Let me start off by saying that cruising is one of the most affordable vacations out there with the ability to see a lot of the world. For the cruise last  week, my mom and I snagged an interior cabin on the 7th deck for a little over $1,000 for the two of us AND that includes all food + entertainment. Booze is not included but beers range $5ish so it’s not terrible if you’re not a big drinker like myself! 

Anyway, I’ve done this a time or two (last week was my 7th) so I’ve learned a few things a long the way to help keep things sailing nicely (see what I did there?).. So let’s do this thing! 

1. Extension Cords/Power Strips – The rooms aren’t equipped with a million outlets.. There is only ONE in the whole room so with all the charging units and beauty tools it can be a little tricky having enough! I always pack a strip and without fail, never regret bringing it! 
2. 12 Pack of Coke AND 1 Bottle of Wine – I’m not sure what policy is on anyone else but Carnival (that’s all I’ve sailed) allows a 12 pack of Coke or a bottle of wine per guest! Sneaky trick? Buy a Cube from target that has 2 bottles in the small box! They have never questioned it! BUT don’t try to outsmart them.. All those Pinterest “How to sneak booze on a cruise” articles.. They know all the tricks! No fun getting busted! 
3. Go longer then a few days. I’ve only done 7 day cruises (with the exception of a 5 day-er in there) & with as large as the ships are + the activities you’ll never get everything done that you want to in a few days! 
4. Pack Light – Trying to remind myself of this one.. Other then dinner you’ll be basically living in a sundress & a swimsuit all week. I almost always never wear everything I’ve packed so if you’re flying this is a big help! I LIVED in Lululemon shorts & tank + my swimsuit! 
5. Self Assist with luggage in the disembarking journey. You’re given the opportunity to put your luggage out the night before & have the ship take it off which sounds great and all but it’ll take you 4x as long to get off! You’ll be dismissed by deck & have to go find your luggage in basically a warehouse. Self assist means you’ll be dismissed first & get off the ship quick (We were off in less then an hour on Sunday!)

Well hopefully that gave you some tips on cruisin’ the Caribbean! 🙂  — I’ll be sharing some vacation pictures & information about our ports later this week!