This post contains commissinable links.
Happy weekend! Today I am finally sharing a recap of my recent trip to Tampa and Cozumel! I tried to take outfit photos to share but I missed a few, so check out this post to see everything I packed with me! It felt like the perfect variety of pieces, I wore many things more than once and there were only a couple of things that I didn't wear - and I'm a notorious overpacker!
We flew out of Richmond on Spirit airlines because it was the only direct flight to Tampa - I had never flown Spirit and heard bad things about it so I was nervous, but we actually had lovely flights and all of their staff was above and beyond friendly and helpful.
We got into Tampa late and checked into our hotel. Nowhere that served food was open nearby, so we got some overpriced lobby snacks - popcorn for dinner!
We didn't have to get to the cruise port until around 1:00 the next day, so we spent the morning hanging out and Kenny discovered the rooftop pool at our hotel - it was so nice, we could've stayed there all day!
 |
| Bracelet (also here) |
My nail color was Red Mars from DND - it was out of my comfort zone but fun for vacation. 😂 I expected it to be more of a neon red, but it was very much hot pink in person.
 |
| I am OBSESSED with this hat! (Also here, here) |
One last stop before the cruise to get some wine - you're allowed to carry on one bottle of wine per person, and I could not pass that opportunity up!
First drinks of the cruise! I got a passionfruit spritz which sounds amazing but it wasn't that great. 😂 We posted out by the pool while we waited to leave the port.
 |
| Hat (also here, here) | Sunglasses | Necklaces (turquoise, aquamarine) | Striped tee | Similar sweater (another option) | Similar pants (more here) | Belt | Sneakers (also here) |
We got some pics with the Tampa skyline as the ship sailed away - I get weirdly sad leaving the port! One thing that was a MAJOR crowd pleaser was as we were making our way out to sea was that we went under this huge bridge - I'm not sure what it was called but the it was *JUST* high enough for the ship to pass underneath and it was so crazy, everyone was out on the deck watching it and we collectively gasped when we made it. 😂 It was during sunset and it was so beautiful.
I was truly in my element. 😂 I read Rogue on the cruise and really liked it!
If you've never been on a cruise before, the casinos are crazy. 😂 I guess they're not unlike any other casino, but I rarely visit casinos so they're always a novelty to me. You really get the feeling that a major reason that many people go on cruises is to gamble!
 |
| Hat (also here, here) | Shirt (women's version) | Swimsuit | Similar shorts |
For our first full day on the cruise we were sailing, so we made it a pool day. These shirts are a must-have for me - they provide sun protection equivalent with SPF 40! This one is a men's small, but I also have the women's one.
Also something kind of crazy happened our first night - we were awoken around 5:30am by the boat LURCHING and a bunch of stuff falling over! The captain made an announcement a few hours later that the winds had been blowing at 90 knots and then completely changed direction in an instant, causing the boat to rock. He said it was good that it happened early in the morning when most people were still asleep because no one was injured from falling or getting hit by something! Breakfast began at 6:00am each morning but they had to delay it that day because things had gotten knocked over in the kitchens. Kenny heard some crew members saying that only happens once every few years!
I ordered sea breezes by the pool for the rest of the cruise - they're my favorite summer drink! I posted my favorite recipe here.
 |
| Tevas (Men's version) |
Sunsets at sea are so cool, you get an 360 view!
Kenny and I were vegetarian for over five years, but started eating some seafood again last summer, and we enjoyed having more of a variety of food choices on the cruise!
On our second full day on the cruise, we ported in Cozumel, Mexico. I did not know that Cozumel was an island before the cruise. 😂
Since the water conditions were so dicey because of the wind during our cruise, all of the excursions on the mainland were cancelled. Normally, you can take a ferry about an hour from Cozumel to Cancun/Tulum, but the water was just too rough. Kenny was really disappointed because he was so excited for the cenote tour we were supposed to do, I felt so bad! He ended up booking a Jeep tour that was so much fun, and our tour guide Jorge ended up being a valuable resource for the rest of our trip... more on that later!
We met Jorge at a 7/11 where he picked is up - it was just us and him so we had a very personalized experience! He told us a lot about Cozumel, he's from Texas originally but has lived in Cozumel for 13 years and seemed to know everyone there.
The first place he took us was this beach club on the far side of the island opposite of where the cruise port is. He taught us that whenever one side of the island is windy, the opposite side is almost always calm, so it was much nicer over there! He said he rarely sees the water as calm as it was that day, often times the waves are large enough to surf apparently!
 |
| Shirt (men's version) | Similar shorts | Swimsuit (one of my favorites!) | Sunglasses | Belt bag |
As you can see, the water was so beautiful and blue and there were these cool rock formations with fossilized coral!
This was around 10:00am and we pretty much had the whole beach to ourselves, but we saw another couple from our cruise and they kindly snapped a few photos for us!
After the first beach, we hopped back into the Jeep and headed to another beach area just down the road - Kenny and I preferred the beach here slightly more. This was the restaurant there, but I cannot remember what it was called!
There was SO much seaglass - my absolute dream. I kept the blue piece - the other two weren't quite ready yet so I tossed them back in!
After the second beach, we headed into the jungle to visit a cenote. The lighting was weird so we didn't get great photos, but this is me with Jorge!
There were a bunch of these cute coatis in the jungle! I didn't get great photos of them but Kenny got some really cute videos. They're related to raccoons and they couldn't have cared less about having us around. 😂 They were just going about their business!
This was the cenote from above - people jump into it which was not for me, but Kenny did it!
He did it! The water looked kind of gross but Jorge assured us it was clean. 😂
Jorge told us that this stalactite was 18,000 years old! All of those dark things on the ceiling were fruit bats, they were so cool!
Our last stop on our tour was to a beach club for lunch - you can't tell very well from this photo but the surf was absolutely crazy! This was back toward the west side of the island and all of the beaches were closed.
Kenny and I got fish quesadillas and they were yummy!
After Jorge dropped us off we walked around a little bit. The area around the cruise port is a major tourist trap - there are a bunch of restaurants like Margaritaville and Hooter's and shop owners calling to you trying to reel you in. 😂
One last snap before heading back to the ship! You can kind of tell how choppy the water was in this photo - the waves were crashing up onto the land like crazy! There were restaurants right at the edge of this boardwalk that were getting absolutely hammered by waves - some of them had to close their patios because they were losing tables and chairs!
After an eventful day, it was nice to take a shower and relax before dinner. Our room had a balcony and it was SO nice, I could do this every night. 😍
When everyone had gotten back to the ship by "curfew," the captain announced that we wouldn't be continuing to our next destination (which was supposed to be Costa Maya) because the conditions were too bad to make it there safely, so we would be staying in Cozumel for one more day. That was kind of crazy, we never realized that was a possibility!
There were a couple more cruise ships at the port that didi the same thing. We stayed all day the next day, but the others ended up leaving early the next morning to head to their next destinations. Costa Maya was going to be our only other stop before heading back to Florida, but my guess is that the other ships had additional stops before returning back so they had to try to stay on schedule.
 |
| Similar dresses from the same brand: one | two | Sandals |
I wasn't great at taking cruise outfit photos, but I did manage this quick snap before dinner one night!
Since we had to stay at port, the casino on the ship was closed - it was very eerie to see it empty because it's usually packed to the brim! I'm sure there were a lot of disappointed gamblers who missed out on a couple of days of playing!
So since the next day we were unexpectedly in Cozumel again and didn't have plans, we had to figure out how to spend the day. As I mentioned, the area near the cruise port was very touristy and we had kind of seen all there was to see there the previous day, so we thought our best bet would be to go back to the beaches on the east side.
We tried to get a cab but they quoted us almost $150 to get over there and they said that no one would be around to bring us back (and there was no cell service over there!) so Kenny ended up calling Jorge back and asking him if he knew the best way to get over there. Luckily for us the tour he was supposed to have had been cancelled, so he told us to give him 30 minutes and he would take us (we paid him of course!) I was so grateful he was willing to take us because otherwise we wouldn't have had much to do, but we ended up having the nicest beach day!
 |
| Hat (also here, here) | Sunglasses | Similar dress |
We had the loveliest day exploring the beach! We found a bunch of sea glass, and spotted a couple of iguanas!
We had the perfect beach day, the weather was amazing and it actually
stormed all day on the other side of the island! The clouds were
starting to roll in just as we were leaving to head back, and amazingly
it had cleared up and gotten nice again as we arrived back at the cruise
port. 😂
THIS is cruise life right here. 😂 Back in your room after a day in Cozumel, eating a pre-dinner pizza snack and BYO wine in a juice glass on the balcony in your fuzzy socks. Apparently this is one of the last photos I took on the cruise other than some silly ones that don't need sharing, but it's kind of the perfect representation of how you spend a lot of your time on the boat. 😂
The next day was an at-sea day as we traveled back to Tampa, so we spent most of our time relaxing by the pool, eating, and in the "schooner bar" where they had a bunch of events like game shows and karaoke - we spent several evenings there! We also went to a comedy show in the theater on the last night which was super fun.
Early on our last morning, we got breakfast and then disembarked and headed to our hotel in Tampa to drop off our bags. Kenny booked the Palihouse which is one of the most adorable hotels we've ever stayed in, and it felt extra special because it has only been open since last fall! It was cool knowing that we're some of the first guests to have stayed there. You have to look at the photos online! It's in the Hyde Park Village neighborhood and there are tons of restaurants and shops right across the street, and it's also within walking distance of the river walk.
The Palihouse had tons of Hermes scarves framed as decoration, this one was my favorite. 😍
 |
| Hat (also here, here) | Similar shirt | Sweater (similar) | Similar pants | Belt | Sneakers (also here) | Bag | Necklaces (turquoise, aquamarine) |
When we checked in, I had to get a drink at their cute little lobby bar! I got a limone spritz and it was the perfect way to kick off the second half of our vacation.
After dropping our bags off, we immediately walked to find somewhere for Kenny to get a soda. We found a 7/11 which we visited daily. 😂 As you can see, we met a cat friend along the way! We saw him a couple of times and we loved him.
We had some time to kill before our room was ready, so we went to International Mall to shop around a little and decide how we wanted to spend the evening - I booked us a sunset sail, which is one of our favorite things to do when we travel!
In the evening, we headed to the river walk so we could do some exploring before our sunset cruise. We loved the Tampa river walk, it made me want to live there so bad! I was so jealous seeing all of the locals going on walks and runs in early February in that beautiful area - I hope they know how lucky they are!
Tampa is my absolute dream - I love a coastal town. We had really great weather while we were there which I was so grateful for, even the locals remarked on it being particularly lovely! You cannot beat the low 70's in early February when you're used to Virginia winters.
We had the best time on our sunset sail - we brought our own food and drinks which was so nice! We booked it through Tampa Bay Fun Boat and it was very affordable, I think we only paid $25 per person. You may be able to get an even better deal though, because the captain, Darryl, was calling out to people walking by offering them half price for the remaining seats on the boat. 😂
Captain Darryl runs the sailings and he was awesome and a great tour guide - he told us all kinds of facts about Tampa history and a lot of the landmarks and celebrity houses. We saw the house that Tom Brady lived in when he played for the Buccaneers, which is the one above! Darryl told us that it's built on not one but THREE lots, and the master suite alone is well over 2,000 square feet - he might've even said 2,800! The craziest part is that it was recently sold and the person who bought it plans on leveling it and building a new house on the property.... can you even imagine??
After our sail we were ready for dinner - we spotted a place called Jackson's across the river and decided to give it a try, and we loved it! Kenny and I agreed it was our favorite dinner of our trip. We sat out on the terrace and it was such a good vibe. We got calamari which was amazing, then I got a salon filet and Kenny got a tempura lobster po boy, both of which were delicious. The funniest part was when we were getting ready to leave, I still had a lot of wine left and we were trying to figure out how to sneak it out. Kenny asked our waiter for a to-go cup for his soda, and then waiter said yes then looked at me and said "Do you want one too for your... water?" 😂 Wink, wink.
After dinner, we decided to walk back to our hotel which was about a mile but a really nice walk - we ended up opting to walk to and from the river walk a few different times during our trip rather than taking an Uber.
In the morning, we walked around Hyde Park to find some coffee. We had learned about the Harry B. Plant museum and wanted to check it out, so we walked back over to the river walk because it's right by there.
 |
| Set top, bottoms | Similar set top, bottoms | Similar set top, bottoms | Similar set top, bottoms | Sneakers (also here) |
The museum was one of the COOLEST places we've ever been - we will never forget it! It was a hotel that was opened in the 1890's by the man who brought the railroad to Tampa. He and his wife wanted to open a top-of-the-line resort and they curated every single amazing piece of furniture and decor that adorned the 511 room hotel. It cost over $3,000,000 to build and furnish even back then, and it was an absolute sight to behold!
It served as the headquarters for the United State Army’s invasion of Cuba during the Spanish-American War, Teddy Roosevelt and his wife stayed there during that time. Babe Ruth also practiced there and allegedly hit the longest home run of his career on the hotel grounds - they have the signed ball that he hit on display!
I could go on and on about all of the interesting things that we learned, I encourage you to read more about it if you're interested and absolutely visit if you're in the area!
After the museum we headed back to the river walk - the building behind me is called the "beer can building," I can't imagine why. 😂
We started getting hungry, so we stopped at Big Ray's for a major snack - shrimp "corn dogs" (which were cornmeal battered shrimp skewers), parmesan fries, and the most amazing onion rings!
After getting something to eat, we caught the free trolley over to Ybor City to explore a little. It's home to the Columbia restaurant which we didn't get to eat at but came highly recommended! It was so cool and interesting there - there are chickens roaming the streets and you can tell this is their turf!
We caught the trolley back to the river walk and then walked back to Hyde Park to freshen up for dinner. There are so many good looking restaurants in Hyde Park that we didn't know where to try! We took the easy rout and went to Timpano which was right across from our hotel. We got the calamari which was good but not as good as Jackson's, and I got the linguine with clams and lemon which was just okay. I also got the Amalfi coastline cocktail which was wonderful, it had gin, aperol, lemon, and passionfruit.
This was our last night before heading home, so I had to commemorate adorable room with a photo - and the fact that it came with ROBES! I am a major robe wearer, so it always excites me when hotels have robes.
The next morning we took our last walk to our "local" 7/11 (which was in the SoHo neighborhood) for Kenny to get a soda. 😂 We very much enjoyed our walks, I saw these double hibiscus which I have never seen before!
I had to capture this moment while we were waiting for our flight - I had told Kenny I was craving pickles and he went to a sandwich shop and got me some. 😭 He is the best of the best!
I could live there! Until next time, Tampa! We will most certainly be back. 😎 As much as I enjoyed our time on the cruise and in Cozumel, I have to say I had even more fun during our time in Florida! This was only the second time I had been there as an adult (the other time was to Palm Beach for my bachelorette party), and I absolutely love it there.
I'm always sad to leave a trip, but luckily Kenny already schemed up another trip for us later this spring which I cannot wait for! As always, I'll share all of the details here on the blog . 😎
xoxx, Laura
No comments