Cruise Recap

We recently took the kids on their first ever cruise for Spring Break, in 2022 in the aftermath of the pandemic. It’s something that has been on our bucket list for some time and as soon as it felt like it was possible again, we booked it and were so excited to introduce them to the magical world of cruising. Here’s our cruise recap and what it was like to cruise in 2022.

We went on the Royal Caribbean Independence of the Seas, 4 night cruise to Coco Cay and Nassau. Our Spring break was in mid-March and the weather was much cooler than I thought it would be, which was actually quite nice. Imagine a cloudless sky, with the sun shining, but not sweating at all. The pool and ocean water was really cold, but we beared it—especially when it came to getting to the swim up bar. And the kids didn’t mind it at all, of course.

Health Protocols Before Boarding

For fully vaccinated families, the boarding process day of was really easy. We needed to get a Covid test within two days before boarding and bring in the test results, along with our vaccination cards, and passports/birth certificates.

If anyone was not vaccinated, they were taken to another entrance to get tested and wait for a negative result before they could board the ship.

Also, because Royal has a limit to the number of unvaccinated people they can take on board, they can move your reservation if they don’t hit this criteria. This happened to one of the families we were traveling with just a couple days before our departure date and they didn’t get any kind of communication as far as we know—it was crazy! Thankfully, everything worked out for us and they got back on our boat, but if you are in this category, make sure you check your Royal Caribbean App daily leading up to your departure to make sure you have the right cruise information.

Travel Tip: I got this super handy travel wallet to help carry all of our travel documents, because I was so nervous about misplacing such important documents for the family. It made traveling through all the checkpoints so easy and I always knew exactly where to find what I needed.

Itinerary

For a 4 night cruise to the Bahamas, the itinerary was perfect. We left on a Monday, which gave us the whole weekend to finish packing and clean the house before leaving. And got back on a Friday morning, giving us the entire weekend to get organized for the week ahead.

Day 1 – Departure Day

Monday was a day of sailing and getting to know the ship. The kids went right away into the pool and jacuzzi, and the parents tested out the pool bar.

Day 2 – Perfect Day at Coco Cay

The next day we arrived bright and early at Coco Cay and we spent the entire day there. It’s changed so much since the last time we were there, with the addition of multiple bars and restaurants, a splash park for the kids and many little beach alcoves to hang out in. If you want a bit more adventure, there’s water sports excursions and a zip line for an additional fee. There’s also a full water park, again for an additional fee, but there is so much to do on the island, we did not miss that at all. We mostly hung out at the beach and the lagoon, and the amazing resort style pool with swim up bar and a DJ playing music.

Our only complaint about this day was that we wished we could stay longer! We had to board the ship by 4pm to get to Nassau the next day.

Day 3 – Nassau

Brett and I have been to Nassau on almost every ship we’ve ever cruised on, so we didn’t have too much incentive to get off board this time. It was actually really nice to enjoy the boat with a lot less people on it and hang by the pool. The kids went rock climbing this day and the wait wasn’t bad at all, which was nice.

Day 4 – Sailing Day

It was clear to see how busy the boat was when everyone was on board! The kids ended up hitting everything else on their list this day, including ice skating, the Sky Pad and the candy store.

Tip: You need to sign up the morning of sailing day to get your reservation for ice skating. There was no other opportunity to do it, so it’s a must first thing if you want to. Brett is an early riser and by the time he got there, the line was long and he almost didn’t get on the list.

The Room

Our room was amazing. We had a spacious ocean front room, which was a new addition to the front of the ship, with floor to ceiling windows and more modern decor and fixtures. There was a pull out couch that worked perfectly for the kids, and Brett and I shared the King size bed.

Not really a great shot of the room, but this is me taking a picture of both my kids still sleeping for the first time ever past 9am. I was going stir crazy waiting for Brett to make it back to the room from the ice skating line! But hey, I enjoyed some coffee in the room and had a great view.

Fitness Center

The Gym was huge! It took up a large space right at the front of the ship and the 180° view was amazing. They had some free classes available like a morning stretch at 7am every morning and a 30 minute ab class. There were several other classes you could by for $20/class or you could buy a pass for unlimited classes during the cruise for about $50.

Kids Club

The kids club was pretty much the star of the show. They wanted to go every night, which was great for the adults! One word of advice is to get there early. With the limited capacity allowed, it fills up and you can’t drop off until someone leaves. We had the early dinner at 5:30pm, and we found out that lots of families drop off their kids before the late dinner at 8pm, so by the time we were out of dinner, it was completely full.

Tip: Don’t forget to bring masks for the kids so you can run them right up to the kids club at 7pm when it opens. It’s the one place on the ship they are required to wear them.

And when you can’t get in, there’s an arcade conveniently located right outside. Beware, it’s as easy as a swipe of the Sea Pass card to play a game. We had to wait some amount of time pretty much every day, but it really wasn’t that bad and they got in every single night.

Activities

There were plenty of activities on the ship for adults and for kids. I also realized that cruising with kids means you pretty much never leave the pool deck. Which is fine by me and there was tons to do, but I really wanted to check out some of the fun trivia games they had in the Schooner Lounge and never made it to them during the day. There’s always next time!

Tip: Sailing day is really when the activities on board like the Sky Pag and Flow Rider are open for longer hours, but the lines will get long with everyone on the ship. It’s probably a good strategy to get there early, and grab some seats by the pool on your way.

Food & Drinks

One of our absolute favorite things is dinner on cruises. And especially the themed nights, like formal night. We like to go to the early dinners so we can enjoy it with the kids. And then finish up early enough to drop them off at kids club before hitting up the casino or shows.

The kids could not get enough of the food and being able to get anything they wanted, or try new things. It was really fun to see them ordering off the adult menu.

Brett and I have to agree that the food was not as good as we remember from previous cruises. It’s always something that we look forward too, and there were still some star dishes, but it definitely wasn’t the same.

The after dinner drinks of espresso and Baileys were exceptional, though. And what kept us going every night. That is now a tradition moving forward on all cruises!

Regarding the drinks, we did get the drink package and if you are planning to drink more than 2 drinks per day, I highly recommend it. Drinks on board are about $16 for a Piña Colada, $7 for a beer or Truly and $14 for a glass of wine.

Tip: Definitely purchase the drink package before you board if you plan to. They offer deals if you pre-purchase online and the price is cheaper, by about $100 per person.

Entertainment / Nightlife

I have to say, my favorite show of the trip was the belly flop contest at the pool on sailing day! It was hilarious! Other then that, the entertainment was just OK. The comedian was the same on two nights. The Grease show was great and full of talent, but the times were odd. I ended up going to the 3pm show with some of the kids to get out of the sun for a little bit on day 4. There was an entertainer that was great for the kids with very cool and visual effects which was a lot of fun and family friendly.

One night there was a Silent Disco which was so much fun! It is a must do on this cruise. The only bummer was that there was only a certain number of headsets, and it was full by the time we got there so we had to wait for people to leave, which didn’t leave us with much time to enjoy the party. We wanted this to last more than only 45 minutes!

The music at the nightclub was also really good on the first night, but then we realized it was the same playlist every night, and ended up dipping early for the Roulette table.

Cruise Recap

We had such an amazing time and made such great memories with our friends and the kids! We’ve pretty much already booked our next Spring Break and a cruise is a big contender. Perhaps we’ll embark on the Oasis class next.