This is one of my favorite quotes. You don’t have to tell me twice. It doesn’t have to be anything expensive or extravagant. It can be a day trip, flip-flops, and Little Debbie cakes. By the way, they are good. Have you heard the quote, “Flip flops are the glass slipper of the South?” Well, I love flip flops, they are my glass slippers.
We just got home from our yearly cruise. It’s important to us to take a vacation each year and we love cruises. We make taking trips, even day trips, a priority. My husband works many hours, weekends and holidays, so we need to get away when we can.
I’ve been asked, “how do you afford it?”
We are on a budget just like most people.
1) We always cruise during offseason, it’s cheaper.
2)They offer many types of rooms from inside cabins to suites. Of course, the room you choose determines the cost, as well the length of the cruise and the ship you choose.
3)You can book a cruise a year or even two in advance with a small deposit and have until 90 days before the cruise to pay it off. There isn’t a set amount you have to pay and can pay any amount on it when you can.
4) A cruise is all-inclusive unless you drink alcohol, then that’s extra.
5) The best thing, you get to go to 3 or more different places on one trip.
Back to our vacation!
We traveled with a group of eight people this time.
Day 1: Sea Day
Our first day was a sea day and we laid around the pool. That night was one of the elegant nights in the dining room. My husband tries all of the exotic foods, me, not so much.
They take great photos and photoshop. (photos cost extra)
Day 2: Key West, Florida.
We rented a golf cart that seated 8, I didn’t even know they existed. We explored the island. Like really, the whole island, by accident, because we got lost. We ended up on the main highway on a golf cart. I think we were headed to Miami. We asked several people the way to the cruise port and all of them gave a different direction. We made it back to the ship on time but I must admit, I was getting concerned. But it was a fun adventure. We got to see the furthest south point of the U.S. and that was cool.
Day 3. Freeport, Bahamas
We bought a carnival beach excursion. It ended up not being worth the money. The excursion was for 4 hours and I’m thinking 4 hours on the beach. No, it was a 30-minute drive each way, so that gave us 3 hours on the beach. That’s not enough time for me and especially for the amount we paid for it. We didn’t buy the all-inclusive, which included food, so we had to pay extra for that. If I ever go back to Freeport, I will probably do port shopping and enjoy time on the ship.
Day 4: Nassau, Bahamas
We purchased a day pass to Breezes Resort, all-inclusive. It was beautiful. It had several pools, hot tubs, entertainment, all the food and drinks you want and most importantly to me, a beautiful beach. There was no set time for us to leave and we stayed all day. We just had to get our own taxi back to port. This was a fun day! I love Nassau.
Days 5 & 6 SEA DAYS
We love sea days. There are lots of activities to participate in or to be a spectator, like me. We love being on the upper deck looking out at the ocean or people watching and of course, lots of food and ice-cream.
There are lots of choices for the nightlife as well. Casino, Karaoke, live music, comedy shows, nightclub, line dancing, movies on the big screen by the pool, deck parties, games, shows, star gazing and more. So many things to choose from.
The sunsets are the best on the seas.
Your room is cleaned for you twice a day and you have turndown service. Room service is also available.
To us, cruising is the best vacation for your money.
Love this view!
So take the trip, buy the shoes, eat the cake and don’t worry about the calories. Carnival cruise has the best chocolate melting cake and I don’t think once about the calories.
Collect memories, not things.
At the end of the day, it’s what you choose, that’s important to you. We choose to cut back on other things so we can afford to take a good vacation.
We also do things throughout the year. We may take day trips to the nearby lake or drive 3 hours to the beach. The trip may be to our backyard, tune everything else out, listen to music, grill, lay out by the pool or have a fire at night.
Traveling and being together is very important to us.
Whatever or however you choose to do life, enjoy it because life is short.
Here is the link to my facebook group, if you would like to join. I would love to have you!
Enjoying the simple life,
💜Davilyn
It was nice to have a vacation in January, right after the busyness of the holidays. We had never cruised in the winter before and it was so great. We laid out on the lido deck, eating tacos, Guys Burgers & ice-cream, among other things.
In Cozumel the weather was perfect. We went to a beach resort & listen to the sound of the beautiful ocean, and ate authentic Mexican food. I’m a tex mex girl, but those fajitas in Mexico are sooo good. I’m really missing all of it right now. 😫
We love to cruise!!😎 We normally do a 7 day cruise late spring. It goes to three different islands, we love the islands. We also love just being on the ship. When we can’t cruise, our favorite thing is going to the beach. The closes one to us is only 3 hours away, and sometimes we make a day trip out of it. I just need beach time, no matter what time of year. The sound of the waves, the smell of the salt water, it does wonders for my stress levels.
