flying our way to a cruise...

dylan and i are big, big fans of air miles! i'm obsessive about checking our account, watching our points go up, and getting extra points where ever possible.

we even roll deep with a gold card, and not gonna lie, we feel kind of special when we hand that baby over to be swiped.

we now have enough points for a cruise!! we are beyond excited! at first we were looking at the western caribbean. but then after looking at a few options, it really only stays around the florida and mexico area; great, but we're going on a mostly free cruise, i want to up the ante.
and then we looked at the eastern caribbean, and while it goes to bahamas, grand turk, and st. thomas, it's way outta our points range.
now if we get to go where i want (and by i, i totally mean we) it will be the southern caribbean--that's where it's at! it would be a 7 day cruise, and take off from san juan, puerto rico. although flights are a bit more than say, departing from florida, getting to see puerto rico for a few hours before departure would be pretty awesome. let me break down the itinerary:

depart from san juan on sunday. 

monday-st. thomas; 

tuesday-dominica; 

wednesday-barbados; 

thursday-st. lucia, WI; 

friday-st kitts, WI; 

saturday-st.maarten; 

sunday-back in san juan

taxes and fees are 231$, and of course, we still have to pay for a flight (all meals, except drinks are covered, and i know there would still be other expenses on the boat and when we're at each destination daily) but to be able to see this...

st lucia via

st thomas via

dylan wants to go in february, on reading week, when there is snow here. i get the point; to escape the frigid cold and then be lying on a beach a day later. but me? i would prefer to go at the end of april, or beginning of may. we would both be done school and this would be an amazing getaway as a grad present to myself :) and i will definitely be in need of a vacay after 2 years of a college for a diploma and 4 years of university for a degree..i worked hard darnit! and did i mention that neither me or dylan have ever been anywhere hot, like domican, cuba, europe, nothing!! EVER! (ok i went to florida/disney world twice when i was really young, but that's it)

here's where i have a (few) questions. who has been on a cruise? would you recommend one? what's your opinion on an inside cabin or spending a bit more to get an 'ocean view'? i mean, you're not spending much time in your room anyway, right? did you spend more money on the ship/on the destination sites than you expected? anything we should be aware of? it will be carnival cruises we go on (as much as we would like norwegian cruise line, they're also out of the point range), but is carnival still good? are there a lot of kids generally? ok, i think that's all the questions i have!