20yrs of Dread

I'm an Okie I like having my feet on dry land and my one experience with the ocean was while in high school and I spend the whole fishing trip running to and from the bathroom sea sick. With that said I promised my wife at around our 8th anniversary if she put up with me for 20yrs I would consider going on a cruise. So the date came and I planned this trip without her knowing dreading it a bit in the back of my mind. Now for my experience paying for this trip the excursions and the automatic gratuity added up pretty quick but it was worth it in the end. Once we boarded I was still apprehensive and they put you though the worst part of the cruise right off the bat the safety portion where you line up in the head 4 rows deep and go over the life jackets and boats etc. Once that bit of hell was over the vacation started. I don't relax easily so it took me a good 2 days to really get into the groove but once it started it was heaven. I didn't have to worry about anything. I had payed for the excursions and gratuity so we just went through the process we ate when we wanted as much as we wanted, we watched at least 3 comedy shows a night, I learned about a few new artists and purchased a few pieces for the house as memory triggers. I'm not a gambler but I entered every free raffles I came across and won a bottle of win and one piece of art a relaxing scene of a beach chair a glass of wine and the ocean that will remind me of this trip til my dying day. The crew is AMAZING the cleaning staff are some of the hardest workers I've ever seen in action. You finish your "free" meal get up to go do you next "free" event and they're already cleaning up your table for the next couple. I actually find myself grading this crew on extra effort because I cant name a shortcoming. Baby B (Bianca), Samantha (Art Gallery Employees), and Wayan (Steward) new me by name after the first day. If you go to the Chic the waiters call you by name and they make even a blue collar normal joe shmo like myself feel important. I purchased the facebook internet package to keep track with my family at home and I'll note it wasn't to great.  After 2 days I mentioned it to guest services and they reimbursed me the cost and upgraded the package with no argument (not sure the guys name but he was the only guy in guest services on my cruise). The excursions are a blast we did the catamaran/snorkel (Jamaica), Dolphin/Stingray (Cayman), and Mexican Fiesta/Tequila/Shopping (Cozumel). My seasickness snuck up on me with the snorkeling but once I got back onto the boat I was good. After the excursion we diverged from Mararitavile and walked the shops which was a "fun" experience but I would not advise it for those with children. The Stingrays were AWESOME and the water was crystal clear. The dolphin encounter was fun although the water was a bit stinky. The fiesta was a good deal and a nice calm final excursion by then my wife and I were roasted like a couple of lobsters so a day without water wasn't horrible, lol. Looking at it as a whole this trip was expensive it adds up but your treated like a king/queen on the ship and it was one of the most relaxing experiences of my life. I stepped on this cruise apprehensive but by the end of it I was already looking to plan another one.