MIAMI AND BAHAMAS CARNIVAL CRUISE
A vacation I wish I didn’t have to go home!
My husband and I just returned home from our full day in South Beach Miami Florida & 3 day Carnival cruise — we had the absolute BEST time. If you are curious about cruising or just want to know our experience, keep on reading! I’ll be sharing our cruise experience and our cruise recommendations.
Looking for vacation outfit inspo? You can scroll to the bottom to shop all my looks from this vacation at the bottom!
IN MIAMI..
Our original flights we booked actually got canceled, so we ended up having to fly into Miami one and a half days prior to the cruise! We stayed at Hotel Breakwater South Beach and stayed two nights! We LOVED this hotel! It was a beautiful, smack dab in the middle of South Beach Miami, and within walking distance of everything we could have needed AND steps fro the beach! The hotel had a GORGEOUS rooftop pool and a full service bar attached! It also has a gelato shop attached as well as a really cool 1950’s inspired diner bar/restaurant downstairs! You will be within very close walking distance of a few local convenience stores!
If you want to be downtown but also feel like you are in a private little space, I cannot recommend Hotel Breakwater in South Beach enough! We would stay here again! To book your stay at Hotel Breakwater in South Beach Miami, tap the website link & give them a follow on Instagram below:
https://www.breakwatersouthbeach.com/
https://www.instagram.com/hotelbreakwatersouthbeach
where we ate:
THE LOCAL HOUSE - this is where we were suggested to eat for brunch thanks to the sweetest girll Rachel AKA @summerofdiane who is an AMAZING follow for all things beachy boho style & Miami life! f you are looking for an instagram / tiktok / pinterest worthy brunch spot in South Beach Miami that is ALSO delicious? The Local House is it! We both got the local breakfast and fresh Florida orange juice and it was absolutely amazing and a short walk from our hotel! Check out the local house website & Instagram below:
PINK TACO - I have not been able to stop thinking about Pink Taco in Miami since we had it! This was by far my favorite from our trip and anytime I am back in Miami, this will be a MUST eat!
I got the coconut shrimp tacos with the mango habanero salsa which was the perfect combo if sweet and spicy, I am a HUGE fan of coconut shrimp and having them in taco form was incredible! Jake got the fried lobster tacos which was also so yummy!
There are other locations Pink Taco is at, but if you are ever in Miami this is a mex cuisine you HAVE TO go to! Check them out on Instagram below:
https://www.instagram.com/pinktaco
INSOMNIA COOKIES - We ended the night with the super yummy and indulgent insomnia cookies! Absolutely worth the belly ache!
ABOUT OUR CRUISE
We chose a 3 day cruise from Miami, FL to Nassua, Bahamas. We sailed with Carnival Cruise Line on their Conquest ship. Something I always suggest doing for any cruise or ship you haven’t been on, watch a youtube video of a tour of the ship! Not only does it get you really excited, it can also help you prepare for what you might want to bring, wear or plan for!
Day 1 was getting on the boat (around 11:30am) from the Miami cruise port and it was super easy to get an Uber/Lyft from our hotel in South Beach over to the cruise port! It was about a 20-ish minute drive! we set sail around 3:30pm. Typically cruises start boarding around 10:30-11am and stop boarding time at around 2:30-3:30pm. You will give your larger luggage when you arrive and I always suggest having a backpack or purse with your essentials because you won’t get your luggage delivered to your room until the evening! In my bag I keep with me is usually SPF, a water bottle, my bathing suit/swim cover and a change of clothes!
Day 2 was our fun day at sea all day. This is where you are on the boat all day and do not port anywhere/get off the ship!
Day 3 was in the Bahamas. This also happened to fall on my husband’s 29th birthday! Talk about an amazing way to end your 20’s!
Morning 4 was back at the Miami port where we got off the boat by 9:30am. We opted for a window room / ocean view room. Cruise ships typically offer 4 different rooms. An interior room which has no windows and just your beds, storage and a bathroom. An Ocean View room which has a large window to see the ocean and all your port stops. A balcony room which has a small balcony you can open a door and enjoy the ocean breeze as well as your outdoor port stops. Lastly, you have a Suite room which can vary and you have a little bit more room within your cabin, a balcony, a lounge area with a couch + table set up and a larger bathroom set up.
We’ve only ever chosen a window ocean view room. I sometimes get slight motion sickness while traveling in a car, plane or boat. I like to see exactly where I am going to help prevent any nausea from coming. Having an ocean view room is helpful and I can always opt to close the window if needed. You paid to see the sea, right? Plus, the view is unbeatable. I personally think paying a little extra (usually it isn’t too much extra) for an ocean view room is well worth it. Unless you enjoy not seeing the ocean and enjoy a SUPER dark room, then go for the interior cabin.
what to do on a cruise?
The question really is what isn’t there to do?! We’ve only ever sailed with Carnival, so I can only speak on behalf of my Carnival experiences. I like to think of Cruise Ships as little towns. Each level has amenities you can choose from. Usually the first two decks of the cruise ship are cabins in which people sleep. Deck levels 3, 4 & 5 have cabins but also usually is where your restaurants, shopping, lounges, arcades, casinos, information desks, theaters, bars, clubs, etc. are. Heading up to the upper decks are where you will find pools, tons of lounge chairs to catch rays, hot tubs, more bars, buffets, kid’s clubs, smaller to-go restaurants, fitness centers, adult only lounge/hot tubs, spa, etc! The real question is: what isn’t there to do on a cruise?!
We selected a 3-day cruise this time around so we didn’t even get to do half the agenda the boat had. When you get to your cruise, they have an app you can download or a written itinerary in your cabin where it lays out each day’s events. There are raffle games, seminars, shopping events, parties galore, comedy shows, game shows, dancing parties/mixers and so many more events on board I can’t even begin to rattle them all off happening every 30-60 minutes. There really is almost always something to do and rarely will you find yourself bored on a cruise.
If you are booking a cruise, I highly suggest a 4-5 day cruise. 3 days felt too short and our 7 day cruise by day 6 we were ready to head home the next day. 4-5 day cruise with two destination port stops is a PERFECT cruise experience in my opinion!
IN THE BAHAMAS:
So the day we were in the Bahamas, it was actually Jake’s (my sweet hubby) birthday! It was a wonderful way to spend the final birthday of his 20’s (29!) We’ve also never been to the Bahamas, so it was a wonderful new travel experience!
Cruise lines will almost always have options to book excursions directly through the cruise line. However, in some locations you visit there are excursions you can book on the spot after stepping
We looked through the options of what to do during our 8 hour day in the Bahamas. There was swimming with dolphins, snorkeling, ATV adventures, water parks and swimming with pigs. All sounded so exciting and fun but we decided to see what there was to do off the boat that was available.
We ended up heading to Cabbage Beach which was a free local beach in Nassau. It cost $20 total for a taxi ($10 each way) to get to the beach. Once we got to the beach we were greeted and set up on a beach chair and I paid $30 for a drink in a pineapple (it was totally worth the $30 because I was able to get 3 extra refills included in that price - so it was essentially 4 drinks for $30!)
It ended up being an extremely hot day (plus, we are from Ohio and in March, it’s not exactly sunny and 75).. And I massively underestimated tropical climates. Make sure to learn from my mistake and bring a large water bottle with you and cash to buy more water bottles on the beach if needed!
We got to the beach by 9am and we had to leave by 2pm (2 hours before we would have had to get back on the boat) because I got heat exhausted due to lack of proper hydration. Learn from my mistake — bring a water bottle and cash for buying more bottled waters! Stay hydrated! It did end up working out and I didn’t totally ruin Jake’s birthday because he was starting to get tired and burnt.
There was so much fun on the beach. We ate local food from a family and when I tell you how AMAZING this food was! We had fried chicken seasoned with their own family recipe (it wasn’t fried chicken like you would find at KFC) . It was a juicy, very lightly crunchy chicken and they had their homemade potato salad and rice with the meal. It was truly so delicious!
On the beach itself, they also had tubing and jet ski renting and it was honestly really entertaining watching others out on the water having fun and wiping out (sorry to those that wiped out tubing, but it was really funny).
wrapping up the trip
Your final day on your cruise is the wrap up morning. You are typically off a boat, latest, by 9:30am. Our flight home wasn’t until 6:30pm later that day, so we stayed on the boat until we were kicked off. The buffet breakfast is open until 9am so we just enjoyed a long chill breakfast with one another!
Once we got off the boat, getting through customs (if you travel outside of the US, you have to go through customs once off the boat) and with having passports we were in and out of line extremely quick. Having a passport is worth it for several reasons in my opinion but let me tell you that the birth certificate line was probably close to a 2-hour wait getting off the boat. Especially if you have a morning flight to catch, you want that passport.
Since we had from 10am-3:30pm before we needed to go to our airport (Fort Lauderdale Airport), we spent the morning + afternoon at Hollywood Beach (which we had been to before). Hollywood Beach is exactly like Miami as far as things to do just the family friendly version compared to the heart of South Beach Miami. We just strolled along the boardwalk, had lunch and ice cream, a drink and enjoyed the beach a little before heading to the airport (the airport was only 15 minutes from Hollywood Beach which was really convenient!)
I cannot reccomend Carnival Cruise line enough! It is one of the most affordable cruise lines you can book and it is family friendly as well! We just ended out second cruise with Carnival and are already looking forward to our next cruise with them! The staff is always so kind and amazing. The ships are kid-friendly offering fun movies in the evening at the top deck pools and kid’s club! There are amazing spas on board that we have done couples massages on and I opted this cruise to try the hair salon and got the best blow out ever! They offer a full gym as well as basketball courts and a running track on the top deck. Plenty of pools and hot tubs. The shows and entertainment on the ship is one of a kind. The food and Cheers! package is our favorite part! All in all, our trip was truly INCREDIBLE. Thank you Carnival for the amazing time per usual!
OUTFITS FROM OUR TRIP
Below are all my photos from our Miami/Bahamas Cruise vacation! Each photo is shoppable by clicking/tapping on the photo and it will redirect you to my amazon storefront (where I do make a small commission if you choose to purchase anything linked on my photo posts or idea lists)
