Bahama Mama

It was a dreary frigid morning in January and the Winter blues were hitting me hard. In an act of self preservation I googled "cheap cruises near me" and found the deal of a lifetime to take my family of 5 to the Bahamas for 6 nights for $2500! This price included our interior state room, meals and entertainment aboard the ship for a week. And because it was only a 3 hour car ride away, we didn't have to spring for plane tickets.

We set sail aboard the Carnival Sunshine over our school's Spring Break and had the time of our life! Leaving from Norfolk in March meant that it was a little chilly at sail-away, but the warm Caribbean sun soon melted our blues away.

The games on the top deck were a big hit for all 5 of us....ok, actually just the 4 of them...I read by book in a chair nearby for most of the morning and it was GLORIOUS.

While there were icicles on the slides when we left the port in Virginia, they quickly thawed out on our journey South and were absolutely worth the wait.

One excursion took us to the Carnival owned island and we set up shop in our beach chairs while the kids played in the crystal clear water nearby.

Aboard the ship, our family spent lots of time in the dining quarters in the aft of the ship. It was often less crowded than the main dining rooms, had an abundance of coffee for Mama and lemonade for the rest of the family and the views couldn't be beat!

Our excursion to swim with dolphins actually got cancelled due to bad weather and a change in our itinerary, so we pivoted to swimming with the pigs and it got 10 Johnson thumbs up.

The MVPs of our cruise were the following:

This USB rechargeable portable fan for a breeze in our interior room. Find it at this commissionable link: https://amzn.to/3HgsHrb

These wet bags for our swim clothes without the rest of our luggage getting soaked. Find it at this commissionable link: https://amzn.to/47g9v7s

A cruise approved power strip was essential. Find it at this commissionable link: https://amzn.to/47ek7ni

There were no windows in our interior room, so this sunrise alarm clock was essential for our circadian rhythms. We liked this alarm clock/sound machine combo so much that we bought a second one for my mom! Find it at this commissionable link: https://amzn.to/47g9Gj8

The magic of this hamper is that in hangs on a hook opening up more precious floor space and giving a "landing zone" for dirty clothes: Find it at this commissionable link: https://amzn.to/4mqdbI5

And that's a wrap on the cruise adventure recap! Have any of you been on a cruise? Royal or Caribbean-which is superior?