This is a little slide show of our Caribbean Cruise! It is taking forever to download pictures, so there will be more to come!
We had an awesome time! We went with Brad's parents. It was so much fun. (Thanks to the time share presention we all sat through to get us there!) We flew to Miami and spent our first day there at an alligator farm. It was like a zoo full of alligators! Pretty crazy! We had a great time. Max and Sadie got to pet a baby alligator and we even had a snake put over our shoulders....a little creepy to say the least. We watched them feed the alligators and during one of the shows an alligator climbed the fence and was wondering around the farm. We went on an airboat ride, what a fun thing to do! It was so loud! Max had a blast and I don't think Sadie knew what was going on. We rode around in a swamp and even did a 360!
The next morning (Sunday)we were able to board the ship! We were on the Carnival Victory. I couldn't believe how huge the ship was. You hear that they are big, but it was unbelievable! We scored on our rooms, we both had windows in our rooms and they were connecting! We still don't know how this happened, we were originally 20 doors away from one another and interior rooms. It was great! When we went in our rooms we each had a fruit basket sent from Brad's Aunt Lynda and Uncle Ron. They have been on many cruises and were very excited for us to be there. What a nice suprise! What a way to start our vacation! It was neat when the ship left the port of Miami. There was live music and the view from the ship was amazing! As we were pulling out, people driving down the street in convertibles were waving goodbye. It was like a party on the ship and everyone was so happy and excited to start their cruise! We pretty much ate the entire trip! Ray would let us know that we needed to "hurry up and eat" because we would be eating in a few hours!
Monday we just checked out the ship... it is so big that you spend half the trip just figuring out how to get around. The water was pretty rocky so the pools were closed. There was a lot of wind too, but there was still plenty to do. Ray ended up getting sick, he spent a lot of time in his room those first few days. We felt bad. Brad, Karen and I went to Camp Carnival and made Build A Bears with the kids. Max made a bear with a baseball uniform on it (he named his bear "Utah" because that is where we live) and Sadie's was a bunny with a cheerleader outfit(no name yet). They loved it! It was a formal night, so we all dressed up and went to dinner. On the cruise, they have seating assignments and we ended up sitting with a cute couple from Miami, Ray and Yolanda. We were relieved to see that they had two little ones too. They had a five year old boy,Devin and 17 month old boy, Jordan. It was nice to talk with them each night. Max was shy at first, but by the end of the trip he and Devin were dinner buds. Sadie made a new friend...or should I say boyfriend. The last night Jordan kept kissing and hugging her...it was so cute! The food in the dining room was fantastic! We all ate more than our fair share! I had the same dessert every night. Chocolate Melting Cake...with double the ice cream! It was awesome. Brad ended up ordering two entrees almost every night (they were pretty small). He got Max hooked on shrimp cocktails. Max tried Brad's the first night and loved it so much that he ordered a shrimp cocktail every night! We went to a show after dinner and we all ordered pina colada's...this is the life!
Tuesday we just hung out and relaxed. Than evening we arrived in San Juan, Puerto Rico. We got off the ship and took a tour bus to show us around. We saw some cool stuff. It was a quick trip. Once we finished the tour it was time to get back on the ship...we had to eat you know! Once we got the kids to sleep(which was a challenge some nights!) Ray and Karen were sweet to listen for the kids while Brad and I went up to the deck to eat some more and people watch. Karen and Brad also went up one night and had fun watching people too. (Karen is good at this, it's hilarious to listen to what she says)
Wednesday we were in St. Thomas. We had planned to go on a Catamaran ride and stop at a beach for a few hours to play and snorkel. Our original excursion was cancelled due to the weather. It was really windy and the water was too rough to do it. We ended up going on a different catamaran that took us to Christmas Cove, where it was safer. It was crazy. Everyone was waiting in line for this excursion because all the rest were cancelled. There were so many waiting that we had to be bussed through the city to the nearest catamaran. The drivers of the bus don't slow down for anyone. It was a crazy ride! We arrived at our destination and went out on the water! It was so beautiful. The water is so blue out there! Once we got to the cove, they just let people jump off the boat to go snorkeling. Sadie was crying almost the whole time we were in the cove. She was so tired. Needless to say, I didn't go snorkeling. In fact none of us ended up getting in. It started to rain a little bit and it was a little freaky just jumping in the water from the boat....especially after they got done warning us about all the things "not to touch". We were just fine hanging out on the boat watching the others jump in. We just sat around and drank our rum punch! Sadie finally fell asleep and all was well! We had a nice ride back on the boat. Once we got back to the bus to take us back to the ship, we found out that we were running late and we might miss the ship. Our driver warned us to hold on, he was bound and determined to get us back in time! He wasn't kidding, I think this ride was more memorable than the catamaran ride! We were whipping down these windey, narrow roads. The funniest part was that they were playing loud music like "if you like pina colada's..." and Caribbean music like that and then out of no where they start playing "The Gambler" by Kenny Rogers. It was hilarious! Every time I hear that song I'll think of our crazy ride! We got to the ship and we were literally the last ones to board the ship. The crew was waving at us. We ran in and Ray was the last person on the ship and they closed the doors right behind us. Whew!
Thursday we were in St. Maarten. Brad and I had booked a America's Cup Regatta speed boat excursion. But again, due to the weather, it was canceled. The weather was never cold but just windy. It was once again just fine. We decided to just bag the excursions and just walk around and check it out. It was fun. We just went shopping and hung out. We had a great time!
The next two days, Friday and Saturday were just sea days. They were so much fun! It was so nice to have a few days at the end of the trip to relax some more...and eat some more! The weather was great! The water was smooth and the sun was out! We went swimming, ate, napped, ate, relaxed, ate.....it was awesome! Max loved Camp Carnival. He went there for about 2 hrs. a day. He called it preschool. They had great activities for kids! He made a Bob the Builder tool belt, he painted his own shirt with "Funship Freddie" on it (their mascot) and lots more! There was always stuff to do. Friday night was another formal night. We dressed up again and had a nice dinner and after we went to a show. Saturday night we went up on the deck and watched Ratatouii on the big screen with Devin and Jordan and ate popcorn. It was kind of sad knowing it was our last night. Everyone on the ship was so nice. Each night when we would come in our room, the room guys would turn down our covers and leave little chocolates on the bed. They would make little animals out of the towels. They also left the kids little smiley face cookies. It was so cute.
All in all it was an awesome trip...Lots of fun memories...I would recommend a cruise to anyone! (Especially if you like food as much as we do)
We had an awesome time! We went with Brad's parents. It was so much fun. (Thanks to the time share presention we all sat through to get us there!) We flew to Miami and spent our first day there at an alligator farm. It was like a zoo full of alligators! Pretty crazy! We had a great time. Max and Sadie got to pet a baby alligator and we even had a snake put over our shoulders....a little creepy to say the least. We watched them feed the alligators and during one of the shows an alligator climbed the fence and was wondering around the farm. We went on an airboat ride, what a fun thing to do! It was so loud! Max had a blast and I don't think Sadie knew what was going on. We rode around in a swamp and even did a 360!
The next morning (Sunday)we were able to board the ship! We were on the Carnival Victory. I couldn't believe how huge the ship was. You hear that they are big, but it was unbelievable! We scored on our rooms, we both had windows in our rooms and they were connecting! We still don't know how this happened, we were originally 20 doors away from one another and interior rooms. It was great! When we went in our rooms we each had a fruit basket sent from Brad's Aunt Lynda and Uncle Ron. They have been on many cruises and were very excited for us to be there. What a nice suprise! What a way to start our vacation! It was neat when the ship left the port of Miami. There was live music and the view from the ship was amazing! As we were pulling out, people driving down the street in convertibles were waving goodbye. It was like a party on the ship and everyone was so happy and excited to start their cruise! We pretty much ate the entire trip! Ray would let us know that we needed to "hurry up and eat" because we would be eating in a few hours!
Monday we just checked out the ship... it is so big that you spend half the trip just figuring out how to get around. The water was pretty rocky so the pools were closed. There was a lot of wind too, but there was still plenty to do. Ray ended up getting sick, he spent a lot of time in his room those first few days. We felt bad. Brad, Karen and I went to Camp Carnival and made Build A Bears with the kids. Max made a bear with a baseball uniform on it (he named his bear "Utah" because that is where we live) and Sadie's was a bunny with a cheerleader outfit(no name yet). They loved it! It was a formal night, so we all dressed up and went to dinner. On the cruise, they have seating assignments and we ended up sitting with a cute couple from Miami, Ray and Yolanda. We were relieved to see that they had two little ones too. They had a five year old boy,Devin and 17 month old boy, Jordan. It was nice to talk with them each night. Max was shy at first, but by the end of the trip he and Devin were dinner buds. Sadie made a new friend...or should I say boyfriend. The last night Jordan kept kissing and hugging her...it was so cute! The food in the dining room was fantastic! We all ate more than our fair share! I had the same dessert every night. Chocolate Melting Cake...with double the ice cream! It was awesome. Brad ended up ordering two entrees almost every night (they were pretty small). He got Max hooked on shrimp cocktails. Max tried Brad's the first night and loved it so much that he ordered a shrimp cocktail every night! We went to a show after dinner and we all ordered pina colada's...this is the life!
Tuesday we just hung out and relaxed. Than evening we arrived in San Juan, Puerto Rico. We got off the ship and took a tour bus to show us around. We saw some cool stuff. It was a quick trip. Once we finished the tour it was time to get back on the ship...we had to eat you know! Once we got the kids to sleep(which was a challenge some nights!) Ray and Karen were sweet to listen for the kids while Brad and I went up to the deck to eat some more and people watch. Karen and Brad also went up one night and had fun watching people too. (Karen is good at this, it's hilarious to listen to what she says)
Wednesday we were in St. Thomas. We had planned to go on a Catamaran ride and stop at a beach for a few hours to play and snorkel. Our original excursion was cancelled due to the weather. It was really windy and the water was too rough to do it. We ended up going on a different catamaran that took us to Christmas Cove, where it was safer. It was crazy. Everyone was waiting in line for this excursion because all the rest were cancelled. There were so many waiting that we had to be bussed through the city to the nearest catamaran. The drivers of the bus don't slow down for anyone. It was a crazy ride! We arrived at our destination and went out on the water! It was so beautiful. The water is so blue out there! Once we got to the cove, they just let people jump off the boat to go snorkeling. Sadie was crying almost the whole time we were in the cove. She was so tired. Needless to say, I didn't go snorkeling. In fact none of us ended up getting in. It started to rain a little bit and it was a little freaky just jumping in the water from the boat....especially after they got done warning us about all the things "not to touch". We were just fine hanging out on the boat watching the others jump in. We just sat around and drank our rum punch! Sadie finally fell asleep and all was well! We had a nice ride back on the boat. Once we got back to the bus to take us back to the ship, we found out that we were running late and we might miss the ship. Our driver warned us to hold on, he was bound and determined to get us back in time! He wasn't kidding, I think this ride was more memorable than the catamaran ride! We were whipping down these windey, narrow roads. The funniest part was that they were playing loud music like "if you like pina colada's..." and Caribbean music like that and then out of no where they start playing "The Gambler" by Kenny Rogers. It was hilarious! Every time I hear that song I'll think of our crazy ride! We got to the ship and we were literally the last ones to board the ship. The crew was waving at us. We ran in and Ray was the last person on the ship and they closed the doors right behind us. Whew!
Thursday we were in St. Maarten. Brad and I had booked a America's Cup Regatta speed boat excursion. But again, due to the weather, it was canceled. The weather was never cold but just windy. It was once again just fine. We decided to just bag the excursions and just walk around and check it out. It was fun. We just went shopping and hung out. We had a great time!
The next two days, Friday and Saturday were just sea days. They were so much fun! It was so nice to have a few days at the end of the trip to relax some more...and eat some more! The weather was great! The water was smooth and the sun was out! We went swimming, ate, napped, ate, relaxed, ate.....it was awesome! Max loved Camp Carnival. He went there for about 2 hrs. a day. He called it preschool. They had great activities for kids! He made a Bob the Builder tool belt, he painted his own shirt with "Funship Freddie" on it (their mascot) and lots more! There was always stuff to do. Friday night was another formal night. We dressed up again and had a nice dinner and after we went to a show. Saturday night we went up on the deck and watched Ratatouii on the big screen with Devin and Jordan and ate popcorn. It was kind of sad knowing it was our last night. Everyone on the ship was so nice. Each night when we would come in our room, the room guys would turn down our covers and leave little chocolates on the bed. They would make little animals out of the towels. They also left the kids little smiley face cookies. It was so cute.
All in all it was an awesome trip...Lots of fun memories...I would recommend a cruise to anyone! (Especially if you like food as much as we do)
