Happy Tuesday, friends!
It’s the third and final recap of our Royal Caribbean three night cruise on the Utopia of the Seas.
Goodness, we had such a good time.
The day we flew home, Andrew and Smith had somewhere to be after we got back to the house and as they were driving, Smith told Andrew that this cruise was now his favorite vacation. This made me chuckle because…let’s be real, the kid had just come home from Japan like 12 days earlier…BUT this is exactly what I tell clients all the time.
I know, I know, I KNOW it’s ideal to do longer vacations. You spend the money to fly somewhere and there is so much to do and see that of course you want to spend as many days there as possible…but if we wait around for that ideal length of time, we often miss out on ever going.
Often, it’s better to seize the existing opportunity, no matter how short it might be, instead of waiting around for the “perfect” opportunity. Life is super short, health can be gone in an instant, things happen (both good and bad), and you might never get to go to XYC if you wait.
Andrew and I really realized this during COVID. Our “to travel” list was getting away from us because we had been waiting for longer periods of time to be away. Spoiler alert: we had four kids in school, so that wasn’t going to happen for A LONG TIME. Instead, we started taking shorter trips and were able to squeeze in vacations to LONDON, PARIS & NORMANDY, CZECH REPUBLIC, FINLAND, THE BAHAMAS, HUNGARY, and even BALI!
Was this three night sailing long enough? No way! We could have easily stayed a week. Am I so so so happy we fit it in to a long weekend? ONE THOUSAND PERCENT. I have shared this quote before, but it’s one of my favorites. Julia Roberts tells George Clooney in the movie Ticket to Paradise, “Why save the good stuff for later?”. I love that.
Just the two cents from your friendly travel agent this morning 😉 .
Okay, if you missed PART ONE of our BAHAMIAN CRUISE or PART TWO catch those too before you dive into today’s PART THREE.
Here we go…
…this wasn’t just any Sunday morning as I hopped on the elevator to head to the gym. This was EASTER SUNDAY!
In my 44 years, this was the first Easter Sunday for me not to be at church, and it’s not something I’m going to make a habit of, but goodness, it was sweet to spend the time with my family of six.
I went to the gym on this particular day to focus on cardio. I had planned on running on the treadmill for 45 minutes…but 18 minutes into it, I received a text message from my boy that said “want to meet me for breakfast?”…
…and you’ve never seen me exit a piece of machinery faster. When your 16 year old son asks to have breakfast with you, your workout instantly becomes unimportant 😉 . We were docked there at Royal Caribbean’s private island and the two of us enjoyed the view, the food, and the conversation before…
…heading back to our cabins to get ready for the day.
On this day, our ship and a sister Celebrity vessel were both docked and ready to explore their private island…
…off we went…
…a look back at the two ships lined up side by side.
The weather was GORGEOUS!
The day before, we had “a boat day”, so today we were going to have a “chill-ax day”.
This private island has a plethora of things one can do. You can walk off the ship and do all the complementary things or you can buy tickets (with on board credits and/or pay out of pocket) for other things like the water park, adults only sections, cabanas, Cocoa Beach Club or the over the water bungalows.
The last time I was on this island was with my team, and I told myself that when I went back, I wanted…
…to try Coco Beach Club…
…which has the look, feel, amenities, and service of a really nice beach front resort. I wanted to visit and try their…
…over the water bungalows…
…you guys, I could have just stayed here all three days. It was the perfect day!
Each private bungalow has both covered and uncovered seating, floatable rafts, life jackets, snorkeling gear, a slide, a table and chairs, a shower, stocked wet bar area with beverages, and a steward…
…we were happy campers!
I just love being by the ocean.
See the stingray?
Across from our bungalow was the beach area for Coco Beach Club. We had full access to their pool, bar, beach, and loungers too.
I couldn’t quit taking pics…
The food was DELICIOUS!
How many pics can one take? Clearly, a bunch 😉 .
My kids thought this was so cool!
Geez, I love them all.
After a full day, we headed back to our ship…
…the size difference is mind blowing to me!
We showered and cleaned up for dinner…
…and then headed out to…
…play some cards before our dinner reservation. I was very impressed with his name being put on his espresso martini.
Evening pics as we sailed back to Orlando…
Ironically, for our last meal on the cruise, we had dinner reservations at…
…the hibachi restaurant. Ha!
Clearly, the Shulls can’t quit the Japanese food 😉 .
Everything was delicious!
And that wrapped up our cruise 🙂 .
Friends, my travel agency would LOVE to send you on a cruise too! You can reach out to us for more information RIGHT HERE about not only this cruise itinerary but so many more! We help clients with ocean cruises, expedition cruises, river cruises, luxury liners and everything in between. Contact us today!
Don’t forget, I also have my FIRST TIMER’S GUIDE TO CRUISING blog post as well as my post on TRAVELING WITH KIDS, and my post on MOTION SICKNESS. Plus, I already shared a post on THE TRAVEL ITEMS WE PACKED FOR THIS CRUISE.
I have one last mix and match post for the day too! Make sure you check out our (very yummy!) WHITE CHOCOLATE RASPBERRY MUFFINS. They’re delish!
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