Before going on my cruise to the Bahamas, my family and I flew to Miami and spent a couple nights there. Then, we drove down the Florida Keys to our hotel in Key West and went back up to Fort Lauderdale for our hotel by the port.
Day 1: Our ship was the Celebrity X Reflection with the trip being 4 days long from October 18th to October 21st with the 4th day being our departure in the morning. On Friday, October 18th, I woke up, did homework, packed my bags, and got ready. The cruise line has an app where you can add activities to your schedule and text other passengers without internet so I went on the Celebrity X app to add things to my schedule prior to boarding. We took an Uber to the port, got our bags checked in, went through security, watched a safety presentation, and went to our room. There was a balcony attached to the room so it was relaxing to sit outside and watch the ocean. The water was a beautiful dark blue and the waves were crazy big but eventually went smaller throughout the day. We walked around and ate lunch at the free buffet in the cafe. I saw that there was a teen club on the activity list and I wasn’t going to go at first because I thought it wouldn’t be fun but I went. I met people around my age that lived in many different places throughout the U.S. and I was the only one that lives in California while the others live in Georgia, Utah, Ohio, Indiana, Florida, etc. We went to the silent disco and had the best time and I ended the night with going to the gym with my brother. Hanging out with them was really fun; during our time together we explored the ship, played basketball and other games, sat around and talked, went to get free ice cream every five seconds it felt like, and went to dance parties. Throughout the trip, I also went to the pool and watched a comedy show with my parents, did activities on the itinerary with my brother, and ate dinner at a fancy restaurant with my family each night.
Day 2: On the second day, the ship was supposed to dock around 8am at a private island called CocoCay which has a waterpark, pretty sandy beaches, snorkeling, bars, and restaurants, but we didn’t go because the captain said that docking was too difficult due to high winds and big waves. Their slogan, “perfect day at CocoCay,” soon transformed into a day at sea. Everyone was pretty disappointed that we weren’t able to go and had to cancel all of their excursions for the day. I ate breakfast with my family at the buffet, did more activities, played basketball, went swimming in the pool, and hung out with my new friends. My friends and I went to a lounge to trade our socials so we can stay in contact. The attire for the night was chic so I wore my green dress that I wore to homecoming because I felt like it fit the description the best out of my whole wardrobe. Overall, the second day was a chill day while I looked forward to going to Nassau, Bahamas the next day.
Day 3: The third day was the day we explored Nassau, Bahamas! I woke up around 7:45 am and went on the balcony to see the gorgeous clear water and then I went to breakfast at the fancy restaurant. We got off the ship and walked all the way to the Queen’s Staircase that belonged to Queen Victoria and learned about the history behind it. Then, we went to Senior Frog’s for lunch. After lunch, we tried finding a beach to snorkel, but the beach area was very busy so we didn’t snorkel. My dad and I still went in the water for about 30 minutes though. On our way back to the ship, we stopped by the stores because I wanted a shirt as my souvenir. We went back to the ship and my parents and I went swimming. I wore another dress for dinner and I hung out with my friends after. I got a piece of paper and a marker and asked everyone to sign it for memories. We all went in the jacuzzi since it was the last night. We played a little bit of basketball after and went to the buffet for our last meet up. I talked to them for a while and said goodbye to everyone. Honestly, leaving my friends that I am most likely not ever going to see again was pretty sad, but at least I got everyone’s Instagram accounts.
Day 4: Day four was our departure in the morning. I woke up pretty early to pack my stuff up and get ready. After we got off the boat, I saw a couple of my friends and said bye again. We got an Uber to a car rental company at the Miami airport because we wanted to rent a car for the day since our flight was at 8:30 pm and it was still early in the morning. We had breakfast at a Cuban cafe called Three Palms and I ordered a croissant with bacon, eggs, and cheese. Then, we went to the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens which is a very beautiful, old house that holds a lot of historical information dating back to the early 1900s. We went to get iced coffees to wait for our celebrity houses tour in Miami. The tour boat took us around a peninsula that showed us the current and past properties of Jennifer Lopez, Sylvester Stallone, Pitbull, Jackie Chan, P. Diddy, etc. We went to Wynwood, Miami to eat dinner and went to the airport. I did homework at the airport while I waited to board my plane. I also did homework on the plane as well. We landed at LAX at 11:54 pm and the reason I remember the exact time was because I finally had the internet to turn in my assignment that I did on the plane before the clock hit 12am. I managed to get the assignment in so I was happy. That’s the end of my vacation.
Overall, I had a great time in Miami, Key West, Fort Lauderdale, and my cruise to the Bahamas. I would definitely go back because the people were really nice and the beaches were so gorgeous. The main cons of Florida is probably the bugs and heat, but other than that it was a good experience. I recommend taking a trip to the places I went because they were really fun.
