Our First Cruise: A Week in the Caribbean

Norwegian Jewel

Our vacation this year had to meet a couple of specific requirements. First, it had to be easy. With a toddler and a baby in the oven, I wasn't up to planning a complicated jaunt. Second, it had to be soon. We wanted to fly somewhere before Edith's second birthday at the end of November to make sure she could be a lap child and we wouldn't have to pay for her plane ticket!

Since we didn't buckle down to figure out our vacation plans until late September when my morning sickness was largely over, these requirements weren't easy to meet. But we figured it out in less than a week: a Caribbean cruise stopping in Cozumel, Mexico; Belize City and Trujillo, Honduras during the last week of October.

It fit the bill perfectly. It was relaxing, completely stress-free and allowed us to visit places we'd never before been. And since it was a closed-loop cruise -- meaning that it started and ended in the same port (in this case, Houston) -- Edith didn't need a passport. Her birth certificate was just fine.

I loved the constant food since I am now hungry ALL OF THE TIME. I was worried about motion sickness -- never a problem for me except during the first trimester. But all was good. We got a great deal on a balcony room, and we used it enough for me to vow never again to go on a cruise without one. We sometimes left the balcony door open a crack at night just to hear the sea -- a real-life sound machine.

Our room was small but well organized, even with the ship-provided pack-and-play. The worst of it: the room's phone was so low that Edith could (and did) often play with the buttons.

Edith slept well in the cabin, and there was a kid's playroom available for most of the day. She was too young for the formal kids' programs, so we couldn't leave her and explore on our own. But that was fine. Since I'm pregnant, it's not like I wanted to go off to zipline or hit the bars anyway!

I'll be posting several more posts about our experiences on board an in each port, so stay tuned.

Sassy Edith waiting around in Texas.

On our balcony.