Maybe you’ve been on a cruise…Maybe you’ve taken a staycation at home and worked on your fiber project uninterrupted…But have you ever had the best of both worlds on a fiber cruise?!? I had never cruised at all, but when Helen from She Sells Yarn (an incredible yarn shop in Ormond Beach, FL) announced that she would be hosting a fiber cruise, I was quick to secure my spot! Going on a cruise had been on my bucket list for a long time. I decided to bring my husband, Sam, along to experience my first cruise with him.
The Itinerary:
Day 1: Boarding. Meet and Greet in the Llama Lounge
Day 2: Perfect Day at Coco Cay. Fiber Friends Bingo in the Llama Lounge
Day 3: Day at Sea aka workshop day & left right center games
Day 4: Nassau Bahamas port day. Sheepwalk & Farewell party
Day 5: Arrival back at Port Canaveral.
Day 1: Boarding & Meet Up
We arrived at Port Canaveral and parked in the spacious garage. Since I had never cruised up to this point I didn’t know what to expect. There are a lot of horror stories online about arriving and not being able to find parking. We arrived around 11am and thankfully there was still plenty of space in the parking garage. We entered the building and got through security very quickly. It was SO much better than airport security! We didn’t have to wait very long before they called us up to board the ship. The rooms didn’t become available until 1pm so we explored the new surroundings and found the lunch buffet.
After lunch we checked into our little room, which we had upgraded to a balcony. In case you are wondering…Yes the upgrade was worth it! I spent a lot of time crocheting on that balcony during the trip. It was so peaceful with the sound of the waves as the ship sailed. Definitely recommend the balcony. Then we were off! I was concerned about how rocky the ship would be, but as we departed I didn’t even realize we were moving! It was so smooth! Most of the trip was incredibly smooth.
Helen had arranged for us all to have dinner in the main dining room at 5pm every day so we gathered for the first time to say hello and catch up. I recognized many faces from past events, but we had some people new to the group as well. The room was very good. Each night had a different theme for the food. There were 3-6 options for each course. In the main dining room you get to choose an appetizer, a main entree, and dessert. Or you could choose to have a little bit of each one if you want to! It was very hard to pick with so many choices! Afterwards we headed to the “Llama Lounge” aka a conference room on a lower deck after dinner.
Once at the Llama Lounge Helen went over the schedule and we picked up our swag bags which included: 2 skeins of “Sandy Sock”, a yarn that Helen dyes exclusive for her shop, a few pattern, a pencil pouch, tape measure, all sorts of goodies, and a custom made flamingo project bag sewed by Liz, Helen’s mother. Once we had our swag a lot of us chose to cast on the cruise project, which was a shawl designed by Helen with the Sandy Sock yarn she gifted us. We worked on our project until 9pm when we had to leave the room to make way for a show that was happening.
Sam and I headed up to the top deck to grab some Mai Tais and watch Ghostbusters, the movie they were showing on big projector screen that night. Even though this trip happened in December, the weather was incredible! It wasn’t too cold and there was a nice breeze that we enjoyed while watching the movie.
Day 2: Day at Coco Cay
Overnight the ship had arrived at Royal Caribbean’s private island Coco Cay. Sam and I slept in just a little and had breakfast at the buffet before heading to the beach. I chose not to pay for any extra excursions on this cruise simply because I knew I wanted to get a lot of crocheting done, and I wanted to experience just the cruise part. I wanted to get a feel for a cruise before I started cramming all sorts of things into the schedule. Maybe next cruise I will be feeling more adventurous. However the beach was amazing and I wouldn’t have wanted to miss it. We got pina coladas, sat on the beach, swam in the crystal clear water, and laid in the sun for a bit before grabbing some lunch. What a beautiful place! Even though there were 2 cruise ships full of people on the island this day, there was plenty of room, it didn’t feel overcrowded, just totally awesome.
That evening at dinner the menu theme was Caribbean and I had this delicious jerk chicken with plantains and veggies, so yummy. After dinner in the Llama Lounge we played a fun version of Bingo. This was unlike regular Bingo; the squares said things like “I can crochet cables”, “can knit and crochet”, “I’ve made a hat”, “I’ve been to She Sells Yarn in person”, etc. so we had to find different people in the room to sign off on one square only. After a couple of minutes Helen called time and we counted up how many squares had initials. The person with the most squares signed off on won the prize. Helen was giving out lots of prizes throughout the trip. Everyone left with a little something.
We again had to leave the room by 9, but I still had plenty of energy for more crocheting. I sat on the balcony with my neck light and had the time of my life! Sam was at the ice skating show so I had the spot to myself, sipped on some tea, and crocheted aweigh (see what I did there?!). Stitching in peace on the balcony was probably one of the biggest highlights of this trip!
Day 3: Workshops
Day 3 we had no ports and were traveling to Nassau so it was the perfect day for our workshops! I was teaching a mosaic crochet class where we were making a coaster. Helen was teaching several workshops including the provisional cast on, kitchener stitch, 2 color brioche, and getting gauge. A loyal customer of Helen’s shop, Karen, was teaching how to turn a heel on a knitted sock. There was a lot going on that day! My mosaic class went really well and we had lots of coasters by the time we were done. I taught a session in the morning and in the afternoon, even though I managed not to get any good pictures of them!
Dinner was delicious again! I’m pretty sure this was the Italian themed night and I had amazing mushroom risotto. After dinner we went to the Llama Lounge to play Left Right Center, except we gamble with stitch markers instead of money! I immediately got out in like the first round of the game, but made a surprising comeback in the last round and won somehow! We also had a white elephant style gift exchange where Helen’s vendors so kindly supplied the yarn, she wrapped them up, and then we picked in order. Many yarns were swapped between people in the typical stealing style of a white elephant gift exchange. It was so fun!
Day 4: Nassau, Sheepwalk, & Farewell Party
We woke up in Nassau, the Bahamas on the 4th day. Sam and I had breakfast and then went to walk around the markets right at the port. I was a bit underwhelmed with the markets. I was a lot of souvenir type stuff and I’m not one to collect anything other than yarn. Personally I don’t care for clutter so I typically never buy souvenirs. We went back to the ship after a short walk around. If I am ever on another cruise that stops here I will try an excursion. Of the people in our group who chose an excursion such as a walking tour, a museum, or a pirate ship ride around the bay, they had a great time! Nassau seems like the type of place that has lots to do if you choose an excursion.
Later that day I met with some of the ladies on the pool deck. We worked on our projects together and had “Bahama Mamas”.
After dinner we all met up in the Llama Lounge, but Helen requested that we bring our spouses along for a fun game! 12 of us had brought our spouses and we all sat across from each other at a long table. We played a version of the newlywed game. Helen asked the fiber artists a question and both the fiber person and the spouse had to answer the question. If both partners got the same answer that couple got a point. The couple with the most points won a gift card to Tango’s, an amazing Argentinian restaurant next door to She Sells Yarn. They have the absolute best empanadas I’ve ever had! I highly recommend it if you are in the Ormond Beach area to see Helen. The funniest moment of the game was when Helen asked “Does the wife tell the husband about every yarn purchase she makes?”. Every husband except one said yes, they think that their wife always tells them about the yarn/when they spend money on yarn. Every wife said no! It was hilarious. I do feel bad though that Sam thought I was more honest with him. Oops!
After the winning couple was declared, we had the iconic “Sheepwalk”. If you have ever heard of a catwalk, like for a fashion show, this is similar, except all of the models are wearing things they made themselves! I wore the Luna Dress designed by Dominique Calvillo of Namaste and Crochet. This is one of my favorite makes! Most of the other ladies also participated. Below are a few photos of the fun.
Day 5: Arriving Back at Port Canaveral
We were awoken at 6:45am with a very loud announcement from the crew that we had arrived back at Port Canaveral. Sam and I gathered our things; we had completed most of the packing the previous night. We headed to the buffet for breakfast for one more time. We wanted one more serving of their incredible hash browns! We didn’t technically have to be off the ship until 9:30am so we took our time with breakfast. Finally we got off the boat and headed back to the car.
A few things to do differently next time…
I had an amazing time overall, but there are a couple of things that I would personally tweak for next time that has nothing to do with the stuff Helen planned. Helen did such a wonderful job planning a fiber cruise, especially knowing that she had never been on a cruise! The things I will change next cruise:
I will skip lunch every day, Breakfast at the buffet was so big, and dinner was so big too, I felt so full the whole time. I should have skipped lunch every day. I had finally figured that out by the third day and started skipping the middle meal.
I will purchase the deluxe drink packages. Regular fountain beverages are included in the cost of the cruise, so we figured we would drink the regular stuff and order the occasional cocktail. We didn’t purchase the deluxe package because we would have had to buy it for both Sam and I and it would have cost us $520 together, which seemed like a lot prior to our trip. We ended up spending about $350 on drinks while we were there, and we were paranoid about how much we were spending. By the way the $350 was only for 1 or 2 drinks for each of us per day, so its not like it was a ridiculous amount of alcohol that we were consuming. The reason I would choose to splurge next time is so that we can have more than 1-2 drinks per day if we want and not worry about it since its paid for. We aren’t super heavy drinkers, but we do like to enjoy alcohol on vacations.
I would choose an excursion in Nassau, or not get off the boat at all. As I mentioned before, walking around the markets of Nassau was not very exciting and I won’t do it again. There were so many excursions offered. I wish we had done clear bottom kayaking, swimming with dolphins, or even a walking tour. For the fiber cruise I would also be happy to stay on the boat and crochet rather than get off and walk the market.
Things I would keep the same…
I will be upgrading to a balcony room every cruise. Totally worth it!
I will keep my schedule open on the next fiber cruise. I spent lots of time crocheting, which is exactly how a fiber cruise should be. I’m glad I didn’t try to cram in shows and excursions. Since this was my first cruise I liked being able to experience it for what it was without keeping to a tight schedule. For a regular cruise next time I will try some more things out, but the fiber cruise is perfect without all the extra stuff.
I enjoyed having a mutual dinner time for all the ladies in our group. Many of us were going different directions and doing different things throughout the days, but meeting for dinner gave us that time together.
In Conclusion…
This was such a great vacation, and really the first real one I’ve taken as an adult. I would do it again in a heartbeat! I heard that She Sells Yarn will be doing another one in January 2026! If you hope to join Helen on that cruise I would get on her Newsletter ASAP! If it is anything like this cruise, it will fill up fast! Will you be going on a fiber cruise in the future? What are you most looking forward to? Tell me in the comments below!