Sunday was our first full day aboard the cruise ship! It was neat waking up to the ocean outside our room window. The ship changed time zones, so we "lost" an hour. We met up with Ken and Linda Whitecotton (our cruise buddies for the entire trip) at breakfast. It was buffet style! The morning devotion was lead by Mark Milioni and Dave sang a solo. We spent the entire day on-board at sea; walking around the shop, enjoying the pool, and a wonderful lunch! Since the dinner was formal night, we dressed up before going to the concert later that afternoon. All the artists treated us to several songs... what a time we had! We then headed straight to the dining hall. It was an elegant evening. Of course, before going back to our room for the night, we swam! :P
Lydia got up early on Monday to workout at the gym. We met up for breakfast and then headed over for morning devotions with Linzy Slayden. I was the guest soloist that morning. We then went ashore to Key West, Florida. The special excursion was a tram ride around the island, with the guide explaining points of interest along the way. We visited several shops and went to the small aquarium. We were allowed to touch a shark and a few sting rays. Lydia had Key Lime Pie on a stick, and we visited the post office before getting back on board. The concert that evening featured the Bilyue Family. After a beautiful dinner at the dining hall, we headed over to the Karaoke to hear Caleb. Dave and I decided to join in on the fun as well… He sang "Ring Of Fire" and I did Elvis' "Hound Dog"! We had a blast.
Lydia again woke up early on Tuesday to visit the gym. I was a beautiful day and after breakfast and a wonderful devotion by Bruce Haynes, we watched as we neared Nassau, Bahamas. It was exciting to see as the ship neared harbor. We went ashore with Ken & Linda and rushed to a few shops to grab some jewelry that was specially offered for our cruise trip. Lydia and I then rushed back to port to catch up with our excursion group. We were lead to a boat that took us out 45 minutes to sea to a coral reef. Once there, we snorkeled for about an hour, getting close and personal with the tropical fish and sea-life. It was neat and definitely a fun experience! On our way back to the Nassau, we passed Paradise Island and viewed the beachfront homes of celebrities like Oprah, Tiger Woods, Chuck Norris, and Michael Jordan. A bit hungry, we stopped by a two-story McDonald's to grab a cheeseburger and connect to WiFi for a few minutes. Then… it was off to a beach. Sure enough, there was a small one close by. It was my first visit to a beach and we played in the sand and water. We watched the sunset on the horizon and then decided it was getting late enough. Since we didn't want to be in town as the bars began to come to life, we back on board for some supper and more swimming before bed.
We got up Wednesday morning, had breakfast in the dining hall for a change, and then dressed up for our visit to Cococay… a private island ran by Royal Caribbean for their guests. Once ashore, we visited the market on the beach. Once we found a nice spot on the beach, we filled our water rafts with air and drifted out to sea. The water was a bit cold, but the sun felt wonderful. Royal Caribbean served us a fantastic BBQ lunch while ashore. Lydia and I enjoyed a short nap afterwards, and then decided to once again float on the beach. We ended up napping on our rafts, once again drifting out to sea. The wind started picking up, and it took us about 30 minutes to wade back to the shore. We packed our things up and rode back to the boat in time to get ready and attend the late afternoon concert.
Thursday was a full day at sea. We had breakfast and enjoyed the devotion by Eddie Bumpers. We went swimming and roamed around the ship until lunch. The afternoon concert was great, featuring all the groups. The evening dinner was formal night, so we dressed up and then enjoyed roaming the ship taking pictures. We changed back in to relaxing clothes and played a round of miniature golf on the top deck in the high winds! The moon was gleaming off of the ocean waves.
Friday was our last full day on the ship. We had mixed emotions… not wanting our trip to end, but also wanting to see our kids. The time change took effect overnight, so we were able to sleep in for an extra hour. We met Ken and Linda for breakfast and then headed over for morning devotions by Eddie Bumpers. We did some shopping on board, looking at the deals they had. We picked up a few postcards and trinkets to remember our trip. After a wonderful lunch, we went swimming! I tried out the waterslide… It was designed for kids, and not an overweight adult, so I got stuck a few feet from the beginning. We packed up all of our belongings besides what we were to wear on Saturday for our return home. We watched "Iron Man 3" at the Cinema after dinner. We called the kids telling them we'd be heading home and they disappointed thinking that we'd mess up their fun plans for Saturday. After some assurance that we'd be getting in late, they were satisfied. I was able to convince Lydia to join me in attending the last Karaoke night on the ship. It was loud, but still fun. We then went for a cool swim before bed
We woke up early on Saturday morning and ate our last breakfast on-board as the ship docked in New Orleans. We were able to pick up cellphone services, so we were able to catch up on emails and news while we waited to get off. We met up with our luggage once off the cruise ship and took it to the bus. Once boarded and in our seats, we made our long continuous trip back home. We made several stops to stretch our legs and eat lunch. Lydia and I took a few naps and enjoyed watching a few movies with others on the bus. We made it into Springfield around 10:30pm that evening. The kids were asleep at Granny's... but we picked them up and took them home with us. We piled the luggage in the living room, cuddled for a bit with the kids, exchanged a few stories of what happened during the week, and then went to bed.
~Matt
No comments:
Post a Comment