Whenever the subject of a cruise came along amongst family and friends, my husband and I were not quite sure we were interested in participating.
When we heard about the BMWK Marriage cruise, we decided that we would make this our very first cruise experience. It definitely elevated our marriage to the next level. So I wanted to share these 7 ways to elevate your marriage…cruise edition.
1. Couples
There is a lot of beauty and pride to see 100 black couples walking around together. Happy couples. Couples who think highly enough of their marriage to make the investment in it. Couples who are willing to unplug from the stresses of everyday life and get away and focus on each other.
2. Focus
In order to take your marriage from good to great, you have to be willing to focus on it.
And not just glance over it, but to really shine the light and go over it with a fine tooth comb.
No marriage is perfect, but if you take the time to focus on it, you will see just how imperfectly perfect it is for you. The BMWK cruise will allow you to focus on areas of your marriage you didn’t even realize you needed to focus on. It will help you see what’s truly important and of value.
3. Communication skills
If you have good communication in your marriage, that’s great. But what if you could enhance that communication in a way that made it sexy? We all know it’s not what you say, but how you say it. If there is a wall built up, you may not even know it.
Click here to learn more about the 2016 BMWK Marriage Cruise!
The way in which we communicate to our spouse is so critical. You can’t afford NOT to get better at it. When it’s a difficult conversation, do you know how to initiate it in a way that lets your spouse know it’s in love?
4. Dating
Everyone’s number one reason for lack of dating in your marriage is time. Well, what if you could find a way for time to work in your favor?
We found that on a cruise (which forced us to put away the technology and get back to basics) we had plenty of time to date like we were in high school again.
5. Travel/new experience
“The world is a book. And those who do not travel, read only one page” ~St. Augustine. This quote is deep. Neither my husband or I were exposed to traveling when we were growing up. So one of our goals we set for ourselves and our family was to travel and see as much of the world as we possibly can (with and without he kiddos).
So we loved the fact that we got to experience a first visit in three different countries in such a short amount of time. With a cruise, you can travel to various countries/islands in such a short amount of time, while still experiencing the culture while you’re there.
In Honduras, we were able to take a private tour and see a native dance from the country. Even though it was short, we felt that we got the cliff notes and didn’t miss out on much. We were also able to shop from local artisans.
6. Fun
I love to dance and had a fab time breaking a sweat on many dance floors. But even if you don’t love to dance, you’ll love watching other people dance (or try to anyway). When is the last time you just let loose, forgot about all the worries and stresses, and instead focused on having fun with your spouse?
Well a cruise will allow you to do just that. We didn’t know what to expect with it being our first cruise, and we definitely didn’t expect to have as much fun as we did, on something that forced us to shine the light on our marriage. If fun is missing from your marriage, a cruise will allow you to find it again.
7. Budget friendly
One of the reasons why cruises are so popular is the fact that they are budget friendly. We didn’t feel guilty for going on the cruise because we didn’t strain our budget to do it.
Once you know the activities you want to do and how many drinks you think you might like to partake in (alcohol is not included but regular drinks are), you can set aside that money which will be taken at the end of your cruise, based on your consumption.
Click here to learn more about the 2016 BMWK Marriage Cruise!
Thankfully, we were warned about this ahead of time, so we were able to plan accordingly. I was worried about getting bored or having to eat the same thing over and over again for a week. But neither of those happened.
Finances are a huge part of marriage issues, and the fact that a cruise can help minimize the stress factor when planning for one financially, is a huge help!
As first-time cruisers, this experience really did change our marriage for the better. We had a great marriage when we got there, but we left with an amazing marriage. We continue to refer back to all the things we learned from the various experts on the cruise even to this day.
We learned that there is strength in numbers, yes, even as it relates to your marriage. By surrounding ourselves with dozens of other couples who were all looking to achieve the same goal, we believe it gave us a renewed sense of pride that we wouldn’t get anywhere else.
BMWK: Are you cruise lovers? What is the best marriage experience you’ve encountered that has elevated your union to the next level?