As very skeptical cruise newbies, we surprised ourselves by panic buying a 10 day Caribbean Cruise – lesson one – when they say this deal is only good for the next x hours, it is NOT true. Such a rookie mistake, everyone has at least one friend who has cruise experience or a side-hustle repping dream vacations (and if you don’t, hit me up and I’ll connect you). Do some research! Recovering from that, lesson two – join all the Facebook groups associated with cruising, your chosen cruise line, and follow people who have taken your ship or visited your destinations – you will get a lot of great insights, but also more creepers than you care to know (still trying to shake a few off). Sift through the online resources (a few really good sources: CruiseCritic, CruiseHive, and your cruise line’s website) and get yourself knowledgeable about your ship, your cruise, and your destinations. This will help with your exploration decisions and unique things like getting upgrades, ship deals, and pre-book excursions. We were nervous about how to handle a few of these, but after reading a lot of reviews, posts, and watching YouTube videos – we made some confident choices on our excursions – both through the ship and on our own style.

Our itinerary included:

Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Philipsburg, St. Maarten; St. John's, Antigua; Basseterre, St. Kitts; Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas; Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas

First stop was Puerto Plata Dominican Republic – we docked at Taino Bay and did a self-discovery tour of Umbrella Street, Pink Street, the Amber Museum, and city center shopping. Had an awesome DR seafood lunch at Polanco Restaurante complete with a shot of the famous Mamajuana with the owner. Tips – if you just want to see the town, no need to book an excursion – we felt quite comfortable and safe to disembark and just a short walk to the middle of town and all the things we wanted to see. (thanks to a guy on YouTube who “showed” us the way!) Definitely beware of the endless offers from the locals to take you around – you don’t need it! You can also just stay inside the Taino Bay village area with food, shops, and water attractions. If your ship docks at Amber Cove, you’ll need to get transportation to see the actual city sites.

On our first sea day we did the full on experience everything on the itinerary – it was exhausting – lesson three – you do not have to do EVERYTHING onboard the ship! They have lots of options to meet the needs of lots of different people – you don’t have to try everything, but figure out what you really want to see, do, or experience – and RELAX! We are definitely not pool-party-people, but did enjoy the music and vibe from a distance. We took advantage of our unlimited drink package (we fail to understand the water package or the bring your own water bottle to refill – every bar will just give you cups of water when you ask for it – lesson four – leave the personal water bottle at home – but – bring your own koozies!! We were very thankful to have those that fit our sweaty cups)

Our cruise ship offered two wine tasting events! This was great, because we got to meet our sommelier who gave us an excellent (bonus lesson) on all the wines and cheese pairings and he later recognized us at all our dinners and made sure we were happy with our wine selections for the week. Lesson five – you don’t need to bring your own onboard – there is plenty of decent wine available and they only upcharge you above the package if you go above the price limits. We brought bubbly for our stateroom and a Purple Angel Carménère for a special occasion – if you are flying to get to your cruise, this may be more effort than it’s worth.

Another great self-tour excursion was on Puerto Rico – since we have been here several times, we skipped the standard tourist stuff (but highly recommend visiting Old San Juan if you’ve never been!). We called in advance for a reservation for the Ron del Barrilito tour and tasting - oldest rum in PR – it was about a 25 minute taxi ride to/from the ship, so easily fit into our window of docked time. We still had time to do a little walk about San Juan, had lunch at the famous Raices for their mojitos and PR traditional mofongo.

We took advantage of two different islands as “beach days” – we had never been to either Antigua or St Kitts, but had read about their beautiful beaches. We decided to pack a couple of beach totes with towels, sunscreen, books, and koozies – the essentials - and go on our own excursions. This was a little risky, because it is all unknown and the cruise doesn’t wait for anyone who goes outside their pre-arranged excursions – but we managed! We did some pre-search for beach/bar destinations, got a taxi to drop us and pick us up at the requested times, just rented chairs and umbrella. On Antigua, we went to Ana’s On The Beach. Great spot for food, drinks, and beach!! Highly recommend Ana's for making an excellent few hours of beach time and escape from cruise excursion. Loved the rum drinks, ceviche and mango shrimp! On St Kitts we did the same – they have unbelievably beautiful beaches and views of the Atlantic and Caribbean - everyone was very friendly, especially our beach bar hosts at No Limits Beach Bar and drivers. This was Cockleshell Beach, which does not have a lot frills – clean porta potty and limited snacks – but good cheap drinks and unlimited views of the Caribbean and sister island, Nevis.

St Thomas was our big excursion day - since the time at port was very short, we decided to do this one through the cruise line (part of our cruise package, so we had to take advantage!). We had a great time doing a catamaran trip to Turtle Cove, did some snorkeling with Sea Turtles and had drinks and snacks on the sail back to port. Would definitely recommend the #thevicat – very experienced crew and turtle tour guides!

Our last stop on the cruise was to the NCL owned island in the Bahamas, Great Stirrup Cay. Again, thanks to a guy on YouTube, we followed his directions to go past the lighthouse and find a great big beach with chairs and umbrellas, close by BBQ buffet and excellent ceviche and mahi sandwiches from the Tropic Like It's Hot food truck. Note: food and drink package is all-included here on the island, but they charge for the chair, umbrella, clamshell rentals.

We are passionate about our food and wine pairings, but did not have super high expectations for this cruise. We only ate at buffets for breakfast and a couple of lunch/snack times. We upgraded to specialty dining for four nights (worth it!) and sampled the two main dining rooms on the rest of the nights. Only had one truly bad meal towards the end of the cruise. The ship was clean, the room was as small as expected, the bed was more comfortable than expected. A few things we appreciated knowing ahead to have: usb fan, shoe bag for the bathroom door, and the no-surge multi-plug adapter (one electric outlet in the whole cabin!). Glad we got the balcony room if nothing else for the extra space and view.

Definitely learned a few things we’d do different if we decide to go on another cruise!!

The Norwegian Cruise Line - Sky - Favorite Food & Drink Pairings: