Travel After Divorce

The car pulled into my driveway, and unlike trips in the past we were in no rush out the door to get to an airport. Our destination will be a cruise port out of Tampa Bay Florida, and we didn’t have to leave for the airport until the next day. Not only that, but once we hit Florida we have almost 2 full days of vacation until its time to board the giant Margarittaville cruise ship.

After a fun night of going for a walk around the neighborhood with drinks in our hands we went to bed pretty early to get ready for our next days adventure. The train took us right to the terminal, and it wasn’t long until we were airborne headed to Florida. The first day was seamless. I booked the hotel on the cheap, and to our surprise it was absolutely amazing! The room was a spacious, the location was in the middle of everything, and the giant pool with a waterfall was right out our window. There was even a hot tub right next to it!

After going out to Cheesecake factory in the area, we had an awesome night swim and were up in our room having a few drinks and dozed off pretty early in the evening. The next day we planned to go to Busch Gardens and wanted to be ready.

We woke up early and excitedly walked only a block away to find one of our favorite breakfast spots. Waffle House is one of those places which is the same at every location in America and it NEVER disappoints! We looked out the window that morning and saw some very dark clouds rolling in towards us. Unfortunately that storm ended up lasting the entire day which stopped our theme park trip. Having my Fiancé’s son with us, we decided to introduce him to a department store we like when we travel to go shopping.

So far there was the Waffle House we visited because it isn’t near us in New York and now there was one more restaurant we never get to go to. Golden Corral is an all you can eat buffet which is only $18 and you could eat there for hours on end. There was no limit to the amount of food, and even though we dont eat a lot, it is fun to have all of those choices on our plates. The day ended with a quick haircut for her son, and relaxing at the hotel while playing cards on a covered patio. That next day was when the adventure begins.

CRUISE DAY!

We woke up early and decided that the only thing better than Waffle House on a vacation is going there twice so that is exactly what we did! Packing up the room we checked out and called our uber. It was only about a 10 minute ride and then the giant boat came into view! Pulling up we were expecting short lines, but to our surprise they seemed longer than we expected. Apparently someone lost a kid on the boat while disembarking and there were some delays until they found them.

Telling the nice lady we had a suite and deserved the VIP line I attempted to brush past the crowd and the long line. In no way did we have a suite, but I was determined to BS my way to the front of the very long line. At the front a gentlemen said I was on the wrong line, and I told him that the nice lady told us to come to the front because I am active military on orders. The velvet rope was moved and in about 8 minutes time we were in the front of the entire line! When you tell people anything with conviction, they tend to believe you are saying the truth.

CHECK IN AND INITIAL BOARDING

We had all of our documents ready, and after a 5 minute check and photo, we had our cruise cards attached to our necks. Up the gangplank and stepping onto the ship for the first time is always exciting. Once checked in by the crew you enter a giant 9 story atrium that is designed like a paradise. Four giant glass elevators are going up and down to your right. There is a big bar located on our left. The photo opportunity in front of the giant flip flop then makes us realize why they call this ‘The Flip Flop Bar”

Drinks in hand it was time to walk around and get used to our new home for the next week or so. The thing we knew to do was go on the deck to look at the pool and buffet/ food. Instantly we realized that the pools were drastically smaller than our previous cruise, but we certainly knew where we were going to plant our flags. A covered area right near the doorway we enter would be perfect. Note to all newbies out there, when you know where you want to lay in a pool area, make sure you claim your chairs early!

TATTOO A 15 YEAR OLD!?!?!?

My stepson has been harping on the idea of one day being tattooed and for whatever reason he thought that being in international waters would void law prohibiting the idea. My wife and I figured that it was far fetched, but to keep the kid happy I took him into the tattoo parlor that is actually on the cruise ship. After acting like I was going to try and convince the lady at the counter she looked up and smiled and said “okay if you sign off on it, we will tattoo him. We want you to have a great vacation”. I walked out of there shocked and told my wife that in fact the following day her baby boy would get a tattoo! Its amazing how far a company will go to keep their guests happy!

THE ROOM WAS READY!

It was only a short time walking around when we were notified that our room was ready. Opening up the door we were really pleasantly surprised that it was as big as advertised. There was a pull out couch bed for my stepson on the left, a huge queen sized bed for us, and there was a big sliding door leading to a beautiful balcony. The bathroom was spacious with tons of shelving to put all of our items on. Even though it was a shower curtain and not a door, the shower was spacious enough for 2 people easily.

The room itself was bright and beautiful with a lot of theming to it. Everywhere you look is a tropical picture, a parrot, or a saying in quotes. “its 5 o’clock somewhere was etched right above the big desk which also had its own refrigerator in it! The room upgrade cost us less than $100 and all I can tell you is that it was worth every penny.

POOL DAYS AND ENTERTAINMENT

There was 3 pools on board (one being adults only) and the one we chose seemed to be the quieter of them with less kids around. Laying out our towels with clips early every day it was time to make it to an early buffet breakfast. At 9am daily there was a live Jimmy Buffet concert played on the Jumbotron. The hot tub right in front of it was actually piping hot which made for relaxation while entertained with a cocktail in hand. Our layout area was perfect for reading in the shade as we made our way down to the Caribbean.

THE MANY PORTS

I’m not going to talk about each port in detail, but our boat stopped in Costa Maya, Belize, Roatan, and Cozumel. It felt like every morning we were waking up in a new country which made the trip itself feel very long and eventful. Each place we went it seemed that the port itself was enough to say we were in that country and there was no need to venture out on an excursion. Having cocktails in foreign counties was a blast even when it rained. In Belize it rained like crazy and we were somehow at a tiki hut bar drinking tropical drinks while they listened to American country music. An awesome experience.

THE FOOD

We learned from our first cruise that as a family, we really enjoy sitting in the main dining room and eating together nightly. There was always the buffet option, but having a formal dinner with wine is the way to go especially when it’s included with the cruise. We all agreed that the food quality in this location was superior to our last cruise. There is always one night with some kind of steak and that has always been my favorite on a cruise. Our drink package allowed for us to have wine with our meals which was a good way to start the night of festivities.

THE SHOWS/ ACTIVITIES

If you like “hokey” spin off off pitch sining and crappy comedy that isn’t funny then this cruise has the shows for you! After night two of trying we decided to quit and give up on the nightly shows. It’s understandable that the performers were actual cruise workers and your bartender from the pool might be singing Garth Brooks on stage that night. It was time to venture out and take part in some other activities.

My wife and I discovered that part of the daily list of events (which are printed and delivered to your room daily) were a bunch of gameshow type events where you compete against other cruisers. Some of them were in teams and after meeting some nice people we worked to form a team for a competition game. The game was there had to be items formed or found in the crowd and there was a time limit for a team to find them. Making a line of clothing longer than the other team, taking off clothing items etc. It was a lot of fun to take part in the events and once we won it was free Margaritas for all!

THE CASINO

Unlike our last cruise, this boat had a casino that was HUGE. From the beginning we. found that the machines seemed looser than we were expecting, and we actually took out a couple of dollars here and there. Payouts from the tickets on the slot machines were made in American cash which was always useful once you got to your next port. Like we expected, the casino bar was the last one to close every night, and trying to stay up late on a cruise seems to be getting tougher and tougher as the years go by.

OUR ONLY EXCURSION

Even though we didn’t do anything in other countries, the boat we were on had excursions ON the boat itself! Being a big parrothead, I researched a special speakeasy excursion on the boat that is kept secret to most people on the boat. We were led in a VERY small group of about 7 of us to a secret room full of Jimmy Buffet memorabilia. A private VIP bartender was there to offer special drinks as the host described the importance of all the items in the room from guitars to pictures all the way to Jimmy Buffets actual record collection. I dont remember how much this event cost, but whatever it was it was 100% worth it!

OVERALL

When choosing a travel adventure overseas cruising is an awesome and cheap way to see a lot of countries. Even though our last cruise was bigger and fancier, the Margaritaville cruise just felt more personalized and more fun. After seeing some of the online videos of Carnival we will probably avoid that line, but bing in New York there are many many other cruise lines to follow.

You may have noticed the change in rhetoric from beautiful girlfriend, to fiancé, to wife. We aren’t actually married yet, but will be in the next 4 weeks or so. I got into the habit of calling her my wife because she will be for the rest of my life.

When having a soulmate by your side you find that the purpose of this website is to experience what true happiness is in life. If you find love, then continue to love laugh love and TRAVEL together which is what most of us never did in our previous hellish marriages. There are more adventures planned with two vacations booked at the time I am writing this. Travel well and enjoy your new lives with the ones you love!