Nine nights. Three island stops. Fourteen family members and close friends at two dinner tables every night. That’s the short version of our Royal Caribbean cruise — a trip that covered Grand Cayman, Aruba (including New Year’s Eve), and Curaçao, and delivered more memories than we had any right to expect.

Setting Sail: A Family Fleet

We embarked on this cruise alongside another family, making our group 14 in total. There’s a particular energy that comes with traveling as a large group — inside jokes form fast, dinner becomes an event, and every excursion gets its own debrief at the table that night. Having two tables reserved each evening meant we were never hunting for seats and always had plenty of stories to trade.

From the moment we boarded, it was clear this wasn’t going to be a sit-by-the-pool kind of trip. The ship had too much going on.

On-Board: Ice Skating and Whisky Tastings

Before we even reached our first port, the ship gave us two experiences worth highlighting.

Ice Skating at Sea

Yes — actual ice skating. On a cruise ship. The rink is compact but fully functional, and there’s something genuinely surreal about lacing up skates while somewhere in the middle of the Caribbean. It was one of those “I can’t believe this is happening” moments that cruises tend to produce.

Macallan Whisky Tasting

The ship offered a Macallan whisky tasting featuring the 12, 15, and 18-year expressions. For anyone who enjoys a good Scotch, this is the kind of on-board activity that makes you realize a cruise can offer far more than you’d expected. We worked through all three, discussed the differences with a level of seriousness that only slightly overstepped our expertise, and left with a new appreciation for the 18-year.

Grand Cayman: Cayman Cabana and Bonny Moon

Grand Cayman delivered exactly what we were hoping for — laid-back vibes, clear water, and good food right on the beach.

Cayman Cabana Seaside Kitchen & Bar

We gathered the whole group — all fourteen of us — for drinks at Cayman Cabana Seaside Kitchen & Bar. It’s one of those open-air waterfront spots where the drinks are cold, the views are perfect, and an hour somehow turns into three. Getting the whole crew together in one place made it feel like a proper family reunion with better scenery.

Bonny Moon Beach Restaurant

We also spent time at the beach near Bonny Moon, a beachside restaurant that managed to combine great food with a setting that felt completely unhurried. Feet in the sand, lunch at a table a few feet from the water — it’s the kind of meal you remember not just for the food but for the whole context around it.

Aruba: Two Days, Two Beaches, New Year’s Eve

We had two full days in Aruba — including New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day — which gave us time to do it right.

Aruba Day 1: Eagle Beach (New Year’s Eve)

The party bus to Eagle Beach set the tone perfectly. The beach itself is stunning — wide white sand, calm turquoise water, exactly what you picture when you think “Aruba.”

That said, it was crowded. Long waits for drinks and food. No available chairs or umbrellas when we arrived. The kind of situation that could tip into frustrating if you let it.

We didn’t let it.

We found a shaded spot under some trees, made it work, and had a genuinely great time. The company more than made up for any logistical friction, and spending New Year’s Eve on a Caribbean beach with good people turned out to be the right call.

Eagle Beach on New Year’s Eve — packed, but beautiful.

Aruba Day 2: Arashi Beach (New Year’s Day)

Day two brought us to Arashi Beach, and it was a noticeable upgrade in the logistics department. Also crowded, but we arrived with enough time to secure chairs and umbrellas — a small victory that made a big difference.

The drink and food lines were much more manageable than the day before, and the beach itself offered a long, scenic stretch perfect for walking. We spent a solid portion of the afternoon simply strolling along the shoreline, which turned out to be one of the quieter and more enjoyable stretches of the whole trip.

Curaçao: Horseback Riding and Pirate Bay

Our first port stop was Curaçao — a Dutch Caribbean island known for its colorful colonial architecture and crystal-clear water.

Rancho Alegre Horseback Riding

Carly, Maya, and Ella booked a horseback riding excursion at Rancho Alegre, and it delivered. The ride winds through the island’s terrain and offers scenery that’s completely different from the beachside views you’d get on most excursions. For anyone in the group who hasn’t been on a horse in a while — or ever — it’s genuinely a great way to experience the island.

Carly, Maya, and Ella at Rancho Alegre.

Pirate Bay: A Hidden Cove After the Ride

After the horseback riding, we stumbled onto one of the trip’s best surprises: a beautiful cove and bay near Pirate Bay, where we settled in for brunch and drinks. The water was calm, the setting was quiet, and after an active morning on horseback, it was exactly the right place to land.

Dressing Up for Dinner: A Nightly Tradition

One of the underrated highlights of the cruise was the ritual of dressing up for dinner each night. On a trip where the days are often spent in swimsuits and sandy shoes, there’s something satisfying about getting cleaned up and sitting down to a proper meal.

It became its own kind of tradition — something to look forward to at the end of each day, regardless of what the excursion had thrown at us.

The Daily Routine: Finding a Rhythm at Sea

By day three or four, we had settled into a daily rhythm that made the cruise feel less like a vacation and more like a brief alternate life.

• 7:30 AM — Breakfast in the main dining room
• Morning — Walk laps on the track on the top deck, then hit the gym
• Midday — Either an excursion at port, or find a spot on the ship to play cards or games
• Afternoon — Catch playoff football in the Tavern (the fact that this was possible on a cruise ship still impresses me)
• Evening — Dinner with the group
• After dinner — Casino for craps
• Before 9 PM — Back in the room to unwind

And then there was the Windjammer ritual: stopping to grab late-night snacks to bring back to the balcony, where we’d sit and watch the waves roll by in the dark. It sounds simple, but it was consistently one of the best parts of the day.

A Trip Worth Repeating

Nine nights is a long time to be on a ship with the same group — and yet by the last night, nobody was ready to go home. That’s the real measure of a trip like this.

Grand Cayman, Aruba, and Curaçao each brought something different: Grand Cayman was relaxed and social, Aruba was festive and beachy, Curaçao was active and exploratory. The ship itself filled in everything in between — ice skating, whisky tastings, late-night craps tables, and balcony snacks above the open ocean.

Fourteen people. Nine nights. Zero complaints.

---

Ship: Royal Caribbean Duration: 9 nights Ports: Grand Cayman, Aruba (2 days), Curaçao Highlights: Macallan whisky tasting, horseback riding at Rancho Alegre, Pirate Bay cove, Eagle Beach on New Year’s Eve, Arashi Beach, Cayman Cabana, Bonny Moon Best for: Families, groups, Caribbean island-hopping