A full day at sea. A day where you can do anything you want and your main priority is to take care of and enjoy yourself. Magic isn’t it? My favorite part though? Just staring out at sea, but I’m determined this is a major part of self care too. There’s nothing better to restart your mood, anxieties, stressors, whatever. So here we are, a picture an hour-ish during our full day at sea with Carnival Cruise Line. Why “ish”? Aren’t I better on top of things? Nah. Let’s be real, watches and time checking only get in the way of major relaxation.
9 am. Breakfast. Always breakfast first. Specifically fruit for us. Sometimes we opt buffet style, you know a quick grab and go. But sometimes it’s nice to sit without distractions. Fruit portion first. Then oatmeal for me and Marlowe. And a peanut butter bagel for the peanut butter fiend I married.
10 am. Head outside and check the weather. Warm enough for the pool? For the mid-western folk on the ship, totally. For me? Thankfully just warm enough. Really, just perfect. Decide to head back to room and put on swimsuits. Leave room again and decide more fruit is always a good idea and raid the buffet for loads of oranges.
11 am. If your kid is anything like mine, sit back and watch your kid stare and stare and stare at those waterslides. Adrenaline rushes are not in our genes over here. Sad, but true. I feel for Marlowe because that was me as a kid. I was scared of everything.
But she tried. Almost. She climbed right up and stood there. Sat down. Stood up. Sat down stood up. Then walked away. Then Alex offered to go side by side. Again, sat down, stood up, walked away.
She tried and tried again. And for that I’m proud of her. Maybe next time she’ll give it a go and fall in love. She did give up this time, but it wasn’t a total loss, because she spent the next hour so in the splash area.
1 pm. Post bean and veggie burrito (not pictured) nap time. Well, eye closed, relaxing time 😉 Napping is for the weak. (Just kidding, napping is amazing).
2 pm. Decide to head back to the room, shower, and get cleaned up. Don’t mind the messy room; it’s all part of the vacation process.
3 pm. All cleaned up. Continue your journey of being a totally awesome parent with a VERY happy kiddo who you take to Camp Ocean.
… and win a little harder because this means you get to do more nothing.
4 pm. Good ole’ one on one QT. Explore the ship, shop for sunglasses, grab an extra snack, whatever. This is kid-free, mini golf free, water slide defeat free time.
5pm. Time to watch the beautiful pink winter sunset. Take it all in because your kid is still at camp and no one is harassing you at all.
5:45 pm ish. One more photo before the sun fades away and you go pick up your kiddo from kid camp. Pick up happy kid, head to dinner, eat a ridiculous amount of spicy Indian food and head back to the room to call it. Maybe some TV time (that Alex Trebek still looks good, man!) and off to dream land you go before celebrating a port day tomorrow!
This post was created for Away We Go with Carnival, the destination for getting in the getaway state of mind.
Note: Onboard activities, shore excursions, and dining options may vary by ship and destination.