Back in quarantine days, The Frog and I were feeling pretty bummed about not going anywhere, so we decided to book a cruise as far out as we possibly could, which happened to be December 2022. At first we just booked it for the two of us, but as we got closer to the date, and our kids got a little older, we decided we wanted them to join us. (There was also a ‘kids sail free’ promotion going on, if we’re being honest.)
Well, the day finally arrived and we loaded our three kids (Tadpole age 4, Polliwog age 3, and Duchess age 2) into our SUV and drove to the airport. We flew from SLC to Houston where The Frog’s parents picked us up in their camper van. (We may be crazy enough to take young kids on a big vacation, but we aren’t crazy enough to do it without backup.) The next day we were aboard the beautiful Royal Caribbean ship Allure of the Seas.
Guys, we had a blast.
Seven nights of fun is hard to sum up in one post, so let me just give you each person’s favorite parts.
When I asked The Frog what his favorite part was, he said, “Probably just watching the kids take it all in and make new memories. It was fun watching them interact with the crew, meet new people, and learn new things. I liked watching Tadpole learn to hold the elevator for people. Things like that. But of course, the food, as always, was delicious. Oh and I hadn't consciously thought about it but I LOVED that a lot of the crew wasn't wearing masks so I could see their smiles!
My favorite part was the Broadway performance of Mamma Mia. I love the show and it was magical to see a live version of it. I also really loved sharing something new with my kids. They got so excited over little things. And all the old people on the ship treated them like royalty. I’ve never talked to so many people in my life. Seriously, it felt like all 6,000 cruisers wanted to compliment my children. It was cool, but it definitely felt like people had their eyes on us for a solid week.
Tadpole’s favorite part was the ice cream cones, though he also really enjoyed spending time with his grandparents and playing clay at the kids club.
He said his favorite show was Mamma Mia and he sat so nicely during the entire two and a half hours of it. We listen to the soundtrack a lot at home, so I wasn’t too surprised he enjoyed it so much.
Polliwog loved the ice skating show. We were able to sit in the front row and it was really cool seeing the performers up close. In fact, at one point one of the lady’s was pretending to skate while drunk and purposely slammed herself right into the wall next to Polliwog.
He jumped way into the air and the whole audience laughed. He was famous for the rest of the cruise. Tadpole also had a chance to ‘touch a button’ during the show that helped lead into the next act.
Duchess loved playing in the toy room with Mom. She also loved snuggling with her parents as often as possible, which had made sleeping in her own bed tricky now that we are home.
We had such a fun vacation and can’t wait for our next one!
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