Cruising and Eating and Rocking and Rolling….

A Chronicle of  My Cruise to Bermuda

So, I’m back. Exhausted. And, well, kind of queasy. While, overall it was a great time with family (for the most part, I’ll explain that later) we had the worst weather. The North Atlantic in November, lets just say, I’ll NEVER do it again.

It all started out so great, I was excited about the food offerings the first night. There seemed to be enough healthy choices to balance out the indulgent ones. I toured the spa and gym facility and was excited to give them a try. Then, 3 AM came. I woke up to the ship mildly swaying from side to side. It got progressively worse through the next couple of hours and by 9 AM, more than half the boat was sea sick. I was kicking myself for not taking the Dramamine pills they offer free at guest services.  I paced Deck 5, looking at the horizon while eating green apples and sucking ginger candies trying to squelch the queasiness but was ultimately unsuccessful. Anyhow, I won’t go into any more disgusting details, lets just say I spent the day miserably in bed. Also, when they say that kids don’t generally get sea sick, they’re wrong. My 4 year old can attest to that.

So, we got to Bermuda and it was so windy we could barely walk on the pier. The rest of the family stayed on board and my 4 year old and I braved the weather to ride the awesome public bus system to the Crystal Caves of Bermuda. If you ever go to Bermuda, I recommend the bus, its a great way to see the Island and get to know its people. That being said, it took almost 2 hours to get to the caves which was only 3-4 miles distance. Which would have been fine if I was alone, but with a 4 year old got a little intense. The Crystal Caves were pretty cool. It was worth the trip. However, for the way back, I decided to take the equally awesome public ferry system. Originally I had decided against the ferry because of the previously mentioned sea sickness, but was willing to face it after then lengthy bus experience. The kid, well, she was done and decided to act like a delinquent. It got so bad that at one point while we were waiting for the ferry a bystander came over to tell her how mean she was being to her mother. Traveling with a kid is not a vacation. She was so incredibly in need of a nap….and when we finally got back to the ship, she was asleep before I could even tuck her in.

I did see lots of cool local things on my bus trip. There were many homes with large gardens growing various vegetables. I even saw a home with a cow. Knowing that milk is $8 a gallon, I can understand the need for a cow. The next few days in Bermuda were about the same, windy and wet. I wish I would have had the opportunity to eat at a local restaurant but it just didn’t  happen. Next time!

I had some wonderful food on the boat. It was well prepared, and often very fresh and made from scratch. They had an excellent variety of foods from all over the world. I was able to try a number of various flavors that I don’t often have. The bean salads, chick pea salads, and seafoods were all fresh and well seasoned. In addition, fresh fruits were plentiful and delicious. Dinner was the hardest time though. They force bread and rolls on you as soon as you sit down. As soon as you finish the first, they are there with another. It’s so incredibly hard to resist! I will say I ate more bread on this trip than I have in probably the last 6 months! (Time to detox!) One great thing that happened at dinner was that my parents bought me a Royal Caribbean Cookbook, its actually pretty great. I plan to adapt some of the recipes in the next few weeks and post them here. Apparently, our waiter Alroy, is required to sell one on each cruise.

All in all, I would count my  first “clean” vacation a half success. Sea sickness aside, I did eat pretty well and avoided the always accessible soft serve machine and constant dessert buffet.  The healthy food restaurant however, was really not what I consider healthy – they did have a salad bar that was always available, but there is only so much salad one can eat. I’m happy to be home and have already started cooking!

Here are some food photos mixed with some other  fun ones.

Have you all had any good “clean” vacation experiences? I’ve love to hear about them.