This post is sponsored by Princess Cruises.

What was the best part of our final port day with Princess Cruises? It could have been the exclusive and indescribably delightful Chef’s Table dinner we enjoyed that evening—I mean, a four-course meal including a tour of the galley and special cocktail hour with the executive chef himself? In fact, let’s stop here and take a moment to appreciate it.

Mai Tai sorbet, to-die-for mushroom risotto and a world-class dessert…I’m no food writer, so I can honestly say that I can’t even begin to describe the level of quality this dinner was at. With so many elements involved, Chef’s Table is not an event you want to be late for…and Michele and I very nearly were! Although we’d been sailing a few days, it was only our second trip to this dining room. If it hadn’t been for the OceanCompass app guiding us directly from starting point A to ending point B, who knows how long we may have been wandering from deck 5 to 6 to 7 and back? OceanCompass quickly became one of my go-to apps on this MedallionClass Caribbean cruise. It’s the fastest way to get to know your home at sea.

Back to our final day in port. Like I said, we had a delightful dinner, but before that, the best part of our day could have been when Michele and I enjoyed a stunning sunset on the Lido Deck overlooking Puerta Maya’s colorful vista. And before that, we devoured a couple of ice cream treats from Coffee & Cones, and the ice cream cones are free, y’all—the ice cream cones are free. Even before that, we raced our Tagalong avatars in a cutthroat (not at all cutthroat) game of TagalongSprint on the portal right outside the café. Any of these things could have been my favorite part of the day—but let’s not forget the colorful, multisensory experience that is the beautiful port of Puerta Maya in Cozumel, Mexico.

If you’ve followed this or any of my other past Princess trips, you know that one of my favorite things about the brand is their close tie to one of my favorite television shows, The Love Boat. An Aaron Spelling classic from the 1970s, The Love Boat is a hilarious hour-long comedic, romantic, silly drama set on the Pacific Princess and full of glamorous and dreamy colors and tones. Walking through the Cozumel port felt like being placed right in an episode along with Julie, Isaac, Doc, and all the other characters. While it didn’t necessarily feel like a step back in time, there was just something about the brightly painted walls, embossed leather souvenir bags, dreamy shadows and rustic fountains that made me half expect to see Patty Duke walk around the corner.

Enjoying a chill day shopping, snapping photos, and lazing in the Mexican sunshine was the perfect way to end the land portion of our trip before relaxing at sea on our way back to Fort Lauderdale. Although this was my second time in Cozumel, it was my first time getting to explore the port, and I’m so glad I finally got a taste of it. And, of course, a taste of a tangy, salty, frozen margarita right in the middle of its homeland. You know what they say….the lower the latitude, the better the attitude.

Photography by Michele Equitz

This post is sponsored by Princess Cruises.

Even though I’ve now been on three Caribbean cruises, every cruise and every ship is different and I still find new experiences to savor on each trip with Princess. Can you believe this was my first time attending a show or visiting Skywalkers Nightclub? I had no idea what I was missing out on all these years, and want to make sure you aren’t either on your next Princess trip. Exciting as Skywalkers and the Princess Theater are, the biggest new thing about sailing with Princess is exclusively on Caribbean Princess and Regal Princess, with many more ships to come: the MedallionClass experience! Below are five tips to make sure you live your best #ComeBackNew life onboard featuring OceanMedallion.

Point Your OceanCompass Toward New Eats

• Princess is known for its world-class dining, but not every ship has all the same dining options. It was my first time on the Caribbean Princess, and my first time enjoying a meal at seafood restaurant Steamers on deck 17. Since I live in Seattle and that makes me kind of a seafood nut, I was in heaven when I got to order a basket of seafood onto which you can add crab and lobster…no other word to put here beyond “wow.”

• Another new thing I love to try while cruising is new tropical drinks. Mai Tais or Monkey Lalas aren’t very common to drink in the Pacific Northwest, and since Princess’ bartenders can whip up just about anything you like, it’s the perfect time to spice up your routine. There’s nothing better than kicking your feet up in your stateroom with a cold drink and flicking on a new episode of The Voyager™ with Josh Garcia on OceanView!

Keep Active

• I’ve always known there was a ton of stuff to do on board, but this time—I actually did it. We discovered the elusive location of the Sports Court—deck 19, reachable from an exterior staircase on deck 17—and played a very friendly game of PIG on the basketball court, which I’m obliged to tell you that I won with a left-handed layup. There are ping-pong tables just off the Terrace Pool at the back of the ship as well.

• Don’t forget the fitness center and group workout classes! If you can’t stop working on your fitness even on vacation, there are a ton of ways to stay active at sea while sailing away on Caribbean Princess. Ever wanted to work out with the endless blue ocean and horizon line in front of you? You can do that! Even I’m tempted to jump on a treadmill in the middle of that gorgeous ocean blue.

New Technology

• Checking in and boarding a cruise has gone from what some might call a practice in patience to a picnic in the park thanks to the OceanReady® app. All you need to do is tap the wearable Medallion device with all of your pre-loaded boarding information—you don’t even need to wait for your stateroom keys, because your OceanMedallion unlocks your door as soon as you walk up to it. Cruising is more interactive and more personal on Princess, whether ordering a drink to your lounge chair or stateroom, playing Games Under the Stars, or adding your fellow cruisers as Shipmates on the OceanCompass app. You even get to create one of the new friends you’ll make—your Tagalong! Michele and I had so much fun designing our sea animal avatars (and let’s be honest…naming them) and seeing them swim around on the technology portals that are scattered around the ship.

Connect with New Friendly Faces

• On every cruise itinerary, it’s natural to form a bond with your stateroom steward, your favorite bartenders, the waiter at your usual table or the band whose music you dance to every night, but every ship has new people to meet and OceanMedallion makes it even easier to meet them. If you’re in the area, bartenders are able to see your face and information on their tablets to get to know you and help with whatever you need faster than ever. Princess crewmembers are such interesting people from countries all over the world—some you may have never even heard of—and are full of fascinating stories about life at sea. Broaden your horizons by saying hi to people; you never know who you’ll meet onboard. Making small talk with fellow passengers is incredibly easy since you’re all bonded by the simple fact that you’re out in the middle of nowhere on a gigantic ship. Don’t “come back new” alone…come back new with some new pals!

Relax: “OceanNow” or Never

• Allow me to set the scene. You’re relaxing in your lounge chair in poolside bliss, wind whipping through your hair. The (male) winner of the “best legs” competition has just been announced on the Lido Deck and they’re back to blasting your favorite classic rock tunes. Everyone’s singing along, you’re finally getting some color under that SPF 50, and that’s when it strikes—the lunchtime stomach grumble. But your friend is in the bathroom and you don’t want to have to pack up all your stuff just to go grab a hamburger. That’s when the best OceanMedallion app comes into play—OceanNow. Just like UberEats or Postmates back on land, with a few taps you can have a couple slices of pizza and a fresh, icy margarita on their way to you in minutes. Don’t let hunger interrupt your sunny afternoon of relaxation!

Princess always ensures that I come back from a cruise thoroughly rejuvenated. As I always say, there is something onboard for everyone even if you may think cruising isn’t for you. Even I wasn’t sure how I would feel about cruising before I went for the first time. But, if a shy and reserved homebody like me (who normally just likes to read alone for fun) can #ComeBackNew, you can too, and you can do it in MedallionClass style.

Bon voyage!

This post is sponsored by Princess Cruises.

In any of my three Caribbean cruises in partnership with Princess, I have never seen water as blue as the waters of Belize. At 6:49 a.m., Caribbean Princess dropped anchor about an hour outside of Belize City, and for whatever depth we were at I could not believe how the shimmering turquoise water glowed. It was easy to see that we were in for a treat of a day as soon as I looked over the railing of our balcony, morning coffee in hand.

Michele and I had been back and forth deciding on a shore excursion to take, and I can’t recommend the Princess crew members at the excursion desk enough. On any Princess cruise, there are so many shore excursion options available that it can sometimes be overwhelming to pick just one, especially on a Caribbean cruise itinerary (although depending on the times, you could potentially do two in one day). The excursion team knows just about every detail about every excursion, such as how much walking or driving will be involved, which ones are higher- or lower-activity, which ones include lunch and which might be best suited for all the ages in your party. The desk is located right in the piazza, so it’s easy to swing by on your way to or from dinner the night before. However, I do recommend booking as early as possible, because excursions can sell out! But even then, we had a list a mile long of our top choices nailed down, so you’re bound to end up on a remarkable adventure no matter what.

We decided on Snorkeling Wonders of the Barrier Reef, and since I couldn’t tell how near or far we were from Belize City, I wasn’t sure what to expect—but we didn’t go anywhere near the mainland. Instead, we took a ferry boat about an hour out from where Caribbean Princess dropped anchor and arrived at an absolute treat—a tiny private island in the middle of nowhere! We could see land off in the distance but we could also walk the entire circumference of the island in three minutes. It felt like a once-in-a-lifetime day. The sands were white, the water was translucent, and the beach chairs were ready and waiting for us. It absolutely doesn’t get more picturesque.

Belize hosts the second-largest coral reef in the world behind Australia, and because of this, our excursion was quite popular. Thinking ahead, the crew divided us into two groups so the snorkeling wouldn’t get too crowded, which was a smart and thoughtful detail. Michele and I got to relax on Rendezvous Caye for the first half of the day before the second round of snorkelers paddled out to the reef.

It’s funny to think of relaxing as any kind of “activity,” but there were truly a lot of options on the island to do so—including in-water hammocks. Swaying along with the waves in that little pocket of fabric remains at the top of my list of memories from the trip. I could have stayed there from sunrise to sundown—but not without sustenance! You can buy drinks and easy meals like hamburgers and hot dogs at the island food stand, but make sure to bring cash.

How to cap off the perfect day? Dinner and a show back onboard your home at sea. We had a thoroughly entertaining experience at the Princess Theater featuring the entertainment crew. They are truly Broadway-quality performers and performed a ton of popular songs with spectacular costumes, lights, and dancing. It’s not to be missed, and if you stop by the Skywalkers Nightclub later in the evening there’s a pretty fair chance you’ll run into them and get to tell them how much you loved it in person. Between dancing to Backstreet Boys and Stevie Wonder, of course.

Photography by Michele Equitz