Cruise 2013!

We are lucky enough to go on cruises every couple years.. this cruise was my 6th cruise and Steven's 5th. We are also EXTREMELY lucky to have an amazing family who is willing to watch our kids while we take the vacation. So we went on a cruise without the kiddos and it was a nice break, but we sure missed them like crazy!! We went with my side of the family.. My mom, dad, sister Megan, her friend Lisa, and then some family friends that always go with us.. Lisa and Barry. It was such a blast and it was one of the top cruises we have taken. The whole leaving the cold behind was great because it was in the high 80's the whole time we were there!

We left really early Friday morning (12:55am) which made for a LONG day and long flight. Lucky for me I can sleep easily on the planes.. so after all the plane rides and the 3 1/2 hr layover, I managed to get about 6 hrs of sleep.. Steven on the other hand.. slept at the airport for about 1 1/2 hrs. We spent Friday in Miami, we went downtown Miami which was fun. Saturday we got on the ship and the fun began. Sunday we got to Half Moon Cay which is a private island owned by Carnival.. it was really fun, they had a bunch of chairs for everyone, music playing, and a BBQ. We swam in the clear clear water but I was ready to be done because the waves were making me sick.

Monday was a Sea day (where you don't stop anywhere, you just spend the whole day on the boat), we did a lot of reading, laying out, eating, and sleeping. I managed to read two books on this vacation and wished I had brought the third book!
Tuesday we went to St. Thomas. Most of us had been here before but it is one of our favorite places to go. Since we had been there before Steven, my dad, and I decided we would do a fun excursion. We did the Screaming Eagle, which I would have footage of, but we got soo drenched in water that it ruined our video camera. Ha ha   After that crazy boat ride full of spins and waves, we walked to the city and bought some cute souvenirs for the kiddos, and cant forget the ornament!

Wednesday was San Juan, Puerto Rico. We had no plans for this place so we decided to just walk around. It ended up being a lot of fun because we saw some old buildings and cool streets. We got some cheapo shirts and an ornament and marked it as a successful day.

Thursday was our last and final stop and we went to Grand Turk. We were supposed to do the Flow Rider while we were there but we got screwed and they canceled it. So while I was mad about the whole thing we all decided to take a taxi to the town. Which is funny because.. this whole place is 7 miles long, thats it! And when we arrived it looked like a junk town.. which it kind of was. But my family didnt get the view and when we walked off the boat they thought it was the prettiest place ever. They quickly learned that it wasnt. It was still fun. We walked around their shopping area, if you can call that, then Steven wanted some "crashing waves" so we played in the water. Then we made our way back to the boat.

Our final day on the boat was a Sea day. We all just slept and read and did whatever. The whole week was exhausting because I was sick, the sun drains your energy, and that rocking just makes you want to curl up and take a nap!
 We also had dress-up nights which I always think are fun! We enjoyed the yummy food on the boat like Guys burgers which were just delicious! And the tacos, Mongolian, pizza and omelets were really good as well. And you cant forget the popcorn, warm melting cake, and the ice cream.

 Over all it was a fantastic trip! We had a blast and we had the chance to meet some really cool people like our waiter. Jim Brickman was actually on our boat and we were able to sit and listen to him play one night as well as a great comedian "Wild Bill" that has a charity for kids with cancer which hit home with us.