A Quick Anniversary Cruise

We celebrated the big 4 years this month. Originally we hadn't planned on doing a cruise but due to some changes, we did. It helped that Carnival had a bad month in the press. We found a good deal leaving out of Jacksonville that went to a couple of places we had never been. Plus we got 2 port holes in our room since that was the only option left that didn't offer bunk bed style rooms.

We left on Saturday after dropping Coco off at my parents' house. We made it to the port early but had to wait to board the ship as it hadn't passed inspection yet. No big deal. We ate lunch and then went to check out our room. I had thought the port holes would be flat against the outer wall,  but it turned out to be a little alcove area. Great fort potential if you were a kid, great reading potential if you're an adult. The rest of our day included passing the safety check and then went to the top deck to watch the ship pass under the Jacksonville bridge. It was a little sprinkly at the time, but not a bad rain. Then it was time to see where we were sitting for dinner. It turns out we were at a table of 10, but they had a table for 2 open at 8:15 pm. We thought it was a late time, but decided to go with it. It's Spanish style to have a late dinner, right?  

Sunday was our first day at sea. Big event for Sunday morning was a Swedish massage. My mother in law had given me cruise credit for my birthday so I went for a massage. It was 50% pleasant, 50% pain. Apparently she said I had a lot of knots in my shoulder blade area. What I do know: when you hurt me, I tense up, when I tense up, it may feel like knots. I'm also pretty ticklish and it took all I had not to move when she massaged my legs. So I'm not sure if massages are for me or this style at least. My shoulders were sore afterwards. We went to afternoon tea later, which was held in a piano bar with piano tables. Later that evening it was time to get dressed up for the formal evening with lobster on the menu. My favorite item on the menu is the strawberry soup. Sunday was also Mother's Day and so the waiters gave all adult females a pink carnation and a chocolate dessert. We also went to a show that evening called Divas which was pretty interesting to watch. They only had 7 performers but they switched out of their clothes so fast it was impressive.

We had another day at sea but I wanted to be on land to stop the rocking. It seemed like most of the people were drunk due to the rocking, especially since our room was in the front of the ship.  We played mini golf on the high-seas, but my winning luck was not with me this time. It was a pretty relaxing day with trivia attempts and watching the newlywed show.

Monday we finally arrived on land in Grand Turk, but only for a little while. We went on an excursion that involved snorkeling for 2 hours. We went snorkeling near a cliff that dropped to 7,000 feet and is the 3rd deepest in some region :) We got back on the boat and then traveled to another, more shallow spot where we got to go snorkeling with  a SHARK! They bottle feed this shark everyday, making it like a domesticated pet in a free area to swim. It was pretty neat experience. We also learned that John Glenn landed in his space pod near Grand Turk after circling the world. It seemed like we hadn't left my home with references to Mickey Mouse and Kennedy space Center.

Tuesday brought us to their private island where they pay 2 people to live on 55 acres of gorgeous white sand, crystal clear blue waters and not much else besides the horses they have to take care of.  We got sun burned this day because while we had 50 SPF on, the key is in the re-application of it. It was a fun day in the sun complete with walks, swimming and adventure.

Our third day in a row of land brought us to Nassau. We weren't sure if we were going to get off the boat since it was only shopping. We saw Atlantis from afar and walked around some shops for a couple of hours. They offered to braid my hair and had some quality Coach purses for sale.  We declined. I was more looking for cheap fashion jewelry and other randomness. We also decided to start the tradition of buying a postcard from our trips and write our favorite memories on it. Better late than never with the start of traditions, I guess.  Nassau also taught us the smallness of our ship. We had thought that our ship was small previously based on past cruises, but we definitely could tell after 3 other Carnival ships arrived. Our pool deck was on level with other balconies with 3 other level of balconies prior to that ship's pool deck. We were the baby ship.

The next 2 days were days at sea. Complete with time in the sun, trivia games, afternoon naps since cruising is such hard work. We enjoyed tea time, random ice cream cones, large scale chess, attempts at mini golf victory (still lost) and relaxing. We had another formal night, went to a comedy show and a Motown show that finished with dancing in the atrium. We participated in various trivia games and Sean was a contestant on a game show. It was a good time of chilling.

Sadly Saturday came again and we had to leave the ship. We were excited to see our Coco but sad to be done with vacation. For me it wasn't that bad as I only had to work Monday and half day Tuesday prior to leaving to see my brother graduate. May has been a busy month and we still have his wedding this Friday.