque National Forest. Lady and The Pirate love Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rican people and culture. The food is unbelievable and the weather the same. If planning a cruise from their, Lady and The Pirate recommend flying in a few days early and taking in as much Puerto Rico as possible.
Lady Michelle did not feel safe walking around Roseau in Dominica. They ventured off the ship to explore a little on their own but quickly made their way back. The excursions were very nice, though.
There are a few cruises now leaving out of Barbados and spend a lot more time in the Southern Caribbean. Perhaps Lady and The Pirate will sail out of there one day.
Big Rock at Bathsheba Beach in Barbados
Cruise 11...Adventure of The Seas
August 13th, 2016...Southern Caribbean
Same ship? Let's do it again!
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Philipsburg, St. Maarten Island
Basseterre, St. Kitts Island
St. John's, Antigua Island
Castries, St. Lucia Island
Bridgetown, Barbados Island
Lady and The Pirate enjoyed Adventure of The Seas so much they did it again in the same year. But this time, they visited for the first time the beautiful Islands of Antigua and St. Lucia.
Besides excursions in Antigua and St. Lucia, Lady and The Pirate spent a lot of time relaxing in the Solarium and drinking delicious Coconut Martinis on this cruise.
Cruise 12...Harmony of The Seas
April 8th, 2017...Western Caribbean
Biggest cruise ship, family plus neighbors!
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
Labadee, Haiti
Falmouth, Jamaica
Cozumel, Mexico
If you cruise a lot like Lady and The Pirate, you will sooner or later cruise with too many in your party. Lady and The Pirate have found the sweet spot to be no more than one other couple. But this cruise, a cruise that, at the time, was on the biggest cruise ship in the world, found Lady and The Pirate cruising with their daughter Kyrstin and her husband Zach, their adopted son, Steven Blair, their next door neighbors Joe and Holly, and five other good friends for a party of 12! Fortunately, Harmony does have tables at dinner large enough to seat that many.
When you cruise on one of Royal Caribbean's mega ships, it stops being about the destination and more about the ship. Harmony of The Seas has it all, water slides, non-water slides, Broadway performances, robot bars, zip lines, ice skating shows, a merry-go-round, surfing simulators and an aqua theatre with high dive shows...All on board! And let's not forget the ship is so large it has live trees growing in an area called Central Park. For restaurants, it has one called Wonderland based on the story with menus you reveal by painting over a blank sheet of paper!
All of that being said, Lady and The Pirate do not specifically need all that. It was fun sharing it with their kids and friends, but Lady and The Pirate enjoy destination based cruising more on smaller more quaint ships. Harmony of The Seas, in their opinion was too large and too loud. Lady and The Pirate prefer a smaller ship where it's easier to meet some of the guests more than once.
Notes on this cruise:
How big is Harmony of The Seas? It is 1,188 ft. long, 215.5 ft. wide and weighs in at 226,963 gross tons. There are 16 guest decks, 24 guest elevators and accommodates 5,479 guests at double occupancy.
Harmony of The Seas and her sister ships all have inside balconies that allow patrons to look down on the Central Park or Boardwalk areas. Lady and The Pirate stayed in one of these but found there is a big disadvantage. The people staying directly across the span can look right into your cabin.
Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy
Santorini, Greece
Mykonos, Greece
Piraeus (Athens), Greece
Katakolon (Olympia), Greece
Greece is absolutely beautiful, and Lady and The Pirate consider this cruise to be one of their finest. The weather was perfect, the ship was gorgeous and the food was delicious and healthy. In fact, it was one of the few cruises The Pirate has been on where the food was so delicious and healthy, he lost weight. Of course, the lengthy and walkable excursions The Pirate partook of helped as well. From the two day stay in Rome before the cruise to climbing the Acropolis in Athens, everything was absolutely perfect.
If you notice the pictures below of the Trevi Fountain, there's one pic with a crowd in the background and a couple with nobody around. The crowd is what you'll generally see if you take in the fountain as an excursion. When Lady and The Pirate first visited Rome back on their fourth cruise, they were part of an excursion and it was quite difficult taking a good picture. But Lady and The Pirate stayed right down the street from the fountain on this trip and were able to visit early in the morning. While a street side coffee and breakfast shop first opened, Lady and The Pirate snapped a few pictures of themselves at an empty Trevi Fountain. It was just perfect. Later that night they also enjoyed a street side restaurant where they dined on the street.
After sailing through the Strait of Messina, the narrow waterway separating the Island of Sicily from mainland Italy, Lady and The Pirate were off to their first port of call in Greece, Santorini Island. When you dock at Santorini, you have a choice of three options to get up hill from the port to the city of Fira. The most difficult would be to climb the 588 steps. The second most difficult would be a donkey ride. Finally, there is a tram. For this trip, Lady and The Pirate were tram kind of people. Lol. Ron White tells a joke of the time he was there on his honeymoon. He said there's a guy standing out there at the port selling donkey rides. When asked about the way up, he says, "You can take the donkey, or you can take the tram. It is the same price." Ron White believes that's a piece of information he should keep to himself. For the money, Ron took the tram. Lol. The Pirate threw in a pic of him below because seeing him blew his mind.
Oia, on Santorini Island, is that romantic Greek island town you see in all the pictures; that white and blue washed place with those infinity pools. Lady and The Pirate likely have never visited a more beautiful and romantic setting. Their excursion took them there and to a winery as well. The winery makes wines from local grapes that grow close to the ground. On an island with a lot of winds, it's important to grow lower grapes. Santorini is just simply a place Lady and The Pirate would love to visit and stay for an extended time. That being said, many of the other Greek islands are less visited and can offer much of the same beauty.
Mykonos Island is that party vibe island you hear about so much. It's definitely true. Lady and The Pirate visited when the wind was whipping up and Lady was a bit uncomfortable. Of all the islands, Mykonos will have a great appeal to the younger crowd and especially at night when the party begins.
While in Athens, Lady and The Pirate had one place to visit everyone should visit on their first trip, the Acropolis, the birthplace of Democracy. It's not an easy climb to the top in that there are a lot of steps and a lot of people going up and down. The Pirate thought it funny that it seemed there were always more people going down than coming up.
Finally, Lady and The Pirate visited Olympia to see the location of the first Olympic games.
Notes on this cruise:
Jewel of The Seas is a beautiful ship. It's smaller than most other Royal Caribbean ships, but what it lacks in size, it makes up in beauty. It seemed at times as if the entire ship had so many windows you felt like you were outside even when you were in.
Santorini is the caldera of what is left of a massive volcano that, in 1600 BCE, wiped out the entire Minoan civilization on the Island of Crete.
Tampa, Florida
Havana, Cuba
Empress of The Seas is no longer with us. It is currently a ship owned now by Cordelia Cruises, an Indian cruise line. Likely the smallest cruise ship Lady and The Pirate sailed on, she was still beautiful but certainly dated. There was a small window of time recently when President Obama opened up Cuba for U.S. citizens and Lady and The Pirate took advantage of that to sail off to Havana, Cuba for an overnighter. If you'd like to read more on the history of U.S. and Cuban relations, just click HERE.
Cubans welcomed Empress of The Seas with open arms. They are a friendly people living under a restrictive regime. It was interesting to hear the older citizens chastising their government while the younger people embracing it. But politics aside, Lady and The Pirate were limited on where they could visit due to a recent hurricane. Also, this was the first time Lady and The Pirate required a visa to visit a country. They were even told to keep all receipts because the IRS might want to know what they spent money on in the country. Finally, Cuba has two currencies, one for citizens and one for tourists. Tourist dollars have a much higher value and locals can exchange them for normal Cuban Pesos, the currency they'll need to buy local goods.
The show at the Tropicana was outstanding. All of the dancers were men dressed up as women. Some were easy to spot but some would fool almost anyone. Each table got a free bottle of Cuban Rum and Lady and The Pirate also learned that Bacardi started their business in Cuba before eventually ending up in Puerto Rico.
Lady and The Pirate believed they would return again to Cuba. They loved it. But unfortunately, a new administration came into power and shut down Cuba for Americans. To this day, it is still closed. If Lady and The Pirate want to return, they will need to acquire a different passport. Here's hoping the United States will again open the doors to Cuba.
Notes on this cruise:
The Sunshine Skyway Bridge is 4 lanes and opened on April 20th, 1987. To find out more, click HERE.
Empress of The Seas is now owned by Cordelia Cruises and goes by the name MV Empress.
The Tropicana!
Cruise 15...Mariner of The Seas
February 8th, 2018...Thailand & Vietnam
Steven joins us for our first time to Asia!
Singapore
Phu My (Ho Chi Minh City), Vietnam
Laem Chabang (Bangkok), Thailand
Lady and The Pirate were back on Mariner of The Seas, but this time they were joined by Steven Blair for one of the best cruises they've ever had!
There were a lot of firsts on this cruise for Lady and The Pirate. It was their first trip to Asia and specifically, Singapore, a place Lady and The Pirate could make a case for being their favorite place in the world. Singapore is clean and beautiful. The people are friendly and the food might be the best Lady and The Pirate have ever had. They spent a couple of days there before the cruise and really just touched a small part of the city nation. Much of that is captured in the many photos below. About the only negative thing is how long it takes to get there. It is by far, Lady and The Pirate's longest flight to date, at over 17 hours.
Changi Airport was the first spectacular thing Lady and The Pirate saw in Singapore. There are airports, and then there is Changi Airport, an airport so fantastic it could be the destination all on its own. The second note below will give you more insight into some of the sights like the Enchanted Garden or the koi farm. Lady and The Pirate highly recommend you sculpt out some time there next time you have a chance.
The Pan Pacific Hotel was beautiful and even had interior glass elevators. The Mai Tai's were delicious as well as the food. Interestingly enough, Mandarin is widely spoken in Singapore. Lady and The Pirate often overheard it. But English is the official language. While in Singapore, Lady and The Pirate, along with Steven took in as much as possible. There are a few to-dos you must do while in Singapore. One is to Visit Marina Bay Sands and check out the infinity pool. Another must do is to visit the Gardens By The Bay, located directly behind it. Satay Street has to be on your list if you're foodies like Lady and The Pirate. You might also want to grab a Singapore Sling at the bar where it was born, the Long Bar at Raffles Hotel. Sentosa Island offers up Universal Studios theme park for the adventurous, and Singapore even has one of the tall ferris wheels now becoming ubiquitous in the larger cities. For those that appreciate Eastern religions, don't miss the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple in Chinatown of Singapore. The shopping is high end in Singapore and you won't find a safer city to explore. Finally, don't forget to snap a couple of pictures with one of Singapore's Merlions. The most famous one is by the bay and you can't miss it. For more on the Singapore Merlion, click HERE.
Singapore was certainly an Asian city, but when Lady and The Pirate got to Vietnam, they were completely out of their element. Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon, used to be the capital of South Vietnam before unification after the end of the Vietnam war. Ho Chi Minh City is vibrant and a bit scary to navigate, given so many scooters and the rapid means of getting around a hectic city. It made Lady Michelle very nervous. The Pirate was amazed at how much stuff one driver could carry on one scooter. It was incredible to watch.
Bangkok was certainly the highlight of the cruise. Lady Michelle's goal was to see The Reclining Buddha, but along the way there were so many more fascinating finds. The Grand Palace was amazing with all its architecture and statues, especially of The Buddha, but Wat Saket Temple was also amazing. Lady and The Pirate, along with Steven, also visited a temple made completely out of wood, including the statues and ornate carvings, The Sanctuary of Truth. To top it all off, the private guide Lady and The Pirate hired took them to a private wedding reception and got them in to view the city at the top of a high-rise. There are certainly some places where a private guide is worth all the money. Bangkok was one of them. The guide made sure that Lady and The Pirate saw as much as possible at the best times possible. He even took them to eat at a local restaurant and helped them order. The Temple of the Reclining Buddha, or officially, Wat Pho, is often so packed it's hard to get a good picture. But not when the guide took Lady and The Pirate there. It was just before closing time and it felt like Lady Michelle has The Reclining Buddha all to herself. It was amazing.
Notes on this cruise:
The flight time from San Francisco to Singapore was 17 hours and 25 minutes. It is an odd feeling to see the sun rise and set on a single flight. Tuesday, February the 6th, came and went while in the air.
Changi Airport serves more than 100 airlines flying to 400+ cities in 100+ countries. Of its four terminals (soon to be five), one can spend more than a day inside. For a complete picture of it, check out this article by Travel and Leisure HERE.
Lady and The Pirate spent time in Singapore before and after this cruise. The weather after the cruise was much better and that's when most of the pictures were taken.
Cruise 16...Celebrity Silhouette
September 1st, 2018...Norwegian Fjords
Absolutely stunning!
Southampton (London), England
Bergen, Norway
Flaam, Norway
Geiranger, Norway
Alesund, Norway
Stavanger, Norway
Cruise 17...Independence of The Seas
December 10th, 2018...Western Caribbean
Back on The Pirate's favorite ship!
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
Costa Maya (Mahahual), Mexico
Cozumel, Mexico
Cruise 18...Radiance of The Seas
February 3rd, 2019...New Zealand
Steven helps us find Bilbo Baggins!
Sydney, Australia
Cruise Dusky Sound
Port Chalmers (Dunedin), New Zealand
Akaroa, New Zealand
Wellington, New Zealand
Tauranga, New Zealand
Bay of Islands, New Zealand
Auckland, New Zealand
Cruise 19...Freedom of The Seas
July 14th, 2019...Southern Caribbean
We knock out all the ABCs!
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Oranjestad, Aruba
Willemstad, Curacao
Kralendijk, Bonaire
Philipsburg, St. Maarten Island
Cruise 20...Norwegian Bliss
October 27th, 2019...Mexican Riviera
The Beatles, family, friends and Halloween!
Los Angeles, California
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Mazatlan, Mexico
Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Cruise 21...Pride of America
December 14th, 2019...Hawaii
The only way to see Hawaii!
Honolulu, Oahu Island, Hawaii
Kahului, Maui Island, Hawaii
Hilo, Big Island, Hawaii
Kailua-Kona, Big Island, Hawaii
Nawiliwili, Kauai Island, Hawaii
Cruise 22...Rhapsody of The Seas
February 22nd, 2020...Western Caribbean
The Pirate finally visits Belize!
Tampa, Florida
Cozumel, Mexico
Belize City, Belize
Coxen Hole, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras
Costa Maya (Mahahual), Mexico
Cruise 23...Norwegian Breakaway
December 5th, 2021...Western Caribbean
Cruising from The Big Easy!
New Orleans, Louisiana
Costa Maya (Mahahual), Mexico
Coxen Hole, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras
Harvest Caye, Belize
Cozumel, Mexico
Cruise 24...Navigator of The Seas
March 4th, 2022...Ensenada
Our first back-to-back cruise!
Los Angeles, California
Ensenada, Mexico
Cruise 25...Navigator of The Seas
March 7th, 2022...Catalina & Ensenada
Finishing a back-to-back!
Los Angeles, California
Catalina Island, California
Ensenada, Mexico
Cruise 26...Noordam
August 21st, 2022...Alaska
Our first Holland America and music walk!
Vancouver (Canada Place), British Columbia, Canada
Cruise Inside Passage, Alaska
Ketchikan, Alaska
Juneau, Alaska
Skagway, Alaska
Cruise Glacier Bay, Alaska
Cruise College Fjord, Alaska
Whittier (Anchorage), Alaska
Cruise 27...Celebrity Flora
October 23rd, 2022...Galapagos Islands
Our first expedition cruise!
Quito, Ecuador
Baltra, Galapagos, Ecuador
Gardner Bay, Espanola Island, Galapagos, Ecuador
Bahia Post Office, Floreana Island, Galapagos, Ecuador
Punta Moreno, Isabela Island, Galapagos, Ecuador
Punta Espinoza, Fernandina Island, Galapagos, Ecuador
South Plaza, Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos, Ecuador
Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos, Ecuador
Cruise 28...Oasis of The Seas
February 12th, 2023...Western Caribbean
A "Perfect Day" for sailing from Miami!
Miami, Florida
Coxen Hole, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras
Costa Maya (Mahahual), Mexico
Cozumel, Mexico
Perfect Day at Coco Cay, Bahamas
Cruise 29...Celebrity Apex
April 1st, 2023...Western Caribbean
Lady's favorite ship plus Ruby and Steven!
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
Key West, Florida
Belize City, Belize
Cozumel, Mexico
George Town, Grand Cayman Island
Cruise 30...Paul Gauguin
September 20th, 2023...French Polynesia
Should've been the best. So far, the worst!
Papeete, Tahiti
Huahine, French Polynesia
Bora Bora, French Polynesia
Rangiroa, French Polynesia
Fakarava, Tuamotu Archipelago
Motu Mahana, Taha'a Island, Society Islands
Moorea, French Polynesia
Cruise 31...Jewel of The Seas
December 23rd, 2023...Southern Caribbean
Christmas Cruise to some far away islands!
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Bridgetown, Barbados
Port of Spain, Trinidad Island
Scarborough, Tobago Island
Kingstown, St. Vincent Island
Philipsburg, St. Maarten Island
Cruise 32...Discovery Princess
April 3rd, 2024...Mexican Riviera
Solar Eclipse Cruising!
Los Angeles, California
Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Mazatlan, Mexico
Total Solar Eclipse Viewing
Manzanillo, Mexico
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Cruise 33...Queen Mary 2
June 9th, 2024...Transatlantic
Our first transatlantic and Cunard!
Southampton (London), England
New York, New York
Cruise 34...Celebrity Millennium
October 6th, 2024...Japan
Atomic sites, best sushi, plus South Korea!
Yokohama Tokyo), Japan
Shimizu, Japan
Osaka, Japan
Hiroshima, Japan
Busan (Pusan), South Korea
Kumamoto, Kyushu, Japan
Nagasaki, Japan
Cruise 35...Celebrity Apex
January 11th, 2025...Eastern Caribbean
First B.V.I. plus Lady loves the ship!
Port Canaveral, Florida
Basseterre, St. Kitts Island
Tortola, British Virgin Islands
Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic
