This past December, Josh and I were able to take our first big trip together: a cruise to the Western Caribbean! Josh had been on several cruises before but it was my first. I've wanted to go on a cruise for a long time, and so we decided to celebrate Josh's 30th birthday by going on one. One of Josh's best friends also turned 30 last year (2012) and he and his wife were able to come with us as well. I was worried about leaving my kids for that long, but I had two great babysitters that I trusted to leave my kids with. I was mostly worried about dropping them off, but we had been telling them this was going to happen for a while, and when we got to the babysitter's house, she told everyone to get their coats on and that they were all going to see Santa at the mall and then they were going to see a movie the next day. That distracted them sufficiently that they weren't upset at all when we left. That was such a huge relief to me! If they had been crying when we left, I know I would've had a much harder time leaving them.
We had to leave the day before our cruise sailed because we were sailing out of Florida. We were able to get on a flight with only one stop (but no connection) so our flight to Florida was pretty short. We actually had to switch planes when we stopped (which we weren't expecting to do), but that gave us a little bit of time to get some food and we were still able to be the first ones back on the plane. Our friends were flying from Oregon (he is going to school there) so they weren't able to be on the same flight as us, but we were able to meet up with them at the airport in Tampa before going to our hotel. That wasn't the plan, because their flight got in about an hour before ours, but the shuttle driver that they called took forever to get there and they were still waiting when we landed. We checked in to the hotel and then walked across the street to Denny's to get some dinner. It was probably 10 or 11 PM local time, but it was earlier to us and we hadn't eaten much that day. We of course didn't go to bed early that night because we hadn't seen each other in a few months, but we were able to sleep in the next day, which was nice.
Josh & I on the airplane on the way to Florida
The shuttle driver from the airport told us to give him a call in the morning and he could take us to the cruise port. He also told us that he charged $10 a person (EACH WAY) and it was the best deal we would find. We knew that couldn't be true so we asked at the front desk and then called some cab companies. We found one that only charged $25 total, no matter how many people were in the car. Much better deal.
L-R: Armyn, Josh, me, Tyler in the taxi van driving to the cruise port
The earliest we could check in at the cruise ship was around 1 PM and I think we got there by 2 PM. There was a pretty long line to check in, but fortunately it moved pretty quickly and we were able to be in the shade for most of the time.
Josh and I waiting in line
Tyler and Armyn
Tyler getting random close-ups of everyone
After checking in, we had to wait a little while until we could go to our rooms. We sat up on one of the top decks and just relaxed while we wait to set sail.
Josh and I at the front of the ship. What a gorgeous view in the background - an industrial ship yard.
We didn't have to wait very long before our bags came to our room and we were able to get in there. I wanted to change and then we came back out to the deck to hang out. We were supposed to sail at 4 or 5 PM but were delayed. Earlier in the morning, there was a lot of fog in the harbor. Very fortunately for us, our ship was able to dock before it got too foggy, but some ships were not so lucky. There was at least one ship that had to wait outside the harbor all day before being able to come in and dock. All those people on that ship probably missed their flights, and the people waiting to start their cruise had to sit around and wait for the ship to come in. As a consequence, we had to wait for that ship to dock before we could leave (I'm not sure why) so we didn't leave for an hour or two after we were supposed to.
Josh and I sitting on the deck hanging out. I think Josh is making a face because we were having to wait to leave.
We wanted to wait and watch the ship pull out of the harbor, but we also had made dinner reservations at one of the specialty restaurants that night so we had to go eat before the ship actually pulled away. It seemed like there were more specialty restaurants on the ship than regular ones, which I didn't love. There were 6 or 7 specialty restaurants (that you had to pay extra for) but only 2 (free) dining rooms, one buffet, a little 24-hour bistro, an ice cream place (that was only open for a few hours during the day), and a burger joint by the pool. I guess you get what you pay for, though. We decided that we liked our cruise, but the next one we go on we will definitely be more picky about and go with a cruise line like Royal Caribbean or Carnival (we went on Norwegian for this cruise). Anyway, Josh & I had already made reservations for this Teppanyaki restaurant, but Tyler & Armyn decided to join us. I'm glad they did because it was really good food and a fun dinner.
Armyn & Tyler making paper swans while we were waiting for our food
Tyler was really proud of his swan
The instructions and the finished product. We brought two home for Steven & Sofia and they were not all that impressed
Our really cool chef
He made the fried rice into a heart and made it "beat"
Josh & I enjoying the show
Tyler couldn't handle the chopsticks so one of the waitresses brought him the ones they use for kids ;)
The waitresses liked taking lots of pictures for us
Tyler excited about his food
The funky dessert I got. It was a green tea cake. The ice cream was pretty good but I really should've gotten the fruit dessert instead...
Josh, me, Armyn, and Tyler after dinner
I broke my sunglasses the first day we were on board and so I went to the gift shop to buy a new pair. These were the ONLY ones that weren't designer and that didn't cost $100+. Seriously.
Josh & I joking around while waiting for the show to start
No comments:
Post a Comment