For our 10 year anniversary, we went on a cruise! Well, we decided to plan a cruise for after our (November) anniversary and it ended up being a perfect time to go - we escaped the cold weather for a week!
My last plane ride was 10 years ago....for our honeymoon :)
We got on the ship and this was the view from our porch area. It overlooked the "Central Park" on the ship. I told Kevin it was the perfect room!
To give you an idea of how big the ship is, here is Kevin....he's wearing yellow....and looks quite small next to this HUGE boat!!
We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening checking out the rest of the boat and eating dinner.
Look at that water! We spent some time on the beach and checking out the town. We also stopped in the straw market and got some cute things for the kiddos :)
That night was a formal dinner night....and here's our formal picture ;)
and what's dinner, without a show? There was an ice rink on the ship. Crazy, right? But the show was fun - first time either of us had seen a skating show in person. Usually, it's just on tv!
After the ice skating we went to the other side of the boat and saw another show - Ocean Aria. It was a crazy diving and acrobatics show -- see the platforms at the top of the photo? One guy jumped from there and I couldn't watch!!! It was a great show :)
After breakfast we both did the zip line. It was pretty fun!
and then mini-golf!
And, what better thing to do other than try the Flow Rider boogie board? Kevin took several turns while I got to hang out taking pictures, watching people and the water.
Later that night we saw the musical Mama Mia and went to a late dinner. The show was great and included lots of great singing!
This day was our first excursion: snorkeling! We had an underwater camera and I'm excited to get the pictures back. Kevin jumped right in ... I needed a minute...but once I got in and had my snorkel and mask in the right place, my wonderful husband reminded me not to breathe through my nose....and it was great! :) We saw three sea turtles, tons of fish, and different kinds of coral. I think the brain coral was my favorite.
After snorkeling, we got back on the catamaran and went to a small beach area for an hour before heading back to the boat. The water was so beautiful!
After dinner we watched the ship leave the port. The island was so pretty!
After dinner we went ice skating! I told Kevin I don't think there will be another day in my life that I can say I snorkeled and skated on the same day :)
Thursday we were in St. Martin/St. Maarten. It is spelled Martin on the Dutch side of the island and Maarten on the French side.
We had our second excursion this day: we spent the morning and some of the afternoon at Orient Bay beach. Our bus ride there was about 20 minutes and was a guided tour of parts of the island. We enjoyed the ride and seeing more of the island than we would have otherwise.
For the rest of the afternoon we hung out at the pool on the boat, then went to dinner. Kevin took some pictures of the sunset and moon-rise.
In the evening we saw two shows - comedians (which were SO funny!!!) and a comedian-juggler (is that a thing?). Both were shows that we didn't have reservations to, but we managed to get in and had a great night!
It was my turn to try the Flow Rider. I managed okay, but after 3 turns I called it quits.
After lunch we spent the afternoon in the pool and chairs of the Solarium area. Anytime we were hanging out on the boat, this is where we were! We had met a couple on Wednesday and spent some more time with them on Friday. This area was my favorite I think - you could see straight out to the water, it was somewhat shaded, and it was next to a great lunch spot ;)
We had our second formal dinner night on Friday and then saw a show called "Blue Planet" which included the cast of Mama Mia and the acrobats from the water show. Interesting....but a bit much on one stage!
Saturday we woke up to cooler temperatures and decided to spend the morning in the hot tub (with some other people who had the same good idea) and Kevin did the Flow Rider one last time!
We packed up our bags as much as we could in the afternoon and spent some time playing cards before dinner. We loved the waiter we had for most of the week. His name was Kenan and he was from Turkey! After dinner we saw our friends and together went to a Jazz Club (which my dad would have loved). Kevin and I left from there a little earlier to go to another Comedy Show. So so funny :) It was a great end to a great week!
Sunday was our travel day. We left the boat at 9:30 am and got home at 8:15pm. Surprisingly, all that time in the airport went kind of quickly! As I'm typing time this, I still feel the rocking of the boat....and have a bit of a tan! What a great get-away!
It was wonderful, but wouldn't have been possible without Kevin's parents & grand parents and my sister & brother-in-law, who came to take care of our children while we were gone. THANK YOU to all of you. Our girls keep saying "When you were gone...." and then go on to say something fun they did :) Peter has decided I'm really his "mama" (he was calling Laura 'mama' while she was here) so we are settling back in to real life!
My last plane ride was 10 years ago....for our honeymoon :)
We got on the ship and this was the view from our porch area. It overlooked the "Central Park" on the ship. I told Kevin it was the perfect room!
To give you an idea of how big the ship is, here is Kevin....he's wearing yellow....and looks quite small next to this HUGE boat!!
Monday was spent in the Bahamas!
Look at that water! We spent some time on the beach and checking out the town. We also stopped in the straw market and got some cute things for the kiddos :)
That night was a formal dinner night....and here's our formal picture ;)
and what's dinner, without a show? There was an ice rink on the ship. Crazy, right? But the show was fun - first time either of us had seen a skating show in person. Usually, it's just on tv!
After the ice skating we went to the other side of the boat and saw another show - Ocean Aria. It was a crazy diving and acrobatics show -- see the platforms at the top of the photo? One guy jumped from there and I couldn't watch!!! It was a great show :)
On Tuesday, we were "at sea"
and then mini-golf!
And, what better thing to do other than try the Flow Rider boogie board? Kevin took several turns while I got to hang out taking pictures, watching people and the water.
Later that night we saw the musical Mama Mia and went to a late dinner. The show was great and included lots of great singing!
On Wednesday we were in St. Thomas!
This day was our first excursion: snorkeling! We had an underwater camera and I'm excited to get the pictures back. Kevin jumped right in ... I needed a minute...but once I got in and had my snorkel and mask in the right place, my wonderful husband reminded me not to breathe through my nose....and it was great! :) We saw three sea turtles, tons of fish, and different kinds of coral. I think the brain coral was my favorite.
After snorkeling, we got back on the catamaran and went to a small beach area for an hour before heading back to the boat. The water was so beautiful!
After dinner we watched the ship leave the port. The island was so pretty!
After dinner we went ice skating! I told Kevin I don't think there will be another day in my life that I can say I snorkeled and skated on the same day :)
Thursday we were in St. Martin/St. Maarten. It is spelled Martin on the Dutch side of the island and Maarten on the French side.
We had our second excursion this day: we spent the morning and some of the afternoon at Orient Bay beach. Our bus ride there was about 20 minutes and was a guided tour of parts of the island. We enjoyed the ride and seeing more of the island than we would have otherwise.
For the rest of the afternoon we hung out at the pool on the boat, then went to dinner. Kevin took some pictures of the sunset and moon-rise.
Friday and Saturday were both days "at sea"
It was my turn to try the Flow Rider. I managed okay, but after 3 turns I called it quits.
After lunch we spent the afternoon in the pool and chairs of the Solarium area. Anytime we were hanging out on the boat, this is where we were! We had met a couple on Wednesday and spent some more time with them on Friday. This area was my favorite I think - you could see straight out to the water, it was somewhat shaded, and it was next to a great lunch spot ;)
We had our second formal dinner night on Friday and then saw a show called "Blue Planet" which included the cast of Mama Mia and the acrobats from the water show. Interesting....but a bit much on one stage!
Saturday we woke up to cooler temperatures and decided to spend the morning in the hot tub (with some other people who had the same good idea) and Kevin did the Flow Rider one last time!
We packed up our bags as much as we could in the afternoon and spent some time playing cards before dinner. We loved the waiter we had for most of the week. His name was Kenan and he was from Turkey! After dinner we saw our friends and together went to a Jazz Club (which my dad would have loved). Kevin and I left from there a little earlier to go to another Comedy Show. So so funny :) It was a great end to a great week!
Sunday was our travel day. We left the boat at 9:30 am and got home at 8:15pm. Surprisingly, all that time in the airport went kind of quickly! As I'm typing time this, I still feel the rocking of the boat....and have a bit of a tan! What a great get-away!
It was wonderful, but wouldn't have been possible without Kevin's parents & grand parents and my sister & brother-in-law, who came to take care of our children while we were gone. THANK YOU to all of you. Our girls keep saying "When you were gone...." and then go on to say something fun they did :) Peter has decided I'm really his "mama" (he was calling Laura 'mama' while she was here) so we are settling back in to real life!
Comments