Creeds on Cruising
Real Talk.
Real Experiences.
Emily's honest takes on cruising -- reviews, comparisons, tips, and stories from life at sea.
Is Viking Ocean Cruises Worth the Cost? A Real Comparison to Celebrity Cruises
Emily Flury compares Viking Ocean to Celebrity Cruises on price, inclusions, and value. Which luxury cruise line is right for you?
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Planning a Mediterranean Cruise for the First Time: 5 Things You Need to Know
5 essential tips for first-time Mediterranean cruisers from Emily Flury.
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All-Inclusive Cruises? (What That Really Means)
What does all-inclusive actually mean on a cruise? Emily Flury breaks down what is included and what costs extra.
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10 Long Flight Essentials I'm Packing for My Trip to Japan (First Class & Delta One Ready)
Emily Flury shares the 10 long-haul flight essentials she is packing for Japan optimized for First Class comfort.
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Do You Need a Passport for a Cruise in 2026? (What You Must Know Before You Sail)
Emily Flury explains exactly when you need a passport and when you do not for a cruise in 2026.
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River Cruises vs Ocean Cruises: What's the Difference?
Emily Flury compares river and ocean cruising on ship size, price, itinerary style and who each type is best for.
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Are Solar Eclipse Cruises Worth It? Best Cruises to See the Eclipse at Sea (2026 & 2027)
Why a cruise ship is the best place to watch a total solar eclipse. Emily covers 2026 and 2027 eclipse cruise options.
Read More →Is Viking Cruises Worth It for Couples Over 50? Honest Review (2026)
No casinos, no kids, no gratuities. Emily Flury explains what sets Viking apart and who it is perfect for.
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Best Cruises for Couples Over 50 Who Want a Relaxing, Kid-Free Vacation
Emily Flury recommends the best cruise lines for empty nesters and adults 50+ who want a refined experience at sea.
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Is Virgin Voyages Worth It? Honest Review for First-Time Cruisers (2026)
Adults-only, no buffet, gratuities included. Emily Flury gives her honest take on whether Virgin Voyages is worth the hype.
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Royal Caribbean vs Celebrity vs Silversea: Which Cruise Line Is Right for You?
Emily Flury compares Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, and Silversea on atmosphere, price, food and entertainment.
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Royal Caribbean's New Royal Beach Club: Worth the Hype or a One-and-Done?
Emily Flury reviews Royal Caribbean new Royal Beach Club Nassau. Worth 40 per person? An honest verdict.
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Celebrity's Captain's Club vs Royal Caribbean's Crown & Anchor Society: Our First-Time Experience
Emily Flury compares Celebrity Captain Club and Royal Caribbean Crown and Anchor loyalty programs.
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Utopia of the Seas: Our 2026 Family Review
Emily Flury complete review of Royal Caribbean Utopia of the Seas. Ziplines, jet skis, beach club, food and more.
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Celebrity Beyond: How Does the Food Compare?
Emily Flury reviews dining on Celebrity Beyond and compares it to Royal Caribbean.
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Celebrity Cruises vs Royal Caribbean: Is Celebrity Beyond Worth It?
After years of Royal Caribbean, Emily Flury tries Celebrity Beyond. A full ship review and her final verdict.
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Celebrity Cruises Alaska Cruise Review: Is Celebrity Summit Worth It?
Emily Flury full review of cruising Alaska on Celebrity Summit. Glaciers, wildlife and what makes Alaska by sea a bucket-list experience.
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Fun on the Fourth: the Perry Lane Hotel
Emily Flury reviews a Fourth of July long weekend at the Perry Lane Hotel in Savannah Georgia.
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Quietly Making Noise: Margaritaville At Sea's Speakeasy
A hidden speakeasy bar on a budget cruise ship. Emily Flury reviews the surprisingly fun speakeasy on Margaritaville at Sea.
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Wasting Away Again at Margaritaville: The Food
Emily Flury gives an honest detailed review of dining on Margaritaville at Sea.
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Margaritaville Drink Package: Is It Worth It?
Is there any way to enjoy the MAS without the drink package? Well, it depends on what kind of drinker you are and what kind of cruiser you are. The nice thing about purchasing the drink package is that you have already paid for the drinks and perhaps factored that in to your crui
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Margaritaville at Sea Review: What to Expect
As a perk for being a travel agent, I was able to experience a cruise on the Margaritaville At Sea Islander for a greatly reduced rate. I was cautiously optimistic going into the cruise as I had heard that there were a lot of pros and cons to going on the Islander. And, well, thi
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Flury Cruise Consulting’s Top 10 Ways to Spend Your Sailor Loot
If you haven’t figured it out yet, Virgin Voyages offers the ultimate in cruising without kids. The vibe on board is as chill or as you want it to be or as exciting and/or hyped up as you want it to be. If you are in a position to cruise without kids, then Virgin Voyages is defin
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Royal Caribbean Utopia of the Seas Review: Is It the Best Party Cruise
The Utopia of the Seas, which set sail for the first time in July of 2024, is currently Royal Caribbean’s newest ship. It is not as big as the Icon of the Seas but it certainly isn’t small. At double capacity, Utopia can hold 5,668 passengers and 2,290 crew making it the second l
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Is Hideaway Beach at CocoCay Worth It? Adults-Only Review (2026)
The Hideaway Beach Club is an adults-only area located on an isolated side of Cococay, Royal Caribbean’s private island in the Bahamas. It was debuted in late January of 2024 around the same time as the inauguration of Icon of the Seas. Before going to the beach club on our last
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The Royal Railway Utopia Station Whiskey Tasting
The Utopia of the Seas, which had its maiden voyage in July of 2024, is currently Royal Caribbean’s newest ship. It is the sister ship to the Wonder of the Seas and is designed similarly to Wonder with one major difference being that Utopia has the Royal Railway. The Royal Railwa
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Escape U- Utopia of the Seas’ Escape Room
Our family really enjoys escape rooms because we enjoy puzzles and challenges that test our intelligence and ability to work together. So, we have done a variety of escape rooms on dry land and on cruise ships. Escape rooms can vary from taking pl
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Cruise Nail Ideas: Best Vacation Nails for Your Next Cruise (An Update)
In March of 2023, I became a travel agent with a focus on cruising, and can say now that we have gone on even more cruises than before. I have learned even more about how to take care of my manicures while cruising. In June of 2023, I posted an article on my Cruising Nails giving some tips on ho
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Lotería Gigante: A Whole Lotta Fun
While on our second cruise with Virgin Voyages, there was an afternoon where I wanted to go and participate in Speed Puzzling (our team won) and our friend, Kat, wanted to go to Boy Band Dance Lessons. Chris wasn’t interested in either of those events so he decided to check out Lotería Gig
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Lucha Libre- Adventures in Cozumel
Our family cruises quite a lot with our sons cruising, with us at least once a year. We have been to Cozumel probably a dozen times and got to the point where we thought we had seen it all. Until recently, when docked at Cozumel we would get off the ship to get a frosty beverage
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A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Plans
A Disney cruise is a wonderful way for your family to experience the magic of Disney in a wonderfully fun and unique way. I recommend that every family go on at least one Disney cruise. Because the cost is on the higher side, many families feel that one and done is enough for their family
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Virgin Voyages' Horseplay Seahorse Auction & Race
On our latest Virgin cruise on Valiant Lady, we discovered a new and very unique activity. We didn’t have it on our previous cruises, because we were told that it was only offered on cruises that are five nights or longer. The event is called the Horseplay Seahorse Auction and Race and act
Read More →Virgin Voyages Valiant Lady Review: Is It Worth It? (Real Experience)
For our third cruise with Virgin Voyages, we opted for a different ship, different itinerary and different time of year. The other thing that was different for this cruise was that we added a new friend to the cruising group. Even though we had recently gotten off the largest and
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An Iconic Cruise: Iconic Entertainment
ust as with everything else, news about the entertainment on Icon of the Seas was super hyped up. What would the main shows be, what would the theme of the aqua show be, would there be an ice skating rink and how would it be themed? When it was announced that Icon would get its own musical
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An Iconic Cruise: Iconic Eats
Everyone who follows cruise news knows that one of the things that has taken a hit in the cruising industry is the quality of food. The complimentary food options available across most family friendly cruise lines has generally gone down as cruise lines push their specialty dining options.
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An Iconic Cruise- Overview and Design
Icon of the Seas has been one of the most anticipated cruise ships ever to have traversed our seven seas. When Royal Caribbean initially announced information about the ship, it became apparent that this ship would be different in many ways from anything else that wa
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Navigating Disney With Your Special Needs Child
Experiencing the wonder and magic of Disney world can provide families with precious memories that will stay with them for a very long time. When going to Disney with children with special needs, that wonder and magic might be a bit more tricky to find. Thankfully, Disney and their cast ma
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Norwegian Breakaway: Drinks and Dining
Built in 2013, the Norwegian Breakaway class has a lot to offer its passengers. With 6 ships in its class (Norwegian Breakaway and Getaway being the first two), Norwegian has found a design and layout that has met the needs and wants of many cruisers. The Norwegian Breakaway ship
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Radiance of the Seas: A Real Look At One of Royal Caribbean’s Oldest Ships
Around the time that I opened by own travel agency, Chris and I decided that when we cruise going forward we are going to branch out to cruises beyond just the Caribbean. We discovered that this meant that we would also be trying other cruise lines and other ships within the Royal Caribbea
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I Can Fly Twice As High- Our Helicopter Ride Up to the Glacier and Dog Kennel
When our traveling group got together to plan our land tour of Alaska, we had some bucket list items that we wanted to see if we could check off of our list. We wanted to put our boots down on a glacier, we wanted to take a helicopter or small plane ride, and we wanted to visit a dog sled
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Seward, Alaska: The Town and Their Lodging
It seems that it is fair to say that there are two types of Alaskan cruises. There is the cruise that is a round trip out of either Seattle or Vancouver. And, there is the cruise that either starts in Vancouver and travels north toward Seward, Alaska or starts in Seward and heads
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Virgin Add-ons: Splash of Romance vs. Splash for Your Bash
When choosing a cruise for an adult getaway, where adults can relax and have fun, Virgin Voyages has a lot to offer. And, while the up front price tag is generally more than other cruise lines, so much more is included in that price tag. On Virgin, basic drinks such as sodas, bas
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ATV Adventures in Alaska
When planning our time in Denali, we didn’t know what exactly we wanted to do with our time but we knew that we wanted it to be spectacular. We had an idea that we would do some hiking but decided that we wanted to do some other activities while in or near the park. After doing s
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Denali: The Tundra Wilderness Tour and the National Park
While we were in Denali, we knew that we wanted to explore the national park but we weren’t sure how we wanted to go about doing it. We went back on forth on if we wanted to take the Tundra Wilderness Tour, which is a 5-hour bus ride through the park, or if we wanted to simply do a lot of
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Denali: Lodging and Their Little Town
After a long day of traveling and a fun morning of riding the train, we had arrived in Denali. There are it seems three major lodges that you can stay at in Denali near the little town. There is the McKinley Chalet Resort, the Grade Denali Lodge and the Denali Princess Wilderness
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The Alaska Railroad: Adventure Class vs. Gold Star Class
On our most recent trip to Alaska, also known as The Last Frontier, we decided to do our traveling while on land by train. After flying into Fairbanks and landing around 1am, we got a few hours of sleep before getting on the morning train from Fairbanks to Denali. Then, after a f
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Atlanta to Alaska: Travels to the Last Frontier
For this trip, we needed to drop off our fur baby at my parents’ house and we needed to catch an Uber to the airport. We decided to leave our car at my parents’ house and Uber from there. This turned out to be a much cheaper option, as we were coming from the Sandy Springs/Buckhe
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Summer Camp for Adults: Our Latest Virgin Voyages Cruise
In March of 2024, Chris and I completed our second cruise with Virgin Voyages. We had two main goals while on this cruise. The first was to show our friend from college, Kathleen Garber, a really good time. The second was to see if the enjoyment that we got from our first Virgin
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The Cost of the Magic: Spending our Day and Cash at the Universal Parks
In March of 2024, my husband, Chris, and I took our first trip to the Universal parks since the mid 90s. We had a really fun time experiencing all of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter as well as enjoying a nostalgic trip through Jurassic World, Springfield and even the Tonight Show.&
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Our Trip to Universal: The Other Most Magical Place on Earth
I have been plotting a way to get Universal Studios for years. I had been with my family back in the mid-90s but so much has changed since then and they certainly didn’t have the Harry Potter theme back then. And, after having visited Disney World with the kids, I knew that my ex
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CasiNO
On our last cruise, we were in the elevator and I was talking to my kids, telling them that I might head down to the casino. A older gentleman next to be, out of nowhere, says “No! It’s in the name- CasiNO.” We laughed and I said “Thank you. I’ll have to remember that.” Right awa
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Ways Around Needing the Beverage Package While Cruising
When going on a cruise, do you need to purchase the beverage package? The deluxe beverage package on Royal Caribbean is nice to have because it allows for the freedom to order unlimited beverages without worrying about the cost since you have already paid for it. It also makes it so that you can try
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Overview of our Odyssey of the Seas Cruise
Just as the Mariner of the Seas will always have a special place in my heart (as it was where we went on our honeymoon), the Odyssey of the Seas will as well. The Odyssey of the Seas was the first ship that we went on after the Pandemic. Cruising had restarted in July of 2021 and
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Cruising Through New England and Canada: Part 2 (Bar Harbor & Portland)
Even though we had left the wonder that was Canada, we knew that we had a lot more fun and awe in store for us in Maine. We had three major goals while we were in Maine: 1) to see some beautiful scenery, 2) get a yummy lobster roll and 3)drink some delicious beverages. And, we me
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Cruising Through New England and Canada: Part 1 (Boston & Canada)
This cruise brought a lot of firsts for us. We had never been out of the port of Boston. We had never cruised on the Serenade of the Seas. And, we had never cruised up to Maine and Canada. We had actually never even been to Canada before. So, we began our New
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The Serenade of the Seas: A Smaller Ship With a Bigger Heart
Not only was this cruise the first time we had ever sailed on the Serenade of the Seas, but it was also the first time we had sailed on any ship in its class. As a part of the Radiance class of ships, we knew that this would be a fairly different experience for us. Even with how different
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Leaving the Happiest Place on Earth (for Adults)
Debarkation- While sad, debarkation was pretty simple as well. You are invited to chose your debarkation time in the app and you can put your bags out by 10:00pm using the same tags that were put on there during embarkation. We chose the earliest time (7:30-8:00) but because we h
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The Beach Club at Bimini: Richard’s Favorite Spot in the Caribbean
As our first cruise on Virgin Voyages was a 4-night cruise, we only had 2 stops. After our stop at Key West, we headed over to The Bahamas where we stopped at Bimini and were given access to “Richard’s Beach Club”. Who know if Richard actually has anything to do with the place? T
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Go Your Own Way: Tips for Key West
With as much as we have cruised, we have never been to Key West on a cruise, or ever for that matter. Virgin offers some excursions, or Shore Things as they call them, but we opted to walk around on our own. As I am a planner, we had an agenda that was mainly hampered by the fact
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Getting Ready for Your First Virgin Cruise
Pre-Cruise Planning- As soon as you book your cruise, you can go into the app and begin looking at what is available for your cruise. You can choose a check-in time (the earlier the better), you can put in all of your information such as your passport number, you can add a photo and connec
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The Food on Virgin Voyages: The Hype Is Real (Part 2)
As we have said, we make it our business to take advantage of the varied food items that a cruise ship has to offer. But, we have become accustomed to the idea, on Royal Caribbean at least, that for the food to be specialty or especially good that it will require an additional cost.&nb
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The Food on Virgin Voyages: The Hype Is Real (Part 1)
Before embarking on Virgin Voyages, we had heard through YouTube reviews that the food on the Virgin ships is a highlight. We have enjoyed many delicious meals on cruise ships, some complimentary and some at an extra cost, so we weren’t actually sure what this meant. We just knew
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The Great, the Good, and the Ugly: Our First Virgin Cruise
Last week, we were fortunate enough to go on our first Virgin Voyages cruise. I have come away from our adventures with a lot of thoughts that I plan on sharing over the next couple of weeks. This article is an overview, the highlights and low lights, of our trip.
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Cruise Nail Ideas: Best Vacation Nails for Your Next Cruise
As a fun departure from my reviews and informative blogs, I am choosing to make this post about vacation manicures and pedicures. I always put a lot of thought into the colors and designs for my cruises and thought others might enjoy seeing some of these manicures. I have always en
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So You Want to Give Cruising a Try . . .
An all-inclusive sure fire way to disconnect and see more of the world, what’s not to love? And yet, if you have never been on a cruise before, you may not know where to start. What cruise line should you choose? Where should you cruise to? What kind of stateroom or group of stat
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I Rented a Beach House and Wish I had Gone on a Cruise Instead: A Consultant’s POV
This summer, our family rented our usual house on Folly Beach, which is near Charleston, SC. We have been coming here for the past 10 years and there is a lot about Folly and the surrounding area that we truly enjoy. In the past couple of years, however, we have been cruising mor
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Women of Wine Tasting
At $35 after added gratuities, the wine tasting packs a bang for its buck. It is not something that you can purchase pre-cruise in the cruise planner. Look for it on your cruise compass. It typically takes place in the Main Dining Room. It is led by one of the ships so
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Arawak Aqua Park
The Arawak Aqua Park is an inflatable water park located at Royal Caribbean's private destination, Labadee. Our family gave it a try on our most recent cruise. Found in the cruise planner, you can pre-pay for and choose the time slot for your group. You will find tickets for the excurs
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The Sushi Making Class
Since we were not purchasing the Ultimate Dining Package and we had never done it before, we decided to give the Sushi Making Class a try. We arrived right at 10AM, were asked to wash our hands and then we were seated with a group at one of the hibachi tables. All of the ingredie
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The New Menus
There has been a lot of talk, online especially, about the new menus in the Main Dining Room. Until it was announced that Royal Caribbean would be testing out new menus, there were complaints about how stale the menus had gotten and how it would be nice if they changed things up.
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Cruising With Special Needs
We all have needs and wants that will help to make our vacations more enjoyable. Here are some ways that you can ensure that you will be ready for your cruise vacay
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Cruising with Your Children
It may not be your preferred way to vacation, but you may find yourself needing to cruise with your children. While we truly enjoy cruising by ourselves or with friends our age, we also have found ways to make a cruise with our kiddos a very enjoyable experience.
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Symphony of the Seas
Our family has just returned from a wonderful cruise on board the Symphony of the Seas. Our family sailed on Symphony back in May of 2019 and we went through a lot during the Pandemic so we were excited to get back to her. For this cruise, we were celebrating our birthdays. It was Chris and I’s 4
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What’s next?
If you know us, it may not surprise you to know that we already have a number of cruises scheduled for our future. We love cruising for a lot of reasons. We love that it is largely all-inclusive. We love that it allows us to escape from our every day life, which we have discovered is crucial to our
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Wonder of the Seas
Currently the biggest cruise ship in the world, Wonder of the Seas has the best that Royal Caribbean has to offer. From entertainment, to the food, to the upgraded venues and even the cruise director, we knew that we were in the presence of greatness. The talent that we experience whether in the
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