I went on an 8-night Caribbean cruise with my mom, grandma, and extended family. It was the ideal multigenerational trip.

Our veranda made the room feel pretty comfortable.

Keeping the curtains open made our 246-square-foot cabin and veranda feel surprisingly spacious. Even though it was too tight for us to get ready simultaneously, it was just big enough for my mom to practice daily yoga.

The room provided a peaceful place to read, work, and lounge when the rest of the ship felt crowded.

Sometimes, our neighbors' rambunctious conversations on their own veranda broke the peace, but sealing the sliding glass door readily blocked them out.

Instead of splurging on specialty dining, we stuck with the eateries included in our fare: the main dining room and the Oceanview Café.

On a free behind-the-scenes galley tour offered on a day at sea, we learned that the menu in the main dining room is decided by Celebrity, but the ship's head chef chooses what to serve in the café.

Although this seemed to give our head chef the flexibility to serve Caribbean food for lunch once, I was disappointed that there were not more opportunities to learn about and enjoy local dishes on board.

However, I appreciated the staff's concerted effort to include vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free items on every menu. According to my mom, the gluten-free pizza and desserts did not disappoint.

The range of offerings satisfied everyone's palate in our nine-member party, and the staff went above and beyond to take care of everyone.

Because we had onboard credit, my mom and I booked all our excursions through Celebrity and took advantage of pre-sailing discounts.

We opted to snorkel as much as possible. My grandma, who still scuba dives at 79, was initially not permitted to buy tickets due to her age. Eventually, though, she was allowed to join us on one snorkeling tour where we saw six sea turtles.

Unfortunately, we had bad luck with the weather throughout our excursions.

After huge ocean swells shortened our first two snorkeling tours, we canceled the third and instead booked an open-air bus tour to a beach with my grandma, her husband, my aunt, and my uncle.

Together, we saw the interior of Tortola before lounging on a white-sand beach in the British Virgin Islands.

I was also glad to have local guides on our final excursion to Santuario De Los Mamiferos, a manatee preserve in the Dominican Republic.

Our driver expertly navigated through dry river beds and swerved around cow herds while his companion pointed out different fruit orchards and talked about life in the countryside.

We never ran out of things to do on the ship.

Our family went to line dances by the pool and did watercolor and origami in the lounges. Throughout the week, some got massages in the spa while others spent time in the casino.

We ended each day with the evening show which often featured live music and aerial acrobatics.

The nine of us would leave together chatting about our favorite gravity-defying feats, then scatter to attend more nightly festivities or relax back in our rooms.

At the end of this cruise, my grandma jumped to reserve next year's vacation. I am so grateful to be offered such a wonderful gift.

It's great to spend time with family from far away while visiting beautiful places. The plethora of activities available on the cruise also let everyone customize their own vacation so that the whole family had a good time.

After this experience, I definitely think cruises are a great option for those planning multigenerational trips for a large group with varied interests.