Cruising is our favorite vacation. We ve cruised Royal, NCL, Carnival and Princess. Carnival and Roy

On Day 5 of our Western Caribbean Cruise on Royal Caribbean's Jewel of the Seas , we pulled into port in Key West . Since we were back in the US, we had to go through an Immigration Inspection on the ship, which I had never done before. Everyone had a scheduled time, so we got up and headed down with our passports. We had to stand in line for a while, but the "inspection" was very quick and painless. They checked our passports and that was it, basically.
After the inspection, we headed to the Windjammer for some breakfast. cheap cruises last minute I normally don't eat at buffets, but I was not going to have another less-than-mediocre breakfast in the dining room again. The food was delicious! I honestly wish I had eaten every breakfast in the Windjammer, and I couldn't believe I waited until the last day to figure cheap cruises last minute that out.
After breakfast, we all headed back to our staterooms to get ready for a day of fun in the sun. The weather was awesome, and the kids couldn't wait to get up to the pool. We got the kids loaded up with sunscreen cheap cruises last minute and they watched a movie on Bryce's Kindle while we got ready.
My mom decided to get off the ship and explore Key West (with her winnings from Day 4 ), but we stayed on. We were only going to be in port for a few hours, and all the kids wanted to do was swim, so I figured it would be easier to just stay on the ship. We headed up to the kids' pool, and since it was still pretty early, my kids were the only ones up there for a while.
They had fun swimming and sliding and just goofing off. Remember cheap cruises last minute Rylie's new friend Colby? cheap cruises last minute Well, I had talked to Colby's dad the night before about meeting at the kids' pool at 2:00, so every 5 minutes Rylie asked me if it was 2:00 yet. She was like a kid on Christmas Eve waiting for her friend to arrive!
When Rylie realized that 2:00 was still far off, she decided that we should head over to the big pool for a bit. Brian and the kids had fun playing cheap cruises last minute in the fountains and swimming around for a while. The water was still pretty cool, so there weren't many people in the pool.
I was a little nervous about my mom being off in Key West alone, and more nervous about her not making it back on the ship in time, but she got back on and had some goodies for everyone - including some super yummy Chocolate cheap cruises last minute Covered Key Lime Pie bars!
After we got done eating, Bryce decided that he didn't want to go back in the pool and wanted to go to the Kids Club instead, so we dropped cheap cruises last minute him off for some play time. Rylie, on the other hand, well I'm sure you can guess where she wanted to be. Plus, it was getting close to 2:00!
Brian saw a boat pull up next to our ship, and figured that perhaps we left someone in Key West and they were given a ride back to the ship. We don't know, really. The boat pulled up, sat next to the ship for a minute or two, and then pulled away.
It was finally 2:00 and Rylie's friend and her parents cheap cruises last minute finally made it to the pool. Rylie had a BLAST playing with Colby, and I enjoyed just hanging out by the pool. Brian went to check on Bryce at one point and found out that he had a little pee pee accident. I guess all that pool water from earlier got to him. The ladies in the Kids Club were awesome about it and helped him get cleaned up and gave him a pair of Adventure Ocean shorts. Brian took him back to the room for a nap, and once my mom got back from the casino to watch Bryce, he came back to the pool, where we hung out until dinner.
Rylie and Bryce were supposed to eat and head to the kids club for the pajama party, but Rylie was waiting and waiting to see Colby walk by (they were sitting a few tables away), and since she never got up, Rylie was in no hurry to go. Bryce didn't care either, because he had his favorite dessert - a chocolate brownie with ice cream!
Dinner was awesome again on Night 5! I had the French Onion Soup for an appetizer, "Fish Mash" (like fish and chips - only mash instead of chips) for my main course, and Creme Brulee for dessert. Since it was our last night and I knew it would be several months before I got to have another Chocolate Sensation, cheap cruises last minute we also got one of those to share!
Dinner on the Jewel of the Seas was a really cheap cruises last minute great experience. I had never eaten at a scheduled time at an assigned table, cheap cruises last minute and I thought it would be horrible. It wasn't though, and in fact, I have already decided to keep my 6:00 reservation for our next cruise cheap cruises last minute instead of switching to My Time Dining. cheap cruises last minute We had the same wait staff every night, and they really catered cheap cruises last minute to us. They got to know us, they knew what we all liked, and we just had a lot of fun.
Our head waiter, Sandesh, was Bryce's favorite person on the entire cruise. On the first night, Sandesh was trying to talk to Bryce, but he was acting shy. Sandesh kept trying to "guess" his name, and when he said "Is your name Alligator?" Bryce started laughing. So Sandesh called Bryce "Alligator" for the rest of the cruise. He always made it a point to come by and talk to the kids every night, and if he saw us out and about on the ship, he always goofed off with Bryce. Our waitress, Nicoleta, was beyond awesome, too! She gave us great service every night, and was very friendly. And like I said, she catered to the kids, which is a HUGE plus in my book!
Brian and I walked around cheap cruises last minute the ship and had a few drinks in the sports bar. Just like the other night we were out and about on the ship, there wasn't much activity. We then headed back to our room to get our stuff packed up and outside. It's always a sad time to pack up, because I know they'll be kicking cheap cruises last minute me off the ship the next morning.
Brian and the kids had interrupted our room service when they went to get their pajamas on earlier, cheap cruises last minute so we didn't cheap cruises last minute get a towel animal that night. My mom did, though, so I took my "usual" picture with hers.
When we picked Bryce up later from the Kids Club, he didn't want to leave. They had made pillowcases and were watching TV in their jammies cheap cruises last minute - he said it was his favorite part of the whole cruise. Silly kid!
Overall, we had a great time on the Jewel of the Seas . This cruise wasn't quite as awesome as our cruise on Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas , but we still had fun. I would recommend this cruise for cruisers who want a relaxing, laid back cruise. This would not be my first choice cheap cruises last minute for a cruise with kids, unless you are taking them for their first cruise and want to "test the waters" on a smaller ship.
We will be cruising with Royal Caribbean again this November, and I can't wait! We are going on one of their "mega-ships" - the Allure of the Seas ! This ship is huge, and there will be so much to do! This is a DreamWorks ship, so the kids will get to see some of their favorite characters, and they will have a great time participating in all of the activities on board. cheap cruises last minute We're all so excited! That is a 7 night cruise to the Eastern Caribbean, so I wonder how long it will take me to write about that one?
Disclosure: Royal Caribbean did not sponsor these posts in any way. In fact, they don't even know I exist. cheap cruises last minute This blog is about our adventures, though, and I wanted to share this one in detail...mainly for me so I can always look back, but for others cheap cruises last minute who might be considering cruising with kids .
I can t believe you waited so long to try the buffet! I love buffets! There you can pick and choose among so many items, and have as much or as little as you like. And - besides cheap cruises last minute the food - this looks like such a fabulous trip, you re so lucky! scain54 (at) aol (dot) com
Looks like your kids had a great time! I love that they offer a Kids Club. We cruised on Norwegian cruise lines to the Western Caribbean, but it was really geared more for adults rather than children.
Cruising is our favorite vacation. We ve cruised Royal, NCL, Carnival and Princess. Carnival and Royal have the best kids clubs. My kids did not like Princess but it s our favorite adult line when the kids don t go (my kids are 18 22)and have cruised their whole life. We have cruise #19 scheduled next May. I enjoyed your review - we sailed the Jewel of the Seas when she was brand new. It was a beautiful ship.