Before COVID hit and the entire world shut down, we had plans to go on a cruise with our family. We'd made arrangements to get all the kids passports, ordered snorkeling gear, and were a month or two away from our final payment. The cruise was scheduled for Spring Break.
I remember being at Kyoto on Campbell Lane. Matt and I were there with my sister and brother-in-law Paul waiting for a lacrosse game at Bowling Green Junior High to begin. Paul (who is a physician) was telling us at dinner about the first real warnings of the coronavirus, and how it was literally shutting everything down. At the time, none of us could really process an event of that magnitude and impact of what was happening. The short version - well, you know what happened. No cruise and thankfully we were refunded because all the ports were essentially shut down.
When Matt and I were married in 1999, we'd taken a cruise for our honeymoon on Royal Caribbean. 26 years later, we managed to make that happen again. Many things have changed since 1999. I pulled out all of our arrangements, journal, and travels documents out of the attic to make some comparisons.
I was curious to see how the two lined up. Both cruises were similar, but in 1999, we set sail from Miami (2025 was Port Canaveral) and an additional stop was made to Key West on the way back from Nassau and CocoCay in route to Miami.
We were two poor college graduates and newlyweds. This meant than an interior cabin was all we could afford. I remember thinking...one day, we will come back and have a porthole in our room OR better yet, a balcony. In 1999, you couldn't just pull up cruise deals and tour ships on a computer. You either had to work with a travel agency or call businesses directly. Airlanse Travel made all of our arrangements - flights, cruise, hotel accommodations. Things were much different then.
In 2025, with the click of a button and download of the app, our entire trip was planned.
Our ship in 1999, Sovereign of the Seas felt enormous. It was one of the first mega liners of its kind holding 2,800 passengers. There was no reserving entertainment ahead of time. You had to go to the concierge to book all your excursions and experiences. Each night in your stateroom was a pamphlet detailing the stops ahead and events on board the ship.
I don't remember the ports that vividly but do have some memories like going to Crystal Cay (in Nassau) as an excursion and petting stingrays. I feel like we wandered through the town which felt a lot like a street fair with vendors everywhere trying to sell you things. My jaw dropped when I saw the Atlantis resort far in the distance. Like I said, bits and pieces of memories. CocoCay, RC's private island, has evolved significantly. It was a beach in 1999, and today there is a large waterpark, various beach areas, rental cabanas, a few different excursion options and everything in between.
I might be wrong about this, but I think in 1999, you did dinner only for main dining and you were paired with other couples on the ship. It was also our first experience with all-inclusive dining.
After hitting up the Windjammer restaurant for breakfast on Day 1 in 2025, we opted for main dining for breakfast and dinner the rest of the cruise. The Windjammer had thousands of options but was
SLAMMED with families and not terribly comfortable. Like the first ship, there were tons of dining, quick service, and grab-n-go options.
We'd start the day off with a specialty iced coffee from Cafe Promenade before heading over to the main dining for made to order breakfasts. Afterwards, we head down to deck 5 to walk the ships track and burn off some calories.
Dressing up for dinner in the main dining hall was fun. They surprised us one night by bringing us a special dessert to celebrate our anniversary. We enjoyed shows like Aqua80's water show, the ice show "Youtopia" and adult comedy. The first night, I wasn't feeling quite right and wanted to lay down and relax, and Matt went to the All In! production and loved it.
In Nassau, we opted out of an excursion. Basically everything you read online says you can explore the city fairly easily. That's what we chose to do. After making our way through the seas of souvenir vendors, trekking up roads in the heat, we founds ourselves at John Watlings distillery. Free tours and tastings all day - count us in!!!
I kept joking with my friend Julie how all my poses seem so unnatural, so we tried some practice photos. I'm not a picture kind of gal anymore.
We came, we sweated, we drank, and we headed back to the ship. Matt and I made a beeline straight for Sorrento's which is the ships pizza parlor and hands-down, the best treat ever! I have no idea how much pizza we consumed on our cruise.
RC's cruise ship Utopia of the Seas is the 3rd largest in the fleet and holds 5,600 passengers. We were on deck 8 of 18. How crazy is that? It was a floating city. We booked a balcony room and toasted to a beautiful life together.
While so much has changed - ships, technology, and the times, cruising together is a highlight we'll never forget! Plus, we finally got our balcony room!
