5-Day Cruise Birthday Celebration
We had taken Lily and Parker, grandkids, on their 13th birthday trips. Addi missed her 13th birthday trip, and Blake’s 13th birthday was actually in July 2025. He was too busy with the baseball season, so we decided to invite Addi to join Blake and celebrate each of their belated 13th birthdays on their Spring Break 2026. The plans began in early Fall of 2025, booked through Costco Travel, and were paid for by Christmas 2025.
The Explorer of the Seas Royal Caribbean Cruise Ship was out of Port Canaveral, Florida, with our flights booked into Orlando, Florida.
Two cabins were reserved: one patio cabin for Papa and Blake, and the one across the hall, an interior cabin for Nana and Addi. Excursions pre-booked were the Nassau Sail & Reef Snorkeling excursion for the Nassau port of call, and the entrance fees to CocoCay’s Water Park in the Bahamas port of call. We also prepaid $100.00 each for Blake and Addi for onboard arcade play
The week we were scheduled to depart, there were constant news reports of the extremely long airport check-in lines with Spring Break travel and TSA agents calling in sick, not showing up for work. It was recommended to arrive at the airport at least 3-4 hours before flight times. Blake and Addi spent the night with us the night before our departure. We had an Uber driver pick us up at 3 am for a 6:45 am boarding time. We arrived at DFW by 3:30 am, and sure enough, the lines to check in were already very long. Papa pulled his 76-year-old card, and we were taken further up into the line and made our flight with no issues. Interestingly, our connection was through Washington DC, which we thought was strange, but since it was booked through Costco Travel, we followed the plan. Washington DC was much more crowded than DFW; however, since it was a connecting flight, we did not have to wait to check in.
We had booked our flight into Orlando the day before the cruise departure, and reserved a hotel close to the port, planning for any flight delays or travel issues. It was a nice room with a wall dividing the kids’ twin beds from our king bed. We were all exhausted from being up since 2:00 am, and we crashed by 8 pm.
The next morning, Monday, March 16, we had our continental breakfast at the hotel and took an Uber to board the ship.
Addison and Blake were excited about their first time on a cruise ship. We spent some time walking around the ship and getting familiar with the various planned activities. Blake was excited to see the Sports Court with scheduled basketball, soccer, and pickleball play, located on the 13th floor, one floor up from the Optix Teen Center. He signed up with the Optix Teen group (12-17 years old) shortly after we boarded and was notified through the Royal Caribbean mobile phone app of sponsored events.
Blake participated in a soccer tournament on the first day and walked away with an award for the most goals. Papa and Nana went to the Ice Spectacular – Spirits of the Season ice skating show, which was fantastic.
The cruise ship was full of Spring Break travelers of all ages, and the daily planner was filled with activities for everyone. In addition to the Optix Teen group, there were singles (18-25) scheduled Hyperlink Get Togethers, Adult only (18 and over) activities, as well as general activities for all age groups. Name that Tune, Live Music entertainment through various areas of the ship, Arts & Crafts, Miniature Golf, Ice Skating Rink, Deck Movie nights shown on a large screen, Line and Salsa dancing, Table tennis, and various entertainment shows/competitions. There were multiple pools, hot tubs, and an adult-only pool and hot tub. However, the hot tubs had an occupancy maximum of 17, and it was constantly packed, crowded with well over 17 people, not too encouraging to get into.
It was quite windy on the ship, and the pool water was cold, so sadly none of us spent much time poolside or on the deck, although it was a nice area with a large water slide and a Flowrider (surf simulator). Blake signed up to ride the Flowrider, which required watching a safety video and signing a waiver, but there were always long lines, and he ended up not riding it until the last full day of our trip. He did a good job staying on the board, and it was fun watching him.
Tuesday, our second day on our cruise, was Nassau, The Bahamas, a port of call where we had our snorkel excursion. Papa, Blake, and Addi were set to participate; Nana stayed on board the boat and took pictures. Addi had thoroughly enjoyed snorkeling when we took her to Hawaii and was looking forward to snorkeling; it was Blake’s first time. Papa had bought them each their own underwater camera, but we only ended up with a few photos that Blake and Addi took. There was more than one boat with groups of snorkelers in the area, so it was difficult to identify them while heads-down in the water.
Blake and Addi returned to the snorkeling boat without Papa, and as Nana was looking for him out in the water among other snorkelers, the boat guide announced that one of our guests got on the wrong boat. I teasingly said to the guide, “It is probably my husband!” And, sure enough, it was Papa. One of the boat guides on our boat swam over to the boat Papa had mistakenly boarded and, with a lifebuoy, brought Papa to our boat; he was exhausted. There were a few jokes and laughter about the incident.
It was also Saint Patrick’s Day. Nana had brought a few cabin door decorations and shamrock beads to wear. There was a Saint Patrick’s Day Balloon Drop that was so much fun to watch. They were playing music, and then there was a countdown for the anticipation of the full ceiling of balloons to drop among the crowds of people.
We had discovered that the Pizza Café, which always had long lines, was a “free” dining option, included with our cruise and not considered a specialty dining like other locations, such as Johnny Rockets, which added extra expense eating options. It became a popular place for us to get slices of pizza for snacking, between meals.
Wednesday was a day at sea; we all put on our swimsuits with plans to spend the day at the pool(s) on deck. However, it was cloudy, windy, and the water was too cold to swim; it wasn’t comfortable even sitting out by the pool. Addi was feeling a little seasick and went to our cabin; Blake was with the teen group. Papa and Nana watched the Belly Flop poolside contest. The three huge contestants competed for the prize of the biggest splash.
It was our designated formal night, formerly referred to as Captain Night, where the captain of the ship would attend, and there would be entertainment in the formal dining area; however, we learned that since Covid, they no longer had the captain attend, and there was no entertainment, but everyone was encouraged to dress their best.
Following dinner, the four of us played a round of miniature golf, then Blake attended a teen event. Papa, Nana, and Addi watched the “If You Know It, Name It” game show, where volunteers lip-sync songs that volunteers randomly drew from a hat. They were given a microphone that was turned off and were instructed to sing and dance as the songs played, performing as if they were the stars. There was a young girl who was so entertaining, she was lip synching every word to the song she had drawn to sing. After this show, the three of us went to an adult-only Karaoke. We stayed to listen to only a few people, then went to our cabins.
Thursday was our second day at sea. It was Luke’s 24th birthday, so Papa and Nana sent him personal text messages wishing him Happy Birthday from the cruise ship. Blake and Addi slept in while Papa and Nana went to breakfast. Following breakfast, Papa and Nana watched the World’s Sexiest Man Competition on deck, poolside. It was very entertaining, and it was quite funny as a few of the competitors acted out. Blake and Addi joined us, and we watched them ice skate.
It was Caribbean Dress night, suggesting guests dress in Caribbean style for dinner. Papa, Nana, and Addi participated in the Shush! Silent Party was the most fun! Addi thoroughly enjoyed it as we all wore headphones, with two different options of music (headphones lit in either blue or green colors); everyone would sing and dance to the songs they were hearing play on their individual headphone. There was a large crowd of people in the Royal Promenade, all participating, and at one point, several were listening to Y-M-C-A, and we were all singing and dancing to it. The music was not heard by people who were not wearing headphones, so you would see people walking through the crowds, puzzled at what they were seeing with the large group of us singing and dancing.
Blake was attending the Optix Teen Group activities. The three of us attended two shows after dinner. The Perfect Couple game show is for 18+, and Papa and Nana decided to volunteer as participants. We believed we had a chance of winning with our marriage of over 36 years, and practiced a few questions that may be asked on how we would answer. We truly thought the game would be played as we had seen before, where the couples sit back-to-back, a question is asked of both, and neither can hear the other’s answer, then points would be earned with their matching answers. We were the oldest couple of the three couples selected to participate; the other two couples were much younger and had only been together for a short time. However, the competition was much different from what we could ever have imagined. Listing it as an adult-only show should have been a clue to us, but it was not, and we did not expect to be challenged to compete in ways that we had to compete. The Star Lounge was packed with standing room only as we competed, and it was too late to back out once it started. Papa and Nana did win first place, but only because we were the oldest participants.
Several people came up to us afterwards, commenting that they were happy to see us having fun at our age, and one couple suggested we attend the Crazy Quest, which followed this event. The large group of guests sitting in this large auditorium-style room was divided into 6-groups, each group had two volunteer leaders. The host would tell the audience that the first “fastest” group to deliver, for example, false teeth to the center of the auditorium, to the host would earn points. The team with the most points at the end was the winner. The group leaders would encourage their group to hurriedly pass down the item requested so they could run it to the center to the host for points. The request of items varied, like a sock with a hole in it, a wig, false teeth was an item requested, a man with lipstick on their lips, and men on all four on the floor barking like dogs. It was funny, strange items requested, and fun to watch. We left before the competition ended.
Friday, March 20, was our last full day on the cruise, and it was our Perfect Day at CocoCay, the Bahamas. The sea was so rough that there were warnings that guests may not be able to get off the ship, which was disappointing. However, we were allowed to get off the ship, and this was our water park prepaid excursion. As we were exiting the ship across the bridge, it was obvious how rough the water was as it beat against the shore in large white-capped waves; it was very windy. We immediately found four beach lounge chairs by the wave pool, but the water was so cold and the wind so fierce that it was difficult to enjoy. Blake went down the water slides multiple times, and we knew that there were several other areas of the park to explore.
We gave up our chairs and moved to the South Beach area, which was a “free area,” not part of the water park excursion. The wind was not nearly as bad, and we were able to get beach chairs. This was a nice beach area where there were basketball courts, pickleball courts, beach volleyball, snack bars where all of our food was “free,” as if on our ship. There were cabanas that were offered for rentals in our cruise planning, starting at over $1,000, so obviously, we had not reserved an ocean cabana, but they were rented with people in them. There was a swim-up cabana offshore, a bit from the beach, that was crowded with people. The beach area was actually nice with umbrellas, and the entire set-up, which we somewhat regretted even pre-paying for the water park, as it turned out, but we had no way of knowing the weather would not be good the day we were to be at the Water Park. After some time at South Beach, we moved to the Lagoon swimming pool area, again finding an umbrella and lounge chairs, but again, none of us actually got into the pool. Overall, the day at CocoCay was not as nice as we had planned, but it was an okay experience.
Papa made reservations at the Izumi Japanese “specialty dining” restaurant for our last evening on the cruise. It was not included as “free” dining, and cost $45.00 per person, but it included a five-course meal of sushi and other items we had not been offered in the main dining room. Our last night was a 70’s (or 80’s) night, and guests were encouraged to dress for the 70’s (or 80’s), which we all had planned for in advance. However, since we had the dinner reservations at the specialty restaurant, and we had to have all of our checked luggage packed, and put outside our cabins by 10 pm, we ended up not participating in the 70’s Disco Inferno Party at the Royal Promenade that was scheduled to begin at 9:30 pm. We were dressed for the 70’s, but ended up not seeing anyone else dressed in the 70’s, which we would have had we gone to the Disco Party.
The next morning, we had to wake up early as we were scheduled as one of the first groups to disembark from the ship to catch our flight out of Orlando. We grabbed a bit of breakfast and left the ship, catching a shuttle transfer to the airport. Our trip home was pretty much uneventful. Karl picked us up at the airport. We discovered that Addi’s checked luggage did not make it, but it was delivered the next day to our home, where she picked it up from us.
“Sailing with my teenage grandkids, thanking God for the gift of family and the joy of every season. ‘He will be the stability of your times.’ — Isaiah 33:6”
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