The Cruise

So, cruises. I had never been on one, so of course I wanted to try it out. Chase and I had talked about going because he had been with his family when he was younger and loved it. A few months before Christmas Mom announced it was booked! We didn't know where we were going immediately, and when we finally found out we were obviously excited - St. Thomas and St. Martin for New Years! It was perfect. After all of the crazy business from Christmas, we packed our bags and got on a red eye to Florida. I don't know if I have ever been so tired in my life. I don't know what it was but I was a zombie. That painful kind of tired. I am sure we all looked pathetic laying in a heap in the middle of the airport. When we finally got to board the ship, I was mostly surprised. It's like a small city. I was completely disoriented for three whole days. I never got sea sick, but the boat definitely rocked. We were on the Freedom of the Seas - Royal Caribbean. It's huge. The first day we basically had time to get settled, watch some football on the upper deck, and go to dinner. I was really looking forward to the food part of the trip. The dining rooms are massive and very fancy and the menus each night were unreal. Steak and lobster and escargot and everything else under the sun. By the end of the week I almost couldn't think about eating a big dinner again. Can we talk about the all you eat pizza? Seriously, all you can eat, 24 hours a day. Luckily the pieces were smallish, but I am pretty sure I ate multiple full sized large pizzas that week. Also, the french fries... battered and crispy to perfection. Yum! I had intentions of working out at the gym on board everyday and I think I did once. 

Each day we had a million things to do - flow rider (I really thought I would be good at this, but I am so so not), ice skating (yes on a cruise ship, with my mother, wearing helmets, so hilarious), mini golf (in 100 mile an hour winds on the front top deck of the ship), karaoke (with Lauren and Avery - Avery chose the worst possible song "Say My Name"... remember the part where Beyonce sings a million miles a minute? Well we looked like fools in front of a bunch of 13 year olds), basking in the sun, reading good books (Women and the Priesthood - excellent for anyone who wants to understand that relationship better), endless pina coladas, and the casino! Chase and I faced sure addiction had we been on that ship too much longer. But seriously, it's fun. We came out about even playing blackjack, craps, and roulette every night. We came home and bought a set of chips at target so we can play at home! 

The days on the islands were my favorite. Day two we stopped at a tiny island owned by Royal Caribbean and played in the sun, sand, and ocean. We also found some Brazilians to play soccer with on the beach! Definitely a top five moment of the cruise. We white folks held our own and had a bunch of fun. 

Day four we were on St. Thomas. We signed up for an excursion to snorkel and it was fun. We rode a boat to the opposite side of the island where we snorkeled and saw a few turtles and stingrays. I just loved swimming in the ocean. The salt was a little much (dry lips!) but I was just happy to be in the sun with the family. Unfortunately, we only had a bout 6 hours on the island and we were on the excursion most of that time. 

Day five we were on St. Martin. And I seriously would move there tomorrow if I could! What a gorgeous place. We decided against the excursion so we could stay together (Huddy couldn't do the excursions) and see more of the island. We found a man (who was a body builder and a very massive human) who took us around the whole island and recommended all the best places to see and eat. We had smoothies and seafood on the French side of the island and hiked to the top of an old fort on a hill. On our way back to the other side, we stopped at airport beach. How had I never heard of this place before? Chase had seen it on the travel channel or youtube or something. Apparently it is world famous. It's this wide but very short beach. There was probably only 30 feet of beach in some spots before you run into a two lane road and a fence. On the other side of the fence is an airport and landing strip. So you have people swimming in the ocean about 60 feet from where 747s are taking off and landing. CRAZY. The planes were coming in only a few minutes apart and every time you thought they were going to hit the fence, or your head, because they flew so low. And when a jet took off with its back to us we could feel the heat from the engines and it nearly blew us away from the fence! And the beach it's self was awesome too - the water was so so blue and deep too, so we could swim close to shore. This was the highlight of the trip for me. So beautiful and so fun. 

On the day that we got off the ship, we went to Orlando for the afternoon before going to the airport. Such a beautiful city! I pictured it more like Miami - very tight and concrete. But it is actually very open and the are cobble stone streets and a huge farmers' market and a beautiful park! I would definitely go back there. We ate lunch on the patio of a yummy restaurant (before learning that inside it was a drag show!) and headed back to the airport. Back to real life. Thanks for the memories and experiences mom! You are so generous and good to us kids. We all had a blast!