“5 Things I Hated About My Caribbean Cruise”

Spoiler: I’ll never recover… in the best way possible.

1. The Ocean Was Too Loud

Waves crashing against the ship, all night long.
I couldn’t sleep not because of the noise, but because something about that sound made me feel things.
Things like freedom.
Like healing.
Like maybe I’ve been stuck too long in places that don’t move.

I came on this cruise to escape people.
Instead, I caught myself smiling at strangers with saltwater in their hair.

Worst kind of loud.

2. I Couldn’t Escape the Sunsets

Every. Damn. Evening.
Golden skies melting into the ocean like God was showing off.
I rolled my eyes the first two nights.

By the third, I was timing my dinner just to sit near the railing.
By the fourth, I was writing things in my Notes app I wouldn’t dare share in daylight.

“Do not fall in love out here.”
Too late.

3. The Islands Were Too… Honest

St. Lucia. Antigua. Barbados.
They weren’t just beautiful. They were seductive.
The kind of beautiful that makes you question your whole life back home.
Fresh jerk chicken on the beach. Reggae floating through the air. Locals who call you “family” five minutes after meeting you.

It’s rude, honestly how these islands wrap around your soul like a hug you didn’t ask for.

4. I Hated How Time Disappeared

Mornings became afternoons.
Breakfast turned into cocktails.
One nap and boom the sun had set again.

Nobody warned me that time on a cruise doesn’t feel real.
That I’d start forgetting what day it was, and worse not caring.

I danced with a stranger under moonlight on day 6.
Or maybe day 7.
I don’t know. And I hate that.

5. Leaving Felt Personal

They call it “disembarkation.”
Sounds clinical.
Like it won’t hurt.

But it does.
Because when you’ve laughed too loud, tasted too much rum, and said “yes” to every little thing life offered you — walking down that gangway feels like heartbreak.

I hated how much I cried in the airport bathroom.
How much I wanted to book another cruise before my plane even left.