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To hell and back again (Or Kevin and Marina cruise the Caribbean)

Note about the title - The actual cruise was devine. The 'hell' referred to in the title is actually a location in the Cayman Islands.

First a note about the ship:

As this was our first cruise, Marina and I were nervous. So what does Woody do when he is anxious? He plans. We watched several YouTube videos about cruising. They were very helpful, especially LifeWellCruised. We were booked on the Princess Cruise Line, and the YouTubes we watched covered other cruise lines like Carnival, but the advice still applied.

Your Medallion is your Key - literally!

On 'our' cruise line, the ship uses a medallion. It is similar in size and shape to an Apple iTag. It acts as your key (to your room) and a locator beacon. You can wear it in a wristband or in a lanyard (they provide the lanyard free of charge). You can order the wristband for a slight fee. Marina used the wristband, I used a lanyard. As the device IS waterproof, do NOT take it off at any point during the cruise - even when on an excursion (more on this later.) By wearing it on a lanyard (I have several of my own, so I used one of those), I could tuck it under my shirt. (It still worked).

While you can (and should) order your medallion in advance, mine did not arrive, but boarding was still very rapid. Your medallion is your passport for cruise related activities ONLY during the cruise, both onboard and while on shore. It does NOT act as a regular passport for entering or leaving the US or other countries!

It gets you into your room.
It gets you onto (and off) the ship. Going on an excursion? Returing from an excursion? They will have you place your medallion on a scanner so they know YOU got off the ship or have returned TO the ship.
Have you performed your 'muster drill'? Like the filght attendant safety brief before a flight, a muster drill for ALL passengers is required before the ship can embark (on the first day). You go to your muster station (you are informed of the location and the app can help you get there). Simply go to your muster station and they scan your medallion. Before the ship even leaves, you will hear announcements - "some passengers have NOT done their Muster Drill - please do this or we cannot embark"
The staff can find you. As I type, I have ordered via the cruise app (Princess) a ginger beer. I am on deck 17. The service WILL find me no matter where I am on the ship and it will be delivered! Actually, it was just delivered as I was typing this.
It helps you navigate - HMMM i want to get TO the buffet to eat. How DO I get there? Using the cruisaline app, find where on the ship you want to go (even your cabin) and select how do I get there? a map with navigation instructions appears
It helps you find each other - with the cruiseline app, you can locate other members of your party. (As I am better at navigating than Marina, this was of more use to me) Using the cruise line app, you can both locate other members of your party and how to get to them (navigation instructions and a map with dotted lines)

There is an app for that

Another must have is the app specific to the cruise line. It works on the phone (or iPad if that is your preference). With it, I can order (as I did) my ginger beer. If I want to find my cabin or a specific restaurant, or even my travelling companion, not only will it show me where it is on the ship, It will plot a route to get me TO me desired destination. . . now where is my cabin? And how do I get back?

Proper Prior Planning Prevents Poor performance - and the Early Bird gets the excursions

In preparation for our trip, Kevin and Marina (mostly Kevin with Marina claiming "We need to watch YoTube videos", then leaving the room during the video) watched several videos about crusing. Some recurring (and useful themes:)

What to do in advance of your cruise

Watch videos
Get the cruiseline app

Book your excursions
Book your specialty dining - (note - you need not book dining in the buffet)
What to bring (e.g. passport - this is a must if you are visiting foreign countries - as we were)
What NOT to bring
Embarcation day - what to expect
Tipping. Bring LOTS of small bills ($5 and $10). Trust me (and the videos on this). The Steward (taking care of your room) and the excusion guides are fantastic and deserve a tip. (We tipped our drivers and our guides. I tipped for both Marina and I - so 2x an individual tip.)

Excursions - Just because you are ON a ship does not mean you have to stay ON the ship

YouTube mentioned booking your excursions in advance. I second this. Even though we were performing our pre-onboarding activities over a month in advance, many excursions were already booked and unavailable. The same with some of the restaurants and specialty dining. The excursions still available were extraordinary, but we did miss out on some of the specialty restaurants (More on dining later).
Several videos mentioned 'dock runners'. These are individuals who went ashore then cut returning to the ship too close.

Yes, you can go ashore without booking an excursion. However

Those with booked excursions have priority in getting ashore (some stops require a ferry to get from the ship to the shore)
They will announce when the ferry is open for those withut booked excursions can board the ferry.

If you are on an excursion booked via the cruise line, they will NOT leave without you.
If you go ashore on your own - you have to get yourself back to the ship on time.

IF you stay on the ship (or during At Sea Days) there is something (usually too much) to do. for example a few of the on board activities WE anjoyed

Yoga - and they have a fully equipped gym/fitness area with a yoga studio
Tai Chi - on the Lido deck on the large screen
An art Auction - with the works of several noted artists - Kevin actually purchased a number of pieces
Movies every night
Bible Study
Book exchange and a reading area
Massages at the Spa
An informative discusion of accupuncture

On board and Excursion Staff were GREAT!

I cannot praise the excursions and the tour guides enough!
When you get on the ship (Embarkation Day), you receive an envelope of tickets (one for each member of the group and a ticket for each excursion.) On the ticket is a time and location of where to be to go ashore for your excursion. When you check in as others on the ship might have similar but different excursions (i.e. My excursion is to see the Mayan Ruins and the Stingrays, but someone else's is swim with dolphins and sting rays, we will be given different colored/numbered tags. Mine might be Green 9 his might be Beige 7). The tags are sticky like a post it notes. Keep it visible).
They will then announce the embarkation of different groups. Beige 7 proceed to deck 4 aft (In reality this means follow the crew member who will lead you to deck 4 aft). Stay with your color and numbered tag shipmates. You will disembark (either on a ferry or to the dock). Each onshore excursion typically had a tour guide and a bus with driver to get us to our destination.
When you arrive on shore, you will be met by a land based tour guide. This is your mother hen for the day. She will shepherd you onto a bus to get you to your excursion (or each destination if there is more than one stop. She will admonish you to remember which bus is yours (i.e. bus number 98 which is prominently displayed on the front of the bus!) Your guide will tell you about the country you are visiting and the destination. At your destination your guide will tell you how long you have at this destination and tell you where to meet at the designated time either here at the bus or the guide will walk you TO the rendezvous point and tell you to meet here . The guide and bus will NOT leave till all members of the group are present, and like a mother hen will search for any missing chicks. (Remember the listing above recommending bringing cash for tipping? These folks deserve it!) You WILL be back at your ship prior to the ship departing. You will also have opportunities for shopping.

The amenities and activities were amazing. Many cruisers will talk about all the eating opportunities and how much they ate. Who has time for food? We were doing WAY too many other activities - we actually had to plan to eat.

Our itinerary

Our Journey