My parents went on a cruise together two years ago and had so much fun that they decided to go the next year and the year after that. Last year, they went with my sisters, because I was in no shape or form, about to get on a big boat. I stayed home and worked. Of course, I missed them, because they couldn't call or text me during the entire trip, but I was pretty happy that I didn't have to bounce on a crowded boat to Mexico.

This year, my parents really wanted me to join them. They now live eight hours away from me and I haven't seen them in months. It took me a few days to make the decision that I should go so I can visit my family I don't see often, but I was terrified. My parents bought the tickets just a few weeks before the cruise, apparently it was cheapest, so I didn't have long to get a passport and freak out at the same time.

After saying "goodbye, I won't die," to everyone, the day finally came and my family picked me up. They were all too excited that I was finally going on my first cruise with them. It was also the weekend of my parents' anniversary so they were even more excited that we would all be celebrating together. It was very foggy outside, making the boarding time delayed, which gave me more time to text my boyfriend. I was terrified! We went looking around and I thought everything looked amazing.

When the cruise ship finally left Galveston, we went and attended some of the events. There was so much to do. Every single day on the ship, there were tons of activities you could do all day. My favorite day was the first sea day, because almost everyone was on the deck during that extremely pretty and warm day. I was mostly there to drink and watch the Men's Hairy Chest Contest. We went to a lot of comedy shows and game show nights on the cruise. I loved the Marriage Game Show the most. There were a lot of huge sales on usual expensive items on the ship too. I may have bought my anniversary gift for my boyfriend too, shhh. The food was outstanding. On the deck, they had so much food to chose from, but I mostly stuck to their burger joint. (Sorry, for being American.) Every night, you went to eat at a specific time in a fancy dining room. Okay, so their food wasn't all the best, but I really enjoyed some steak.

When we arrived in Cozumel, Mexico, we got a taxi to a nice beach called "La Casa en La Playa." It was very beautiful and I had some really good food and went snorkeling. I hated swimming out there, but I saw a bunch of small fish around me. I had some real coconut pina coladas too, might I add. Our tour guide, Luis, told us so much about Mexico that I never knew and it made me happy to learn some culture differences on my trip. We hit some rough waves the second sea day, but I took some chew-able motion sickness tablets and immediately felt better. They cancelled a few things due to weather, but we still did as much as we could and this was the ship's last time porting in Galveston so they had a bunch of parties for that too. Free alcohol for an hour, um yes. (If you're 21 years older or course.)

The cruise wasn't what I expected it to be at all and I wish I would've gone with them the year before, but I'm glad I finally went. I definitely recommend a cruise getaway for anyone. I never used my phone, except for pictures, and it was very nice to go visit another country. There is plenty of things to do on the ship for people of any age. There were so many options and you never got bored. I'm currently trying to convince my boyfriend to go with me someday. I miss my family already and I can still feel like slight movement of the waves.

Thank you mom and Philip.