Paradise

Wow. All I can say is if you haven't ever taken a cruise - you need to! I had no idea what I was missing all these years. Seriously, the best vacation I have ever had! The ship was more ornate and beautiful than most hotels I have stayed in. The service surpassed any I have had in the most hoity-toity of restaurants. And the food was delicious and best of all - NON-STOP! What more do you need to make a fabulous trip?

We sailed with Royal Caribbean on the Freedom of the Seas (currently, the largest ship in the world). Our trip was a 7 night - Eastern Caribbean cruise. And I have to say, I think we've been totally spoiled! After sailing on that ship, I'm not sure a different one will make me happy. The thing was HUGE! It had 15 decks, 5 pools, numerous hot tubs (2 of which went over the ocean so you felt like you were floating), an indoor mall, an ice rink, a movie theater, a 3 story stage where we gathered for live performances every night, and a dining room that took my breath away! The ship holds something like 7,000 people! 5,000 passengers and 2,000 in crew. I think I spent the first two days in awe. Everyone was so nice and the accommodations were so plush. I felt like royalty!

Our schedule went something like this:
Saturday the 18th - Fly to Miami. Explore the beaches. Find a good Cuban Restaurant
Sunday the 19th - Boat the ship around 2pm. Set sail around 7pm
Monday the 20th - At Sea
Tuesday the 21st - At Sea / Port of Call - San Juan, Puerto Rico
Wednesday the 22nd - Port of Call - St. Thomas U.S.V.I.
Thursday the 23rd - Port of Call - St. Maarten
Friday the 24th - At Sea
Saturday the 25th - At Sea
Sunday the 26th - Back to Miami. Everglade tour. Fly Home

The experience looked something like this:

Miami
South Beach
Local Wildlife


JL and I at Versailles Cuban Restaurant

All Aboard
Watching Miami disappear
Decor around the elevators
A look down at the inside mall
Fruit Carvings and Ice Sculpture
Our dining room
Dining room chandelier

First Day At Sea
Eating at the Windjammer (deck 11) overlooking the ocean
1st Formal Night. We shared our dinner table with Dario and Sheyenne and a couple from Brazil.
On the steps in the dining room
This is our adorable captain. He would start all of his announcements with "This is the worlds smallest Captain from the world's largest ship"

San Juan, Puerto Rico
Approaching the first land we'd seen in almost 2 days
One of the large remaining forts built hundreds of years ago to keep enemies out of the city
Dario, Sheyenne, Me & JL after getting off the boat in Puerto Rico
Old Town San Jose
Cobblestone roads and narrow streets
The backside of that fort we'd seen from the ship. I was impressed with the massive size of this thing. It covered a lot of ground and was still in pretty good shape
The old cemetary on the grounds near the fort
San Jose architecture was colorful and charming
We decided we wanted to taste some authentic Puerto Rican food, so we had dinner in San Jose that night. JL and I ordered shredded pork tamales wrapped in banana leaves. It was served with yellow rice/beans and fried plantains. JL has developed a serious addiction to fried plantains!

St. Thomas / St. John
We were in St. Thomas just long enough to catch a taxi then a ferry over to St. John for snorkling
This is trunk bay. THE most beautiful beach I have ever been on!!
We snorkled around this island. There were a ton of fish and the coral was just beautiful! Sheyenne and I were lucky enough to see a huge Sea Turtle! Unlucky for me I left my underwater camera on the ship.
I loved the colorful buildings and the architecture on this island

St. Maarten
We rented a jeep and cruised the island. This is one of the first overlooks we came to
This is nearing the beach we were going to check out. I couldn't believe the color of the water
The beach. Does it get anymore picturesque?
The sand on this beach was much different than Trunk Bay. It wasn't sand so much as crushed shells
I did my part to collect what sea shells I could find
Returning to the boat - ours is the ginormous one!
2nd Formal Night
JL finally got his lobster dinner!

Return Trip - 2 days At Sea
What do you do at sea? Get a tattoo, naturally!
JL and Dario playing shufferboard on our favorite deck (4)
I couldn't get enough of the sound of the waves crashing into the boat
This is the adult pool area. We'd sun soak and read a lot here. I loved the gold palm trees
The final evening show. Some kind of acrobat team from Englad. This move was amazing!
Our last dinner. JL and I with our Ast. Waiter George and Head Waiter Michael

Everglades/Fly Home
The air boat ride was fun! We saw a lot of gators and really cool vegitation
The birds were plentiful and beautiful
"Scarface" - Just your average alpha male
Um no, it's not real
But this bad boy is
We were surprised at how soft Alligators are!

After the everglades tour, we hoped on the bus for an exciting, 6.5 hr wait at the airport for our flight. Despite the airline woes (never ever again will we fly Delta - but that's another blog) I would turn around and do it all again tomorrow! I did miss the kids (thanks again Mom & Dad for doing such a fantastic job with them!) but we'd like to go again - and SOON!