Our cruise adventure this year started out at night, the middle of the night, to be exact, the night that the time change was taking place. We had a redeye flight out of SLC at 12:30. Due to some crew delays due to storms on the east coast our crew was quite tardy in arriving, which then put our well-planned day into a tailspin. We realized that with this delay we would have, if we were lucky, 15 minutes to catch our connecting flight to West Palm Beach. We managed to maneuver ourselves into the front row for easy plane departure. Once we were airborne Chris and I immediately fell into a restful sleep. Upon arriving we realized we would have less than ten minutes to reach our connection, and who knew where the gate was. We raced off the plane, realized it was a good distance away, and broke into an all-out sprint. We weaved through people. We impatiently waited for the shuttle. And booked it to the new gate. We arrived in time, but just barely. However, it took us a full 15 minutes to recover. I was breathing harder than I ever had before. My lungs were on strike and burning. We both looked at each other amazed we had made it, and amazed that our little hearts hadn’t burst yet.
We arrived in PBI around 10am, glad to be within cruising distance, but also realizing that our bags didn’t make the 10 minute transfer. We weighed our options with the tri-rail train and realized we just weren’t going to make it in time. We opted to rent a car, not much more of an expense than we anticipated. We found ourselves some lunch and waited it out until our bags came, in tact and with all our pieces. I talked Chris into stopping for groceries on our drive down, a drive that became painful as the sleep deprivation kicked in. I was so loopy driving would not have been an option for me. Hooray for Chris! We checked in around 3, found our stateroom, and promptly passed out. A few hours later we woke to check out the buffet (cheese blintz!) and wander the ship. This was by far the biggest boat we had been on, and took a bit of getting used to where things were. We enjoyed our muster adventure and generally took it easy. I opted for a nap that was so luxurious I got in trouble for sleeping so long. We dressed and went to dinner, opting to eat by ourselves all week except one night. The food was tasty, but not drooling spectacular. We came back to the room afterward, unimpressed with the offered entertainment, and attempted to watch a movie. We were both still so exhausted we immediately fell asleep, waking sometime around 3am to finally undress and get in the bed properly.
But come Monday, we were new people! We had breakfast at the buffet and staked out some chairs for sunbathing. There were always plenty of chairs, which is nice to avoid the chair saving. We ended up near the back pool, less breeze, adults only pool, no annoying island music, and chill folks. We spent the better part of the day out, getting some sun, enjoying the quiet. It started to sprinkle a little, so we had lunch, showered and decided to wander the boat some more. In checking out the other decks we realized the weather was even better than before! Back to swimsuits and our deck chairs. After our fair share we retired to shower again and get ready for formal night. After watching the pretty sunset we were off to dinner, where we opted to be sat with other young couples. It was a pair of guys and girls, having just met themselves and on some awkward form of first date, that we got the witness and participate in. The guys were hosers, but there was some entertainment value to be had from the experience.
Tuesday was another day at sea. We figured why mess with a perfect schedule, so we did it all over again. Eat, sun, eat, bucket of beers, repeat. It was pretty great. Chris had had the week from hell and was working up to within the hour we left, so we were due for some R&R.
We arrived in PBI around 10am, glad to be within cruising distance, but also realizing that our bags didn’t make the 10 minute transfer. We weighed our options with the tri-rail train and realized we just weren’t going to make it in time. We opted to rent a car, not much more of an expense than we anticipated. We found ourselves some lunch and waited it out until our bags came, in tact and with all our pieces. I talked Chris into stopping for groceries on our drive down, a drive that became painful as the sleep deprivation kicked in. I was so loopy driving would not have been an option for me. Hooray for Chris! We checked in around 3, found our stateroom, and promptly passed out. A few hours later we woke to check out the buffet (cheese blintz!) and wander the ship. This was by far the biggest boat we had been on, and took a bit of getting used to where things were. We enjoyed our muster adventure and generally took it easy. I opted for a nap that was so luxurious I got in trouble for sleeping so long. We dressed and went to dinner, opting to eat by ourselves all week except one night. The food was tasty, but not drooling spectacular. We came back to the room afterward, unimpressed with the offered entertainment, and attempted to watch a movie. We were both still so exhausted we immediately fell asleep, waking sometime around 3am to finally undress and get in the bed properly.
But come Monday, we were new people! We had breakfast at the buffet and staked out some chairs for sunbathing. There were always plenty of chairs, which is nice to avoid the chair saving. We ended up near the back pool, less breeze, adults only pool, no annoying island music, and chill folks. We spent the better part of the day out, getting some sun, enjoying the quiet. It started to sprinkle a little, so we had lunch, showered and decided to wander the boat some more. In checking out the other decks we realized the weather was even better than before! Back to swimsuits and our deck chairs. After our fair share we retired to shower again and get ready for formal night. After watching the pretty sunset we were off to dinner, where we opted to be sat with other young couples. It was a pair of guys and girls, having just met themselves and on some awkward form of first date, that we got the witness and participate in. The guys were hosers, but there was some entertainment value to be had from the experience.
Tuesday was another day at sea. We figured why mess with a perfect schedule, so we did it all over again. Eat, sun, eat, bucket of beers, repeat. It was pretty great. Chris had had the week from hell and was working up to within the hour we left, so we were due for some R&R.
On Wednesday we woke to beautiful St. Martin. The port wasn’t that impressive, and it wasn’t quit the lush island with gorgeous houses that I was expecting. A lot of the green was just brush, not palm trees and the like. We had some quick breakfast and hurried over to our America’s Cup excursion, convinced we were quite late. Well, we were had on the time change again! We were actually 40 minutes early! After sitting around for a bit we met up with the rest of the folks from the boat for our excursion. We were split into 3 teams, one for each boat, Stars and Stripes I and II and Canada II. We ended up on the Canada boat. From that point on we were mortal enemies with the other boats. We were ferried out to our sailboat and given jobs to do. Chris and I were primary grinders. Basically you crank and crank and that moves the boom, changing the direction of the sail and the direction of the boat. We had a professional crew of 3, telling us what to do at all times. We had beers and water and learned about the boats and the America’s Cup Challenge. It was all really interesting. Eventually it was time for the race! We maneuvered and cranked and really had a good run of the sailing. I was a grinder for a portion and ended up getting hit in the face by the annoying 12 year-old with a loose grip. Oh well. After a very close race, victory was ours. We sang O’Canada and generally talked shiz to the other boats. It was a beautiful perfect day for sailing, and a really fun way to sail. We really enjoyed the experience. Afterward we caught a taxi to Oriental Beach and wandered the beach for a good amount of time trying to find a place to park that was quiet yet interesting. This was a very popular beach with many random and crazy people to watch. At one end of the beach was a nudist beach, which we ventured into but turned around before long after Chris caught an eye of something he’d rather not have. We eventually settled upon the Pirates bar where we drank beers and had sandwiches. We ended up renting chairs at a French joint next door and managed to score two on the front row. Perfect people watching! We relaxed and dipped in the ocean to cool off. It was a gorgeous day and an enjoyable time. We caught another taxi back to the ship and had a nap before heading off to dinner again. We opted to check out the quality of the evening entertainment and were more entertained than we expected to be. We found ways to have our fun and before long were back in bed to rest for another day.
On Thursday we arrived in St. Thomas. This island was much more beautiful and interesting than St. Martin. We had time to kill before meeting up with our tour operator, so we cruised around the docking grounds. We happened upon quite a number of iguanas, sunning themselves on the rocks near the dock. Chris became obsessed with pictures of large lizards. I preferred to stay a good distance away from the dinosaurs. I have no interest in something that ugly. We eventually met up with our tour operator and were whisked away for 2 hours of shopping. I was oddly not really in shopping mode, so we didn’t get much. A little jewelry, odds and ends. We were hoping to find ourselves some island lunch, but the closest we found was barbque from a cart, but it was too heavy for that time of day. Once we were back on the bus and off for our ‘island tour’ it became apparent that one of the fellow passengers was very, very impaired. Chris and I were debating whether he was high or drunk, but I think I won with drunk. He was always interrupting, slurring, and all around just freakin annoying. And we had many more hours to go with this man and his enabling gf. We named them ghetto fabulous due to the nature of their accessories. Nonetheless, we had a good tour, learned a lot about the island, and were taken to beautiful scenic photo spots. We stopped at a tourist trap at the highest point, had expensive banana daiquiris and ate some hotdogs for lunch. Gourmet! Our friend ghetto fabulous decided his gf needed a coconut, so he was going to climb a tree and get some. He got 4 steps up the embankment, lost his footing and came rolling back down, to the astonishment of our entire group. A grown man drunkenly rolling down the embankment! At one point during our tour we stopped by a roadstand so he could get his coconut and shut the F up. However, I did make one friend on our little bus. There was a French-Canadian family sitting in front of us and their 1 yr-old boy would not quit staring at me. We thought he wanted my drink, but this continued the whole day. No he did not want to play with Gma, no he did not want a snack, he just wanted to stare at me. So we made lovey faces at each other all day. Perhaps Chris was threatened.
Finally our island tour got to the beach portion of the day! Hooray! We were let off at Sapphire Beach and we were eager to ditch our bus mates. We acquired some chairs at the far end and decided to go snorkeling. We rented our gear, threw our money and cards into a dry bag, and off we went! The fish and the reef were awesome. There were so many bright and beautiful fish, probably the best snorkeling we’ve ever had. Chris started swimming us toward the direction of our chairs. Along the way I discovered a sea turtle. We stalked it for a bit, amused at its curiosity and distaste for us. Our sea turtle friend swam off and then Chris realized he left his “drivers license” in the bag and was worried about it. He went off to retrieve his license and I floated, becoming chilly as the day was wearing on and the sun wasn’t as warm. We swam a little more and decided to come out at a deserted beach to look for shells. Upon coming out of the water I became colder and was shivering. I had wised up to what was really going on, but in my head all I could think was, “Hurry up with it! I’m cold and have to pee!” He stalled a bit longer but finally said, “I have an important question to ask you.” “You do, huh?” “Will you be my wife?” It was cute. He handed me the ring, stammered on a little more about cute stuff, and then, apparently, I replied with, “Are you sure?” I got crap about my reply, but I wanted him to be sure! 15 years down the road I’ll be able to say, but you were sure, so now you’re stuck! I, of course, then said yes and we snuggled. It was all sorts of cute. We sat there a bit longer before heading off to the chairs to dry off and get a celebratory can of beer and a bag of chips. Mmm. Celebrate! I learned that my ring was just my ‘practice ring’. Chris had picked out a stone and setting, but I could turn those in and design my own ring. At first I was bummed and thinking it unfair he didn’t do the work. But overtime I’ve warmed up to the idea and had a lot of fun figuring out what I like and seeing the pieces come together. And so suddenly, we’re engaged! It was so very exciting. Our short beach trip came to an end and we were back on the bus and on the ship before long. We showered and changed in time to watch us leave port and catch the beautiful sunset. I talked Chris’ ear off at dinner about wedding stuff, things I had been wanting and planning for a year but haven’t been able to talk about. What fun! He sat there a little shell-shocked. We wandered the ship that night, certainly in a bit of a love daze, my attention constantly distracted by the new rock on my finger.
The next day was a day at sea. We slept in quite late, managing to rouse ourselves in time to grab pastries and orange juice before they closed breakfast. We parked ourselves on some deck chairs and proceeded to stay put for the remainder of the day. Periodically we'd stir to order a bucket of beers, reapply sunscreen or to find something else to eat. It was a wonderful way to spend the day, engrossed in a book, tummy fully satisfied, tanning in perfect weather. That night for dinner was a formal night. We dressed ourselves up a little and wandered the boat enjoying the various forms of entertainment. On this ship, but on none previous, we actually enjoyed the entertainment provided in the evenings. The comedians were funny and the tribute bands were actually good! We usually wandered into shows after it was well into motion, sitting on the stairs for easy exit if it turned too campy.
The next morning we found ourselves docked off the cruiseline's private island, Princess Cays. Little boats ferried us to a private island, complete with deck chairs and a bbq lunch. It was the equivalent of day at sea, except with sand. The water was a little too chilly except for quick dips, so the day found us yet again reading and people watching while suntanning. We took one of the last ferries available back to the boat and set about our normal evening of showers, wandering the boat, going to dinner, checking out the entertainment. Being that it was the last night there was a big champagne toast, which provided for some great people watching. Chris and I clung to the last few hours of our cruising experience, intent on milking every last minute.
We had a late flight out of Ft. Lauderdale, so we were in no rush to get off our floating paradise. We slept in until the last allowable moment and then enjoyed a leisurely breakfast. Once off the boat we caught a taxi to the train station for our adventure to the Ft. Lauderdale airport. We were lucky to have arrived 15 minutes before the next train, as they arrived 2 hours apart. The ride was lovely and relaxing. Once deposited we had a hell of a time tracking down a taxi to finish our journey to the airport, but we were soon through security and enjoying a beer and lunch at the Irish pub. As with all return flights, it seemed the longest and most painful. Adjusting to work and normal life the next day was a painful process. However, our post-cruise depression was alleviated by our excitement to spread the news - we got engaged!
No comments:
Post a Comment