It has been busy, busy, busy around here! Is anyone else in shock that Valentine’s Day is already next week? And wasn’t I just sharing my December in numbers?? How did this happen?? Also, how many times can I comment on how quickly the days are speeding by before you get sick of it?

These are the important questions people.

Today I decided to bring you the cruise edition of my month in numbers. I’m so excited to share more details from my cruise and thought that this would be a fun way to do it! Before we start though, no judgment about all the food I ate. I only gained 3 pounds so I call that a win!

21 soft serve cones consumed & 25 meals eaten

Let’s just jump right into it with the food, shall we? For those of you that haven’t cruised before and somehow aren’t aware, food is plentiful on a cruise ship. You always have access to it in some form or another, whether it’s a buffet, a self-serve ice cream machine, or the formal dining room. And it’s glorious. Y’all… I love food. And I figured I was on vacation and I’ve been so good lately so I was going to indulge; so I ate–A LOT. Yet somehow I only gained about 3 pounds, so that was pretty dang exciting! So here’s my secret to not gaining a boatload on a cruise (pun somewhat intended). Just be smart about what you’re eating and walk a lot. Yes, I did visit the jogging track a couple times which was great, but other than that I just walked a TON and took the stairs instead of the elevators often. I watched my carbs too, which I also do at home. If I was going to the buffet I didn’t have bread (except for on a couple occasions and except for dessert, of course!) and most nights at dinner I stopped myself at one roll when offered. The food was oh so good and I definitely don’t feel like I missed out on anything!

2 very special, sparkly gifts bought

When we were in St. Thomas my husband bought me a couple of amazingly gorgeous pieces of jewelry! I don’t get them until my anniversary but I can not wait to show you! I’d been wanting a right hand ring for awhile and our 10 year anniversary seemed like a good reason to get one. St. Thomas is actually the top duty-free shopping destination in the Caribbean. Since it’s a US territory you get an increased limit of duty-free goods to bring home. That means you don’t have to pay sales tax and can often find a pretty good deal.

2 rides down the waterslide

We were on Royal Caribbean’s newest and largest ship, Harmony of the Seas, which was port to stern covered in fun. She boasts not only have three pools and about eight hot tubs (I honestly lost count), but also a fun splash area for kids (that made me wish our kids were with us for about 30 seconds), two FlowRider surf simulators, and three water slides. I rode two of the waterslides and tried a go on the FlowRider. More about that on an upcoming blog post.

Countless flights of stairs climbed

Like I said, I tried to climb stairs whenever possible. It helped that we were on deck 3 and a lot of the indoor activities were on decks 4-6. If we only had a couple of decks to go we skipped on of the 12 elevators and took the stairs. There were a couple of times though where I scurried up and down about five flights in one go–sometimes in heels!

3 naps poolside

My husband was attending a dental conference on board so any of the days we were at sea he had a meeting to attend for half the day. I spent that time reading, jogging around the track, trying to work on some blog tasks (thanks to Royal Caribbean providing me with internet while onboard), and taking a few naps in the warm sunshine. I know, it was a tough job but someone had to do it.

2 formal nights onboard

I talked in this post about how much I love the formal nights while cruising and it’s true! Think about it, how often do you actually have the time to go all out when you’re getting ready for date night? If you’re a busy mom like me then those times are few and far between. I loved having the luxury of taking my time to get ready and get all dressed up. I’m sharing some of my favorite looks below, two of which I took with me on the cruise for the formal nights! Links contain affiliates.

1 karaoke song sung

Confession–I have never sung karaoke before other than in the safety of my own home with friends when I was growing up. I’m no stranger to performing, having been in high school choir, church choir, many community theater productions, and even a couple of shoots in LA. But… I think there’s a reason that most people sing karaoke while they’re drunk. I do not drink, therefore I was super nervous! Oh well, I figured I’m never going to see these people again, right?! It was fun and quite an experience, I might do it again someday, lol. I also got serenaded twice by my sweet husband, which was pretty shocking because even though he has a great voice I can rarely get him to sing in anything smaller than a quartet.

5 shows watched

Oh my goodness you guys! I feel like the shows on cruise ships have come a long way. While we were onboard we attended two Broadway style musicals, enjoyed one ice skating show, were wowed by one water acrobatic show, and laughed with a comedian. There were even a couple other shows that we didn’t make it to. It was so much fun to get such great entertainment nearly every night! For those on the fence about cruising, this is definitely one of the perks.

8 days, 4 ports, 3 beaches

Our cruise was 8 days (Saturday through Saturday) and we visited 4 ports (they count the port you leave from as a port, in our case it was Ft. Lauderdale). Of all the beaches we visited I think I liked the Bahamas the best, and we didn’t even get in the water there! It’s a shame too because it was a gorgeous day and the water looked incredibly clear. The Bahamas also was the best for beachcombing, I found so much great seaglass! In St. Thomas we took an excursion across the island and went to Magens Bay which is supposed to be one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Honestly, I was a little disappointed; it was so crowded on the day that we went! I can see how it would be incredible though if there were less people there and it was still a nice place, although not a good place for snorkeling, unfortunately. In St. Marteen we just stayed at the beach right in the main part of town and paid for some beach chair rentals and some Diet Cokes. It was nice and relaxing but it kind of felt like we could have been on that beach anywhere, you know? If we go back we’d definitely like to see more of the island.

What’s your favorite thing about cruising? The food? The entertainment? The food? Oh wait, I said that already…

As always I’m linking up with Deena from Shoes to Shiraz since she’s the brains behind the month in numbers posts! Head over and check out how everyone else’s January was!