Wanted to share this for anyone who has been on the fence about trying a cruise.
The backstory
My son is heading off to university next year, so I wanted one last family trip before he starts that next chapter. The problem was that both my wife and son had absolutely no interest in cruising. It took some convincing to make it happen.
This ended up being a last-minute decision, a 3-night sailing from LA to Ensenada with the three of us flying in from Vancouver the same day.
The cabin situation
Since we booked late, we could not get rooms together. I ended up in an ocean view cabin on Deck 6 while my wife and son were on Deck 12. Not ideal, but it worked out fine. If anything, Deck 12 turned out to have the better room.
Drink package lesson
My travel agent suggested that only I buy the drink package. Since both adults in the same cabin usually need to purchase it, this worked around that rule.
My honest takeaway is that it still was not worth it for me personally. I simply do not drink enough to get the value out of it. Lesson learned for next time.
The food regret
My wife and son are vegetarian, and after looking at the dining room menu we assumed it leaned heavily toward meat options, so we skipped it entirely.
Big mistake.
On the last night I ate there alone, and when the waiter asked where my family was, I explained the situation. He told me that if we had informed them about dietary preferences in advance, they would have arranged vegetarian meals every evening.
I wish we had known that sooner. If you have dietary restrictions, mention them early rather than waiting.
The teenage surprise
This was probably the biggest surprise of the trip.
My son originally wanted nothing to do with cruising. By the second day, he had made friends through the teen club and was off doing activities together like basketball and other onboard events.
We barely saw him after that.
Now he is the one asking about the next cruise.
The result
The two people who had zero interest in cruising are now asking when we are going again.
We are already looking at an Alaska sailing from Vancouver later this year and planning to do it right this time.
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