5 Year Anniversary Cruise

We finally did it! We have been wanting to go on a cruise for our 5 year anniversary and we actually got it all planned and done!

 

We did a Carnival cruise to the Eastern Caribbean.

 

The day before we left I tried to get as many snuggles from Tanner and Chase as I could. It was not easy leaving them!

 

We flew to Florida with a layover in Dallas, TX. I had to get a picture of the cow manikins in the stores at the airport.

 

We spent the night in a hotel then the next morning we took Uber for the very first time to the port to board the ship. Just waiting in line we already made a couple friends from Colorado who were on their honeymoon.

 

Once on the ship we just walked around and explored the different decks to get a feel for the ship while we waited for our luggage to get to our room.

 

The next day was our first our first port at Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas. We walked around and shopped a little then went on our excursion that we planned. We chose to do a glass bottom boat at this port. It wasn't great at all. There wasn't very much to see in the bay we toured and there was a wall around the entire glass part that we had to lean over. It was a very weird angle from the seats we were sitting in. Over half of the people, including Kollin and I, were complaining of head and neck aches by the time we were done. Mine got so bad I started to feel sick and I cut our trip short and went back to the ship. I felt bad since Kollin wanted to go to the beach, but he was very supportive and came back to the ship with me. In other words, I would not recommend the glass bottom boat tour on this island.

 

Day three was a day at sea. We just hung out, went hot tubbing and had our first elegant night for dinner. It was fun getting our pictures taken and seeing everyone dressed up for the night. Kollin was not excited about having to dress up while on vacation while I kept saying that it is fun. But once he saw that it really was fun, he got over it. He wore his kilt and I think he was the only one on the entire ship who did. So of course he got lots of comments on it. We love to find any excuse we can for him and the boys to wear them

 

The next day was our second port at St Thomas, VI. This one was pretty fun. Apparently St Thomas is the shopping capitol of the Caribbean. There were lots of great shops, but we actually didn't spend too much. Our excursion for this island was an open air bus ride up and over the top of the island and down the other side to Sapphire Beach. The bus ride was very interesting and we got to see a lot of the island which was fun. Sapphire beach was my favorite beach of the entire trip. We went snorkeling, ate food and had lounge chairs all to ourselves. We got to just hang out at this beach for a good 3 hours. Then it was time to take the bus ride back.

 

On the way back we made a stop at a lookout pot where we could see our ship, the entire bay where it was docked and also we were told the largest ship on the sea right now was docked in the same bay out on its maiden voyage. It was across the way from ours and further away, but it was HUGE! It was from Royal Caribbean.

 

When we got back we shopped a little more then headed back to the ship and took a nap for a few hours. That was really nice being able to sleep uninterrupted during the day!

 

 Day five was San Juan, PR. Our excursion was a bus tour of Old San Juan and some of New. We stopped at the state capitol building and the statue of Saint John the Baptist. Then we went to a fort and were able to walk all around it. Through the tunnels, on the top, in the lookouts and everything. It was really fun to explore it. We made a couple more stops, one at a little shopping area where we were able to find some souvenirs. We got back to the ship and just took it easy for the rest of the day. We walked a lot!

 

The next day we docked at Grand Turk, VI. The excursion we did on this island was our favorite one by far! We took the "Reef and Ray Tour." Or something like that. We got on a boat and went out to this amazing reef. We dropped anchor and jumped in to snorkel around. Snorkeling at this location was better than at Sapphire Beach because there was much more to see and more colorful fish. After we got done snorkeling we boated over to another tiny island where the stingrays were. One of the crew members from our boat jumped out and just dug one up out of the sand and held it while everyone went up one by one to hold it, kiss it and get a massage from it. It was the best!

 

Later that night was the second elegant night. We got our pictures taken again and Kollin wore his kilt with a different shirt so he wasn't exactly the same. He still got many comments on it.

 

Day seven was a day at sea while the ship headed back to Miami. We slept in, casually ate breakfast, played some trivia games, went hot tubbing and just relaxed most of the day. It was a great way to bring the cruise to a close.

 

Oh ya! About the trivia that we played. They had these cheap little trophies that were apparently a hot item on the ship that they would give out as prizes for various activities. I played a few trivia games on one of the days and won all of them but one! They were trivia about Fully House, fact or fiction, skatagories and Trivial Pursuit. Trivial Pursuit was the only one I didn't win, which is funny because that was the only team one I played that day. So I ended up with 3 "24 Karat Gold *colored* Ship on a Stick!" Then a couple days later I won another one after playing a movies trivia. I was known as the Trivia Girl by the crew from then on.

 

The next day we had to be up bright and early to get out of our room and have breakfast. Then it was hurry up and wait to be called when you can get off the ship. Once we were off we took another Uber back to our hotel and  took it easy for the night

 

The next day we flew home and that was that! It was a wonderful and memorable vacation to go on with just Kollin and me. We hope we'll be able to do something like that every 5 years for our anniversaries or so. We also really want to take the boys on a Disney Cruise when they are a little older as well. Fun plans in the making!