Our first (and only) cruise

If you don't know, most of our travels are no longer J & J trips, but are now J & J +2 trips. We are now doing most of our traveling with our two kids because they are finally old enough to go to the bathroom without needing help, can actually manage the day without a nap and most importantly seem to appreciate the difference between a foreign country and a trip to Dairy Queen. 

There are a few things we said we would never do. Go on a cruise is one of them. I won't turn this into a Pro and Con cruise post. We just thought (think) you are either cruise people or not. The simple fact that we prefer to be in the middle of the jungle with no WiFi or even English speaking folks should explain why we most likely aren't cruise people. We like to explore, be unconfined and immersed in as much culture as possible. We travel to learn and experience life at a new level. 

With all that said, our extended family wanted to try and spend the holidays together. With the ages of our group ranging from our 5 year old daughter to my 80 something year old grandmother, and a lot of ages in between, a cruise was suggested. We preferred the week between Xmas and New Year's but the prices were a lot higher. So we picked a week during Xmas on Celebrity Silhouette. With stops in San Juan, St. Maarten and St. Kitts. Here would be my overall breakdown. 

Celebrity Silhouette
If you like cruises, I would imagine this boat would be pretty great. I don't have much to compare it to but it was much smaller than the other ships at port with us. It seemed more boutique. Everything was clean. The service in our rooms was great. Our personal attendant made different towel animals every night. The kids loved her. At dinner our waiter would spend enormous amounts of time entertaining the kids with tricks. He was great. 

For Kids
Even though it was Xmas there were very few kids on the boat. Therefore most things were geared towards adults. Day 1 our son got in trouble at the Kids Club so they spent the whole week with us. They just wanted to swim. That was fine, but it wasn't really a kid geared deck. Most of the pool games seemed for adults. So unless they were in kids club we were providing the entertainment. A few exceptions were the daily movies in the theatre. That was a nice break in early afternoon. There was also an egg drop contraption competition that we did and the family loved. I wish they had more stuff like that. 

The Food
Was probably our favorite part. We ate at two specialty restaurants and thought the food was just as good in regular dining. On Christmas Night the four of us ate at the restaurant on the very back of the boat at the window. There was an amazing moon. It might have been a harvest moon. Definitely a full moon. The light on the water was amazing. 

Christmas
This was the hardest part for me. I love Christmas and I love traditions. I brought our stockings and bought little decorations to put around the room. We made a xmas tree out of wrapping paper and put it on the wall. We tried our best, but I was depressed having Christmas on a boat, at sea. They had Santa and some activities on Christmas morning, but it was just hard. I missed my Christmas Eve Service (the only one was a midnight mass, doesn't work with a 5 and 6 year old), breakfast casserole and running outside to watch the kids play with their toys. 

The Ports
I enjoyed these but having such short time was difficult. I've been to Puerto Rico before with a friend who lived there so I know how beautiful it is. We arrived to Port around 5 (two hours late) and only had a few hours in San Juan. Our kids normally are asleep by 7:30 (yes they are early risers) so we got to eat dinner and that was it. The forts were already closed. St. Kitts was our favorite because we got very off the beaten path. I researched and found a local guide (Myislands Tours by Javin). We loved him. He grew up on the island and took us to all sorts of places, including an old gin factory where he played when he was a kid. There were some "adventuresome" moments using a rope to get down to the black rock beach. Beautiful island and money well spent to see it away from the cruise crowd. St. Maarten was our last stop. We were there on Xmas Eve. We had booked a private boat to beach hop. When we arrived we were told the water was choppy and they would give us a full refund if we wanted to back out. We have been on some bad boat rides and knew that could ruin a day. We weren't going to risk it with the kids. Instead we took a taxi over to the Airport Beach (Maho), watched the planes and grabbed a table at the cafe to eat and watch some major planes land. The kids loved it.