Cruisin' (Vacation Part II)

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!