The 5 Best Things About Family Cruise Vacations

Northern Michigan, California, Georgia, Chicago... Out of all my fun vacations that I've been on, my favorite vacations are cruises. This Spring Break, I went with my family on the ship Celebrity Reflection. Here are my top five favorite things about cruising.

Number 5: Food

Who doesn't love food on cruises? You can eat as much as you want and try new foods too. My favorite restaurant was Qsine, where we got to select food from an iPad. Food is definitely one of those things that makes a cruise wonderful.

Me at Qsine having a Chocolate Covered Strawberry.

Jenna taking her first bite of frog legs.

Number 4: Excursions

Excursions are the planned tours and activities that you can do while at the ports. The Celebrity Reflection stopped in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Basseterre, St. Kitts, and Philipsburg, St. Maarten.

Jenna and I stayed on the ship at went to the "Fun Factory" (Kid's Club) when docked in San Juan.  We already had been to that port and wanted to get a tour of the Bridge.    

In St. Maarten we went on a tour. It took us to the French side of the island (St. Martin), to an iguana farm, and to a beach where airplanes fly directly over the beach. It was very fun. But St. Kitts was unforgettable.

Plane flying right above us.

In St. Kitts my dad and I went on a volcano hike while Jenna and my mom went zip lining. Little did we know that the hike was meant for people in amazing physical shape, not us. We had to stop climbing because we were too worn out. My legs still hurt one month later! Jenna described zip lining as "epic" and was glad that she did not go on the volcano hike.

Jenna doing "epic" zip lining.

Number 3: Entertainment

There was so much to do on "at sea" days. There was trivia (which we won one time), swimming, and a ton of cool shows.

The shows had acrobatics (which I thought was amazing), dancing, and singing.  There was even a magic show!

At night, we were awaited by amazing towel animals. 

Number 2: Activities for Kids

The Fun Factory is the Celebrity Kid's Club for children ages 3-11 years old (12-17 is the X-club, the teen area).  I made a lot of friends and had a ton of fun. My favorite part was the scavenger hunts around the ship and the backstage tour.

Me on deck.

Number 1: Being with Family

Cruises are the best way to be computer-free for a week and spend time with family.

My family in St. Martin.

Fun Fact: St. Maarten is the smallest island that is shared by two countries. 

Now it's your turn...

Have you ever been on a cruise? If so, what is your favorite thing about cruising? Be sure to leave a comment.

Ellie's March Madness Live Journal

March Madness is a college basketball fan's favorite time of year. 68 (quickly narrowed to 64) teams are chosen to compete. When a team loses, they are out. It goes from 64 to 32 to 16 to 8 to 4 to 2 and then finally to one in just about three weeks. Everyone loves filling out brackets and watching second round blowouts and the occasional upset. On Thursday, with my dad, I watched three (I was too tired to stay for VCU vs. Akron) games at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Let me take you step by step through my amazing experience.

Ready to take notes for this post

11:30 A.M: We arrived at The Palace. We pass many TV trucks in the parking lot.

11:42 A.M: We arrive at our seats. We're sitting near the Michigan State band. 27 minutes until Michigan State vs. Valparaiso starts.

12:16 P.M: Tip off- first game.

12:28 P.M: I finish eating two favorites - McClure's pickle chips and Better Made BBQ chips - while Tom Izzo gets mad with the officials.

12:53 P.M: 4:28 left in 1st half. Spartans up 29-12.

1:05 P.M: Halftime. Michigan State is winning 35-18.

2:15 P.M: Michigan State wins 65-54

2:47 P.M: St. Mary's vs. Memphis. Lots of Memphis fans. But not to many St. Mary's fans.

3:32 P.M: A Memphis player (D.J Stephens) makes an Alley-Oop dunk. The basket is still shaking.

3:36 P.M: Halftime. Memphis 32 St. Mary's 22

4:22 P.M: 10 minutes left. Score: Memphis 39 St. Mary's 33. Many in crowd cheer for St. Mary's.

5:00 P.M: Final Score: Memphis 54 St. Mary's 52. St. Mary's almost wins but misses a 3 point shut at the buzzer.

5:15 P.M.: Left the arena for the car between sessions

5:50 P.M. Arrived back at arena for Michigan vs. South Dakota State

7:16 P.M.: Michigan vs. SDSU begins. The crowd was mostly Michigan fans but there were surprisingly some SDSU fans too.

The view from our seats.

7:59 P.M.: Halftime: Michigan 30 SDSU 26

9:05 P.M.: Michigan Game Ends - Final Score - Michigan 71 SDSU 56

I had a lot of fun at this event and I'm going back for Round 3 on Saturday.

Have you ever been to a NCAA Tournament game? What is your favorite part of March Madness?

Ellie's Top 5 Chicago Tips

Chicago is the third biggest city in the United States. Even though New York City gets most of the attention, Chicago is a great city on the Great Lakes. Last weekend, my family went to Chicago to see sights and friends.

I experienced five things that were very unique and fun. Here is my Top 5 for Chicago.

5. Billy Goat Tavern - Almost every Chicago Cubs fan has the legend about why their team hasn't a World Series for 105 years. When a man a brought his billy goat to a game, the team didn't let him into Wrigley Field. Before he left he promised that the Cubs would never win a World Series again and it hasn't happened since. This man was also the owner of the Billy Goat Tavern, which serves burgers and chips.

When I ate there, I ordered a cheeseburger and BBQ chips. The food was mediocre but the experience was fun because it was underground and it had a lot of Chicago characters. I recommend it for anyone who wants a cool Chicago experience.

This is the underground original location of the Billy Goat Tavern.

4. Soldier Field Tour - I have been a Chicago Bears fan since I was old enough to talk. I always got excited when I saw the logo or heard the word "Bears." I was also excited when my dad told me that he got tickets for us to tour Soldier Field, which is where the Bears play.

The tour included going on the field, seeing the visitors' locker room and learning about Bears history. We also got to know into the Skyline Suite that overlooks the Chicago skyline. For a game, it costs $900 to sit in the suite. When we went on the field, it was covered in snow. The view from the sidelines to the field was really cool. In the locker room, we saw the place where visiting teams put on their gear. I also sat on the training table where players get taped before the games.

I would recommend the tour for any NFL fan.

On the snowy Soldier Field

3. Frontera Grill - This is a famous Mexican restaurant. My family went very early so we could get in because it is usually packed. Luckily, we were one of the first groups of people there. I ordered enchiladas and chips and salsa. The salsa was really good and better than the jar that you can get at a grocery store because it was more fresh. The enchiladas were very yummy and very flavorful.

I recommend going early if you want to get a seat.

Yum - my enchilada and me

2. Museum of Science and Industry - We only had time to go to one museum and we chose this one. It seemed very hands-on and looked like it had cool exhibits. One of our favorite things that we did was going to the coal mine exhibit. We got to learn about how they mine coal and how the technology has changed throughout the years. In the weather area, there is a fake tornado that is powered by fans. It looked like a real tornado but was only moving about 5 miles per hour. People were even allowed to stand in it. At the Museum, they also had a place the Fab Lab. There, you can go to classes where you can make things like stickers, keychains and necklaces and more. I went to the keychain/necklace-making class.

If you go, be sure to stop at the tables with many experiments around the museum because they are very fun.

1. Seeing Friends - Most of my friends from camp live in Chicago, so I was very excited to see them. On Friday night, most of us gathered at our hotel, the Residence Inn. They had a big room for us to eat pizza, play games and watch movies.

What is your favorite thing to do in Chicago?