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Recapping 7 Days in Paradise – A Much Needed Vacation

The Caribbean was beyond beautiful!!

So this past January I took my first vacation in over a year. Yes, you heard it right, a dam year. It took me that long to figure out I can run on fumes and needed a break. But HONEY, it was so worth it. I went on my first cruse this year on Carnival Fascination Cruise Ship. It was amazing, maybe not so much the food, but overall it was amazing. This ship left from Barbados, hit 6 islands and dropped us back off. Traveling up the Caribbean Sea to each Island and witnessing God’s creations was nothing short of delightful. 

With this being my first cruise, I was prepared to LIVE HONEY. Take my vacation to the next level, which I did along with my outlook on Life. Yet, I was also not prepared for so many things. 

Highlights: 

If I had to choose and island that I would revist for a week or more it would be St. Maarten and St. Kitts. Both islands were beyond beautiful and had me wanting more. The clear blue water, the scenery, and the people. The Island was picturesque and full of culture and life. Both islands are on my list of places to travel.

Best Food was Puerto Rico. When I tell you that food was hearty and homemade – sis it was good. The portions were a good size, the seasoning was on point and the authenticity of the food was like Abuela was in the kitchen herself. Oh and it was reasonalbly priced! I got chicharrones, rice and beans, tostones, 2 beers and 3 shots of Bacardi for under $30! And the cook was amazing.

Best Beach was Barbados of course. Nothing else to say here. Go visit it for yourself, you’ll see what I mean. 

The Sulfur Volcanic Bath and Waterfall on St. Lucia. I paid $10 for the bath and $3 dollars for the waterfall. The same exfoliation we pay $200+ dollars to get in the states, I paid for the natural version. And it was worth every dollar spent. The water was warm and soothing, the sulfur mud was exfoliating and calming, and rinsing off in the waterfall- EPIC. Although it felt like 1000 sharp cold bricks hitting you, I lost myself in the waterfall. It felt like the light was shining down on me. It was natures purest form of love. And I would do it all over again.

Tips I suggest for your next cruise:

Plan for early days! The boats dock early and leave early. To make the most of your day on each island you have to get off the boat early. Our boat docked at 8am and left at 5pm, which gave us 9 hours, which translated to about 7 hours after traveling time to your excursions/destination. 

Plan Ahead if you can. Check out the islands you are visiting and see if there are any excursions you are looking to book. The Carnival Ship had a list of the excursions online which allowed us to see what islands were chill beach days and which islands were for sightseeing.  It also helps if you’re budgeting, then you know exactly how much drinking money you have! 🙂

Drink on the island. The packages offered by the ship were not worth the $$. Event the drink package. Save your coins and drink on the Island. Each island will probably have a local spirit for you to indulge in. We had a mission- Drink the local alcohol on the island and down a bottle before we got back on the boat. Much cheaper and a lot more fun! 

Try the local food! Each island has its own traditional, homemade cuisine, something significant to the culture. Seafood of course if the local cuisine. Why go to an island and not try the local food? It’s your mission to be a citizen of the world!

Last Few Tips! 

Take the time to disconnect. Your on a boat in the middle on the ocean, no one can reach you. Use that! Take that time to de-stree, disconnect and recharge. Even on the islands, take the time to savor the moment, posting can wait. 

Take a vacation every 4 months or as much as you can! It’s so important that we utilize our vacation time. Who ever came up iwth the notion that neing a workaholic and having 100+ hours of vacation hours saved is stupid and probably somewhere streesed out and anxious. I would suggest planning you vacation days out for the year. Set up your travel plans in advance, schedule your time and anything left over is used to a weekend getaway or to cure a stressed out few weeks.

Finally, enjoy yourself. Find out something new about yourself. Try something new. Go somewhere new. Go as a girls trip or go solo. But bottom line is GO!

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