Unpack Once

When I bought the travel agency franchise, I had dreams to get away multiple times a year--solo trips, girls-getaways, a couple’s retreat, and at least one big family adventure.

However, school-age kids are incredibly busy. And as their primary at-home parent, and none of them driving yet, I am incredibly busy. So much for the solo trips, girls’ trips, and couple’s retreats. But the FAMILY adventure! We can all get on board for that! Only problem: My kids are in two different school systems. So, their breaks never match up. 2025 was the exception.

When the school calendars for the 25-26 school year were released, I noticed that both systems put fall break on the same week. I immediately began researching trip ideas and started pricing.

Idea #1: Disney World! Covid had interrupted our Disney plans in 2021, so I thought we would plan a trip there. But kids grow up, and the novelty wears off. My oldest just absolutely did not want to go. The youngest was ambivalent since he doesn't really care for thrill rides. I wasn't about to fork over the money for Disney unless everyone was ecstatic about going. 

Idea #2: National Parks! We've visited a few National Parks and historic sites around the country. But all my children are active in scouting, so they really weren't feeling another nature/hiking type vacation.

Idea #3: International travel. Questions abound: Can we afford to fly and stay and eat for 10 days and still have a travel budget left for next year? Would we stay in one place or try to squeeze in more stops? What’s the weather like—hurricane season in the Atlantic and Caribbean in October, right? Where would we go and what would we do…

As I was doing training for Royal Caribbean, I noticed that they offer Mediterranean itineraries. They also kept boasting about the "unpack once" benefit of cruising. If you have never traveled with children, you have never experienced what it's like to trash a hotel room like a rock star in the span of a few waking hours during a simple overnight stop on a road trip. Even as teenagers they misplace socks, forget toothbrushes, can't re-zip suitcases, or stuff things in who remembers what pocket because we're running late and it's time to go, and just Come On People!

This "unpack once" idea became very appealing.

Cruising, you might hear, is not for everyone. Folks might identify as either a "cruiser" or a "non-cruiser." My family identified as "non-cruisers" based on the singular experience we had on a cruise two years ago. Cruise line will remain nameless, but it was a 3-night Caribbean cruise that had one port of call, which was the cruise line's private island. The ship was old. The "fun" features like the water slide and on-deck jogging track, were in horrible condition. The linens felt like sandpaper. The private island (which had zero local culture or businesses) was crowded, and two of our scheduled excursions were canceled, so we were bored, and less than impressed.

The cruise was also full of partiers. Mostly mid-20's to mid-50's, groups just out to throw back, relax, and get away from the grind for a few days. Perhaps the constant flow of booze was why they could tolerate the horrible live music. Anyway, no shade to folks out to let loose; it just wasn't the vibe my family was going for. The one good thing about the cruise, according to the kids, was the 24/7 self-serve froyo machine. 

After reading this, you might be thinking, "That sounds terrible. Why would cruising ever cross your mind again?" Turns out, I learned through my training and talking with other agents, many people have the exact same experience we had on our first cruise. They book the shorter cruises (3-4 days) because the prices are lower and they worry that they'll be miserable if they wind up seasick and stuck on a ship for a week. But these short cruises are also appealing to the crowd we encountered. Not the first-time cruisers, the folks that found a great weekend deal and just want to get their party on for a hot minute. It's also sort of a "retirement community" for cruise ships. Many cruise lines send their oldest ships to the short-cruise itineraries so they can recoup the costs of the newer, nicer ships on the longer, pricier itineraries. 

In other words, we needed to give cruising another shot. The ship and the itinerary matter. The cruise line also matters.

Ok. I was convinced and desperately wanted to try this “unpack once” travel style. To get my family on-board, I needed to find a family-oriented cruise line with a nicer ship, and an itinerary that is full of places that we’d all like to visit, and within my very fixed date range.

Bingo! Royal Caribbean Allure of the Seas, 7-Night Mediterranean Round Trip from Barcelona. Kids would only miss one day of school due to the flight schedule. Ports of call: Barcelona, Mallorca, La Spezia, Rome, and Naples. History, art, architecture, natural beauty. Perfect!

The family was skeptical about cruising again. My husband was the biggest doubter. But I booked it anyway, for research as a travel agent. 😊 So here’s what the research found:

The Stateroom:

I put us in an Ultra Spacious Oceanview stateroom. Connecting staterooms were not available. It was a slight cost savings over two standard ocean view staterooms, but we liked the idea of being in one room together, to keep better track of the kids. (Note, on our previous cruise experience, the onboard chat service did not work well. We were on two different sides of the ship but on the same deck. But it didn’t matter. We could have been on two different ships. We found it terribly difficult to communicate plans).

The stateroom was actually ultra spacious. I was worried about sharing one bathroom between 5 people, but it worked out fine. Everyone had a bed, closet space, privacy for changing. And we had a great view of the ocean. The porthole was so large my kids were able to sit in it and look out over the sea.

Of course, the stateroom stayed clean due to twice daily cleaning by our attentive steward.

The Food:

We mostly ate in the Windjammer buffet. I did not make reservations in the main dining room before departure, because I wasn’t sure how the kids would feel after a full day in port, when/how much we would eat in port, etc. The kids enjoyed the flexibility of food choices in the Windjammer, and being able to eat (and dress) more freely. I was not overly impressed with the quality of the food but still found plenty of tasty things to eat at every meal. The biggest benefit is that my kids had plenty to eat without me needing to spend extra at each meal. To feed a family of five on vacation it costs about $50 per person/per day. Times 7 days. That's $1,750.

Entertainment:

I LOVED the entertainment on this ship. It was all high quality, professional, and well executed.  The Aqua show, Mama Mia!, magician, promenade musicians, all fantastic! The entertainment absolutely increased the value of the experience on the ship. I really liked the silent disco, too, but my kids were too cool for it. It was fun to embarrass them.

I waited too long to book the Aqua Too dive show performance and was only able to reserve seats for my daughter and me. The boys could have attended, but they didn’t want to. So, word to the wise, book that show as soon as possible.

All the other cool stuff:

One of my favorite places on the ship was Central Park. It was nice to have an alternative to the promenade to go from forward to aft of the ship. Sometimes the lively vibe on the promenade was just too much.

My tween son loved the Boardwalk. The foosball table was a hot spot for him, and the family carnival events there were fun, even though he’s older than the target age for that. It was just good energy.

The teen club was a great spot for my older teens. They made some friends and always had somewhere to go to hang out when they were “done” with family time.

Pools and Water slides: We didn’t spend much time in the pool. October can be cool in the Mediterranean, like the weather in Kentucky. We spent one afternoon poolside and had a blast.

Ice Rink: FUN! It was easy to reserve your time in the app so there were no long waits. If you are an experienced skater, you’ll probably be disappointed. They did not allow any tricks, fast skating, etc.

Spa: My husband was the one that got the spa treatment on this cruise. He got a massage and came back to the room practically drooling. He scheduled it for the second day of the cruise and wished he had scheduled it toward the end of the cruise. We were exhausted from all the sightseeing we did at port.

WiFi: The VOOM wifi worked great! No complaints.

Ports of Call:

Due to our budget, I did not book any shore excursions through the cruise line. Those can be pricey. I booked a few through Viator, and the rest we did DIY.

Barcelona: Barcelona is an AMAZING city! We stayed one night pre cruise and one night post cruise. Our favorite spots were Casa Batallo, Sagrada Familia, and Park Guell (all Antoni Gaudi art/architecture sites). We all want to go back. We did guided tours here to maximize our time spent in this city with such rich history.  The best tour, with the best tour guide, was the Ramblas, Old Town, Gothic, and Gaudi Walking tour. We all hope to go back and stay longer.

Mallorca: Palma de Mallorca was a hidden gem. We did not have any plans for this port. The cathedral was beautiful and full of old art, newer art, ancient relics. Just outside the gift shop exit were several Mallorca pearl jewelry shops. We stopped in one and the sales woman (she was the only one there) spoke with each customer in that customer’s language. Spanish, French, Italian, English. She was fluent in all of them.

Beautiful buildings, nice sidewalk bistros and shops, a promising nightlife area. My husband and I could see ourselves coming back to this area for an adults-only vacation.

La Spezia: This was hands down our favorite stop. But it started out as one big, brewing disaster. From La Spezia, you can easily get to Florence and/or Pisa, but I opted to see the natural beauty of the Cinque Terre. My kids were disappointed to not see the Leaning Tower of Pisa. But I wasn’t thrilled about spending the time in transit to get there and back in time for gangway up. Mom wins that debate.

When we got off the ship, we (I) decided to walk from the cruise terminal to the train station. I used Google maps for directions, and I should have just taken the time to find the street signs from the terminal exit. We wound up walking a convoluted way through a residential area that was nothing to write home about. The train station was incredibly busy. The train to Cinque Terre was even busier, standing room only.

I had done my homework, though, and knew which stop to take. But when we got off the train, we had to climb what seemed like a thousand stairs to get to the first village (Corniglia) to start the hike on the Sintierro Azzuro (Blue Path). Then we couldn’t find the trail head. Everyone had to use the restroom. The trail cards I bought, which had “free” access to public toilets didn’t work in this one specific village. Nobody had any coin Euros. Disaster was just about to bubble over. We were able to use the public toilets by cracking the door open and using our cell phones for light, and using my travel tissues as TP, while my husband got change. He was the last one in the restroom and flushed away our mess.

After that, we explored a beautiful village church (how such a remote place can have such a beautiful church is inspiring) and found the trail head. We were on our way. The first 30 minutes or so on the trail were a bit of a challenge, especially for my youngest kiddo. The point of the trail isn’t to conquer it, but to enjoy it, so we took our time. We let him stop for water and snacks, while the rest of us took in the stunning views.

The trail is challenging, and while my oldest was able to complete it wearing Hey Dudes!, I don’t recommend it for anyone with joint problems or other mobility issues. We hiked from Corniglia to Vernazza, and I’m glad we went in that direction. The descent from Vernazza is intense! Much better to walk down than up. As we began our descent, we encountered plenty of hikers that were ready to turn around and head back.

In Vernazza, we were able to eat lunch outside by the marina. We ordered an anchovy appetizer that wound up being 5 different platters of anchovies. It was horrible and hilarious all at the same time. We bought the best pesto ever (since it was practically invented there). After lunch we explored the marina. My younger son fell in the water. Almost ruined his day for good. We swapped shoes (I’m about the size of a middle school boy) and he bounced right back.

We hopped back on the train and took it to Monterosso, where I made the kids stop in an art gallery, and we found the most beautiful painting of the Vernazza marina. I bought it and had it shipped home. So much for the budget! But I would much rather spend that kind of money on an original work of art than a bunch of souvenir junk. So, no more souvenirs for the next 3 vacations! 😊

From there we made our way back to La Spezia. The train was still standing-room only. Heading back to the cruise terminal, we followed the street signs. The route was so much nicer! It took us straight through city center, with many cute shops and restaurants. It’s probably a good thing we didn’t go through there on our way to the train station. I might not have made it to Cinque Terre.

Rome: SKIP…ugh. Rome was the worst. It took an hour to get there from the port at Civitavecchia. I had purchased timed entry tickets for the Vatican Museum and St. Peters Bascillica. But it didn’t really matter. The lines were so long (Jubilee year). My husband thinks we can go back and give it another try with better planning and a private tour. Maybe. There were just so many people. I can’t imagine what it’s like in the summer.

Naples: The only things we were really interested in seeing and doing in Naples was eating pizza and seeing Pompeii.  We booked a ½ day guided tour of Pompeii. It was well worth the money and got us back in time for pizza before call time. Pompeii was not quite what I was expecting, though. I thought there would be more displays of or about petrified citizens. There was also a vibrant “red light” district in Pompeii, so be prepared for that if there are children in your group. I was amazed, however, at the durability of the Carrera marble on the cooktops in the surviving marketplace. If you are remodeling, Carrera marble might be worth the investment!!!

As for pizza, there were plenty of spots to grab pizza near the cruise terminal.

Unpack Once

Because we stayed a night pre and post cruise, we didn’t actually unpack once. I advised the family to keep a change of clothes in their backpack, or at the top of their suitcase, so they didn’t have to dig through to find something to wear. But who listens to mom, right? Definitely not my husband. By the end of the trip, my youngest had lost track of which clothes were clean and which ones were dirty that I think he just wore the same outfit from the last night of the cruise until the day we got home…actually, the next morning since he crashed immediately after walking through the front door. At least we didn’t have to unpack for each city we visited! And I made sure we kept toiletries and medicines in my bag, so they didn’t get left behind.

The next cruise we do (and we have all decided that there WILL be a next cruise) I would pack at least one checked bag for the family, for the transition day clothing. No need to unpack anything else.  So, yeah. Unpack once-ish. I’m a fan!