Y’all! I’m so excited to introduce to you my dear friend, Catherine! She has graciously agreed to be a guest blogger for me this month! Catherine had a post with some cruise tips, and I asked her if she would come over to my blog and share her tips with my community!

I “met” Catherine a few years ago through a Perfectly Posh online party. That’s another thing that I find absolutely amazing about direct sales and affiliate marketing…the friendships that you make with people you would have never met otherwise! I am so blessed by Catherine’s friendship. Enjoy her Cruise Tips!

My name is Catherine, and I am a wife, mom, grandma, and vice president of Sunset
Accounting, Inc. in Dunedin, FL. My husband Joe and I work together in our very fast-paced
accounting firm.

Let me tell you, by April 15 of each year, we are more than ready to take some
time off for rest, relaxation, and rejuvenation! This year, for the second time in a row, we
booked a Caribbean cruise for our vacation. We’ve just returned and I’m super excited to share
some thoughts with you about it here.

Cruising is something that, up to a couple of years ago, I could never see myself doing again. I
had taken a cruise as a high-school band student (too many decades ago).  Life was carefree back then, so we had a blast, but I never thought
about doing it again, until about July of 2021. Once of my best girlfriends and her husband
invited us to cruise with them, their boys, and another family that they were friends with. There
was plenty of time to finance and plan for the cruise, so after some deliberation, we decided that
we were all in and would like to see what all the hype was about. Well, we loved it so much that
we decided to book another cruise for this year.

After doing this a couple of times, there are
things that you learn to make the experience as enjoyable as can be.

Here are just a few quick tips that you may want to consider when cruising:

1. Take your own pillow if you’re cruising for more than 5 days. This is going to be your
home away from home, and you don’t want something like a pillow that is too lofty or flimsy
to prevent you from slipping into the arms of Morpheus at the end of a day at sea.

2. The cruise line we chose this year had very firm beds. I’m talkin’ almost cement slab
firm here. If you are used to that, great, but if you have arthritis or body pain challenges, ask
your room attendant toppers for the mattress. This was the only way I got any real rest, and
I was thankful to the person who had suggested this on one of the cruise groups that I
follow. The room attendant is there to make sure that you have a clean and comfortable
room, so don’t be afraid to bring these types of requests to them, within reason. If you
would like an ice-bucket every day, let them know that. Need just a couple extra hangers,
ASK! They will go out of their way to help.

3. If you’re used to eating dinner at a certain time, especially between 5-6pm, do NOT
choose the “My Time Dining” option or similar. Often, “my-time”, or “anytime” dining is not
open until 6:45 and you still need to make a reservation. We ate in the dining room a grand
total of ONCE the entire cruise this time, which was more than disappointing. We are the
“early birds” and such creatures of habit, that eating dinner at 8pm or later (when we could
get a reservation), was just not going to work, sadly. The good thing about locking in a set
time for dinner is that if for whatever reason you decide to skip eating in the dining room a
time or two, that is perfectly fine!

4. Do NOT wear your sea pass lanyard in the countries that you visit if you plan to walk the
town yourself without a guide. It makes you an instant target up to and including
approaches by restaurants with eager waiters asking if “You, remember me, right? From the
buffet at the ship?”. Do your research on the country before you go, and be prepared to say
“No, thank you”, a whole bunch of times. The vendors are there to make money. They are
even relying on you to help them, but some do go overboard in their desperate attempts to
make a sale.

5. Take no expensive handbags and jewelry on the cruise, period. Leave your good bags,
bobbles and beads at home! With plenty of cheap and nice-looking costume jewelry
options out there, it is easy to accessorize with them and dress to impress for those formal
nights and dinners. You want your bags of choice to be minimalist, versatile, and
comfortable to wear or carry.

6. You do you. They scheduled a lot of activities, and you don’t have to do any of them! We
did one comedy show and sat in on some trivia. You can stay busy all day and evening or
not. We governed the rest of our r & r time to suit our desires and needs, which included
plenty of lounging on the deck to watch the ocean go by, reading, people watching, and just
enjoying each other and the downtime as much as possible. DO take in as many sunsets
or sunrises as possible! AHHHHHHHH

7. We found that doing cruise-line sponsored excursions was the best use of our money
and limited time in each port. Your cruise line guarantees these experiences, and they have
something for just about everyone. Our selected excursions had to do with…you guessed
it, rest and relaxation on the beach and some good eats and tropical drinks!

8. You’ll probably be tired of food by the last day or two of your cruise. Choose healthy
whole food options as much as possible and skip dessert at least a couple of times. You
may find that you have decision fatigue at the buffet. Foodies can get trapped into choosing
too much food, so look the buffet over first, then get a plate and only eat what you’re in the
mood for and build a healthy meal around it. Your body and energy levels will thank you!

9. We found that the internet packages and picture packages were well worth it. We run a
small business, so we must do some time-sensitive things each week for our clients,
vacation or not. It was nice to know that I could take care of some light work items from out
in the middle of the ocean! For the picture package, we opted for the one that included 10
pictures. That was a nice amount for just the two of us, and we have some very nice
memories to look back in the coming years.

10. Finally (my favorite): Be humble and show gratitude everywhere you go. Take plenty of
money for tips and tip well, even after your “pre-pay” tip amounts. We met the nicest server
at the buffet and got to know him, and guess what? He knew our names, and asked about
the other if he didn’t see us both. His name was Sankalp and he was from India. He told us
a bit of his story and why he was working on contract for the cruise line. He shared some of
his goals in life. It was our absolute joy to be able to palm him a great tip on the last day of
the cruise. The same with our room attendant. She did a fantastic job of keeping our cabin
clean and making it comfortable. These little extras are at your own discretion, but it will
make your heart glad to know that you are helping some great staff members who work
their tails off for your comfort!

I could go on and on with little tips and tricks, but these are the ones that are fresh in my
mind from our most recent excursions. Bon Voyage!
-Catherine Bloom