Travel Diary: Royal Caribbean Cruise from NYC to The Bahamas

Did you know that Royal Caribbean offers cruises that leave from the NYC area?

When I think of a quick trip out of NYC, I had no idea I could add a cruise to the Bahamas to the list!

I spent 7 nights on Royal Caribbean’s Anthem of the Seas ship.

This was my first cruise, so I didn’t have an expectations. I arrived with a new swimsuit, an open mind and a suite case full of motion sickness pills (just in case). It took me about 24 hours to get my “sea legs” (you’ll see what that looks like in the video below) and ultimately I never took any of the motion sickness meds I brought. Before I break down the cruise for you, check out my video diary from the Anthem of the Seas:

Video Diary

Royal Caribbean Anthem of the Seas Review

The Anthem of the Seas is a breathtaking ship. I tried to explore a little bit every day and I still wasn’t able to see everything. We had a room with a balcony which made for a very comfortable experience. I loved waking up with the sunrise each morning and rushing back to my room to watch the sunset each night.

As you saw in my youtube video (above) there is so much to do on the ship! It was impossible to get bored, which is important when you’re on a ship for days at a time. The highlight of the ship is the North Star, where you can get amazing views.

For me, the best part of the Anthem of the Seas were the staff– Julian (photo below), Hugh, Junior, Vinay and Sadie were just a few of the people who were always going above and beyond to make sure we were happy and having a good time.

The Wifi provided by VOOM was consistently strong no matter where I was on the ship. I was able to stream shows and podcasts, do conference calls, facetime and switch between my laptop and my phone seamlessly. When I needed to do more intense internet work like uploading videos, I’d do it when most of the ship was sleeping and the wifi would be even faster!

I would absolutely cruise on the Anthem of the Seas again, maybe with my entire family!

This is the view from the North Star, Photo via The Place I Was Telling You About

Julian was so great the entire time! She said I look exactly like her cousin Tanesha 🙂 Dress: Here

What To Pack on a Cruise

I wish I had packed more sun dresses, cover ups and skirts, because that’s what I spent most of my time wearing. Here’s a quick packing list of random things you should bring on your cruise:

• Big Floppy Hat
• Super Goop Sunscreen
• La Roche Posay Hydrating Face Wash (to replenish your skin after long days in the sun)
• Maxi Dresses (Perfect for the pool or dinner)
• Cute Sarong
• Croc Ballet Flats (wear them into the ocean to protect your feet from rocks)
• Porsche Aviators (light weight, great for round faces)
• Cheap White Sunnies (for beach days, if cheap sunnies get lost in the ocean you wont care as much)
• Cute Plus Size Swimsuits (duh !!!!)
• Water Proof Phone Pouch

I got my swimsuit Here

Special thanks to my little sister for helping me capture all of these images! xx

Staying Fit While on the Cruise

I loved that the Royal Caribbean made their gym such a beautiful space. I looked forward to going there every time. The only thing that I didn’t like was using the elliptical while the boat was rocking, so ultimately I did floor exercises, classes and I used the outdoor track on the top level of the ship.

I definitely recommend that you set aside some time each day for fitness on the ship, feel free to use some of my plus size workout videos or my how to get fit with bad knees series.

Of course, I always give you an honest review, so I’ll say that while I LOVED the gym, the gym staff wasn’t as warm and friendly as everyone else we encountered on the ship. But because the fitness space is so dynamic we were able to find lots of fun ways to work out and feel comfortable on our own! No excuses, right?

Royal Caribbean Anthem of the Seas Excursions

We did two excursions while we were in the Bahamas. First we did parasailing– this was my second time going and I love this activity because it’s plus size friendly (the maximum weight limit is 425 pounds) so you’ll either go with a friend if they’re super small or alone which is a very beautiful and calming experience. I didn’t want to come down!

The other excursion we did was dolphin swimming– Dolphins and Giraffes are my favorite animals, so when I saw that we could meet dolphins at Balmoral Beach, I was all the way in!

Swimming with dolphins is also a plus friendly activity. If they had asked me if I wanted to dolphins to carry me I would have declined but that wasn’t part of our time with them anyway. We just danced and kissed and pet the dolphins. You can see the awesome footage in my YouTube video (above).

This was really an amazing trip and I’m so glad I went. Have you ever gone on a cruise before? Do you want to?

If you’ve got wanderlust like me, check out my Travel Diary: Cuba

This post is sponsored by Royal Caribbean. Of course, All opinions are my own.