As you all know, I love traveling. But as a teacher, I can’t often travel during the school year and end up having to pack all of my travels into the summer, which, at times, can get quite overwhelming and exhausting. I’ve always loved the ability to travel during the school year, and I do take local weekend trips, it’s been hard to find trips where I can travel internationally when I’m able to during breaks during the school year. Well, if you hadn’t heard, I finally discovered a trip that is exactly what I was looking for.
A quick getaway where I was able to travel abroad and come back and not have to take any personal days off of work – and better yet, it was a cruise! If you had missed my recent Instagram posts and stories, make sure to drop on over and check out the highlights from the trip that goes along with this marvelous recap. Here, I am going to share with you a full recap of my first cruise experience and during the school year getaway with Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line, including the on-shore day experience that we took.
Before We Recap ON THE PARADISE CRUISE BAHAMAS
Let me just start off by saying that hubby and I had never been on a cruise before. I have heard stories from people who went on cruises, including my parents, but never had the opportunity to. Additionally, I was never really looking for cruises as I always had movies like the Titanic and Poseidon in my head and felt like I was going to get lost at sea. But when we were invited to come aboard the Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line, we just couldn’t pass it up.
The Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line is a two-night cruise that takes you to the Grand Bahamas Island casting off from West Palm Beach. Most of the travel on the cruise takes place overnight and they are great with helping you to create a plan on what you can do when they dock in the Bahamas. This cruise was a great opportunity for us to take a trip during the holiday break without us having to take off of work. Plus, we needed the warmth. The cold of the northeast just keeps you indoors bundled up under blankets, and though I am a lover of blankets, I needed some sun.
While Onboard THE BAHAMAS PARADISE CRUISE
For those who haven’t been on a cruise before, getting on board is super painless. When you’re checking in, you give them your identification – highly recommend bringing your passport if you are cruising out of the country – and your credit card so that if there are any charges that you accumulate, they’ll just charge it straight to your room. After you have registered everything, they’ll give you a room card which will basically function as the main card you’ll use to get around the ship, get drinks and food, and get off and on the ship when it docks. After registering, you can make some reservations and purchase your drink cards, and then you’re ready to get on board the ship!
For our cruise with Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line, we had the pleasure of cruising on the Grand Classica – an immaculate ship that has 8 dining venues, 5 bars, and lounges and has over 650 rooms. The 14 level deck has everything that you need to keep your time onboard fun, entertaining, and lively. One thing that I will advise for first-time cruisers, be prepared to find your sea legs. Hubby and I were queezy for the initial part of the cruise when it started moving as we weren’t used to the feeling. Ginger Ale helped me and the cruise line was very accommodating in allowing me to get the ginger ale and aid my troubled stomach.
Staff is available the majority of the time on the boat and are ready and willing to help you with mostly everything. The staff made me feel like a queen when I was on the cruise. If we needed it, it was there in a matter of minutes…maybe even seconds. The top decks were the best to be on while onboard. On the 14th floor, there was a very awesome sports bar. And for the fitness people, their top deck also includes a green running track the circles around the boat. You’ll also find two pools and a bar on the 11th floor. With this being a family cruise with also a lot of partners/singles without children, there was one pool for the kids and another that was adults only. A Godsend for impatient people like us. I can’t deal with the splashing and the yelling, so we took full advantage of relaxing by the back pool.
An Experience Like No Other ON THE BAHAMAS PARADISE CRUISE
Now, being an influencer has its perks. Hubby and I were able to have a very exclusive experience on the boat. We were able to head to the front of the boat and join the captain as he set sail. Honestly, I cannot fully tell you exactly everything that they did during this process, because there was so much, but it was one of the most unique and amazing experiences I have had while traveling. What I can remember and tell you is that there are a lot of parts that go into setting sail from the dock. First, the boat has to go in reverse and is pulled out from the dock while the captain and his crew lookout on each side of the ship to make sure that the boat doesn’t hit anything or gets hit by anything.
There is also the time at the end where the pilots, who I am not really sure what they did, get off the boat while in motion. They go towards the bottom of the ship, climb down a ladder, and jump onto a smaller boat that is moving parallel next to the moving ship. Now, I would never, ever, ever. But it was amazing to watch. Hubby and I saw that there are a few documentaries on the casting off of cruise lines that we are planning to watch so I can fully understand what they were doing. They explained a lot, and I was just so in awe that it ran out of my mind. But AH-MAY-ZING!
The Rooms ON THE PARADISE CRUISE BAHAMAS
One thing that everyone is always concerned with when it comes to traveling is where I am going to lay my head down and is it going to be comfortable. For the Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line, I’m going to honestly share with you that our room was super comfortable. When we first checked in, our luggage was delivered to our door. We then unpacked and found out there is ample storage room aboard the trip for both of us for the two nights we were going to be on board. The concierge on the floor was very helpful in making sure that our comfort was at the top level. When I requested a few more pillows and an extra blanket, they brought it to us quickly. And they are quick to make sure that if you request room service that it is delivered quickly and fresh.
Our rooms were always cleaned. I feel like any time that we left the room, we came back and it was tidied up. The funny thing is I started to feel like I was being too much of a slob because they cleaned it up so much, but I did appreciate it and tried my best not to be all over the place as much as I was. It’s very easy to find your room and on each side of the ship, there are two elevators so that you’re not walking around in a huge circle to find what you need. One thing I always appreciate about rooms is the products and amenities found in the room so that I don’t have to pack as much. There is plenty of toiletries available for use, there is a hairdryer, and the showers get as hot as you want them.
Oh, and a big bonus for my husband, the channels that they do have for you to watch are highly popular channels so you’ll always have something to watch when you are ready to lay down your head and just turn on some background noise that you tell yourself you’re going to watch but never really do.
Entertainment/Things to Do ON THE BAHAMAS PARADISE CRUISE
There was PUH-LENTY to do aboard the Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line. When you first get to your room, you’ll find a schedule of all the events happening on the ship hour by hour. And they go pretty late, the party doesn’t stop! They have everything from trivia and Bingo to salsa dancing lessons. They have parties on the pool decks, relaxing jazz in one of the bars, glow light parties for the families, and shows in their theatre. And if you’re not one for the events and the schedules, then you can head to the bar or the onboard casino and do whatever you feel you need to do.
They also have an area on one of the levels that have a collection of board games, you can find computers, you can color, and they have a kids club – so if you’re a parent that wants to party and you brought your child along, they’ll help you with that too. And of course, during the day, if you just want to relax, you can head up to the pools and sit in any of the comfy seating and catch up on your book, listen to some music, go for a swim…I mean, the sky is the limit aboard this ship. You will never find yourself bored. And if you do, it’s because you’re just not willing to get up and come out of your room!
Dining ON THE BAHAMAS PARADISE CRUISE
There are a total of 8 locations to eat aboard the Grand Classica of the Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line and each one has it’s own theme and special delicacies. When you are first checking in, you have the ability to make a reservation at the specialty dining restaurants such as the Admiral’s Steak and Seafood, which we dined at during our first night aboard the ship. The dining that night was stupendous. The steak was made just right and after our three course meal (well, four courses because they had a chef’s special that night), it was almost night time for me because I was heading into that food coma.
I will say the chef’s aboard that ship are spectacular. No matter where we eat, whether it was the specialty dining, the regular restaurants, or even the buffet, all of the food was great. And I’m pretty picky when it comes to food. If I’m traveling, and I can’t find anything to eat, I am pretty much miserable for the remainder of the trip. But the Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line did not disappoint on that front. I mean, you have to experience it for yourself.
Thank you to Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line for inviting us to take this experience and hosting us on the Grand Classica for this wonderful 2-night cruise. Thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.
