Our Christmas 2014 Family Vacation

Our Christmas 2014 Family Vacation

Close your eyes, and imagine you just walked into your stateroom, the beds are neatly made, the bathroom smells ultra clean, and there is an embarkation complimentary gift on the vanity from the cruise line’s loyalty program. Luckily, this is us every year. The wife and kids look forward to our yearly Christmas family cruise. Not to mention, the kids spend all year making comments on the past cruise, planning what they will be doing and looking forward to the our upcoming Christmas cruise vacation. Trust me, we all use & need this time to spent some quality time together.

A few weeks ago, we were able to take our Christmas 2014 Family cruise vacation and as expected, we had the time of our life. This year’s  itinerary includes port days and a few sea days. The first port of call, after a few days at sea, was St. Marteen. While there, we got to experience the local vibe at the port’s market. St. Marteen downtown is just a water taxi away, where you can experience excellent beaches, electronics and jewelry sales at discount. Both St. Marteen downtown and its immediate areas were already decorated for the holiday season. We have previously, travel to St. Marteen and one of things I always take away with me is, how the locals are always very welcoming and are willing to help. Cannot wait to visit that island again.

The next port of call in the itinerary was St. Kitts. While having island drinks and absorbing the culture, we experienced a Caribbean group dancing in the street wearing traditional clothes. The costumes included, red pants cut up into several shorts and shirts, with a coconut hat decorated with Peacock feathers, which our oldest son was quick to identify. They had their own bands playing traditional music. It was a great way to experience and absorb their culture.

After visiting a few ports of call, we had some downtime on sea days. Of course, the kids option was to head straight to the pool deck. The kiddie area, was perfect for our three year old. The pool area has great splash areas and run through sprinkles. Good way for the kids to exercise, without them knowing. As the kids tire out, we made a quick stop at the frozen yogurt stand and served our own cones. After a quick changed of clothes, it was time to head to the dining room. After dinner, we dropped by the game room area, where we got to play cards and checkers. Fun overall for the entire family. Of course, a cruise vacation means that there is no shortage of food, however, by ends day we had to have quick late snack by ordering room service.

One of my favorites aspects of cruising are the dining options. There many variety of dining venues to chose from. Each venue offers great meals and excellent service. The shipboard crew assist you without asking. The portions are small in the formal dining, don’t worry, you can repeat as many times you can eat. In other restaurants, they serve buffet style, our favorite. You chose the food and you serve your own portions. You also chose where to seat in an immense dining room. You can sit close to the windows and look out to the sea or you can also eat Al Fresco. The options are endless and the dining options change daily.

We usually choose a cruise because its all inclusive for us, meaning we do not make extra purchases on board. Its an overall great experience for our family. At times you feel overwhelmed because there are so many things to do on board, however, you can do as much or as little as you and your family want. Cruising is an amazing way to travel, the service is great, the food is always fresh, warm and ready to eat. As we disembark, we are saddened that our Christmas family cruise vacation ended, however, we can not wait to do it again next year. What’s your favorite part about cruising?

Disclosure: This is NOT a sponsored post. This trip was paid in full by my family and I.