Another year of cruising memories, let’s see how my 2022 cruise adventures went. I sailed on four ships, on three cruise lines, and spent a total of 28 days at sea. That would tie my 2019 number of days, and come up one short from my 2018 total of 29, which is the most I’ve done in one year. All in all, it was a great year of cruising and included a few firsts!
Norwegian Bliss – April 2022
While I got back to cruising in 2021, the rest of my family had not. This was both my wife and kid’s return to cruising post pandemic. Not only was there excitement around that, but we would be sailing to the Mexican Riviera for the first time. In short, I absolutely fell in love with the ports. With that said, it was a bit of a struggle to fly across the country with young kids for a week-long trip. By time they got adjusted to the time change, the trip was coming to an end. We still had an absolute blast and enjoyed the Norwegian Bliss. Upon our return I wrote a blog post about cruising with kids, you can check it out here.
Carnival Conquest – May 2022
This was a last minute, long weekend, booking. I sailed with a fellow influencer, and we made the most of our quick three days onboard. Highlights included an epic sail away party, a relaxing sea day, and a bar crawl in Nassau. These weekend sailings from Miami are how Carnival has acquired the name, Fun Ships!
Adventure of the Seas – June 2022
To add to the list of firsts in 2022, I would be sailing to east coast Canada for the first time. This four-night sailing out of Cape Liberty (Bayonne, NJ) would have a single port of call in Halifax Nova Scotia. The sailing was quite chilly other than our port day in Halifax, the day in port was gorgeous. I ventured out to a local brewery and to grab some amazing lobster rolls. I may have had three of them for lunch that day! While I did have a great time, I managed to pick up some sort of sickness towards the end of the cruise and took it easy the last day and night onboard. Sailing from the NYC area is very convenient for me so I’m likely to hop on one of these shorter Canada sailings again in the future.
Carnival Celebration – November 2022
I booked this 14-day transatlantic sailing in October 2020, during the cruising pause. It’s not something I would normally consider booking at my stage in life, but given the numerous cancelations during that time, and my mental health, it got booked. I’m not sure I even thought it would happen being so far away, but eventually the day came! I flew out of JFK on Virgin Atlantic pre cruise and spent one night in Southampton England. The weather there was very much like you would imagine this time of year, rainy! The good news was I was boarding a brand new ship the next day, and I would have two full weeks to explore her.
The ship itself was amazing, you can read some more details on what I thought of her here. This would also be my first time visiting Europe. After visiting the ports of La Coruna Spain, Vigo Spain, Funchal Madeira, and Tenerife Canary Islands, I am desperate to go back! If you are looking for a new ship to check out in 2023, this is one to add to your list.
It was another epic year of cruising as I hit cruise number 60 on the Celebration. When I first started cruising, I always told myself I wanted to get to 100 cruises in my lifetime. It’s hard to believe that’s likely going to happen sooner than later. I don’t have as many lined up for 2023 as I’d like, but the year is young. First up is the Freedom of the Seas to the Bahamas in March. The next one will be a long overdue anniversary trip for my wife and I on the Norwegian Jade to Greece, Turkey, Israel, and Cyprus. That itinerary is going to be amazing! And the last one I have booked for 2023 is the MSC Meraviglia in November. It will be my first MSC experience.
What do you have lined up for 2023? What sailing are you most excited about?
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