Spring Break Pt. 1
Trip with bestie!!
My bestie <3
This spring break somehow managed to be equal parts glamorous, chaotic, and weirdly wholesome, which feels like the ideal combination. Luckily, I got to bring my best friend and share the best experience with her. No other trips can compare to the fun I had with twin (conjoined, btw they had to surgically separate us).
It started with a drive to Asheville, which is significantly less exciting than the rest of the trip but necessary for character development. After a flight to Miami, we immediately committed to the bit and went straight to Gianni’s at the former Versace mansion for lunch. Nothing like sitting in a literal fashion icon’s home, eating (subpar) pasta, and pretending this is a normal Tuesday activity. The place is stunning, the food was mostly good, and yes, I absolutely took full advantage of the setting for pictures.
What did Pitbull say about Miami…
We then Ubered to our high-rise Airbnb, which had views that made us all pause for a second like… oh, this is nice. We dropped our stuff and did the least Miami activity possible: homework, before heading out to find dinner. After a quick stop at a random nail salon for Malone to get her pedicure redone, we landed in a food hall, got smash burgers that exceeded all expectations, and brought them back to the apartment to eat while watching a movie. It was lowkey, comfortable, and honestly one of my favorite parts of the day.
The next morning was cruise day. Embarking was suspiciously smooth, which I’m crediting entirely to the junior suite and not our planning skills. The second we stepped onto Wonder of the Seas, we went straight to the solarium like we had priorities. We made sure to book our shows as soon as possible. After lunch, we hit the giant dry slides that span 10 decks (terrifying for no reason, but fun), then explored the ship like we were trying to cover ground efficiently.
view from the ship
And when I say “explored,” I mean we were casually discovering things that should not exist on a boat. There was an entire Central Park area with real plants and walkways like we were suddenly in a tiny floating city, an ice skating rink, a zipline running across the ship, and more restaurants than any one group of people could reasonably try in three days. Every time we turned a corner, it felt like a new category of activity, and somehow, there are multiple pools we haven’t even seen yet. It’s the kind of place where you fully accept you’re not going to see everything and just move on.
Dinner that night felt like the official start of cruise mode. We dressed up, ate a slightly unreasonable amount of food, got drinks, and then immediately changed into more comfortable clothes because duh. Then came the water show, which was actually insane. The show is called “inTENse,” which feels appropriate because there is not a single calm moment the entire time.
The women in that show genuinely deserve their own standing ovation section of this blog. They weren’t just diving; they were launching themselves from heights that made my stomach drop just watching, flipping multiple times midair, and entering the water with perfect precision, like gravity simply did not apply to them. And they do it over and over again, at night, in front of a full crowd, with choreography, timing, and zero room for error. At one point, they were diving from platforms that looked absurdly high, and somehow still making it look effortless. Mind you, this is all on the very windy and rocky back of a moving ship. And the fact that they’re climbing back up, resetting, and doing it all again within minutes? Unreal. It’s one of those performances where you leave not even fully processing what you just watched, just knowing it was wildly impressive.
We followed that with a comedy show that… tried. We appreciated the effort.
Hideaway beach!
The next day we woke up at the private island and fully leaned into vacation mode. Hideaway Beach was exactly what you want it to be: music, tropical drinks, people dancing like no one from home can see them, and a very competitive pool volleyball situation. We also spent time in the ocean, just to remind ourselves we were, in fact, somewhere tropical and of course take some photos.
Back on the ship, we cleaned up, went to dinner, and then ended up at the couples game show, which is truly one of the most unintentionally entertaining things you can witness. There is nothing like watching strangers overshare in front of a full audience. We wrapped up the night in the hot tub, which felt like a solid life decision.
Our last full day was in Nassau. We started at Royal Caribbean’s new private island area, which felt like a spring break ad in real life, with a party pool, beach time, and at one point we were playing mermaids for an extended period of time. No regrets. We then took a ferry back into Nassau, walked through the Straw Market, and shared a massive Miami Vice from Señor Frog’s, which felt required. It was chaotic, colorful, and a nice contrast from the more polished parts of the trip.
Back on the ship, we got ready for our last dinner and then made a bold decision in the casino, which resulted in losing $250 at blackjack. Not ideal, but it builds resilience. We recovered by going to the ice skating show (again, how are these people real), took a quick nap, and then ended the night at the Latin club where we danced for hours like we had nothing waiting for us back home. Naturally, this was followed by late night pizza.
Sexy Fish bathroom.
Disembarkation came way too fast. Instead of immediately heading to the airport, we went to Brickell Center and spent the morning shopping before lunch at Sexy Fish, which might have the most insane bathroom I’ve ever seen. Like, literally a tourist attraction. I got a vegetarian roll, not for health reasons, but because raw fish and I have unresolved issues, and it was actually really good. We took pictures in the bathroom, as one does, and then headed to the airport.
And just like that, we were back home. slightly tired, slightly sunburnt, and already wishing we could rewind at least part of it. Also nothing quite compares to a trip with your best friend, and making memories together in beautiful places.
