My Top 5 Destinations Visited (So Far)

I say so far because by no means am I done with travelling even though currently I’m sitting on my couch in my PJ’s eating a bag of M&M’s (at 2pm in the afternoon) daydreaming about the day I’ll be able to walk down the aisle of a plane again.

Okay so let’s start because I think this is the only way I’ll stay sane and prevent myself from going completely bonkers because of my travel withdrawal symptoms.

Number 1: Top of my list has to be New Zealand. I have always been asked by so many what is your favorite destination or port visited (having worked on cruise ships for around 8 years now) and for the most part I could never really decide because there were always too many contenders, well that changed the day I traveled to New Zealand. I was blessed to have spent 5 months exploring New Zealand while I worked on the Sea Princess, one of THE best contracts I’ve had by far. I spent time in Napier, Auckland, Christchurch, Tauranga and many other places and each and every place had many stand out moments for me. It’s not only because of the friendly folks and the country being beyond beautiful, but my memory of bar hoping in Port Chalmers, Dunedin due to an unexpected overnight because of bad weather, to of course doing a tour of the Hobbinton Movie Set (whether you a fan of Lord of the Rings or the Hobbit trilogies or not, you’d be crazy to pass up a tour of this magical wonderland.) and even visiting farms and sheering sheep, yip… I sheered me some sheep 😂 (No sheep were harmed in the process I promise!) THIS is what sets this place apart from most. It was 5 months of epic adventures. A must if you have a bucket list of travelling places still to visit.

Number 2: Alaska without a doubt. I have been very, very fortunate and blessed to have visited Alaska on more than one occasion and my gosh do I have to say it doesn’t get old. The unspoiled beauty of Alaska is what truly sets it apart from so many places I’ve visited. What I love most is that very often with the cruise ship industry booming and many ports relying on the tourism from this industry it often becomes so commercial and the ports start to lose their character. This is NOT the case of any port in Alaska. My visits were years apart and I was keen to see how things had changed and let me tell you nothing had changed which was so wonderful to see. Alaskan ports are still staying authentic and keeping their quint characters while still catering to the cruise line market. 🙌 One stand out memory for me is that I was lucky enough towards the beginning of my ship career to get the opportunity to go husky sledding up in the mountains of Skagway and oh my gosh this is a memory that I’ll take with me to the grave. Getting into a helicopter and flying high up into the mountains and truly seeing how it’s done with snow as far as the eye can see and the husky’s just rearing to go was just unreal. I’ve seen all sorts of wildlife; of course the favorite being the gentle giants (whales) as they breach while we were sailing out at sea and just really marveling and admiring the Alaskan lifestyle. Guys I could talk about Alaska for days and all the things I’ve experienced and seen, (I won’t bore you with the details), just know that the beauty is unreal and a picture will never be able to capture the way Alaska makes you FEEL. You HAVE to make it part of your bucket list to see the beauty and magic for yourself.

Number 3: Cozumel, yip the party capital of Mexico. I always thought this was my favorite because it was always my automatic answer when anyone asked, but I think this is because I just have so many fantastic memories of this island paradise. I would definitely say it’s one of the favorite stops for many crew members because we can easily walk to many amazing resorts and just unwind. (This isn’t always the case with many ports we visit, sometimes there are shuttles, buses and taxis involved which can complicate things) If you looking to spy on the cruise staff (not recommended but I know you all want to) and get a glimpse into our worlds outside of work, look at going to No Name Bar, this was always by far one of my favorite places to hang out. Most of the crew would escape here and it always just felt good knowing that you were among your peers (many of us would meet up from different ships just to hang out for a couple of hours and catch up) and didn’t have to really worry about our behavior in front of guests. (In my opinion this is where the saying was born “what happens in Cozumel stays in Cozumel”) 😂🤪 The sunsets were always picture perfect, the weather was always great and let’s not forget to mention the margaritas (this is where I learnt how to drink Tequila, not the cheap stuff, but the proper burns your throat, makes your eyes tear up and gets you growing some chest hairs, kind of tequila) and the copious amounts of orders of guacamole and chips always a favorite which never got old. But why take my word for it… buy the ticket, book that trip and experience the tequila train for yourself, you won’t regret it (Maybe just the hangover.)

Number 4: This is a tough one but I think it has to be Bermuda, one happy little island. So I think why this one is on the list is because we always had a number of overnights which as crew always felt like we’d won the lottery. (Not many cruises have overnight ports so one of the things that you crave and miss the most is just feeling normal and being able to walk around at night or even just watching the sunset from land rather than admiring it from out at sea.) What I also REALLY loved about Bermuda is that it’s such a tiny little island you could literally see it all in a few days if you really tried. They have amazing transportation systems (both sea and land) you could easily get a day pass so you can hop on and off the local buses and ferries and get to see so much in such a short period of time. (My recommendation though would be to hire a zippy little electric car and do it yourself, the buses and ferries do tend to take a while to swing round and you tend to spend a lot of time waiting which isn’t always fun.) There is SO much to see from grotto’s to crystal caves to beautiful beaches like Horseshoe Bay otherwise known as the ‘pink beach’ because the sand has a pinkish color to St. George’s and Hamilton which are great to just walk around and explore the island life. It’s all magical and a must see in my opinion.

Number 5: So last on my list is England and Scotland. Now I didn’t travel here as a crew member working on a cruise ship however you most certainly can. I actually lived in Northampton and London for 2 years and had a fantastic time living local. I loved every single thing about London, the cosmopolitan lifestyle, the hustle and bustle, the nightlife, the awesome Indian Restaurants which seemed to be on every other corner as well as the proper English pubs, and of course the fact that you could easily walk everywhere and never get tired of marveling at all there was to see. (And if walking isn’t your thing there is always the Tube, an easy way to get from point A. to point B.) I always said that when I moved back to South Africa I left a little bit of my heart behind.

I also had the opportunity to visit Scotland during my stay in England on two occasions when family came to visit and the second visit was just as magical as the first. Getting to see Edinburgh Castle, getting in touch with my wild side and doing an evening Ghost Tour as we walked down haunted alleyways and exploring graveyards was an interesting highlight, as well as giving it my best go to try and spot the Loch Ness Monster in the Scottish Highlands. (No I wasn’t successful.) The list of amazing adventures I had in those two years is absolutely endless. Another bucket list destination for sure!

So there you have it my top 5 favorite destinations I’ve visited so far and by no means was it easy to narrow it down so I came to my top picks by using the question “if I could go back to visit would I?” The answer is YES to all 5 of these destinations. I have been back to all of these places other than New Zealand multiple times and would go back again in a heart beat.❤ Thanks for reading my blog and for those that want to read more about my travel adventures be sure to like, comment, share and let me know your thoughts.

• 

• 

Stay blessed all you beautiful people!

Jessie

xoxo