A lot of the uncertainty stemmed from all the what ifs. You know the ones. What if our house burns down or is burgled while we're gone? What if our car is stolen while we're on the boat? What if we have an accident or someone gets injured? What if our clothes aren't fancy enough? What if we get seasick? What if there are obnoxious drunk people everywhere? What if there's an excess of scantily clad wanton women parading in front of my boys? (I know, I know - they're no longer "boys" - more on that later.) What if someone steals our wallets and ID's? What if the peddlers in the marketplace won't leave us alone? What if we're abducted in Mexico?
Those what ifs.
I'm happy to say that none of the scary what ifs happened. We did have not one, but TWO exciting incidents involving wallets (and ID's) left behind; one in our own car before we even made it to the boat, and one left in a taxi in Cozumel! LtDan saved the day in the first incident and quickly took a taxi back to our hotel to retrieve the first forgotten wallet. Ben was the hero in Cozumel when he employed his Olympic speed power sprint and caught up to the taxi just as it was leaving the parking lot. He had to run into the street with it and bang on the side of the van to get the driver to stop. Oh. My. Goodness. I'll be thanking the Lord for his kindness to us on that one forever and ever.
So again, not one of the bad things happened ... Hallelujah and Amen.
Here are our take-aways and a review of a Family Cruise to Mexico:
Take the Loop Around Downtown Houston
If you're driving to catch a ship out of Galveston and your route takes you through Houston, make sure you take the loop around downtown ... the traffic is probably not worse than any other big city traffic, but wow, if you're on vacation you deserve a break from it. We went through downtown Houston on the way to Galveston on Friday evening but opted to take the loop (which is a tollroad) around it when we drove home. So. Much. Better. The nice thing about that was if you have a toll tag for the DFW area, it works in Houston, too - no stopping to dump coins at tollbooths.
Overnight in Galveston / Park the Car Free
Our cruise left on Saturday, and most Texas people I talked to just drive down to Galveston the day of the cruise, but that made me nervous. I can't imagine how much more stressful the downtown Houston traffic would have been if we'd have been trying to make a boarding time (sorry, Houston people, I'm sure your city is lovely). Anyway, we spent the night at the Holiday Inn Resort in Galveston because they offer free shuttle service to the Cruise Terminal and free parking while you're gone. It was affordable and nice enough, and knowing where we'd leave the car was one less unknown to worry about.
YES: Get a Valet to Help With All Your Luggage
We're a family of six, and we had five bags and six (heavy) carryons. The Luggage Valets both when we checked in and when we came back were life savers. Not only was it great to have help with all the bags, it was peace of mind to know they knew what to do even if we didn't. The internet says standard tip rate is $1 to $2 a bag (or more if they're excessively heavy) and it was worth every penny of our generous tip to have someone knowledgeable help us negotiate bag check-in on the way out and customs on the way back in.
Birth Certificate & Drivers License Was Fine for ID
Please do not take my word for it and do your own research, but in February of 2016, original Birth Certificates and Drivers Licenses were fine as ID for cruise travel to Mexico. I was nervous about this, and honestly I will probably just get everyone a passport if we take another cruise, but for this trip, I was really happy that for cruise travel to Mexico, no one hassled us at all for just using birth certificates and drivers licenses. Again, if you're traveling, please do your own research on this - I believe criteria will be changing soon, even for cruise travel to Mexico.
Clothes
Planning fashionable cruise wardrobes for all six of us was a little daunting, but I just approached it as though we were going to the beach for a week and packed accordingly. Like everything else these days, we saw pretty much the whole spectrum of clothing, from very very casual to dressy. The dressy was only on the evening designated for elegant dining, and even then, there was plenty of casual attire mixed in. I'm sure it varies from cruise to cruise, but we fit right in with our casual and dressed-up-but-not-too-much wardrobes. My greatest regret: not taking a hoodie to wear whilst sitting in a deck chair, sipping on something lovely and reading to my heart's content! Although we had sunny days, the wind made it chilly. So, if you're thinking of cruising in the off season, don't forget your favorite cool weather outerwear!
To Balcony, Or Not to Balcony?
LtDan and I booked a room on the back of the boat with a balcony - truly dead center of the boat - it was lovely! The balcony was large enough for three chairs and a small table. I was glad we opted for the balcony for our first cruise - I couldn't fathom not being able to step outside or at least open a window. But really we didn't sit on the balcony much, because it was much more fun to sit on the deck with other people. You can find a place that's relatively quiet, or stake a claim to deck chairs on the Lido Deck around the pool (yes, LoveBoat fans ... the LIDO DECK :). I'm curious to see what a stateroom on the side of the ship would be like, because those rooms on our ship had balconies, too. We didn't indulge our kids with balconies - they had interior rooms with no windows. At first, it seems claustrophobic, until you realize how little time you're really spending in there. I'm not ruling out getting a balcony if we cruised again, but it's not as big a deal as I thought it would be.
What About Sea Sickness?
We had very pleasant and calm weather, except for our last night at sea when we came through some (very mild) stormy weather. On the calm days, sometimes you feel just the slightest movement of the ocean - nothing at all to make you unsteady, and you really have to be looking for it to notice. The night there was stormy weather (and again - it was VERY mild), we were just conscious of an occasional roll. Even that was nothing to make you unsteady on your feet - it was just enough to make you notice, and to me, it was actually pleasant :o) The day after we got home, every once in a while when I was sitting very still, I would feel that sway-ish feeling, which I adore. It's like a free souvenir so you don't forget that you were on the ocean.
Activities
Oh the on board activities! Things kicked off with line dancing on the Lido Deck and went from there. There was bingo, an Oscar Watching Party, plenty of duty free shopping (jewelry and paintings were the big feature on this cruise), a full service spa, a gym, Dive-In Movies, Piano Bar performances, a Comedy Club, Karaoke, a casino, full cast live production shows, a danceclub, and I'm sure I've forgotten a few hundred other things. There were lots of activities for youngsters as well, and they celebrated Dr. Suess all week long - it was pretty cute. Every evening, our porter left a schedule of activities in our room for the next day, so we could plan accordingly.My favorite activities were the Dive-In Movies. We sat in deck chairs, huddled up in blankets (provided by the cruise line) and watched Jurassic World projected on a big screen above the swimming pool. I think there were current-run movies every night, and popcorn was also provided!
Excursions
Our ports of call were Progresso and Cozumel. Before you leave, the cruise line sends many helpful emails to let you know about all the things you can do when in port. Actually, for someone like me who's afraid of missing out on any of the fun, it made me feel a little panic-y to make the right choices and fast. But really, at least in the off-season and on this cruise, there wasn't as much urgency as I let myself believe. We could have waited until we were on the cruise and booked from there, even though the emails made it seem like we needed to do it in advance (please do note, however: we were cruising at the end of February - I'm sure in peak season it's a different game). We stayed on board the ship in Progresso and enjoyed a quiet day while most folks went ashore. In Cozumel, we got our own taxi to the market and had a grand day of shopping, bargaining, serenades, and eating the hands down best fajitas EVER. There may or may not have been Tequila involved.
Communications
Our greatest challenge was without a doubt communication. Our AT&T phone network wasn't reliable enough to be sure everyone was getting our "This is Where I Am" or "WHERE ARE YOU????" texts in a timely manner. And unfortunately, one of our phones just flat out died the day we boarded the ship. These were huge challenges for a family of extremely independent types who are nonetheless very dependent on technology.Next time, we'll:
- officiate our family emergency procedures if someone can't be located
- figure out some low-tech way of tracking everyone. Some people brought their own walkie-talkies, and they were actually available for purchase from the gift shop. Some people used dry erase boards or sticky notes on their cabin doors.
- know you can ask Guest Services whether someone has gotten off or on the ship (because you punch in your door keycard when you come and go). In one case, the info we got was accurate, in the other case, it wasn't. But it's at least a place to start if you're looking for someone.
Disembarking
When you think of a cruise, you imagine sailing away from port, but what about coming home? Never thought about that at all, myself. How exactly do you get over 2000 people off a ship in an organized fashion? Fortunately, the cruise line has that all figured out, and just like with boarding, you're given a set time to get off the ship. If you're checking bags to be taken off the ship by the cruise line, you'll pack them up, tag them, and put them outside your cabin by 11pm the night before. Then, when your time to disembark comes, you'll make your way down the gangplank and into the baggage claim area. I imagined mass chaos, but it was remarkably organized and our bags were right there when we got off the ship - no waiting. We got a porter (there's a line for this, and you're assigned an official porter - this is so worth it!) then we made our way to customs and immigration. The birth certificates and Drivers Licenses came back out and it took a very few minutes to pass through.
Family Friendly Helpful Hints
- Consider not only the dates and destinations but also what the ship offers. Our kids were expecting a giant swimming pool, but the pools on this particular ship were adequate but pretty small compared to what they were expecting.
- Make it a priority to make friends and establish your group the first day if you can. Go to the meet and greets. The kids should sign up for the Kids Club.
- Do all the onboard activities you can.
- Make friends with the crew - they're there to help you have fun and are great sources of info.
- If there's nothing going on activity wise, don't stay in your room - go up on deck and hang out!
- Don't forget to take pictures!
- If you're going shopping, make your budget and then plan to spend it in about $10 increments. It's a good idea to have small bills with you for the marketplace.
- If you're going to Mexico, don't forget that haggling over the price is expected
- Leave your laptop at home - you're not going to touch it. All you need is a good book :o)
Something for Everyone
There were six of us, and what made the cruise such a blast was that we all called out something different as our favorite thing. We loved:- playing basketball on the deck and working out at the gym
- sitting on the deck doing nothing (guess who that was :o)
- dancing the night away at the nightclub
- filling up on unlimited food food food
- getting to know the amazing entertainment and wait staffs
- enjoying the sense of community
When we debriefed with the family about the whole experience, I think everyone agreed that the sense of community was everyone's #1. Nathan put it best: Everyone you meet is having this shared experience, so you can strike up a conversation anywhere, anytime - compare notes on the food, the excursions, the best deck chairs, whatever - you have an easy conversation opener with every single person you meet, and everyone's happy to talk about how much fun they're having.
This trip was a transitional experience for us ... we were traveling with two adult "kids" (21 and 22) and two teenagers (16 and 17). Okay, really the transition wasn't so much for us as it was for me. I still feel like it's my business to know what my kids are doing and when they're coming and going, but they are diplomatically and ever so gently helping me understand the apron strings are no longer necessary. Is it okay for my adult "children" to go play basketball on the upper deck at midnight? Well, Mom, yes. Yes it is. There comes a time when you have to just let your kids be who you've raised them to be. It's hard, and it feels treacherous. But you know what? When you've been pouring your heart and soul into training them for twenty plus years ... they can be trusted to make you proud :o)
Our big question was how would going on a family cruise compare with a family beach vacation? From a Mom perspective, I have to say going on a cruise was more of a real vacation. When we stay at the beach, I still straighten up our condo, plan meals and do laundry daily. On the cruise, someone else did the daily room refresh (and towel origami!), handled everything related to eating, and although no one did laundry, it's an option if you want to pay for the service. If you have kids who are old enough to be somewhat independent, going on a cruise offers Mom more of a real break from the everyday.
At this point, it feels crazily disloyal to our beloved Gulf Coast annual vacation to even consider that going on a cruise could replace it. But after such a great cruise experience, I can say we're a little more open minded to the idea. One of the BEST things about going to the same place every year is that you get into the vacation groove really quickly, and the first part of your vacation isn't spent figuring things out. So I think at this point, before I can say for sure whether or not I'd opt for a cruise instead of our annual Alabama beach vacation, I'm going to have to do more research. You can find me on the Lido Deck, hanging out with Julie.
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so just in case I wasn't clear ... we would definitely recommend trying out a cruise for family vacation!
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