Cruise Control

I have been on a cruise before, but Aneissapalooza number two was a Carnival cruise to Cozumel, Mexico + Progreso, Yucatán. For my 25th birthday, we did it big with a five-day cruise leaving out of the port in New Orleans, LA. Cruises are a ton of fun because everything is included. There are entertaining activities every minute, lively shows every night, and food around every corner. The food, the food, the food!

Cruise food:

Deck 9 aka food city. The Lido deck is where it’s at! There are so many options for food on a cruise it would make your head spin. Guy Fieri’s burgers, Chinese food buffets, sandwich shops, 24-hour pizza place and that’s about 4/30 of the areas there were to eat on the ship, and every night your party had an assigned table in a unique dining room for extra fancy meals. I think dinner was my favorite time of the day. You could order as much as you want of whatever you want. We tried braised rabbit, ox tongue, and escargot. I loved it all, I felt like a millionaire indulging in all these beautiful animals. The best taco I have ever consumed in my entire life was near the bottom of the Mayan Ruins. I remember that taco vividly. The desserts ugh! Tiramisu, chocolate lava cake, crème brûlée. They were all made to perfection. The food was top notch on the ship + in the ports.

braised rabbit

The atmosphere:

These people work hard, so they want to play hard, I understand entirely. A cruise is supposed to be an oasis to forget about your troubles for the week and relax. So that’s precisely what we did. The schedule is packed full, so we went to events we knew we would enjoy like a scavenger hunt, (we won second place) 90’s trivia, and comedy shows. Every night after dinner there was always a big production going on, so that was usually how we ended the evening. When we stopped in Cozumel, we discovered an almost entirely secluded beach. We went snorkeling and laid out under the warm sun. We seriously got our relaxation on. When we stopped in the Progreso, we got our education on. We went on a very informative excursion like a hop on/hop off bus tour of the city that included Mayan Ruins and Himalayan salt pools. It ended with a two-hour picnic at the beach, and it was marvelous. The atmosphere was very relaxing, and this cruise totally was.

I washed up like this.

What I learned:

Cruises are all about choices, and on this cruise, I learned it’s ok to like what you like. You literally make your schedule from morning until night. You do exactly what you want to do. That’s what makes it extra fun; nothing is forced on you. Whether an event is super popular or there are five people with you. You don’t have to apologize for liking what you like. I think people feel pressure to do things because everyone else is interested in it or it seems to be what is trending at the time. On a cruise, you can participate in whatever your heart desires, and no one is judging you for it. For that, I’m grateful for my entire Aneissapalooza cruise experience. More pictures + videos are available in my Instagram Highlights and on my IGTV.