the cruise!!!

well, i'm back, finally! i'm tanner, relaxed, and only a little worse for wear. getting a job offer and giving my two week notice minutes before stepping on board the ship was both a blessing and curse. i slept better at the beginning of the vacation, but was very nervous to leave. i didn't know what would be awaiting me at work when i got back, and i am nervous to start the next endeavor, but the vacation definitely did me well.

so, we boarded the boat around 3 p.m. on wednesday afternoon. we were starving, but brought all our bags straight to our room and unpacked first. we checked out our balcony, the complimentary bathrobes, soaps, razors, emergen-c powder (ever try the stuff? its great for a hangover. carnival cruises are so smart!) and hair gel in the bathroom and lounged for a bit. the balcony was great, with two chairs and a little bench perfect for feet resting or a tray of food. our room was considered "obstructed view" which meant there was a lifeboat right in front of us and some ropes and stuff hanging in the way of a perfect view of sea and sky. here's a picture of our balcony from the room:



when we finally went in search of food, it was getting late and they closed down the buffet on us and made us get to the safety drill. for the safety drill, you have to go to your room and get your life vests, then head to your muster station, or where you would go if there was an emergency on the boat. we got to see what life boat we would be on if the ship sank. thankfully, the boat we would be on was the one right below our balcony, so if need be, we could just board that way. just kidding!!

after the drill we napped and ordered room service. all food was included so we got sandwiches, coffee and cake all for the price of a $3 tip for the delivery guy! we ate our late lunch on the balcony as we pulled away from new york and out into the atlantic. we passed by the statue of liberty, but we had just seen it on the boat for tatiana's wedding the weekend before so we weren't impressed. bring on the blue caribbean waters!

our first dinner was interesting. anyone who has ever cruised will tell you the first night's dinner is hit or miss. the food was so-so, but we met a nice couple, devon and james, who were also from new york, both worked at the same office, and he had just gotten a new job! they became fast friends and we hung out with them a little through out the duration of the cruise (and of course ate dinner with them every night). we were also at a table with another young couple, cat and dan, who were on their honeymoon. she was 4 months pregnant and complained of seasickness. they left dinner before dessert and never ate with us again.

the first and second full days were spent by the pool. we just lazed around, looked at the blue water and enjoyed the weather, which got warmer and warmer! here's a picture of matt enjoying the sun on our second day at sea:



the second night was formal night at dinner, so we dressed up all pretty. the third night we had dinner in the "supper club" an elite dining room that you paid a little extra for, and they had such amazing food, including pre-appetizers called compliments. they were given to us based on what we ordered. i got a tiny cup of cold tomato soup that i had to eat with a baby spoon. afterwards, we were stuffed!

on day three at sea, it was cloudy, muggy and hot. we caught a glimpse of puerto rico (land!) around noon. we docked around 2 and decided to explore the island a little before we had to meet for our kayaking trip at 4:30. we had a very sweaty tour of the path surrounding the fort san felipo del morro. apparently puerto rico has a very bad stray cat and dog problem, and we saw about 30 cats along our walk. then it started to rain. we got soaked on our way back to the port to meet our kayak group.



we left on a bus from the port and traveled forever to this nature preserve. when we got there is was already dark. we climbed into kayaks in a lagoon, and then paddled into the dark. we were heading towards this other lagoon that is one of the few places in the world that have so many bioluminescent organisms that they are very bright year round. we had to kayak through a dark, thin canal lined with mangroves. no pictures of this because the camera would have gotten wet!

the bioluminescence was very cool. very bright. if you ever get a chance to see something like that, do it! kayaking was fun, too. i love doing physical things, but i'm really not much of an outdoorsy girl. i complained about the dark and the bugs the whole time!

we left puerto rico around midnight, and docked in st. thomas the next morning. interesting fact about cruises: our itinerary made it seem like it takes 7 hours to get from puerto rico to st. thomas, but it really only takes 45 minutes! cruise ships circle around in international waters so they can open the casino and the onboard duty free shops!

sunday morning in st. thomas. matt brought me breakfast from the buffet and we ate on the balcony

we had to meet for a snorkel excursion at 12:30, so we got off the ship as early as we could, and took a cab to coki beach. matt rented a jet ski and went off for a half hour while i lay on the beach.

after the beach we rushed back to the boat to grab some lunch and meet the snorkel expedition. we set out on a speedboat from the dock and out to buck island, which is between st. thomas and st. croix. we snorkeled in two seperate spots. we saw fish that looked like dory from finding nemo, turtles, brain and stag coral (some really big ones!) and a nurse shark!



when we woke up the next day we were docked in tortola. we were docked next to another ship. we left the ship and took a cab to the beach.



cabs in the caribbean are just vans where they pack as many people in and charge you per person to go somewhere. fun fun. we heard lots of annoying women gabbing about their lives, their trips, and how they were once held hostage by a goat. no joke.

we were lazy at the beach for three hours, then headed back to the ship for lunch. we took showers and posed for photos on the upper deck of the ship as we pulled out of the port.

the last two and half days were spent at sea. we ate a lot, but the midnight buffet left much to be desired. we spent too much money on bingo, but it was too fun to stop. the last two nights we played blackjack together and had a lot of fun. we even won a little money.

some of the best pictures are not featured here or on my shutterfly album. they were taken by professional photogs on the ship and we had to buy them. the best is the one from the second formal night.

and don't forget the towel friends that we had on our bed every night!! the only one i didn't snap a photo of was the elephant.