May 6, 2025 • 38 mins
Tracey shares her candid thoughts about her first cruise experience, addressing her initial reluctance and how she overcame fears of being left behind at port and navigating crowded spaces as an introvert.
• Preparing for a cruise by booking a hotel near the port the night before departure
• Getting priority boarding with "Faster to the Fun" for early access and shorter lines
• Traveling with 22 family members and the challenges of keeping everyone together
• Communication challenges at sea and the importance of purchasing phone packages
• The reality of cruise ship dining schedules and food quality (especially Guy's Burgers)
• Navigating excursions and the safety advantage of booking through the cruise line
• Benefits of balcony rooms and clever space-saving tips like magnetic hooks
• Watching your onboard charges and checking your bill regularly for errors
• Bringing sunscreen, Dramamine, and Ziploc bags for late-night snacks
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Tracey (00:03):
hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, what's good everybody?
Welcome to the charging stationpodcast.
It's your girl, tracy massey ofliving my empowered life,
welcome, welcome, welcome if youare new here, welcome to the
shenanigans.
We are making room on thecouchy couch for you to have a
seat.
Come on in.
Tap the tap the hand sanitizer.
(00:24):
Take your shoes off, makeyourself at home If you are
returning, watch your listener,whatever.
Hey, boo, you know I love yousome.
You welcome back.
I need everybody to go ahead andfollow me on the socials.
You know what to do.
Find me at Living my EmpoweredLife on TikTok Threads, facebook
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(00:44):
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Join my email list and makesure that you are subscribing,
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Please do that and make surethat you rate and review the
(01:09):
five stars.
Go ahead and grab your coffee,grab your tea, grab your water,
grab your wine, whatever yourbeverage of choice is.
Go ahead and grab that thing.
Have a seat on the couchbecause I'm about to tell you
about my very first cruise.
Yes, I went on a cruise.
So my cousin had this idea thatwe're going to do family trips
(01:32):
every other year and the lastfamily trip we did we went to
the mountains in Tennessee andhad a grand time.
Y'all we had a time.
That was a fun trip.
It was maybe about 15 of usthat were in this big old cabin
and had a blast.
So this year we got togetherand did a cruise.
(01:54):
Unfortunately we weren't ableto do the cruise where we had
originally planned it, becausewe had a whole panoramic view
that was happening in betweentime.
It took us in between the time,but this this year we got to do
it.
So shout out to my cousin,super dome bj, for getting us
(02:15):
together for our first cruise.
Now I'm gonna be honest y'all.
I love to travel.
I am a travel girly, travelenthusi.
I don't get to travel as muchas I want to, but I will get up
out of here and get some stampsin my passport when I can.
But I never really had thedesire to go on a cruise, mainly
because I like going todestinations and experiencing
(02:38):
the culture, being able to kindof mull around and I have this
fear of being left by the ship.
I ain't gonna lie y'all.
I just I did not want to be apeer runner.
Yeah, I'm working out and doingall that, but have you seen the
peers of these ships?
It's not fun to run.
So I just had this fear aboutgetting left.
And then, you know, I'm verymuch of an introvert, I like to
(03:00):
be able to steal away and youknow I would do an Irish exit in
a heartbeat.
And I just kind of felt like,ok, well, maybe a cruise is too
much because there's too manypeople, there's people
everywhere all the time.
All the time I'll do a crowd,but I don't like doing a crowd
for a long period of time.
So I was like I really want todo a cruise.
And then I was like, OK, well,if I do a cruise and I'll go on
(03:21):
Virgin, because it's adults only, I ain't got to worry about
nobody else.
Chaps, you know, it's adifferent kind of clientele,
blah, blah, blah, blah.
So I had all these preconceivednotions.
So when my cousin came up withthe proposition to do a family
cruise, which was, you know, alittle bit more economical for
everybody, and we did a shortcruise four days to the Bahamas,
I was like I want to, but Idon't.
(03:45):
I want to but I don't.
And what outweighed, whatpersuaded me was the fact that I
would get to spend time with mycousins.
So it's rare that we are all inthe same place at the same time
, and even all of my cousinsweren't able to attend.
So the ones that were there, wehad a blast.
So let me just walk you throughsome of the things that I've
(04:06):
learned.
So if you are a first timecruiser, this is for you.
If you are not a first timecruiser, still stick with me in
this episode and be sure toreach out and share some of your
tips about cruising or whatnot.
So I'm just going to share someof the things that I learned on
my first cruise and some of thethings that I would do
differently, and I will evenshare if I would do a cruise
(04:29):
again.
All right.
So number one thing I am verymuch of a planner and we had a
travel advisor with the cruiseship who, um, let's just say, as
a planner, he didn't advisevery wisely.
I wrote a very nice email tothe cruise line about him
(04:53):
because I had to do my ownchanges, my own research and
things like that.
He was not very accommodatingis not the word.
He did not communicate verywell.
So a lot of the things you knowwhen you're making, when you're
traveling, you have deadlinesand things like that if you want
to make a change.
So I had to change out a guest.
(05:15):
So the guest that was supposedto be going with me was not
going, so I had to switch outsomebody.
And I actually went on thewebsite myself and did it,
because I asked the questionwhen I first booked with the
travel advisor, like, hey, if Ihave to switch out a guest, what
do I need to do?
And the only thing he said tome was it can be done, but it'll
be very expensive.
(05:35):
And I'm like, okay, well,what's the cost?
He never did tell me.
So I found out and honestly,y'all, there was a cost, very
expensive it was.
It didn't seem very expensiveto me because clearly I did it.
So there's that.
Um, I will say do your ownresearch, even with you.
When you have a travel advisor,they're human, they can get
(05:55):
things wrong.
All right, and this comes fromsomebody who has done travel
before I.
In my past life I was a traveladvisor, I booked trips for
people.
So do your own research.
And since this was my firstcruise, that's exactly what I
did, like I was all on theYouTube YouTube University, I
was all on TikTok, I waseverywhere researching, finding
(06:16):
out the ports, because, ofcourse, when you book your
cruise, you know where you'regoing.
So we went out of Port Canaveraland we did a four day Bahamas
cruise.
So we did Nassau, bahamas andPrincess Caves Island.
So those are the two stops andwe had one day at sea.
We're going to talk about thatfun day at sea.
All right, and I'm purposelynot saying the cruise line, but
(06:39):
if you listen to what I say,you're going to know who the
cruise line is.
And I'm purposely not saying itbecause I don't want to get
sued, but this is just an honestreview.
So what I did was I booked ahotel the night before.
So I flew down the night beforeto Port Canaveral for a couple
of reasons.
One, I did not want to feelrushed, trying to travel the day
(07:01):
of.
Anytime I'm doing something,whether it be an event, like if
I'm going somewhere to speak, orif I'm going to a concert or
convention or whatever I'mflying out the day before I
would much rather be there andsitting than trying to rush to
get to where I'm going,especially when you got
connecting flights or you'retrying to catch a ship.
(07:22):
I'm there the day before.
Some of my cousins, on theother hand, decided to come down
the day of and y'all me being aplanner, and they know how I am
, me being a planner that thingwas bugging me because I was
like it's spring break, anythingcan happen.
Why are you doing this?
But they made it in time.
They actually they made it intime, thank God.
But, child, they had mestressed okay, but I flew down
(07:46):
the night before and booked ahotel which was literally 10
minutes from the port.
Some of my other cousins wereacross the street.
Some of the cousins were at thesame kind of at the same hotel.
So the hotel where I stayed inPort Canaveral was very nice,
one of the Hilton brands ohsorry, I'm trying not to say the
(08:08):
names because they're notpaying me but it was a very nice
hotel and they had anotherhotel attached to it.
So that must be something new.
I had never seen that before.
We have it's the same umbrellacompany, but it's two different
hotels attached to each other.
So some of the cousins were atthe same spot that I was, um,
which was great.
My sister, who lives in florida,sister number one came to pick
(08:29):
me up from the airport inorlando and we just spent sister
time.
So we had dinner, she got tomeet some of my cousins excuse
me, meet some of my cousins atnight, um, and we just had
sister time because again we'regetting to know each other.
Um, and we just had sister timebecause again we're getting to
know each other, so that was fun.
She took myself and my cousinto the port the next morning,
(08:50):
which was was fun.
I will say this Um, if yourcruise line, if you're cruising
and your cruise line has anopportunity for you to get um
early access, to like pay forearly access, get it, get it.
We got what was called faster tothe fun on the cruise line that
we were on and I'm so glad thatwe did because we got priority
(09:11):
boarding.
We were able to get on the shipearlier than everybody.
We were able to access our room, so drop off stuff off first.
We weren't you're not allowedto go into your cabin until 1 30
, but we were able to.
We're not allowed to stay inyour cabin until 1 30.
(09:31):
But we were able to access ourcabin and drop our luggage off
um before that time.
So we had to drop our stuff offand then leave.
But being able to drop ourstuff off was great because then
we were able to explore theship.
We went straight to the Lidodeck.
Well, no, no, no, no Let metake that back we did our muster
station.
So when you're cruising youhave to go by your muster
(09:53):
station, just check in.
It's a safety drill so you knowwhere your life vests are,
where the lifeboats are, in caseanything happens.
You go to your muster stationand that's where you report to
if we have to evacuate the ship.
That is a requirement.
The boat, the ship, will notleave until everyone does their
muster station drill.
So we did that, went to ourroom, dropped off our stuff,
(10:16):
then went to the lido deck andwas like okay, we are here.
So definitely pay for the earlyaccess and it also gets you
early access to priority in line.
So at guest services you haveyour own line, cause I did have
to go to guest services a coupletimes and anytime we're doing
(10:36):
excursions you get priorboarding for your excursions.
When we went to Princess Caveswe had to do a water taxi
because there's no, no dockthere, no port there, so we had
to take a water taxi from theship to the actual island.
So we got first dibs on that.
Um, so that gave us longer timeon the island, um, things like
(10:58):
that.
So you just get priorityeverything with fast and true to
fun.
It was worth the money for me.
So we were the first ones in ouractual group to board the ship
and just kind of hang out.
So we were just kind of waitingon everybody to trickle in.
Most of our boarding times wasright around the same time,
which was good.
We did have a couple peoplethat were later, but we just
(11:22):
told everybody where we were andjust waited for the sail away
party.
So we did have a little bit oftime to explore the ship before
everybody got on, which was nicebecause it wasn't crowded.
So you can kind of get lostwhich is what we did and be able
to sit and enjoy guys, burgersI got ice cream, you know.
They started coming around andpassing out drinks and things
(11:45):
like that, so we were able tojust kind of chill out.
So day one was interesting Oncewe were able to get into our
rooms at 1.30, my cousin and Ilike we all dispersed and went
to our rooms so we could unpackand kind of map out what we're
going to do for that day.
We all agreed to come back tothe sail away party which was
(12:06):
happening about.
We were supposed to set sail at3.30.
So the sail away party happenedat 3.30, but we didn't sail
away.
I don't know why we ended upleaving, maybe like an hour,
hour and a half past the timethat we were supposed to leave.
And from what I saw online notpertaining to this particular
(12:28):
cruise, but from what I sawonline, when the ship leaves
late like that from the send off, it's because somebody didn't
do their muster drill.
So, whoever that was the firstweek of April going to the
Bahamas out of Port Canaveraland you didn't do your mustard
drill, you're the reason why wewas late and you're the reason
why the captain was flyingthrough the ocean to get us to
(12:50):
our first destination.
Do what you're supposed to do,people.
So my honest review first off,I did have a good time.
My family is crazy.
Um, if you're watching this onYouTube, I'm going to try to put
in pictures and things likethat I'm trying my editing bag,
(13:11):
so bear with me, we're doingsomething new.
If you're not on YouTube, I'msorry, but this is where I would
insert a picture, maybe righthere.
Um, my family and I had a goodtime.
It was 22 of us and I will saythis traveling with a such a
large party y'all it can be Likewrangling cats.
(13:38):
There was always a time when wewere getting pictures done or
something and somebody wouldjust scurry off.
So it's like the same peoplethat would scurry off is the
same people that we were likeokay, where's this person?
Oh, they went to go smoke, oroh, they went to the bathroom
and then they missed the picture.
So there's several pictureswhere we have certain people
that aren't in there.
So I say, when we do anothertrip like that, if we do another
(14:05):
trip like that, we're going toget walkie talkies.
Because here's the thing whenyou're out to sea, when you're
out to sea, your phone doesn'twork.
Okay, your phone does not work,but mine worked.
Because here's what I did Icalled my cell phone company and
I got the cruise package, so myphone would work at sea.
(14:26):
And I also got theinternational package, which now
my particular carrier hascombined the two so your carrier
may have a cruise orinternational package that's one
in the same.
So I got the at sea packageexcuse me, the cruise package to
where my phone would work atsea.
So I can get online, I can do,I can send emails, I can make
(14:49):
phone calls, I can get intoWhatsApp, because we were using
WhatsApp.
But if you don't have cellservice, whatsapp doesn't work.
So I got that and I also gotthe international package.
So when we were at port, myphone worked, also got the
international package.
So when we were at port, myphone worked.
I was one of the few whosephones worked, which was a
challenge with 22 people andwe're trying to figure out where
we are, what we're doing, blahblah.
(15:10):
So get the cruise package ifyou can through your car.
Um cell phone carrier.
Um, I did also get the uminternet package on the, which a
lot of people say don't do, butI did that just in case my
phone didn't work Like.
I just wanted to have access tomy phone.
(15:31):
You know, being a contentcreator, I did not want to have
an astronomical phone bill whenI came back home.
So I wanted to be covered onall bases and this was actually
the best option for meeconomically.
I wanted to be covered on allbases and this was actually the
best option for me economically.
And we did also get the appwith the cruise ship.
So a lot of the cruise shipshave apps.
(15:51):
But y'all, I'm going to be real, that app on our cruise ship
did not work until like the daybefore we were supposed to leave
.
Like that was the time weactually had it working and it
was like what's the point now?
But when it did work, we wereable to do that.
(16:13):
If you want to travel with alarge group, my cousin had this
great idea, before we set sail,to put everyone's room cabin
numbers in the WhatsApp so youcan go back into WhatsApp and we
could call each other on thecruise ship phones.
But that only worked if peoplewere in their rooms.
So make sure you know if you'rewith a large group or even a
small group, you know whichcabin you're in.
We just so happened to be allof us, except for maybe like two
(16:36):
or three people.
All of us were on the same deck, which was great.
But again, we're leaving andentering at different times, so
we're not always in our room.
So it was kind of hard to keepup with people.
Another thing that I would dowas would book my excursions
early.
Like I said, I'm such a plannerand I there are a lot of things
that I wanted to do that I didnot get to do because I was
(16:58):
trying to make sure that I waswith the group.
I'm telling you right now I'mnot doing that again.
I'm not doing that againBecause one thing about it is,
with such a large group,everyone has different interests
and their different adventurelevels.
So there were certain thingsthat I wanted to do that people
were interested in.
There were certain things thatmy cousins wanted to do that I
(17:19):
was not interested in.
Like they wanted to go to thecasino.
Casino is not really my thing,so I was in karaoke or playing
bingo and things like that.
But I will book my excursionsearly and book them through the
cruise ship.
Yes, I know that the cruise shipcan be more expensive than
booking with an outside vendor,but the thing is, if you book
with a cruise ship, if you bookan excursion with your cruise
(17:43):
line and your your excursiongets back late, the ship will
not leave you.
If you book an excursion withan outside vendor and it is late
, they beat you in troublebecause that ship is not
obligated to wait for you.
Now there are some caveatsaround that where you can find
(18:04):
out the name and phone number ofthe port manager or port
something I can't remember thename of this but whoever's in
charge of the port that you'rein.
If you find that name andnumber of that person and you
call them and let them know, hey, my excursion is running late.
Sometimes they can have theship wait on you.
But I wouldn't guarantee that.
(18:29):
I wouldn't even try that.
Because here's the thing you getstuck in the Bahamas without
your passport, clock it, you'regoing to be in some hot water
because you cannot fly back tothe United States of America
without a passport and that'sgoing to be a whole nother
expense.
And if you get left by the ship, your travel expenses you don't
(18:49):
get refunded from your cruise.
You got to pay for you to getyour flight home and most of the
time if you're out on anexcursion you're not ready to
travel.
And then you got gotta pay toexpedite an emergency passport,
which is not cheap.
So just keep that in mind.
Sometimes it's just better topay a little extra to make sure
(19:12):
that you're safe and prepared.
I would say get travel insurance.
I highly recommend travelinsurance.
Whenever you travel, whenever Itake a flight, whenever I'm
taking a cruise, whenever I'mtraveling, I get travel
insurance, because you neverknow what's going to happen.
I'd rather have it and not needit than need it and not have it
.
So get travel insurance, andright now there are some travel
companies who will give youreally great deals on travel.
(19:37):
You just have to again do yourresearch and figure out which
one works best for you andwhat's best for you financially.
I'm actually thinking aboutgetting there's a travel
insurance company now that willgive you a yearly plan.
So I pay a yearly, one-timeyearly rate or pay monthly, and
(20:00):
I have travel insurance forwherever I go, anytime, and I
think that's good for people whoare on the go all the time, and
one of my goals for 2025 was totravel more, so I just I'm
looking into that.
I'll let y'all know how thatgoes.
Um, so let's see, we're on theship, we're kind of scurrying,
so I will say I will take acruise again.
(20:26):
Um, at first I wasn't quite sureif I enjoyed myself.
I did enjoy my family.
One thing, a couple things thatI did not enjoy.
I did not like how everythingjust kind of shuts down at
certain times.
So you think that you're gonnahave food 24 hours a day.
That's kind of true, and Iguess it depends on what cruise
line you're on.
A lot of the places closed early.
(20:46):
So, like, for instance, forbreakfast, breakfast stopped.
A lot of the breakfast buffetsstopped at 10.
Then you had some that werefrom 10.30 to 12, or you had a
late lunch, I mean a late brunchor a late breakfast, but most
of the places stopped servingbreakfast around 10, 10 30.
So I'm an early bird, so I willbe up Like I still went to the
(21:09):
gym and worked out and didthings like that.
So I would wait to havebreakfast and be starving,
waiting on my family.
I ain't doing that, no more.
I love y'all family.
If you're watching this, I amnot waiting on y'all, no more,
because I was hungry, I wasangry, but by nine, 10 o'clock,
that's when everybody is upCause, then that's about the
time, especially when you're aton a port day that's about the
time when everybody is out.
So you're, the lines areridiculous.
(21:32):
So I would advise getting upearly and going to have your
breakfast.
Um, we did do Sunday brunch,where we reserved a spot in one
of the dining rooms and thatbrunch was delicious.
So if you can reserve thebrunch, I would do that.
Make sure that you are readingthe itinerary that they give you
(21:53):
every morning, because it showsyou what's going on on the ship
that day, what kind ofexcursions are available.
It has important numbers,things like that.
There's so much to do on theship.
We really did not get to seeand experience everything.
I think having a four-day cruisefor a first-time cruiser was
great, because there was acertain time when I was like,
(22:14):
get me off the ship, I'm readyto go home, and that was the fun
day at sea.
The fun day at sea was not funfor me because I realized we
just sitting here.
We were literally sitting inthe middle of the ocean, we
weren't moving, we were anchoredjust in the middle of the ocean
.
And I understand why the crewsdid that, because that's how
they make their money, becauseyou can't go anywhere Like.
(22:35):
You're on the ship.
You're going to be buying food,you're going to be buying
drinks, you're going to bebuying pictures, doing all that
stuff.
You're spending money.
You're gonna be in a casino,you're spending money on the
ship.
That's how they make theirmoney back.
But I felt like, okay, we couldbe, we could be heading back to
port canaveral, get me off thisship, I'm ready to go.
So four days for me was fine,um, to see and experience
(23:00):
everything that I wanted to seeand experience.
I'll probably do a see andexperience.
I'll probably do a seven daycruise next time.
I don't think I would do anymore than seven.
I can do seven days on theisland.
I don't know if I even sevendays on the island is a lot for
me, because sometimes I'm justready to come home.
But yeah, for first timecruises, I would say do four day
, four or five, five at the mostto get your footing and see if
you like it.
Also, pack Dramamine, because Iam not one that gets seasick.
(23:24):
But I'm going to tell you, Iwent to work out and I was on a
treadmill and the gym was at thefront of the ship, which they
call forward at the front of theship.
So at the front of the ship youfeel everything bouncing and,
like I said, because we leftPort Canaveral late, our captain
was making up time.
So we were skipping through thewaves, we were skipping through
the ocean and I felt everything, and being on a treadmill while
(23:48):
the ship is doing this was nota good idea.
So I actually had to cut myworkout short that morning and
go back to my cabin and thankgod I got some trump drumming,
because after that I took thedrumming I was like I was good,
so I was ready for the day.
(24:13):
Another thing that I would do isyou know they have dining times
, so you have early dining orlate dining.
I like the early dining.
We had dining at six because Ilike that time, because it gave
us time to get back from ourexcursions and get dressed up
for dinner, and then we had therest of the evening and then I
don't like to eat after eight.
So that was a good time for me.
I would say get dressed up.
So we had themes for our cruise.
(24:35):
We had an all-black night andwe had an all-white night.
I'm probably going to try toput the picture of our all black
and our all white, because wewas cute.
It really did look good.
So shout out to my cousin forthat idea.
But have, if you're travelingwith a group like have things,
what else?
What else?
I did check my luggage when weboarded the ship because I just
(24:59):
didn't want to deal with it.
You can carry your luggage withyou, but just remember, if you
don't have prior boarding orfastitude of fun or whatever,
you're going to have to carryyour luggage around with you if
you don't check it.
I did not check my luggage thenight we were getting off of the
ship because I was leavingearly.
(25:22):
So I got off the ship at like7.30 so I could catch my shuttle
and catch the flight.
So I had my luggage with me,which was great because I didn't
have to wait.
So just a little tidbits onthat.
What else?
Research the port that you'regoing to.
I would say that Research theport where you're going to stop.
The bahamas did a huge uhremodel of their port from, from
(25:46):
my understanding, and it wasbeautiful, like it was really
beautiful.
It was long sidebar.
Get you some good walking shoes, good running shoes, just in
case you gotta run.
I hope you don't have to run,but get you some good walking
shoes because the walk from theship where the ship was docked
to the actual port, so down thedock to the port to the vendors.
(26:13):
It had to be a good two orthree miles.
It was a long walk.
That day we did like 20,000steps.
So get you some good walkingshoes, because in nassau you get
off the ship, you go down thedock, then you go through the
port, the where the vendors andeverything are, and that's like
(26:34):
really long.
Then you finally get out to thestreet, to the bahamas, and
then that's another walk weJunkaroo Beach.
I think that's what it was, andthere have been mixed reviews
about Junkaroo.
I enjoyed it.
It was a 10 minute walk fromthe port, from once you get
outside of the port to Junkaroo,but we got some guys to take us
(26:57):
on a boat on around.
So it was, it was pretty cool,but I would love to see Nassau
more, so I feel like I needanother trip to Nassau to
experience everything.
What else would I do differently?
Um, I would still get a balconyroom.
Um, I got a balcony room andI'm glad that I did, because I
(27:20):
love the water.
I saw the most beautiful, oneof the most beautiful sunrises
I've ever seen.
Um, I love watching the sunriseand I love watching the sunset.
I kind of I did get to seebeautiful sunsets too.
Um, but I got a balcony room.
The balcony room was a prettydecent size, it's remember
(27:41):
you're on a cruise ship, so itis a little tight for two people
, but you're on a cruise ship,so it's not, it's it?
It reminded me of a dorm room,you know, like a, it reminded me
of a freshman dorm.
It had a little bit of space toit.
I'm probably I'm gonna see if Ican stick the video of the room
here, but it had some space toit.
It was a decent size, but thatbalcony just added a little bit
(28:04):
more depth to it, so it didn'tfeel confined.
I think on my next cruise I mayget a suite, just to see what
the difference is.
And also, I'm aware that itdepends on your cruise ship too.
So we sailed on an older ship.
It's one of the older ships,it's recognizable because it
caught fire in in twice, sothere's a element that's missing
(28:26):
from our ship.
Um, one thing I will say aboutthis ship you can tell it's
older, even though I've neverbeen on another cruise.
But from looking at othercruise ships online, I can tell
tell the difference.
And there was something aboutthe ship that I was like.
I don't know if I'm the onlyone that noticed this, but then
when I said something about it,I was not the only one.
It smelled like doo-doo.
There was a faint smell ofdoo-doo on every floor and I
(28:54):
don't know if it was because itwas an older ship.
I don't know if it was becausethe sept an older ship.
I don't know if it was becausethe septic system was something
was going on with.
But yeah, when you walked intothe hallway some days it smelled
like straight doo doo.
That was not pleasant.
So I will say that Overall, thefood was great, met some
amazing people.
(29:14):
The staff was amazing.
Our room steward Weedy awesomesauce.
He was awesome.
Miss Penny at the bar Honey,miss Penny got me right.
Okay, miss Penny could makewhatever you want.
She made virgin drinks.
It was just amazing.
Everything tasted so good.
(29:36):
The food was good.
I'm proud of myself for notoverindulging because I got
goals.
I'm still dropping this weight,but I did good.
Guy's Burgers Jesus, jesus.
I now know if I take, if andwhen I take another cruise on
this particular cruise line, I'mgoing straight to guys burgers.
(29:58):
That burger was so freakinggood, it was delicious.
And the fries, the fries.
If God himself touched thefries, I'm telling you.
And I had one of the bestomelets, one of the best omelets
on this cruise.
(30:18):
Okay, just good.
And the apple juice.
Now I swear you can't tell me,and I hope somebody from the
cruise line sees this, becauseif you see this, I just want to
commend y'all for your juices.
The apple juice tasted likesomebody had picked the apple
out of the garden of Eden, and Iknow the Bible doesn't say it's
(30:39):
an apple, read your Bible.
It's actually.
It just says a fig, it's afruit.
It didn't say apple, read yourBible, read your Bible, read
your Bible.
But it felt like God himselfplucked that apple, put it
betwixt his hands and smushed it, got the juice out of of it and
put it in the glass.
(30:59):
That's how good the apple juicewas.
It tasted fresh.
You can't tell me that thesepeople do not have a juicer on
these cruise ships, becauseevery juice I had was delicious
and it tasted fresh the applejuice, the orange juice, the
guava.
But I will say this I'm gonnaneed y'all how to learn how to
put sugar in your teeth, thesugar in the sweet tea and the
(31:24):
lemonade.
I'm gonna need some sugar in it.
But the juice, chef's kiss.
Also, I would recommend you getthe drink package.
Get the drink package, get thedrink package.
I ended up getting the drinkpackage, get the drink package.
I ended up getting the drinkpackage when I said I wasn't
gonna do it because I wanted oneglass of wine and that glass of
wine was expensive.
And then they charge yougratuity and tax and that's one
(31:45):
thing I did not like about thecruise.
I did not like that.
We were nickeled and dimedabout everything.
I did not like that.
That's why I said I was down atthe guest services because they
charged me $100 tip $100.
When I went and got that drinkpackage I said oh, no, no, no,
no, no, no.
What you're going to do is takethat off, because I ain't
(32:08):
tipping them $100 for this.
No, and they took it off.
But Chad, get the drink package.
This did affirm for me that I aman all-inclusive kind of girl.
You know, I really like beingable to go to someplace that's
all-inclusive and not have toworry about nothing.
I can just tip, like I will goand I will just tip my servers
(32:29):
or whomever, my wait staff orwhatever.
Like if I get a butler, tip mybutler the day that I'm there
and they take care of me therest of the time.
But, being nickel and dime foreverything, I did not like that.
That.
That was not enjoyable for me,um no.
So get the drink package, geteverything that you think you're
not gonna want.
Get it before you go on theship and watch.
(32:49):
Watch your bill.
So that sign and sale card.
They give you a little cardlike this and we're not this is
my marriott card, but from oneof my states, from somewhere.
But they give you a little signand sale card and that is your
currency.
So you have to put a card onfile and they will charge that
mug.
I sat and watched them chargemy card every single time and at
(33:12):
one point I was like, hold on,like y'all get a little happy,
let me go down here and seewhat's going on.
And I'm glad I did, becausethey were charging me gratuities
and taxes on stuff and I'm like, hold on, I'm not, this is not
what y'all doing.
So watch your bill, becausethey will get you and it's
easier to dispute it before youget off the ship versus trying
(33:35):
to dispute it when you get off,because basically, once you're
off the ship, the trip is over.
So make sure that you'rewatching your sign and sale card
.
If the app works, you can seeyour account in the app.
If the app is not working, makesure you go down to guest
services and make friends withthe people at guest services.
Be kind to them, becausethey're dealing with everybody
(33:58):
that's on this ship.
But if you're kind to people,they'll be kind to you.
It costs nothing to smile and Iunderstand that this is money
and it's a vacation, but be kindto people.
And here's my thing If you're onvacation, why are you so tense?
Chill out.
My next thing will be make sureyou bring sunscreen.
I had two different kinds ofsunscreen.
(34:19):
My dear cousin who was fairskinned I don't know why she
didn't bring sunscreen, didn'tput none on and her whole face
was red.
She like a little cherry popwhen we were done.
Make sure you have sunscreen.
Make sure you have.
Oh oh oh.
I got this offline, but thewalls in your cabin are magnet
or metal, so get magnets.
I had magnets.
(34:40):
I ordered some magnets off ofthat place we're not supposed to
be ordering from, but I orderedthem anyway because I needed
them and I didn't know whereelse to get them.
But I got magnets and that wasthe best thing because we were
able to hang our lanyards on themagnets instead of putting it
down somewhere and trying tofind something.
You'd be amazed at how stuffcan get lost in your room.
So we got magnets.
We were able to hang ourswimsuits and hats and things up
(35:03):
on those magnets, which wasgreat.
Room service Room service is notincluded in your cruise but
because things close early, likeyou have a late night place,
buffet place that's open untillike two in the morning, but
(35:24):
that was not one of my favoriteplaces.
So I did order room service onenight because I was so hungry
and I wanted a soda and that wasabout 15.
So room service is not included.
Um, I saw this lady doing thisat in in in line one morning.
Well, one afternoon I was likewhy I had to ask her?
(35:45):
I was like what are you doing?
She had a ziploc bag, y'all,and this was genius.
She had a ziploc bag so as shewas getting her food to eat, she
put food in the ziploc bag totake back to her room.
So she had snacks.
She had something to munch onlate at night.
I was like that's genius.
So next cruise I go on, I willhave ziploc bags.
(36:08):
If you see me, don't talk aboutme because that would have come
in handy.
If you are coming back from theclub in the cruise ship at two
o'clock in the morning, youdon't want to stand in that line
at the buffet and havesomething that you know they
have, may have something thatyou don't want to eat or won't
eat or can't eat, and then youcan go to your room and have
your snacky snack and also withthe drink packages, depending on
(36:32):
what you get.
Like our drink package, we wereable to get bottled water and
we were able to get sodas.
So I would say, get you a cansoda or and get you a bottle of
water, because you do getthirsty at night.
Get you a bottle of water, takeit back to your cabin and go
back out and enjoy your day, butjust have something in your
room for you those late nights.
So overall, I enjoyed myself.
(36:55):
Um, I enjoyed my time with myfamily.
I will be doing a cruise againjust to get a different
experience with maybe not somany people.
I'm not knocking it because Idid have a good time, but I
think I want to experience acruise in a way that I would
enjoy a little bit more, youknow, so I can explore a little
(37:16):
bit more.
And I would love to do a cruisewith my girlfriends.
To be honest, I feel like thatwould be a time.
A time will be had.
I feel like we would have agood.
We would have some shenanigansgoing on.
So I would love to do a cruisewith my sisters as well, because
we've been talking about asister trip for a minute and I
think that would be a goodopportunity for us to bond.
So, yeah, I'll probably bedoing a cruise again and I'll do
(37:39):
another review.
So, again, I'm going to try toadd videos and stuff, but I'm
not an editor child.
Y'all bear with me, because allof this is new to me.
We've been trying out in 2025.
Okay, we're just doing some newstuff.
But anyway, if you havequestions for me about this
cruise yes, I know this is myfirst cruise.
(37:59):
I'm not an expert cruiser oranything like that, but I will
share my experience and, if Ihave missed anything, if you've
been on cruises before and youhave some other tips, please
share them, because I'm prettysure we all could use them
Collectively.
We're going to get through thislife together.
All right, so that's it for thisepisode of the Charging Station
Podcast.
Thank you again for joining me.
I hope that you got somethingout of this.
(38:22):
I hope that this has sparkedyour travel bug.
If you are afraid to travel,book the trip.
Book the ding dang trip.
Life is too short.
Book the trip, even if youbecome a tourist in your own
city.
Go travel, see something new,do something different,
especially in this day and agewhere everything is just so
crazy.
Go enjoy yourself, alright,until next time, boo, remember
(38:42):
God loves you, I love you.
It ain't nothing you can doabout it.
Baby, love you guys.
Bye.
hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, what's good everybody?
Welcome to the charging stationpodcast.
It's your girl, tracy massey ofliving my empowered life,
welcome, welcome, welcome if youare new here, welcome to the
shenanigans.
We are making room on thecouchy couch for you to have a
seat.
Come on in.
Tap the tap the hand sanitizer.
(00:24):
Take your shoes off, makeyourself at home If you are
returning, watch your listener,whatever.
Hey, boo, you know I love yousome.
You welcome back.
I need everybody to go ahead andfollow me on the socials.
You know what to do.
Find me at Living my EmpoweredLife on TikTok Threads, facebook
, youtube, facebook, youtube.
(00:44):
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Join my email list and makesure that you are subscribing,
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If it asks you to subscribe,subscribe.
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Please do that and make surethat you rate and review the
(01:09):
five stars.
Go ahead and grab your coffee,grab your tea, grab your water,
grab your wine, whatever yourbeverage of choice is.
Go ahead and grab that thing.
Have a seat on the couchbecause I'm about to tell you
about my very first cruise.
Yes, I went on a cruise.
So my cousin had this idea thatwe're going to do family trips
(01:32):
every other year and the lastfamily trip we did we went to
the mountains in Tennessee andhad a grand time.
Y'all we had a time.
That was a fun trip.
It was maybe about 15 of usthat were in this big old cabin
and had a blast.
So this year we got togetherand did a cruise.
(01:54):
Unfortunately we weren't ableto do the cruise where we had
originally planned it, becausewe had a whole panoramic view
that was happening in betweentime.
It took us in between the time,but this this year we got to do
it.
So shout out to my cousin,super dome bj, for getting us
(02:15):
together for our first cruise.
Now I'm gonna be honest y'all.
I love to travel.
I am a travel girly, travelenthusi.
I don't get to travel as muchas I want to, but I will get up
out of here and get some stampsin my passport when I can.
But I never really had thedesire to go on a cruise, mainly
because I like going todestinations and experiencing
(02:38):
the culture, being able to kindof mull around and I have this
fear of being left by the ship.
I ain't gonna lie y'all.
I just I did not want to be apeer runner.
Yeah, I'm working out and doingall that, but have you seen the
peers of these ships?
It's not fun to run.
So I just had this fear aboutgetting left.
And then, you know, I'm verymuch of an introvert, I like to
(03:00):
be able to steal away and youknow I would do an Irish exit in
a heartbeat.
And I just kind of felt like,ok, well, maybe a cruise is too
much because there's too manypeople, there's people
everywhere all the time.
All the time I'll do a crowd,but I don't like doing a crowd
for a long period of time.
So I was like I really want todo a cruise.
And then I was like, OK, well,if I do a cruise and I'll go on
(03:21):
Virgin, because it's adults only, I ain't got to worry about
nobody else.
Chaps, you know, it's adifferent kind of clientele,
blah, blah, blah, blah.
So I had all these preconceivednotions.
So when my cousin came up withthe proposition to do a family
cruise, which was, you know, alittle bit more economical for
everybody, and we did a shortcruise four days to the Bahamas,
I was like I want to, but Idon't.
(03:45):
I want to but I don't.
And what outweighed, whatpersuaded me was the fact that I
would get to spend time with mycousins.
So it's rare that we are all inthe same place at the same time
, and even all of my cousinsweren't able to attend.
So the ones that were there, wehad a blast.
So let me just walk you throughsome of the things that I've
(04:06):
learned.
So if you are a first timecruiser, this is for you.
If you are not a first timecruiser, still stick with me in
this episode and be sure toreach out and share some of your
tips about cruising or whatnot.
So I'm just going to share someof the things that I learned on
my first cruise and some of thethings that I would do
differently, and I will evenshare if I would do a cruise
(04:29):
again.
All right.
So number one thing I am verymuch of a planner and we had a
travel advisor with the cruiseship who, um, let's just say, as
a planner, he didn't advisevery wisely.
I wrote a very nice email tothe cruise line about him
(04:53):
because I had to do my ownchanges, my own research and
things like that.
He was not very accommodatingis not the word.
He did not communicate verywell.
So a lot of the things you knowwhen you're making, when you're
traveling, you have deadlinesand things like that if you want
to make a change.
So I had to change out a guest.
(05:15):
So the guest that was supposedto be going with me was not
going, so I had to switch outsomebody.
And I actually went on thewebsite myself and did it,
because I asked the questionwhen I first booked with the
travel advisor, like, hey, if Ihave to switch out a guest, what
do I need to do?
And the only thing he said tome was it can be done, but it'll
be very expensive.
(05:35):
And I'm like, okay, well,what's the cost?
He never did tell me.
So I found out and honestly,y'all, there was a cost, very
expensive it was.
It didn't seem very expensiveto me because clearly I did it.
So there's that.
Um, I will say do your ownresearch, even with you.
When you have a travel advisor,they're human, they can get
(05:55):
things wrong.
All right, and this comes fromsomebody who has done travel
before I.
In my past life I was a traveladvisor, I booked trips for
people.
So do your own research.
And since this was my firstcruise, that's exactly what I
did, like I was all on theYouTube YouTube University, I
was all on TikTok, I waseverywhere researching, finding
(06:16):
out the ports, because, ofcourse, when you book your
cruise, you know where you'regoing.
So we went out of Port Canaveraland we did a four day Bahamas
cruise.
So we did Nassau, bahamas andPrincess Caves Island.
So those are the two stops andwe had one day at sea.
We're going to talk about thatfun day at sea.
All right, and I'm purposelynot saying the cruise line, but
(06:39):
if you listen to what I say,you're going to know who the
cruise line is.
And I'm purposely not saying itbecause I don't want to get
sued, but this is just an honestreview.
So what I did was I booked ahotel the night before.
So I flew down the night beforeto Port Canaveral for a couple
of reasons.
One, I did not want to feelrushed, trying to travel the day
(07:01):
of.
Anytime I'm doing something,whether it be an event, like if
I'm going somewhere to speak, orif I'm going to a concert or
convention or whatever I'mflying out the day before I
would much rather be there andsitting than trying to rush to
get to where I'm going,especially when you got
connecting flights or you'retrying to catch a ship.
(07:22):
I'm there the day before.
Some of my cousins, on theother hand, decided to come down
the day of and y'all me being aplanner, and they know how I am
, me being a planner that thingwas bugging me because I was
like it's spring break, anythingcan happen.
Why are you doing this?
But they made it in time.
They actually they made it intime, thank God.
But, child, they had mestressed okay, but I flew down
(07:46):
the night before and booked ahotel which was literally 10
minutes from the port.
Some of my other cousins wereacross the street.
Some of the cousins were at thesame kind of at the same hotel.
So the hotel where I stayed inPort Canaveral was very nice,
one of the Hilton brands ohsorry, I'm trying not to say the
(08:08):
names because they're notpaying me but it was a very nice
hotel and they had anotherhotel attached to it.
So that must be something new.
I had never seen that before.
We have it's the same umbrellacompany, but it's two different
hotels attached to each other.
So some of the cousins were atthe same spot that I was, um,
which was great.
My sister, who lives in florida,sister number one came to pick
(08:29):
me up from the airport inorlando and we just spent sister
time.
So we had dinner, she got tomeet some of my cousins excuse
me, meet some of my cousins atnight, um, and we just had
sister time because again we'regetting to know each other.
Um, and we just had sister timebecause again we're getting to
know each other, so that was fun.
She took myself and my cousinto the port the next morning,
(08:50):
which was was fun.
I will say this Um, if yourcruise line, if you're cruising
and your cruise line has anopportunity for you to get um
early access, to like pay forearly access, get it, get it.
We got what was called faster tothe fun on the cruise line that
we were on and I'm so glad thatwe did because we got priority
(09:11):
boarding.
We were able to get on the shipearlier than everybody.
We were able to access our room, so drop off stuff off first.
We weren't you're not allowedto go into your cabin until 1 30
, but we were able to.
We're not allowed to stay inyour cabin until 1 30.
(09:31):
But we were able to access ourcabin and drop our luggage off
um before that time.
So we had to drop our stuff offand then leave.
But being able to drop ourstuff off was great because then
we were able to explore theship.
We went straight to the Lidodeck.
Well, no, no, no, no Let metake that back we did our muster
station.
So when you're cruising youhave to go by your muster
(09:53):
station, just check in.
It's a safety drill so you knowwhere your life vests are,
where the lifeboats are, in caseanything happens.
You go to your muster stationand that's where you report to
if we have to evacuate the ship.
That is a requirement.
The boat, the ship, will notleave until everyone does their
muster station drill.
So we did that, went to ourroom, dropped off our stuff,
(10:16):
then went to the lido deck andwas like okay, we are here.
So definitely pay for the earlyaccess and it also gets you
early access to priority in line.
So at guest services you haveyour own line, cause I did have
to go to guest services a coupletimes and anytime we're doing
(10:36):
excursions you get priorboarding for your excursions.
When we went to Princess Caveswe had to do a water taxi
because there's no, no dockthere, no port there, so we had
to take a water taxi from theship to the actual island.
So we got first dibs on that.
Um, so that gave us longer timeon the island, um, things like
(10:58):
that.
So you just get priorityeverything with fast and true to
fun.
It was worth the money for me.
So we were the first ones in ouractual group to board the ship
and just kind of hang out.
So we were just kind of waitingon everybody to trickle in.
Most of our boarding times wasright around the same time,
which was good.
We did have a couple peoplethat were later, but we just
(11:22):
told everybody where we were andjust waited for the sail away
party.
So we did have a little bit oftime to explore the ship before
everybody got on, which was nicebecause it wasn't crowded.
So you can kind of get lostwhich is what we did and be able
to sit and enjoy guys, burgersI got ice cream, you know.
They started coming around andpassing out drinks and things
(11:45):
like that, so we were able tojust kind of chill out.
So day one was interesting Oncewe were able to get into our
rooms at 1.30, my cousin and Ilike we all dispersed and went
to our rooms so we could unpackand kind of map out what we're
going to do for that day.
We all agreed to come back tothe sail away party which was
(12:06):
happening about.
We were supposed to set sail at3.30.
So the sail away party happenedat 3.30, but we didn't sail
away.
I don't know why we ended upleaving, maybe like an hour,
hour and a half past the timethat we were supposed to leave.
And from what I saw online notpertaining to this particular
(12:28):
cruise, but from what I sawonline, when the ship leaves
late like that from the send off, it's because somebody didn't
do their muster drill.
So, whoever that was the firstweek of April going to the
Bahamas out of Port Canaveraland you didn't do your mustard
drill, you're the reason why wewas late and you're the reason
why the captain was flyingthrough the ocean to get us to
(12:50):
our first destination.
Do what you're supposed to do,people.
So my honest review first off,I did have a good time.
My family is crazy.
Um, if you're watching this onYouTube, I'm going to try to put
in pictures and things likethat I'm trying my editing bag,
(13:11):
so bear with me, we're doingsomething new.
If you're not on YouTube, I'msorry, but this is where I would
insert a picture, maybe righthere.
Um, my family and I had a goodtime.
It was 22 of us and I will saythis traveling with a such a
large party y'all it can be Likewrangling cats.
(13:38):
There was always a time when wewere getting pictures done or
something and somebody wouldjust scurry off.
So it's like the same peoplethat would scurry off is the
same people that we were likeokay, where's this person?
Oh, they went to go smoke, oroh, they went to the bathroom
and then they missed the picture.
So there's several pictureswhere we have certain people
that aren't in there.
So I say, when we do anothertrip like that, if we do another
(14:05):
trip like that, we're going toget walkie talkies.
Because here's the thing whenyou're out to sea, when you're
out to sea, your phone doesn'twork.
Okay, your phone does not work,but mine worked.
Because here's what I did Icalled my cell phone company and
I got the cruise package, so myphone would work at sea.
(14:26):
And I also got theinternational package, which now
my particular carrier hascombined the two so your carrier
may have a cruise orinternational package that's one
in the same.
So I got the at sea packageexcuse me, the cruise package to
where my phone would work atsea.
So I can get online, I can do,I can send emails, I can make
(14:49):
phone calls, I can get intoWhatsApp, because we were using
WhatsApp.
But if you don't have cellservice, whatsapp doesn't work.
So I got that and I also gotthe international package.
So when we were at port, myphone worked, also got the
international package.
So when we were at port, myphone worked.
I was one of the few whosephones worked, which was a
challenge with 22 people andwe're trying to figure out where
we are, what we're doing, blahblah.
(15:10):
So get the cruise package ifyou can through your car.
Um cell phone carrier.
Um, I did also get the uminternet package on the, which a
lot of people say don't do, butI did that just in case my
phone didn't work Like.
I just wanted to have access tomy phone.
(15:31):
You know, being a contentcreator, I did not want to have
an astronomical phone bill whenI came back home.
So I wanted to be covered onall bases and this was actually
the best option for meeconomically.
I wanted to be covered on allbases and this was actually the
best option for me economically.
And we did also get the appwith the cruise ship.
So a lot of the cruise shipshave apps.
(15:51):
But y'all, I'm going to be real, that app on our cruise ship
did not work until like the daybefore we were supposed to leave
.
Like that was the time weactually had it working and it
was like what's the point now?
But when it did work, we wereable to do that.
(16:13):
If you want to travel with alarge group, my cousin had this
great idea, before we set sail,to put everyone's room cabin
numbers in the WhatsApp so youcan go back into WhatsApp and we
could call each other on thecruise ship phones.
But that only worked if peoplewere in their rooms.
So make sure you know if you'rewith a large group or even a
small group, you know whichcabin you're in.
We just so happened to be allof us, except for maybe like two
(16:36):
or three people.
All of us were on the same deck, which was great.
But again, we're leaving andentering at different times, so
we're not always in our room.
So it was kind of hard to keepup with people.
Another thing that I would dowas would book my excursions
early.
Like I said, I'm such a plannerand I there are a lot of things
that I wanted to do that I didnot get to do because I was
(16:58):
trying to make sure that I waswith the group.
I'm telling you right now I'mnot doing that again.
I'm not doing that againBecause one thing about it is,
with such a large group,everyone has different interests
and their different adventurelevels.
So there were certain thingsthat I wanted to do that people
were interested in.
There were certain things thatmy cousins wanted to do that I
(17:19):
was not interested in.
Like they wanted to go to thecasino.
Casino is not really my thing,so I was in karaoke or playing
bingo and things like that.
But I will book my excursionsearly and book them through the
cruise ship.
Yes, I know that the cruise shipcan be more expensive than
booking with an outside vendor,but the thing is, if you book
with a cruise ship, if you bookan excursion with your cruise
(17:43):
line and your your excursiongets back late, the ship will
not leave you.
If you book an excursion withan outside vendor and it is late
, they beat you in troublebecause that ship is not
obligated to wait for you.
Now there are some caveatsaround that where you can find
(18:04):
out the name and phone number ofthe port manager or port
something I can't remember thename of this but whoever's in
charge of the port that you'rein.
If you find that name andnumber of that person and you
call them and let them know, hey, my excursion is running late.
Sometimes they can have theship wait on you.
But I wouldn't guarantee that.
(18:29):
I wouldn't even try that.
Because here's the thing you getstuck in the Bahamas without
your passport, clock it, you'regoing to be in some hot water
because you cannot fly back tothe United States of America
without a passport and that'sgoing to be a whole nother
expense.
And if you get left by the ship, your travel expenses you don't
(18:49):
get refunded from your cruise.
You got to pay for you to getyour flight home and most of the
time if you're out on anexcursion you're not ready to
travel.
And then you got gotta pay toexpedite an emergency passport,
which is not cheap.
So just keep that in mind.
Sometimes it's just better topay a little extra to make sure
(19:12):
that you're safe and prepared.
I would say get travel insurance.
I highly recommend travelinsurance.
Whenever you travel, whenever Itake a flight, whenever I'm
taking a cruise, whenever I'mtraveling, I get travel
insurance, because you neverknow what's going to happen.
I'd rather have it and not needit than need it and not have it
.
So get travel insurance, andright now there are some travel
companies who will give youreally great deals on travel.
(19:37):
You just have to again do yourresearch and figure out which
one works best for you andwhat's best for you financially.
I'm actually thinking aboutgetting there's a travel
insurance company now that willgive you a yearly plan.
So I pay a yearly, one-timeyearly rate or pay monthly, and
(20:00):
I have travel insurance forwherever I go, anytime, and I
think that's good for people whoare on the go all the time, and
one of my goals for 2025 was totravel more, so I just I'm
looking into that.
I'll let y'all know how thatgoes.
Um, so let's see, we're on theship, we're kind of scurrying,
so I will say I will take acruise again.
(20:26):
Um, at first I wasn't quite sureif I enjoyed myself.
I did enjoy my family.
One thing, a couple things thatI did not enjoy.
I did not like how everythingjust kind of shuts down at
certain times.
So you think that you're gonnahave food 24 hours a day.
That's kind of true, and Iguess it depends on what cruise
line you're on.
A lot of the places closed early.
(20:46):
So, like, for instance, forbreakfast, breakfast stopped.
A lot of the breakfast buffetsstopped at 10.
Then you had some that werefrom 10.30 to 12, or you had a
late lunch, I mean a late brunchor a late breakfast, but most
of the places stopped servingbreakfast around 10, 10 30.
So I'm an early bird, so I willbe up Like I still went to the
(21:09):
gym and worked out and didthings like that.
So I would wait to havebreakfast and be starving,
waiting on my family.
I ain't doing that, no more.
I love y'all family.
If you're watching this, I amnot waiting on y'all, no more,
because I was hungry, I wasangry, but by nine, 10 o'clock,
that's when everybody is upCause, then that's about the
time, especially when you're aton a port day that's about the
time when everybody is out.
So you're, the lines areridiculous.
(21:32):
So I would advise getting upearly and going to have your
breakfast.
Um, we did do Sunday brunch,where we reserved a spot in one
of the dining rooms and thatbrunch was delicious.
So if you can reserve thebrunch, I would do that.
Make sure that you are readingthe itinerary that they give you
(21:53):
every morning, because it showsyou what's going on on the ship
that day, what kind ofexcursions are available.
It has important numbers,things like that.
There's so much to do on theship.
We really did not get to seeand experience everything.
I think having a four-day cruisefor a first-time cruiser was
great, because there was acertain time when I was like,
(22:14):
get me off the ship, I'm readyto go home, and that was the fun
day at sea.
The fun day at sea was not funfor me because I realized we
just sitting here.
We were literally sitting inthe middle of the ocean, we
weren't moving, we were anchoredjust in the middle of the ocean
.
And I understand why the crewsdid that, because that's how
they make their money, becauseyou can't go anywhere Like.
(22:35):
You're on the ship.
You're going to be buying food,you're going to be buying
drinks, you're going to bebuying pictures, doing all that
stuff.
You're spending money.
You're gonna be in a casino,you're spending money on the
ship.
That's how they make theirmoney back.
But I felt like, okay, we couldbe, we could be heading back to
port canaveral, get me off thisship, I'm ready to go.
So four days for me was fine,um, to see and experience
(23:00):
everything that I wanted to seeand experience.
I'll probably do a see andexperience.
I'll probably do a seven daycruise next time.
I don't think I would do anymore than seven.
I can do seven days on theisland.
I don't know if I even sevendays on the island is a lot for
me, because sometimes I'm justready to come home.
But yeah, for first timecruises, I would say do four day
, four or five, five at the mostto get your footing and see if
you like it.
Also, pack Dramamine, because Iam not one that gets seasick.
(23:24):
But I'm going to tell you, Iwent to work out and I was on a
treadmill and the gym was at thefront of the ship, which they
call forward at the front of theship.
So at the front of the ship youfeel everything bouncing and,
like I said, because we leftPort Canaveral late, our captain
was making up time.
So we were skipping through thewaves, we were skipping through
the ocean and I felt everything, and being on a treadmill while
(23:48):
the ship is doing this was nota good idea.
So I actually had to cut myworkout short that morning and
go back to my cabin and thankgod I got some trump drumming,
because after that I took thedrumming I was like I was good,
so I was ready for the day.
(24:13):
Another thing that I would do isyou know they have dining times
, so you have early dining orlate dining.
I like the early dining.
We had dining at six because Ilike that time, because it gave
us time to get back from ourexcursions and get dressed up
for dinner, and then we had therest of the evening and then I
don't like to eat after eight.
So that was a good time for me.
I would say get dressed up.
So we had themes for our cruise.
(24:35):
We had an all-black night andwe had an all-white night.
I'm probably going to try toput the picture of our all black
and our all white, because wewas cute.
It really did look good.
So shout out to my cousin forthat idea.
But have, if you're travelingwith a group like have things,
what else?
What else?
I did check my luggage when weboarded the ship because I just
(24:59):
didn't want to deal with it.
You can carry your luggage withyou, but just remember, if you
don't have prior boarding orfastitude of fun or whatever,
you're going to have to carryyour luggage around with you if
you don't check it.
I did not check my luggage thenight we were getting off of the
ship because I was leavingearly.
(25:22):
So I got off the ship at like7.30 so I could catch my shuttle
and catch the flight.
So I had my luggage with me,which was great because I didn't
have to wait.
So just a little tidbits onthat.
What else?
Research the port that you'regoing to.
I would say that Research theport where you're going to stop.
The bahamas did a huge uhremodel of their port from, from
(25:46):
my understanding, and it wasbeautiful, like it was really
beautiful.
It was long sidebar.
Get you some good walking shoes, good running shoes, just in
case you gotta run.
I hope you don't have to run,but get you some good walking
shoes because the walk from theship where the ship was docked
to the actual port, so down thedock to the port to the vendors.
(26:13):
It had to be a good two orthree miles.
It was a long walk.
That day we did like 20,000steps.
So get you some good walkingshoes, because in nassau you get
off the ship, you go down thedock, then you go through the
port, the where the vendors andeverything are, and that's like
(26:34):
really long.
Then you finally get out to thestreet, to the bahamas, and
then that's another walk weJunkaroo Beach.
I think that's what it was, andthere have been mixed reviews
about Junkaroo.
I enjoyed it.
It was a 10 minute walk fromthe port, from once you get
outside of the port to Junkaroo,but we got some guys to take us
(26:57):
on a boat on around.
So it was, it was pretty cool,but I would love to see Nassau
more, so I feel like I needanother trip to Nassau to
experience everything.
What else would I do differently?
Um, I would still get a balconyroom.
Um, I got a balcony room andI'm glad that I did, because I
(27:20):
love the water.
I saw the most beautiful, oneof the most beautiful sunrises
I've ever seen.
Um, I love watching the sunriseand I love watching the sunset.
I kind of I did get to seebeautiful sunsets too.
Um, but I got a balcony room.
The balcony room was a prettydecent size, it's remember
(27:41):
you're on a cruise ship, so itis a little tight for two people
, but you're on a cruise ship,so it's not, it's it?
It reminded me of a dorm room,you know, like a, it reminded me
of a freshman dorm.
It had a little bit of space toit.
I'm probably I'm gonna see if Ican stick the video of the room
here, but it had some space toit.
It was a decent size, but thatbalcony just added a little bit
(28:04):
more depth to it, so it didn'tfeel confined.
I think on my next cruise I mayget a suite, just to see what
the difference is.
And also, I'm aware that itdepends on your cruise ship too.
So we sailed on an older ship.
It's one of the older ships,it's recognizable because it
caught fire in in twice, sothere's a element that's missing
(28:26):
from our ship.
Um, one thing I will say aboutthis ship you can tell it's
older, even though I've neverbeen on another cruise.
But from looking at othercruise ships online, I can tell
tell the difference.
And there was something aboutthe ship that I was like.
I don't know if I'm the onlyone that noticed this, but then
when I said something about it,I was not the only one.
It smelled like doo-doo.
There was a faint smell ofdoo-doo on every floor and I
(28:54):
don't know if it was because itwas an older ship.
I don't know if it was becausethe sept an older ship.
I don't know if it was becausethe septic system was something
was going on with.
But yeah, when you walked intothe hallway some days it smelled
like straight doo doo.
That was not pleasant.
So I will say that Overall, thefood was great, met some
amazing people.
(29:14):
The staff was amazing.
Our room steward Weedy awesomesauce.
He was awesome.
Miss Penny at the bar Honey,miss Penny got me right.
Okay, miss Penny could makewhatever you want.
She made virgin drinks.
It was just amazing.
Everything tasted so good.
(29:36):
The food was good.
I'm proud of myself for notoverindulging because I got
goals.
I'm still dropping this weight,but I did good.
Guy's Burgers Jesus, jesus.
I now know if I take, if andwhen I take another cruise on
this particular cruise line, I'mgoing straight to guys burgers.
(29:58):
That burger was so freakinggood, it was delicious.
And the fries, the fries.
If God himself touched thefries, I'm telling you.
And I had one of the bestomelets, one of the best omelets
on this cruise.
(30:18):
Okay, just good.
And the apple juice.
Now I swear you can't tell me,and I hope somebody from the
cruise line sees this, becauseif you see this, I just want to
commend y'all for your juices.
The apple juice tasted likesomebody had picked the apple
out of the garden of Eden, and Iknow the Bible doesn't say it's
(30:39):
an apple, read your Bible.
It's actually.
It just says a fig, it's afruit.
It didn't say apple, read yourBible, read your Bible, read
your Bible.
But it felt like God himselfplucked that apple, put it
betwixt his hands and smushed it, got the juice out of of it and
put it in the glass.
(30:59):
That's how good the apple juicewas.
It tasted fresh.
You can't tell me that thesepeople do not have a juicer on
these cruise ships, becauseevery juice I had was delicious
and it tasted fresh the applejuice, the orange juice, the
guava.
But I will say this I'm gonnaneed y'all how to learn how to
put sugar in your teeth, thesugar in the sweet tea and the
(31:24):
lemonade.
I'm gonna need some sugar in it.
But the juice, chef's kiss.
Also, I would recommend you getthe drink package.
Get the drink package, get thedrink package.
I ended up getting the drinkpackage, get the drink package.
I ended up getting the drinkpackage when I said I wasn't
gonna do it because I wanted oneglass of wine and that glass of
wine was expensive.
And then they charge yougratuity and tax and that's one
(31:45):
thing I did not like about thecruise.
I did not like that.
We were nickeled and dimedabout everything.
I did not like that.
That's why I said I was down atthe guest services because they
charged me $100 tip $100.
When I went and got that drinkpackage I said oh, no, no, no,
no, no, no.
What you're going to do is takethat off, because I ain't
(32:08):
tipping them $100 for this.
No, and they took it off.
But Chad, get the drink package.
This did affirm for me that I aman all-inclusive kind of girl.
You know, I really like beingable to go to someplace that's
all-inclusive and not have toworry about nothing.
I can just tip, like I will goand I will just tip my servers
(32:29):
or whomever, my wait staff orwhatever.
Like if I get a butler, tip mybutler the day that I'm there
and they take care of me therest of the time.
But, being nickel and dime foreverything, I did not like that.
That.
That was not enjoyable for me,um no.
So get the drink package, geteverything that you think you're
not gonna want.
Get it before you go on theship and watch.
(32:49):
Watch your bill.
So that sign and sale card.
They give you a little cardlike this and we're not this is
my marriott card, but from oneof my states, from somewhere.
But they give you a little signand sale card and that is your
currency.
So you have to put a card onfile and they will charge that
mug.
I sat and watched them chargemy card every single time and at
(33:12):
one point I was like, hold on,like y'all get a little happy,
let me go down here and seewhat's going on.
And I'm glad I did, becausethey were charging me gratuities
and taxes on stuff and I'm like, hold on, I'm not, this is not
what y'all doing.
So watch your bill, becausethey will get you and it's
easier to dispute it before youget off the ship versus trying
(33:35):
to dispute it when you get off,because basically, once you're
off the ship, the trip is over.
So make sure that you'rewatching your sign and sale card
.
If the app works, you can seeyour account in the app.
If the app is not working, makesure you go down to guest
services and make friends withthe people at guest services.
Be kind to them, becausethey're dealing with everybody
(33:58):
that's on this ship.
But if you're kind to people,they'll be kind to you.
It costs nothing to smile and Iunderstand that this is money
and it's a vacation, but be kindto people.
And here's my thing If you're onvacation, why are you so tense?
Chill out.
My next thing will be make sureyou bring sunscreen.
I had two different kinds ofsunscreen.
(34:19):
My dear cousin who was fairskinned I don't know why she
didn't bring sunscreen, didn'tput none on and her whole face
was red.
She like a little cherry popwhen we were done.
Make sure you have sunscreen.
Make sure you have.
Oh oh oh.
I got this offline, but thewalls in your cabin are magnet
or metal, so get magnets.
I had magnets.
(34:40):
I ordered some magnets off ofthat place we're not supposed to
be ordering from, but I orderedthem anyway because I needed
them and I didn't know whereelse to get them.
But I got magnets and that wasthe best thing because we were
able to hang our lanyards on themagnets instead of putting it
down somewhere and trying tofind something.
You'd be amazed at how stuffcan get lost in your room.
So we got magnets.
We were able to hang ourswimsuits and hats and things up
(35:03):
on those magnets, which wasgreat.
Room service Room service is notincluded in your cruise but
because things close early, likeyou have a late night place,
buffet place that's open untillike two in the morning, but
(35:24):
that was not one of my favoriteplaces.
So I did order room service onenight because I was so hungry
and I wanted a soda and that wasabout 15.
So room service is not included.
Um, I saw this lady doing thisat in in in line one morning.
Well, one afternoon I was likewhy I had to ask her?
(35:45):
I was like what are you doing?
She had a ziploc bag, y'all,and this was genius.
She had a ziploc bag so as shewas getting her food to eat, she
put food in the ziploc bag totake back to her room.
So she had snacks.
She had something to munch onlate at night.
I was like that's genius.
So next cruise I go on, I willhave ziploc bags.
(36:08):
If you see me, don't talk aboutme because that would have come
in handy.
If you are coming back from theclub in the cruise ship at two
o'clock in the morning, youdon't want to stand in that line
at the buffet and havesomething that you know they
have, may have something thatyou don't want to eat or won't
eat or can't eat, and then youcan go to your room and have
your snacky snack and also withthe drink packages, depending on
(36:32):
what you get.
Like our drink package, we wereable to get bottled water and
we were able to get sodas.
So I would say, get you a cansoda or and get you a bottle of
water, because you do getthirsty at night.
Get you a bottle of water, takeit back to your cabin and go
back out and enjoy your day, butjust have something in your
room for you those late nights.
So overall, I enjoyed myself.
(36:55):
Um, I enjoyed my time with myfamily.
I will be doing a cruise againjust to get a different
experience with maybe not somany people.
I'm not knocking it because Idid have a good time, but I
think I want to experience acruise in a way that I would
enjoy a little bit more, youknow, so I can explore a little
(37:16):
bit more.
And I would love to do a cruisewith my girlfriends.
To be honest, I feel like thatwould be a time.
A time will be had.
I feel like we would have agood.
We would have some shenanigansgoing on.
So I would love to do a cruisewith my sisters as well, because
we've been talking about asister trip for a minute and I
think that would be a goodopportunity for us to bond.
So, yeah, I'll probably bedoing a cruise again and I'll do
(37:39):
another review.
So, again, I'm going to try toadd videos and stuff, but I'm
not an editor child.
Y'all bear with me, because allof this is new to me.
We've been trying out in 2025.
Okay, we're just doing some newstuff.
But anyway, if you havequestions for me about this
cruise yes, I know this is myfirst cruise.
(37:59):
I'm not an expert cruiser oranything like that, but I will
share my experience and, if Ihave missed anything, if you've
been on cruises before and youhave some other tips, please
share them, because I'm prettysure we all could use them
Collectively.
We're going to get through thislife together.
All right, so that's it for thisepisode of the Charging Station
Podcast.
Thank you again for joining me.
I hope that you got somethingout of this.
(38:22):
I hope that this has sparkedyour travel bug.
If you are afraid to travel,book the trip.
Book the ding dang trip.
Life is too short.
Book the trip, even if youbecome a tourist in your own
city.
Go travel, see something new,do something different,
especially in this day and agewhere everything is just so
crazy.
Go enjoy yourself, alright,until next time, boo, remember
(38:42):
God loves you, I love you.
It ain't nothing you can doabout it.
Baby, love you guys.
Bye.
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