My mother, sister, and I took a wonderful trip together where we sailed from Tampa, Florida to the countries of Haiti, Jamaica, and The Cayman Islands. Before I get into all of our ports of call, I am going to take you through my journey of flying from Allentown, Pennsylvania to our days at sea.
Let's start at the very beginning... Our journey started with my dad driving us to the Lehigh Valley International Airport (ABE). We made our way to our gate with ease. We flew Allegiant Airlines to St Pete-Clearwater International Airport, we had a quick and smooth flight. From St Pete-Clearwater, we took an Uber to our hotel in Tampa. We stayed at Hotel Tampa Riverwalk which had wonderful waterfront views and was centrally located to UTampa and downtown's best attractions. We were pleasantly surprised with complimentary drink tickets upon arrival. Before we used our complimentary drink tickets, my family and I went to get dinner at Hattricks Sports Bar and Restaurant which claims to be one of the best sports bars in Tampa, Florida. Hattricks is a favorite amongst locals and tourist and as a tourist, I can attest that it was worth all of the hype. We sat outside and I ordered the Turkey Wrap (smoked turkey breast, black bean spread, cilantro, tomato, avocado, rolled in a flour tortilla) with crinkle cut fries for $10.50 and it was really good! After our delicious meal, we went back to the hotel to enjoy our complimentary drink, poolside. Everything was going great! ...a little too great compared to our typical family vacations... My family and I put ourselves to bed around 11 PM to get ready for our big day in the morning. Unfortunately, our peaceful sleep was interrupted by a fire alarm that went off at midnight. We rushed out of the hotel (in our jammies) to safety. All of the hotel guests waited outside in safety as alarms were blaring from the inside. The fire department arrived and thankfully there was no fire in the building, but there was an electrical wiring issue. We were cleared to go back inside after about an hour, or what felt like an hour. Just minutes after my family and I settled back into bed, the alarm went off again. We got up and repeated our prompt exit. We waited this time about twenty to thirty minutes with noticeably less guests outside. The fire department left with the alarm still going off and we decided that we were just going to go back to bed and deal with the distant sound of the alarm coming from the hallway (it stopped going off in our room at least). At 2:30 AM the fire alarm went off one singular time, I sat up in bed, yelled something I don't remember, and went back to sleep. It was a rough night. All hotel guests had their room comped from their bill for that night which made up a bit for the major disturbances. Despite our unfortunate luck, I would stay again at Hotel Tampa Riverwalk as I loved the location.
My family and I grabbed Tropical Smoothie Cafe for breakfast before heading to our cruise port. I ordered the Blueberry Bliss Smoothie (blueberries, strawberries, and banana) and the Southwest Wrap (eggs, grilled chicken, pepper jack, tomatoes, spinach, and chipotle mayo) and everything was delicious! We then took an Uber to our cruise port where we boarded Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas. This ship is Royal's oldest and smallest, built in 1996 with the capacity for 2,240 guests. However, do not be deceived by its age and size, this ship features a full-service spa, six whirlpools, two pools (one outdoors and one indoors), a casino, an outdoor jogging track, several shopping stores, a rock-climbing wall, and numerous bars, lounges, and restaurants. We were never bored while onboard. Our room was on the smaller size, but we were able to make do and we had a wonderful window to look out of. Our main complaint about the ship was the outdated plumbing system which made even small amounts of toilet paper a chore to flush and the lingering smell of cigarettes in some areas.
Now let's dive into what we did onboard for the first two and a half days before we had three exciting days on land. My mom, sister, and I really got into the art activities onboard which included free gifts of art, guessing the weight of various sculptures, and attending a champagne art auction where I won a bottle of champagne. We participated in many games of trivia which varied from general knowledge to specific games such as Friends (the tv show) and animated picture. We attended two headliner shows, the first was comedian George Kanter and the second was juggler Jeff Taveggia, and one production show which was titled Broadway Rhythm & Rhyme. We danced at a silent disco party, attended family karaoke, watched an onboard game show of Finish that Lyric, and last but not least we watched the Sexiest Man Competition (ow ow!). In between these activities we found time to walk the track, use the sauna, join in on a group led morning stretch, suntan, read, and nap on the outside deck. All of these activities made us hungry... This next paragraph is for my foodies.
My first meal I had on the ship was lunch on 5/20 and I had BBQ chicken, white fish (I didn't like this), mac and cheese, zucchini and squash, watermelon, and a chocolate cake bar. My dinner that night consisted of a classic Caesar salad (crisp romaine, garlic croutons, Parmesan, creamy Caesar dressing), New York strip steak (prepared to order with choice of herb butter or green peppercorn sauce, baked potato, sauteed vegetables), and royal cheesecake (velvety cheesecake garnished with a sweet glazed strawberry). The following morning, 5/21, I had blueberry pancakes, cantaloupe, watermelon, hard-boiled eggs, smoked salmon, and cottage cheese. That afternoon I had roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, salad, shrimp pad tie, and another piece of the chocolate cake bar. That night, I had creamy butternut squash soup (roasted harvest squash blended with coconut milk topped with crisp toasted pumpkin seeds), seafood linguine (al dente ribbon pasta tossed with a Chardonnay cream sauce, sauteed bay scallops, shrimp and New Zealand mussels), and warm apple cobbler (sweet crumble over cinnamon-dusted apples served with vanilla ice cream). On 5/22, I had waffles, watermelon, cantaloupe, grapefruit, and hard-boiled eggs for breakfast. For lunch I had chicken legs, lamb stew, mashed potatoes, green beans, salad, and of course, another piece of the amazing chocolate cake bar. My dinner consisted of seared beef carpaccio (charred beef tenderloin thinly sliced under arugula, crispy garlic, shaved Parmesan and a Dijon-mustard dressing), pan-seared fillet of sole (lightly floured flaky white fish served with jasmine rice, steamed broccoli, cherry tomatoes and a delicate lemon-butter sauce), and Italian chocolate-hazelnut cake (decadent nutty cake with sweet whipped cream and a rich chocolate sauce).
I have recently been on a bit of a cruise kick, going on one in November 2022 and another in February 2023, and I must say that this cruise had the best food and entertainment overall. It was also the smoothest sail I have had; I did not need to take a single pill of Dramamine. Stay tuned for my upcoming posts that will cover each individual ports of call and the last at sea day, return to Tampa, and the return back to Pennsylvania.
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