What is a cruise like?

The Golden Princess (we have also dubbed Charity the Golden Princess in honor of our cruise and Charity's new found pluckiness) from a cold, windy port of Victoria, Canada.

Never been on a cruise? Neither had I until last week. Matt and I and our 1-year-old Charity took a cruise with Matt's parents to Alaska. It was so fun and the scenery so beautiful. I'll post pictures soon, but first about cruising.

Cruising without a baby would undoubtedly be easier (and a tiny bit more enjoyable, don't tell Charity). Although it really wasn't that bad with her. In fact, she did garner us some pretty sweet favors from the ship's crew.

For instance, on the second night we were on the ship we were eating dinner when a maître d' stopped by to coo at Charity.

That wasn't unusual, it happened regularly. But he stopped to make sure she had food she liked and was happy. He took her (and only her) order personally and brought it to her. He'd cut it up himself and serve the little princess. Then he brought her ice cream. A lot of ice cream. The volcano.




And he did this every night. How did he find us? He asked us if we wanted to eat about the same time each night. And then he made us a standing reservation each night at 5:45 at a lovely table for 6 right by the window! He told us he had a grandchild back home in Portugal about Charity's age and couldn't wait to see her in 2 months and take her out for ice cream by the beach after their dinners together. Pretty nice perk, huh!

Besides that, Matt's parents were so sweet to give us a little time to take advantage of the many activities on board. We went to a few ballroom dance classes, we went dancing at night and listened to our favorite musician on board, Chris May who played and sang some swinging jazz.
There were trivia games, nature lectures (about Alaska), art auctions, tours of the ship, cooking classes, jugglers, string quartets, rolla bolla acts, and a very busy casino.


We took Charity to the live shows at night (Broadway type singing, a magician, a comedian) and kept her up way too late most nights. But she was a gem.





We decided to opt out of the pools (one indoor and one out) because Charity wasn't allowed in, plus it was chilly Alaskan cold. But there was also a gym and a spa, jewelry, fragrance/makeup, clothing shops.

And then there was the food, plentiful and delicious. That will have to be its own post.

And that was all without the ports we stopped at. Lots and lots of fun. I think I'll definitely plan another cruise, after I save all my pennies for a while.