10 days off work, 7 days at sea.  Worth. every. minute.

I took a cruise on Harmony of the Seas, on the Eastern Caribbean.  Wife, kids, and my dad.  My in-laws were in a condo near the port, so we spent some time with them before/after to avoid stress around flights.

I’m fortunate enough to afford vacations out of town.  We’ve gone to quite a few places in Canada with the kids.  We’ve done a few all inclusive resorts over the years – with the kids in Cuba and the Dominican.  My wife and I also took a couple cruises as a couple earlier (Celebrity line), though this was the first time with the kids.

On this cruise, we (at least one member) did:

• Beaches
• Pools
• Slides
• Water Park
• Flow Rider
• Zip Line
• Snorkeling
• Grotto exploring
• Waterfall climbing (Dunn’s River Falls)
• Catamaran
• Arcade
• Karaoke
• Shopping
• Comedy club
• Theater (e.g. Grease)
• Movies
• Ice skating (watched it… seriously)
• Water acrobatics
• 10 story slide (Ultimate Abyss)
• 26 of the 27 bars
• 9 different places to eat
• Self-serve ice cream
• Exercised / Ran
• Casino

I’m sure I am missing things.  To give you an idea of things to do, below is a picture of the planned activities for the last full day at sea from 7am until 5:30pm.  There’s even more stuff throughout the evening, up until 2am.

There’s about 100 things on this alone.  If you’re bored, it’s your own fault.

You pretty much only have to worry about showing up – everything else is taken care of.  Don’t get me wrong, I like resorts too.  But it’s hard to argue that the food quality, security, variety of everything, and general temperament of other guests in better on a ship.  More expensive – no question.  Worth.

Now back to ice and snow for a few more weeks.  Ah well, was a great trip.