Optional purchases include cards for unlimited soda and alcohol. Of course you can purchase the drinks individually as well if you don’t want to shell out the money for the entire package. You can also spend money at the casino, spa, video arcade or at one of the many shops. There’s also optional wifi on ship if you need to do a bit of work or just want to post some Facebook updates while at sea.
There’s also a fine dining restaurant in the ship that you can choose to dine at. We opted to do that one evening and enjoyed the food and service.
One of the other reasons I love cruising is because I get introduced to an area of the world to see if I’d like to go back and visit for a further length. There have been plenty of places I once considered booking a vacation, but was underwhelmed once I actually got there. Of course the reverse is true where I couldn’t wait to go back and explore more.Finally if you want to book any shore excursions once you get to once of your many destinations, they’re worth researching. We like to study the ports in advance to see what areas are worth booking an excursion versus exploring on your own. The one benefit of booking through the cruise ship is that if something happens while you’re off on your adventure, the cruise ship will wait for you to get back.
Maybe you’re thinking of celebrating the halfway point of a deployment – you can get some really great rates for 3-4 day trips for a quick getaway… if you share rooms with other military spouses, you can pack in the savings.
Save Money on a Flight and Drive
Most Marine Corps bases are near ports that you can easily drive to, saving on airline tickets.
- Camp Pendleton and 29 Palms can easily get to San Diego, Long Beach or Los Angeles.
- Quantico, Pentagon, 8th and I can easily get to Baltimore, New York, or New Jersey.
- Camp Lejeune and Cherry Point can easily get to Charleston.
- Kaneohe Bay can get to Honolulu.
We’ve driven and left our cars in secured cruise ship parking areas while we’re away.
Hurry Up and Wait
The worst parts of the vacation are getting on and off the ship. Sometimes if you time it right, you can get on and off quickly, but the cruise ship has to completely debark earlier cruises and clean, refuel, and restock. Have a little patience and expect to wait; bring entertainment with you and a portable charger if you have one.
Know that your checked bags may not show up right away. When you check your bags, they first get screened and then sorted for the appropriate floor and room. You may be waiting several hours to get your bags, so if you need something, it’s best to take it with you as your carry on.
You can also bring one bottle of wine per booked member, ages 21+, in your carry on. Any beverages or prohibited items will be removed and stored until you debark from the cruise ship.
The first hours on ship are typically spent discovering your room (which most likely is still being cleaned) locating Camp Carnival and subsequently registering the kids, and completing the emergency evacuation procedures.
Our Latest Trip to the Bahamas
Check out our recent vacation we took to the Bahamas. We boarded after a 2 hour drive to Baltimore, Maryland from Quantico, Virginia.
Our first stop was Port Canaveral (Orlando), Florida. I did a bit of research to see if I should fit in Disneyworld and decided against it after weighing the cost/benefit. We wanted to do something and I figured that we’d need transportation because the port wasn’t in walking distance to anything.
We booked a tour through the ship for an ‘Airboat Tour and Alligators’ excursion through the Central Florida everglades where we saw eagles, alligators, and other beautiful birds. We sampled alligator tail and afterwards a small shelter brought rescue animals where people could get photos taken with them for a small donation.
The next day we arrived at Nassau, Bahamas where we knew we could easily walk off the ship into a bustling city. We loaded onto the boat taxi and made our way over to Atlantis’ private beach because we weren’t sure if paying the higher price through the Cruise Lines would be worth it.
This article was originally published at USMC Life.