I'd never been to the Bahamas or taken a cruise before, and I was feeling adventurous. I found a Groupon for a two-night cruise through Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line and snapped it up. I thought that at only $199 for two people, it would be a good trial run for me.

We drove to Palm Beach the day of the cruise, and left the car with the valet. That went quite smoothly. Check-in was not the very smoothest thing I've ever experienced, but it felt sort of adventure-y, so we just decided to embrace that and go with it. There was a whole bunch of opportunity to buy add-ons, and we took advantage of the soda package (unlimited sodas for $20-ish) and the booze package (10 non-souvenir alcoholic drinks for $65). The soda package was definitely worth it. I'll pass on the booze one next time, though. They are not messing around with their alcoholic beverages, and my liver cannot handle 10 of their drinks in only two days. They were all delicious, but if I'd had all ten, I'd be dead now and unable to write this review. Next time I'll just buy my liquor one glass at a time.

We had an ocean-view cabin, which was clean, comfortable, and roomier than I'd expected. There was plenty of room for our clothes and all the unnecessary stuff I'd insisted on bringing along "just in case." (I used none of those things.) The bathroom was also clean and fairly large. Read more