About Me & an Introduction to Cruise Vacations

Hello and welcome to the first blog post of Nick's Bloggin' At Sea.  I'm Nicholas Bonneau.  You can call me Nick.  I am 18-years-old and I go on cruise vacations with my family.  It has kind-of been a family tradition for the past four to five years.  I can say that cruising is a really fun experience and my mother is truly hooked on these cruises.

I've been on five cruises in the past four to five years with four of them on Carnival Cruise Line.  These ships would include the Carnival Glory, Freedom, Miracle, and Breeze.  This would also include the Disney Wonder.  I've done such itineraries as the Bahamas, the Caribbean, and Alaska.

These are souvenirs of 3 the out of 5 ships I've been on.

Now I would like to introduce the concept of cruise vacations.  Cruise ships are pretty much a floating hotel that takes you to different places.  They will offer a wide variety of entertainment and dining.  Most of the entertainment on-board is free.  In most of the dinning areas, food is all-inclusive.  In most cases the fancy restaurants like the steakhouse, will require a reservation and food is also priced.  Drinks can be expensive on the ship and especially the alcoholic drinks.  However on Carnival, water, lemonade, and iced tea are free along with juices during breakfast.  The entertainment on the ship is almost endless.  There are tons of shows, deck parties, plenty of bars, a dance club, a casino, and spa, and much more to do on-board.

When you get to your ports of call, feel free to look around at your own risk or book a shore excursion with the cruise line.  You can book excursions online or at the excursions desk in the lobby.  They will usually have a long list of different kinds of shore excursions to choose from.  Some of the activities are expensive however.  I don't recommend booking an excursion with a different provider however.  Just because if something were to come up, you wouldn't get a refund or any type of compensation.

Now you'll hear a lot about cruise ships on the news if something bad happens to one.  Such examples as the Costa Concordia shipwreck (2012), the engine room fire that stranded passengers on the Carnival Triumph (2013), and a virus outbreak on Explorer of the Seas (2014).  However, these cases are extremely rare and happen a lot less than things like car accidents.  Also the news in some cases, likes to make things sound worse than what they really are.  However when these things happens, there might just be a chance where cruising might cost a little less than usual due to a slight loss of interest.  Especially if it's from the cruise line affected.  If you want to try a cruise, that might be a good time to book one.  That, or you can wait for promotions and sales that would happen more often.

Now to wrap things up, cruising is a fun experience that pretty much anyone would like.  However, don't forget your passport and some motion sickness medicine.  Also, I won't update this blog often.  I will update it usually after I go on a cruise with my family.  I also may update the blog if there's any news or stories that I want to talk about that involves cruising.  And for any questions about cruising, just leave a comment.

Thanks for reading.