I’m not going to lie, I am a cruise junkie. My goal is to be one of those old couples celebrating their 25th cruise. It truly is the best vacation for your money! Although both my husband and I had been on cruises before, this Eastern Caribbean voyage on the Costa Mediterranea was the beginning of our cruising lifestyle together.
It was our honeymoon…and it didn’t start off too sweet. I guess you could say it started off with more of a BANG as our original booked cruise caught on fire two days before our departure. Let me set the stage. I was 21, in college and ready to start spring break on a Caribbean cruise with my new husband. Everything was ready to go: our bags packed, shore excursions booked, midterms done and a bon voyage dinner with the family set for that night. If we had a baby, I would definitely make dad carry a diaper backpack so he can change all the poopy diapers. But babies are still a few years down the road....anyhow, I remember it like it was yesterday. I was running out of school after a long day of midterms to meet up with my hubby. I could tell by the look on his face that something was up.
“What?” I asked feeling panic set in.
“I just got off the phone with our travel agent. Our cruise ship caught on fire.”
Our cruise was cancelled!!! Needless to say I was devastated and to make matters worse we were on our way to our bon voyage dinner. Everyone was full of suggestions: Las Vegas, Idlywild, the beach. I wanted to scream, “I WANT TO GO ON MY CARIBBEAN CRUISE!!!!” But of course I just pouted and played with my food.
That night my sweet and determined husband was making phone calls and surfing the internet trying to salvage our honeymoon. Since it was spring break, everything seemed to be booked. Then suddenly he found a website called Vacationstogo.com where they feature discounts on a number of cruises and cruise lines. With the bulk of our money tied up in our original cruise, we were in despite need for inexpensive alternative. He sent an email explaining our situation and the next morning at 6:00 am a representative from Vacationstogo.com called with a seven day Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Costa Mediterranea was leaving the same day as our original cruise out of the same port. We had to think fast it was only $500 each, but it was non-fundable and had to be booked right away since they were being besieged with phone calls for bookings. We took a chance and put it on a credit card. Now we had to make sure our airfare was still good.
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When we booked our original cruise our airfare was included, so we called our travel agent told them we booked another cruise out of Ft. Lauderdale and we need to keep our airfare. She told us she doubted we could that, but she would try. Finally she called back and told us she had talked to Princess and we could keep our plane tickets. Phew!! What a relief!! We had our honeymoon back!!!
My husband jumped in the car and got a room near the airport so we could be there bright and early. My husband decided to call the airport just to double check on our tickets and was told that Princess had just called about an hour before and canceled our airfare!!! AHHHH!! What????
Finally after hours of calling airlines we finally found a flight to Ft. Lauderdale, but at double the price. About $2000!! Our cruise was costing only $1000, but our plane to get there was double! Craziness, but we had to do what we had to do. We were exhausted, but we were having our honeymoon in the Caribbean!!
I have to be honest, I was nervous when we arrived in Ft. Lauderdale. I had never heard of Costa Cruise Line. Was it even a real ship? My fears were put at ease as soon as we saw the beautiful cruise liner and the excitement was ignited with our first step onboard. It was class all the way. Upon boarding the beautiful ship we were greeted by the staff wearing tuxes and white gloves. We felt like we had stepped back in time, when elegance and sophistication ruled the seas. It truly felt as if we had just boarded the Titanic.
As I’ve stated before, I am no stranger to cruises, but the Costa Mediterranea was most unique vessel I have ever sailed on. Since many of the passengers were Princess Star refugees like my husband and I, I heard some mummers that the Costa was gaudy. I, however, strongly disagree. The Costa Mediterranea was gorgeous!! The ship was Italian and everything was shiny, gold and ornate. Everywhere you looked your eye was met with excitement. There was a glass staircase that played ticks on the eye, so I don’t recommend walking down them after a few cocktails.
What I love most about cruises is that they are all inclusive, except for alcohol. Once you board, you get to just sit back and enjoy. Every day are great meals, fun activities and Vegas style shows that keep your tummies' and days full. The cruise alone is a vacation, but the ports bring a whole new level of adventure to the cruise experience. You get to explore places you might never get to see otherwise without the worry of transportation, lodging and meals. If you are unfamiliar with a port, the cruise offers a variety of shore excursions that suit everyone’s taste.
International Night
Not much luck gambling
Honeymoon/Anniversary Cocktail party: FREE Champagne!!
Tropical Party on deck
Midnight buffet...Hello Carbs!!
Toga Night
There are many ways to keep shore excursions within your budget. Research the ports of call before leaving on your cruise. If you like to just sunbathe on the beaches then taking a taxi on your own will save a lot of moola, but make sure you know what taxi’s are safe. Important: if you opt to explore a port on your own make sure to watch your time! The ship waits for no one. If you bring kids, you should also make sure to have a good travel system, and you can find excellent travel system stroller reviews here.
Our first port was St. Maarten. The hot sticky air, guava berry rum and Cuban cigars instantly gave us the tropical escape we were looking for. It was the least pricey of all our ports and everything is duty free and negotiable, which made shopping that much more fun. We spent the majority of our day at Orient Beach, which is a clothing optional beach on the French side of the island, a short taxi ride away. Although my husband and I did not participate in the legal nudity, we couldn’t beat the free entertainment of those who did. Besides a couple Bahama Mamas and some souvenirs, we literally spent nothing that day.
Orient Beach
Beautiful St. Maarten
Enjoying some Cubans
Our next stop was Tortola where we took a short boat ride to Virgin Gorda. Tortola was more expensive than St. Maarten and lunch cost about the same as a restaurant in California. We saved money by exploring caves and playing on the beach. Since shopping is a little bit pricey I would recommend buying one souvenir…Pusser’s Rum!!
Virgin Gorda
The caves of Virgin Gorda
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Our last and most expensive port was Nassau in the Bahamas. The cruise offers a lot of great deals at some of the shops, so our morning was spent cashing in all our freebies. Then we took a ferry over to Atlantis Hotel on Paradise Island. We spent the day exploring this magnificent Vegas style oasis. We didn’t buy much at this port, because the prices were crazy. If you are in the market for legit jewelry such as gold, silver and rare jewels, then this is the place to buy some of the world’s best jewelry duty free!
King and Queen of Atlantis
Atlantis Hotel
Our original Princess cruise was going to cost about double what we paid for our Costa cruise. Thanks to Vacationstogo.com we were able to save over 50% on our cruise and got to discover a cruise line we now love. I recommend booking airfare as far in advance as possible for the best price. We received a refund from Princess for the extra dough we put out for last minute plane tickets.We had a Champagne quality experience on a Happy Hour beer budget!
