Our Cruise

Last night I didn’t sleep very well.

My bed wasn’t turned down with a square chocolate mint on my pillow. There wasn’t a funny animal made of white towels on my bed that also happened to be wearing my new white sunglasses. The light switch was across the room on my wall rather than conveniently located on the headboard. When I turned off the lights my room wasn’t pitch black. Instead the light from the street lamp shone through my closed blinds. Sadly, in the distance I could hear the train and sirens. I couldn’t feel the soothing rocking of the deep blue sea. My dreams weren’t filled with the next day’s adventure of crystal clear blue water and white sandy beaches, but rather the nightmare of the lame excuse of jet lag I had made up for calling in sick to work today. There was no tap on my door of a perfectly ordered room service breakfast plate to wake me up. I didn’t wake up to find my swim suit and cover up laid out on the vanity where I had left it the night before but instead two extra large suit cases filled with six loads of dirty, sandy laundry. There was no Lido Deck with a gorgeous view of a new country we had arrived at while we slept soundly.

Nope. Today it was back to reality. At least I woke up to the two sweetest faces I had been missing for the past nine days…..

Our trip to the Western Caribbean was spectacular. A cruise for 7 days with a stop in four different countries. A trip with just adults. A chance to vacation with my parents and one of my sisters and her husband.

Two Christmases ago my parents invited each of us girls and our husbands on a trip of our choice. That Christmas day we took a couples “geography” test which would determine the order in which the couples could choose the week they wished to go. The couple would pick their week and my parents would build the dream itinerary. Anyone who knows me (and my college major) would know that Austin and I should have had our choice of any 108 weeks we wanted. But on that Christmas day I sat 38 weeks pregnant with Wyatt and knew a week of “adults only” was out of the question for the next year. So Austin and I quietly “failed” our test so that all the other sisters could have a fair chance at winning first choice. :)

Side note: For fear of making myself sound incredibly stupid, let me explain. I graduated BYU with a geography degree. Travel and Tourism to be exact. One would think I would ace a geography test related to landmarks, locations, hemispheres and continents, but let me repeat. I graduated in Travel and Tourism. I studied cultures, travel patterns, religions. This does not mean I know the coordinates of Botswana, Africa. When I say, “quietly failed", I really mean failed miserably. My sisters make fun of me. Please, don’t think less of me.

Well, it worked out that three of my sisters ended up picking last spring as their time of year, and my parents figured that one combined trip could accommodate them all. So they got to planning and the eight of them enjoyed an Alaskan cruise.

I was so envious at the time.

Until late last year when our itinerary popped up in my Inbox.

A Western Caribbean cruise! Perfect!! Jennifer, Dwain, and my parents, for 7 days in the Western Caribbean. How lucky are we?? The boys were at a perfect age to leave them for the first time. Thanks to having Austin’s parents close by, we knew they were in good hands.

For 7 days we cruised. We saw breathtaking scenery, experienced once in a lifetime opportunities, ate and ate and ate, played games, snorkeled, read books, and enjoyed each other’s company. Even though a family trip with everyone is always so memorable, it was so much fun to take this trip with my parents and one of my sisters and her husband. We’ve never had a chance like this.

And everything about it was marvelous.

I'll have to post the trip in increments, but this is the first two days.

The group of us before setting sail. We flew to Tampa Saturday and boarded the ship early Sunday afternoon.
Notice me in the picture. I'm happy and excited. This was pre panic mode. About 25 minutes later I start hyperventilating about my “missing” suitcase as we sail away from Tampa. Hours later, between game show and comedian entertainment I'm on the verge of tears when it’s still missing and everyone else's suitcase has been delivered to their cabin. After filling out a report, the steward issuing me a bag of deodorant, sample toothpaste, a free Carnival T-shirt and their apologies does my sneaky sister and husband relay to me through hysterical laughter that my "missing" bag has been parked in their cabin for more than 6 hours. Ha! Good one guys. I'm so still laughing about it.

The next day was spent at sea. Mid-day we were informed that a Coast Guard chopper would be picking up a crew member who had slipped and fell and needed immediate medical attention. It was pretty fascinating watching how close the helicopter idled next to the ship. We got quite a Guardian-esque show minus Ashton Kutcher and Kevin Costner. Our waiter later told us that the crew member was fine and would be re-joining them as soon as we returned to Tampa.

The ship was incredible. The rooms were so comfortable, the food above and beyond, and the shows and entertainment were unbelievable. Cruising definitely agrees with us. We knew we were in for an amazing week.