My first cruise ever was just last week. I sailed on the Carnival Sunshine to Half Moon Cay and Nassau, Bahamas. Since I had never been on a cruise, I had no points of reference. Sure, people gave me a lot of advice, but I had to experience it for myself.

Borrowed Time

I’m fortunate enough have been on many vacations. However, going on a cruise never interested me. I prefer to fly to my destination for a predetermined amount of time – then do what I wanted. For that reason, I always felt the time restrictions at the port would be somewhat suffocating and rushed. That also involves the crippling fear of getting left at the port by the ship.

Take A Chance

Even though I’ve been reluctant all these years, I decided to take a chance and go on my first cruise. While I still prefer my normal vacation style, the cruise was pretty fun. Being at sea, with nowhere to go and being disconnected from the internet – kind of forces you to dial down and relax. So, I did just that. It was relaxing and I had a good time. But, what’s a first experience without lessons learned? I’m sharing with you ten lessons I learned on my recent vacation.

  1. Being disconnected from the internet is refreshing.
  2. People that work on cruise ships are not on vacation. They work HARD!!
  3. If you’re not careful, you can easily gain a few pounds. I didn’t eat “bad”, but my normal eating schedule was jacked up.
  4. Having your room in the very back of the ship – you feel every ship movement. Whoa!
  5. Conga lines are still a thing. They look more awkward though, since people don’t know if it’s okay touch people they don’t know.
  6. Bahamian taxi/tour drivers are very territorial. For about 30 minutes, we “belonged” to Phillip and were untouchable. It was very unsettling.
  7. Overpacking is near necessary. Multiple wardrobe changes per day is the norm. This bothered me. I recently developed efficient packing.
  8. Toilet flushes on the ship are violently loud. They flush like airplane toilets, only without the airplane noise.
  9. Disney cruise ships are HUGE! I wasn’t on one, but one docked beside us. #sizematters
  10. There are people that LOVE cruises. For many this was not their first. I even met a family that was on their 3rd cruise this year!