After we got the kids settled in their Halloween costumes and Nanny and Pappa were ready we left for Salt Lake City. Tori was so kind and hosted Halloween. She fed them all dinner and they went trick or treating.
Mountain West Small Business group was sending us on a cruise since Randy has been doing so awesome at work. We did a Southern Caribbean Cruise then we spent 5 days in Puerto Rico. We were gone for 2 weeks!
We had about an hour before we had to be at the airport so we met my mom and dad and Steven and Kari at Red Lobster for dinner. It was good to get my mind of traveling. I don't know why but I was a bit nervous. This was my first cruise.
We flew red eye out of Salt Lake to New York. We had a four hour layover. Luckily we were with good company so it wasn't so bad. We had a breakfast Stromboli that was pretty good for airport food. We tried to get some sleep from New York to Puerto Rico but we were excited and the plane was cramped. We were thrilled when we finally saw Puerto Rico from the sky.
As soon as we landed and got our luggage we were shuttled to the boat. We had to wait forever since Mountain West was such a big group so we decided to get a cab instead. The cab driver was a local who gave us great advice on what to see in Puerto Rico when we came back.
We got our luggage in our room then walked around the boat before it set sail.
We were really jet lagged as you can tell by this picture.
We went back to our room and showered and rested. Our dinner reservations were every night at 6:00. Then we headed out to the deck to watch the boat set sail. I had butterflies. It was amazing. The motion of the boat was hard for me to get used to.
That night we had this yummy treat to share.
The next morning we woke up to nothing but ocean all around. We were literally in the middle of nowhere. We were scheduled to be at sea all day. It was our anniversary so I was way excited to celebrate on vacation.
We tried to go to most of the stuff they had scheduled. Since we don't gamble or drink we tried to take advantage of the stuff during the day.
We took the galley tour. I was amazed at how quietly they worked. The guide said that they have a no talking in the kitchen rule so that the main chef can give orders without having to yell over everyone. I was impressed with how organized it all was.
The traditional fruit carvings.
That afternoon they had a BBQ at the pool. It was way too crowded for my liking. Being surrounded by half naked people just isn't my thing.
We watched a top chef game from the top balcony.
That night was formal night in the dining room. I spent a good chunk of time curling my hair just to walk out to humidity and it fell out within seconds. That is one good thing about living in dry climate. I did love how my skin felt though so it was totally worth it.
It was fun to get all dressed up. We shared a table with the Austins, the Websters, the Blakesleys.
I loved the formal dining. I ordered, ate, and liked the escargot. We tried all kinds of weird things like frog legs, and tartar.
Since it was our anniversary they gave us this cute special cake. It was delicious.
It was fun to be waited on hand and foot.
Our first Island was Barbados. We prebooked an excursion for this Island because we weren't sure how it all worked and wanted we had something set for the first day.
I loved the Caribbean ocean and the beautiful white sand. We booked a catamaran to swim with turtles and snorkel. We split it with Austins, Websters, and Blakesleys.
The captain's name was Jason. He was born and raised in Barbados. His cute British wife helped serve the drinks and kept us very comfortable. She was darling and so fun to talk to. We told them ahead of time that we didn't drink alcohol. Everything we looked at included Barbados's famous Rum Punch. They made sure they had a bunch of local fruit juices. It was so yummy!
I loved every second of this excursion.
It was so amazing and relaxing to be out on the ocean.
The swim with the turtles was so amazing. They would come right up underneath you. They were so gentle and beautiful. I could have stayed all day. Then Jason took us to a nice reef to snorkel. It was filled with tons of fish.
The place was a total dive. We ordered the flying fish which was divine. It came with "peas and rice" which was just their version of rice and beans. He gave us a green drink called Mauby. He said all the locals drink it to keep their blood pressure down. It was nasty. It was bitter and so hard to swallow. He got a good laugh at us trying to drink it. Later on the waitress told us that he does that to all the tourists. She said most people wont drink it unless it is sweetened. He got us! Randy also ordered pig tail for 50 cents. Randy was willing to try anything and everything.
After lunch we walked around the city.
We went to the market and bought a pandana...It was a mild sweet fruit with huge seeds. It was very unique.
The people in Barbados were so friendly. It was by far the nicest island. Everyone was in such a good mood and they were so kind.
We decided to walk back to the ship instead of a cab. We walked along the shoreline.
There were crabs everywhere.
We were tired after the long day. Before dinner Randy took a nap and I watched the sunset off the back of the ship. I loved the Caribbean sunsets.
The next day we ported in St. Lucia. This time we had no plans and just wanted to see the island. We found a cab driver for the day. We had to take a ferry to get to his cab. At first it felt a bit sketchy but then I got more comfortable.
The cab driver took us around the island and made a few stops so we could take some pictures. St Lucia was the prettiest islands we visited.
We spent the day with Judd and Katie.
At every stop or outlook there were locals set up to sell souvenirs. They were very aggressive and touchy. As soon as the cab pulled over they would grab your arms as you got our of the cab. It made me nervous a few times.
St Lucia is known for these two mountains called the Pitons. The cab driver was taking us to a beach between the two mountains.
The beach was breathtaking. It was called Sugar Beach because of the sand. He said this is where Oprah stays when she comes to the Caribbean.
I am pretty sure I sat in the same beach chair as Oprah. It didn't last long. I got kicked out of this chair when I wasn't willing to pay $100 to rent it.
We found a spot to sit on the beach then rented paddle boards.
It was way harder than it looked. It was windy so it was hard to stay close to the shore.
It was seriously so fun.
Judd and Randy could barely stay up.
We didn't last too long on the paddle boards. It was exhausting.
Randy and I also snorkeled along the reef. I loved this beach.
Not to long after that the "coconut guy" who spoke very little English came buy to sell us a coconut. Randy was nervous with the huge rust knife he was using.
The cab driver took us back to the port area. Katie and Judd went to the boat and Randy and I went to the market to find some food.
We had yummy mahi mahi with noddles (macaroni pie) beans and rice. I don't even remember what the juice was but it was amazing.
It was always nice to get out of my swimming suit to go to dinner.
Watching the sunset as we left St. Lucia
Our next port was Antigua. We had a cab driver names Joseph and the Coat of Many Colors. He was funny and very entertaining. He took us to Church Beach for the day.
This beach had a lot of big waves.
We rented chairs and umbrellas and had a very chill day. This beach also had a bunch of shells that we collected for the kids.
I couldn't get over the colors of the sky and the water. It was amazing. I napped and read most of the day. I even got a outdoor massage by a local lady named Pam. It was so great and relaxing.
Randy and Judd played in the waves the whole day. I have never heard so much giggling in my whole life. They were like little kids being pushed up the shore.
The waves were really strong. We loved people watching. They old couples would walk down the sand then get thrashed by the waves and get knocked over. I felt bad for the poor life guard rescuing person after person.
On the cab ride back we asked the cab driver to find us some local food that he liked. He literally pullled off to the side of the road and stopped at a little shack. They brought us a whole red snapper with a tub of Fungee. It looked and tasted kind of like cream of wheat. This was not our favorite local food.
After the beach we wandered around the market again with Mindy and Mark in search of some food.
We bought a gigantic avacado that seriously melted in our mouth. It tasted nothing like the avocado we eat in the states. It was amazing. We also tried a sugar apple that was delicious.
Then we went to the Big Banana, a local favorite pizza place we found online.
The pizza was just typical american pizza, but the locals love it.
Our next port was St. Martin. We heard about an amazing zip line at the Loterie Farm. I was terrified but willing to do it.
We went with the Austins and the Websters.
They drove us in the back of a truck up the mountain. Judd and Randy were nervous so they did what felt natural...man hug.
The view from the top was so cool. We were really high up. You can't even tell by this picture.
I didn't realize it at the time but looking back we had no helmets, we had one gloved hand to use as a brake and the guide wasn't with us the whole time. Holy cow this zip-line was extreme.
It was a good thing Randy had control of the camera since I had a death grip on any cable or handrail. I was shaking like a leaf the whole time. I was using every single muscle in my body.
Not only did we come down at least 15 different zip lines, but we went over cable bridges, climbed onto platforms, ladders and other obstacles.
It was so hot and humid. Were all dripping with sweat.
The whole course took us about 2 hours. We were exhausted when we were done. I could barely walk when it was over. Katie said she was laughing at how bad I was shaking and how tight I was hanging on to everything. I really did have fun. I promise.
We had lunch in the rooftop tree lounge. It was so beautiful and fun to eat up in the treetops.
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The food was so amazing.
There were iguanas all over the grounds.
It was here that we had our very favorite pina colada of the entire trip. We asked the ladies how they made it and they both replied "with love". I wish I knew their secret. It was so good we had another one.
Our next and last port was St. Thomas. It was pouring rain. It stopped raining just long enough for us to go out for a bit. We did a little bit of shopping and indulged in some Belgian chocolates and Holland cheese.
It started raining again so we didn't stay out long. We ended up going back to the ship and taking a huge nap. Plus we wanted to pack before dinner.
Our server's name was Nelson and his assistant was Willington. We loved Willington. He was our favorite. There was one day he was sick and we were really disappointed. We ate all our dinners in the formal dining room. I loved that they served and took care of the women first. There were several nights that we ordered more than one entree or dessert and Nelson would always get a funny smirk when we went crazy with ordering. We had a food loving table. We rarely went to the buffet. We even woke up early so we could go to the dining room for breakfast since the food was so much better.
We just so happened to be on a cruise with a gay convention. Our party was pretty big and we are all from Utah. The majority of us were Mormons. In fact there was one time on the elevator that someone pointed Randy and I out and whispered "Hey look, some Mormons" I am not sure what gave us away other than we didn't have an alcoholic beverage and we had real clothes on. All the people with the gay convention wore lanyards. That was our code name whenever we needed to talk about any of them. It was our joke the entire cruise.
Since most of the ship revolved around drinking and gambling we had to get creative on how we entertained ourselves on the ship, Some of our favorite activities were shuffle board, ping pong, and the nightly karaoke party. Judd Blakesley had some pretty sweet dance moves during karaoke. We laughed... A LOT. There was also the Lady? or Man or whatever that sang most of the nights that we went. She? He? sang Diamonds are Forever in a very deep low base voice. It was shocking the first time we heard it since we were expecting a soprano voice.
One of the nights a comedian came and dang it I can't remember her name but she was so hilarious. She made fun of people the whole time. She said all the things we wanted to say the whole week. I was literally sick by the end because I had laughed so hard.
Another good show was Voice play, an accapella group from the Sing Off a couple years ago. They were really good and really funny too.
We didn't stay up too late most nights. I got a little bit seasick at nights. If we did stay up late we would hang out by the desserts at the coffee shop or at the late night sushi bar.
It was so nice to be there with couples we knew. They were really fun to hang out with and they made the trip so much fun.
While we were sad to have the cruise over we couldn't wait to get off the boat and explore Puerto Rico for the next 5 days.
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