Travel | Cruising | Cruise Ship | Freedom Of the Seas

I Have Never Cruised But I Was Once On a Cruise Ship

It was an eye-opening experience.

In 2019 my partner and I were volunteering at a Botanical Garden on the island of Nevis for 6 months. Nevis is located in the Caribbean and is part of the two island nation of St. Kitts and Nevis.

One day, the owner of the garden told us that her friend was part of the management of MS Freedom Of The Seas, a Royal Caribbean cruise ship. He had informed her that the ship was making a stop at St. Kitts, and she was welcome to come aboard with a few friends and join him for lunch.

Thinking that we would enjoy such an occasion, she invited us and another staff member at the garden to join her. Chris nor I had ever been on a cruise ship, so we thought it would be interesting if nothing else.

Though my parents have cruised plenty in their traveling life, it has never appealed to me. I think I have always felt like cruise ships are simply just floating hotels, and that I couldn’t possibly experience the places that they visit enough, to make it worth it for me. Usually, cruise ships are only docked for a few hours each day, leaving limited time to see a place.

I much prefer to visit places by traveling across the land, slowly.

But this doesn’t mean that I have not been curious to see the inside of one of these impressive ships.

Boarding the ship

It was beautiful and sunny as we took the 30–40 minute ferry ride across to St. Kitts from Nevis. We passed the shiny mammoth cruise ships that were at the dock as our beat-up ferry puttered past them to shore. I had previously kayaked beside a docked cruise ship while I was in the Bahamas, so I had a sense of this ship's scale, but I still couldn’t help but gape at its size.

Our anticipation was growing and we were excited to get on board.

We wandered from the ferry dock over to the cruise ship dock and approached it with interest. Again, the immensity of the boat was pretty astounding from our tiny stature alongside it.

MS Freedom of the Seas holds close to 5000 people — 3634 passengers and 1300 crew. There are 15 passenger decks plus 4 crew decks that are located below the water line.

5000 people is almost double the population of my once small town that I grew up in in Canada, and is 10 x the population of Chris’!

Before boarding, it was hard for me to imagine what it would feel like to be on a boat with so many people.

Immediately when we entered, there were about 5 stands of hand sanitizer ready to kill all the germs that one may have accumulated while off the ship. In fact, there were numerous sanitizing stations throughout the ship. Keep in mind that this was in 2019 — pre covid. When I saw this, I immediately realized what a problem germs could cause on a contained ship like this with so many people.

As we dined on the delicious buffet, our host told us that because the ship was in port, only about 15%-20% of the passengers were currently on board. Considering how busy the lunchroom was, I was surprised by this statistic.

Honestly, it was already too busy for me!

Touring the ship

After lunch, our host was gracious enough to take us on a tour. We started by going all the way to the top deck and the lounge that looked out over much of it. From there we could see what seemed like miles of pool loungers that circled the outside of the deck alongside a running and waking track that did the same.

It felt strange to me that they would think to put the ones that want to lounge and relax, so close to the ones that wanted to exercise and be active.

What if you are sleepily getting up from your lounger and a runner knocks you over?

Once on the outside deck, we could see that there was much more to entertain oneself. In a few short minutes, we found a climbing wall, tennis courts, a large pool, an artificial wave, and mini golf.

Somewhere amongst all of that, we also found the chapel.

After the outside, we toured the inside. We were amazed that much of the ship had a hollow center. Glass elevators that ran from top to bottom allowed you to look out over the inner core of the ship as you made your way up and down.

Are we actually on a boat?

As we walked the corridor of the shopping plaza or sashayed down the winding staircases, I took note of how odd it was that we were on a boat. In fact, most of our time spent inside, one could completely forget this fact.

We meandered past mall-like corridors and passed quaint coffee shops and a sushi restaurant. From this vantage point, other than the light coming into the high ceiling, there was no way to see outside.

At one point, I was so engrossed with my surroundings that it wasn’t until I stepped into the ladies' room and saw the toilets that are typical of boats (sorry, no photos), that I was reminded that we were, in fact, floating on water.

As is typical in fancy hotels, and apparently on fancy cruise ships, there was a ton of artwork. From incredible chandeliers to one-of-a-kind glass wall sculptures and incredible mosaics, we artists certainly had a feast for the eyes.

There was even a sculpture of a woman diving through the ceiling from an apparent pool above!

From a casino to an indoor skating rink, multiple theatres, a shopping plaza, and a massive gym, this ship had it all.

Truly, there was something for everyone aboard this ship.

Why I will likely never go on a cruise

While I can certainly understand the pull towards cruising, it will never be something that appeals to me. I’m not keen on being locked up with 5000 other people with no way to escape them other than my cabin. And in this day and age, we know that they can be breeding grounds for viruses.

I also don’t like the limited amount of time that is allowed in ports. For me, traveling is all about seeing and experiencing the places that I visit. This means spending time in each place, meeting some of the locals, trying the local food, and getting a general sense of how people live. Darting in and out of a place does not appeal to me at all.

Plus, let’s not forget the environmental impacts of cruise ships. I won’t get into the details here, but let's just say that they aren’t exactly benefitting our ocean or shoreline ecosystems in any way, shape, or form.

But I’m not here to judge others for their choices.

I understand that cruises are great for those that just need a holiday and a chance to unwind. And I am grateful that people do go on cruises because I do believe that some travel is still better than no travel.

But it will certainly not be how I choose to see the world.

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