Speaking of looking back, in November, we visited the Great Wolf Lodge in PA. It was a fun, quick getaway.
Fun at Great Wolf Lodge
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Category Archives: Traveling
My time on the Disney Wish
I can’t believe it’s already the middle of November. Thanksgiving will be here before you know it. I’m grateful for so much this year. In August, I went on my first Disney cruise. It was magical 💕. It was extra special because I was with some of my family members. Disney cruises are on another level.
The level of personalization and care…
Fun on the boat…
Excursions…
The Disney magic…
Would love to do another one. I have to start saving NOW 😜.
Prepping for our Disney Cruise
We are hours away from boarding our first Disney Cruise and we are excited!!
Making sure I have the essentials….
We are ready!!!
New Orleans this past February
We got to spend some quality time in New Orleans before and after our cruise in February. Most of the time was spent walking around and/or eating (which is not a bad thing 😜). This was also not my first time in New Orleans; it will not be the last. Next time, I want to take a Ghost or Voodoo tour and enjoy more nighttime stuff.
Back on the NCL Getaway – February 2025
One more day until our Disney Cruise! I’m revisiting some of our past cruise vacations to get us pumped and ready to go.
This past February, we enjoyed a 7-day Caribbean cruise on the NCL Getaway. This cruise was memorable for many reasons. We celebrated my husband’s birthday, cruised with friends, and flew to our port this time (instead of leaving from New York). We also stayed at our port location, New Orleans, for a few days (one day before the cruise and a few days after).
This cruise was more relaxed for us. I booked a few things in advance, but kept it flexible to accommodate all our friends. We got the drink package, the wifi package, and the digital photo package. I also paid to decorate the room for my husband’s birthday. My daughter didn’t do the kids’ club this time, but we got some pool time.
It’s definitely a different experience when you go with a group. We made time to explore on our own, but also made time to do things together. I also didn’t pressure myself to do everything. I made a list of what I wanted to do, and we checked it off (in the best way). We are going on our Disney cruise with our family, so I want to set the same expectation.
Some photos of our experiences.
Cruising the MSC Meraviglia – Fall 2024
Two more days until our Disney Cruise! I’m revisiting some of our past cruise vacations to get us pumped and ready to go.
In October 2024, we enjoyed a 7-day Caribbean cruise on the MSC Meraviglia to celebrate my birthday this time. We learned a lot from our first cruise in February! For our NCL cruise, we waited to book everything on the ship. Frequent cruisers know that booking packages in advance is the way to go; it’s cheaper, and you have more options. So we bought everything in advance! We got the drink and wifi package (worth it to us), we got the specialty dining package, and enjoyed four amazing restaurants. I prebooked excursions, spa treatments, and little goodies throughout our cruise. I even booked a little photo shoot for us. It was all worth it!
We had the best time! Learning from our February cruise, we took advantage of every amenity we could. Our daughter participated in the kids club this time, while my husband and I enjoyed the spa and the nighttime entertainment. We also got to enjoy some shows with our daughter. She slept through one show (lol), but she enjoyed the acrobatic one, in the carousel lounge. My daughter was better potty-trained this time, so we got to take advantage of the pools more. The one negative we experienced was the weather. It definitely wasn’t on our side, and we only made one of our ports, but we made the best of it on the ship. The ship had tons of activities to participate in. We plan on going on another MSC cruise in February 2026!
Cruising on the NCL Getaway Winter- 2024
Next week, my family and I are going on our first Disney cruise. We are so excited and are counting the days (4 more to go!). In the meantime, I’m revisiting some of our past cruise vacations to get us ready.
In February 2024, we enjoyed a 10-day Caribbean cruise on the Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) to celebrate my husband’s birthday. It was also extra special because it was the first cruise with our daughter.
We had a fantastic time! The boat was gorgeous, and the food was amazing. One regret I did have was that we didn’t take advantage of all the amenities on the ship. We didn’t make it to many of the shows and did not end up using the kids’ club services. We took advantage of excursions during our port days, but some of the ones we were looking forward to got canceled due to the weather. However, we still had a blast and ended up hooked on cruising!
Enjoying the Summer at Shirley
I recently got to enjoy my family’s beach house on Long Island.
We had a great time at the beach, eating, boating and clamming. Most importantly we had much needed family time.
Playing tourist in my own city
In April, I had family from California visit. They explored NYC for many days, and I was able to spend some time with them and enjoy some sites I hadn’t been to before or hadn’t been to in a while.
I have been wanting to check out Little Island for a while now, so we went there first. It’s a great little park with lovely views.
From Little Island, we went straight to the High Line. I haven’t been in years! The High Line is a public park built on a freight rail line elevated above the streets of Manhattan’s West Side. The park is from 14th Street to 34th Street and has impressive views and great artwork along the path.
The High Line goes directly into Hudson Yards. We enjoyed the mall there and some yummy food.
Overall, it was a great relaxing day, enjoying the city.
Poconos Adventure
In March, the family and I enjoyed a weekend getaway in the Poconos. Our friend recently bought a house in the area and invited us over.
The area is filled with many things year-round to do, but we enjoyed the local entertainment, which happened to be the deer. Each day we took part in a deer-watching ritual. My daughter Maxine loved it.
We also enjoyed the Pocono Brewery Company. It’s a great spot offering fantastic food and beer flights.
Hopefully, we get invited to stay again soon!
The Casual Explorer 