Our 2023 Journeys Cruise

In October of 2023 Harold and I embarked on a 14 Night Carnival “Journeys” cruise to the Eastern Caribbean out of Galveston, Texas. I booked this cruise the year before when I saw the itinerary went to most all the ports (plus a few more) that we were supposed to go on in March of 2020 to celebrate our 40th anniversary. That 2020 10 Night cruise was cancelled due to Covid-19 hysteria. So, 3 1/2 years later we finally got to go on our eastern Caribbean Cruise on the Carnival Dream.

Our Itinerary:

Day 1 Galveston (Embark)

Day 2 Sea Day

Day 3 Key West

Day 4 Sea Day

Day 5 Grand Turk (XXLD due to WX)

Day 6 San Juan, Puerto Rico

Day 7 St Thomas, US Virgin Islands

Day 8 St Kitts, Basseterre

Day 9 St Maarten,Netherland Antilles

Day 10 St Croix, US Virgin Islands

Day 11 Sea Day

Day 12 Falmouth

Day 13 Sea Day

Day 14 Sea Day

Day 15 Galveston (Disembark)

Days 1 and 2, were Sea Days and were mostly spent exploring the ship, enjoying the music, entertainment, food, and the people.

Day 3 brought us to Key West, Florida for the afternoon. We walked down to The Southernmost Point, and enjoyed several of the sights along the way: The Kapok Tree, the Key West U.S. NAS, and back to town to do a little shopping. We visited here in 2017 but missed seeing most of the things we saw on this day so this was a great stop.

Days 4 and 5 were both Sea Days as Hurricane Tammy made it impossible for the ship to dock at Turks and Caicos. We already visited Grand Turk in 2019, so we were much more thankful to be safe rather than sorry. We filled the extra time relaxing and enjoying the ship activities.

Day 6 was spent in San Juan, Puerto Rico. We took a local tour to see the old town, forts, new town, the capital building, and the beautiful colorful homes of San Juan.

On Day 7 we slept in a bit after being up late the night before at the Silent White Disco Party. Harold sat and watched while I danced with a bunch of ladies to old disco songs with headphones on! Ha! We wore all white but not everyone got the memo. In St Thomas we shopped a little and then went on the sky ride and saw some amazing views! It’s a beautiful island.

Day 8 at St Kitts Basseterre, I got up early this morning and snuck around hiding’s 7 rubber ducks with 7 Bible versed post cards. We ate made-to-order omelettes for breakfast and climbed back into bed as it was raining when we docked. We went ashore around noon just as the rain subsided and enjoyed some shopping and the colorful sights at St Kitts.

On day 9 we docked on the Dutch side of St Maarten, Netherland Antilles and took a tour of the island which included the French side as well. Interestingly it’s a long distance call from the Dutch side to the French side. They also have completely two different governments and rules. My favorite stop was at SXM airport where the beach runs right up to the landing strip. The signs along the fence warn about death and serious injury if you stand there! We ate lunch at the Sunset Beach SXM restaurant while airplanes were landing and taking off. I walked over to the beach and got a video of one flying right over me as it was landing. I remember wanting to visit SXM years ago when I worked for Delta, so I was really excited to finally get to visit here.

We spent Day 10 in St Croix, US Virgin Islands shopping and enjoying the colorful sights and sounds. Back on ship we enjoyed our nightly dinner with our dinner companions and the nightly entertainment du jour!

Day 11 was a Sea Day and Halloween. We found (actually Harold found) a rubber duck this morning on our way to breakfast! That was fun, and was our first and only rubber duck to find on this cruise! The day was full of Halloween activities including a costume contest. Harold wore his Colts Manning #18 jersey and I dressed as a Colts cheerleader! We watched the Rangers play in the World Series on the Lido deck and went to bed exhausted after a full and fun day on the ship.

Day 12: We visited Falmouth, Jamaica and enjoyed some shopping at the port. The port is cone shaped which lets two cruise ships dock around it at the same time. Jamaica is full of colors, music, and a lot of humidity.

Days 13-15 Sea Days went by super fast on our way back to Galveston Port. We bought a photo package and picked out our favorite pics, enjoyed the entertainment, the amenities, the people, the crew, dinner, and especially the yummy deserts.

Overall we had such a wonderful time on this cruise and were so thankful to be able to go on a cruise like this one.

But I have to say, I came away feeling sorry for many of the cruisers. Apparently this type of cruise, a Journeys Cruise, is a favorite among the Platinum level cruisers. Platinum cruisers have cruised a minimum of 75 nights on Carnival Cruise Lines. The buzz around the ship was that this cruise had over 60% of Platinum cruisers on it and that they were hard to please. Now our nightly dinner table included Platinum cruisers and they were all very nice people but it seemed that many of the Platinum cruisers were not so nice and not so happy. Many were full of complaints and seemed unimpressed and unappreciative. We talked to several of them over the two weeks we spent on this ship. Many bragged about constant cruising and/or back-to-back cruising, and practically in the same breath would complain about this or that. Several of these same people also complained about their children and grandchildren. It made me sad for them and got me thinking about the swinging tides of happiness in some people’s lives, like a pendulum.

According to Britannica a pendulum is a “body suspended from a fixed point so that it can swing back and forth under the influence of gravity.”

My theory here is that people who have been blessed with so much but somehow always find something to complain or be unhappy about are like a pendulum going back and forth, pulled by gravity. Except in this case instead of gravity, they’re being swayed every “which way but loose” by their own choices and self-centered emotions. Not a good formula for life.

Whereas the opposite is generally true for Christians. Jesus is our Lord and it is He who is our unshakable, firm, steady, and reliable anchor in life. He is our rock, our solid foundation.

Happiness is not found in endless cruising. Happiness is not found in having a multitude of possessions. Happiness is not found in getting everything and anything you want. No!

True happiness is found in relationship with Christ 🙌🏻 and until one comes to the realization about the truth of the gospel and their desperate need for a Savior, no amount of cruising (or whatever a person is doing trying to obtain happiness) will ever fill the need in your life that can only be accomplished by turning to Christ in repentance and faith.

Cruises will eventually fail your expectations. Possessions will break, go out of style, or get stolen. Some people and some relationships will invariably disappoint you, hurt you, or even leave you.

But God,

Will never leave or forsake you. Period.

Happy are the people whose God is the Lord. Psalm 144:15

True happiness is also a byproduct of being thankful for all of God’s blessings, both great and small.

Small like finding a rubber duck! Ha!

Great like having a relationship with Christ, a loving family, and a place to call home.

In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. 1 Thessalonians 5:18