In case you missed it, Emma posted tons of pictures on
facebook of our cruise, so I’m only including a select few in this post…
Early afternoon on Monday, we were actually on a cruise
ship, called “Monarch of the Seas”. Poor boat is retiring in a few months
because it’s so old—21 to be exact. Apparently, 21 in “ship years” is
retirement worthy. Anyway, the boat was pretty big, or at least it seemed that
way to me; it looked much different on the inside than I expected, too. Most of
the afternoon was spent wandering around the ship. We eventually found our
rooms. They were…tiny. But we had a cute window that made the room not feel claustrophobic
J
Being completely unplugged from technology was awesome,
seriously. (I will admit, however, that is was odd not talking to Micah.) But
not having our phones or internet was very…refreshing. There were no text
messages that just had to get responded to, no facebook updating, no tweeting,
no checking for “important” emails, no “google-ing” something just to prove a
point...The good thing about this lack of technology? We actually had to talk to each other! We couldn’t all sit in the same room playing
on our phones. (Don’t get me wrong, I’m VERY thankful for technology,
especially since I’m 6+ hours away from my family and 3+ hours away from
Micah…but it was a good reminder to “unplug” every once in a while!)
Anyway, back to being on a cruise ship. You can feel the
boat move, a lot more than I thought. I’m not the most coordinated person ever
(it’s possible I’m the LEAST coordinated person ever), but it was seriously
hard to walk without falling over at times. Granted, I did have heels on part of
that time, but nonetheless, I could definitely tell we were moving. After
dinner on Monday night, we went to a comedy show. The comedian was funny, but
Mark (the “cruise director”) was MUCH funnier! Here's our first night onboard...
Tuesday morning came quickly—we ordered room service for
breakfast. Because ordering room service was an option! J We spent the day at Coco Cay,
which is Royal Caribbean’s private island. It was beautiful—so, so, so
beautiful! It’s 80 degrees, sunny, blue skies, fluffy white sand, and you just
happen to be with 4 of your favorite people on planet Earth—that is perfection!
We booked a Cabana for the day, so we had a couch, and some comfy chairs,
too…we felt spoiled! Mid-morning, while lying on the couch, Dad says “I could
do this for a living!” Lunch brought more delicious food—the grilled chicken
was my favorite! And the fruit—oh, the pineapple was to die for!
Emma and I tried to use these “floating mats”, which was
umm…epic failure. Supposedly, you could lay on these mats (in the water)
without getting totally drenched. Well, these mats sunk—quickly. Maybe we
exceeded the weight limit?? It was a cool concept if it would have worked J Thomas did some
snorkeling, which he seemed to enjoy.
Mom, Thomas, Emma, and I all went parasailing. (Dad had gone
parasailing with Mom on their previous cruise—he really doesn’t like heights
and had no desire to go again. It’s a good thing he had not planned on it,
though—his wrist would have stopped him!) Anyway, there were 4 groups of 2 that
headed out in this boat. Thomas and Mom were the third group to go; Emma and I
went last. Once Emma and I got all the way up (at which point, we were taller
than our cruise ship), the guys on the boat started flicking the rope, which
TOTALLY freaked Emma out. (Obviously, we were harnessed in and had handlebars
to hold onto). While we were taking in the sights from far above the water…
Me: “What happens if you let go of the handles?”
Emma: You DIE!
I did let go, and I’m still here J
When we started to descend, Emma says “Smile for the pictures—pretend
that you like it!”
Once back on the boat, she says “I am NEVER doing that again.
I thought I was going to die!” I thought it was pretty fun, though I would not
go again with Emma J
That night, back on the ship, it was formal night. Dinner
was one of my favorite things about the whole cruise, and not just because of
the food! We got all dressed up, took some pictures, then enjoyed some
impeccable food! {On this particular night, I ate this delectable beef and
ordered 2 desserts. I only ate 1 of the desserts, promise!} After dinner, we
put on more comfortable clothing, then headed to a musical show.
^^When we returned to our room after dinner, there was always a cute little animal on the bed!
Wednesday morning, we slept in, had breakfast at the “Wind
Jammer”, then got off the boat…in Nassau, Bahamas! It was an absolutely
beautiful day—sunny & 70something. Our first stop of the day was at the
straw market for {cheap} souvenirs. There were oodles of skinny aisles full of
overcrowded booths and people saying “Pretty lady, pretty lady” because they
wanted you to buy their crap. And they say “pretty lady” to everyone,
regardless of how young, old, or non-thin you may be J It was a little stressful at first. Emma
really did not enjoy the straw market! I was able to get a few cute, random
items…For lunch, we ate at Hard Rock Café. While we did spend approximately 6
hours on land, it still felt like we were moving. I concluded at the end of
this day that I wanted to move to Nassau, partially because of the weather, but
honestly because I could wear hippie dresses or long skirts & tank tops
every day. And not wear makeup. Or do my hair. Seriously, I could get use to
that!
That afternoon, we found ourselves back on the ship,
poolside. It was the “Casual Caribbean dinner” onboard. I have no idea what we
ate that night
J
After dinner, there was a juggling comedian. Picture this: Some guy standing on
a big exercise ball while juggling 4 bowling pins…Seriously, I won’t even try
to explain all the cool things we saw that night, but I was impressed! At 11:30
pm {which is *several* hours past my usual bedtime}, there was a poolside
party, complete with a buffet and dancing under the stars. Did I mention that the food
presentation was incredible?
Sorry if the pig grosses you out, but I'm tellin' you--best pork I've ever had!
Thursday was our last full day of crusin’—we did lots of
laying around, soaking up the sunshine! Somehow, I soaked up a sunburn…We
bought our souvenir t-shirts, then had Mexican food for lunch—poolside, of
course! Mom, Emma, and I walked on the track. Thomas, Emma, and I did some rock
climbing that afternoon. And I actually made it to the top
J The only thing I will
tell you about dinner is that we had the most wonderful chocolate cake I’ve
ever eaten in my entire life. I’m not a huge fan of cake, but this was
phenomenal.
My parents...aren't they cute?
Friday morning came way, way, way too fast, and it was time
to disembark. This vacation is definitely one of the best vacations we’ve ever
gone on. Have I mentioned that I loved every single second I was able to have
with my entire family?! This vacation was our last big vacation as a family of
5, and I’ll always treasure this time together...*tear* :)
^^ Last breakfast at the Windjammer...
…You may be wondering why it took me so long to blog about
the rest of our trip. I concluded that I would not post this until I had
completely unpacked everything from this trip; truthfully, my suitcase wasn’t empty
until about 2 weeks ago!
Ok, I went a little picture happy...but this is the last one!
