Caribbean Queen ;-)

Then you and me can finally live out all our fantasies

Layin' on the beach - fall asleep in the West Indies

Listenin' to sounds of pleasure

::Heather Headley- How Many Ways::

Click on Tracks and click on How Many Ways (sorry, I couldn't find a direct link to link on here)

So now having been on 3 different cruise lines I feel like I can start to be a critic of ships and the entire experience. As a whole my favorite ship has been the Magic from Disney Cruise Lines. But there are a few things I would add to this ship from other vessels I've traveled on. First off, I'd add the grand entrances that Royal Caribbean and Carnival include on their ships. I'd add the shops that these two lines have on their ships as well, along with the casino. Anddddd I'd definitely add the kick-a water slide that was on the Carnival Destiny that we rode a million times within the last week. I'll be honest, I was not impressed with Carnival's staterooms. First off, half the stuff in our room was broken- the hair drier was the worst drier I've ever experienced within my 25 years on this earth, the toilet sometimes didn't flush, our shower overflowed like 4 times and I definitely broke one of the lights off of the wall. I think Disney's rooms were by far the nicest I've seen so far. I really liked how they split the bathroom into 2 as well- 1 for the shower and the other for the sink and toilet. I also feel like the staff was more enjoyable on the Disney cruise ship as well. For instance, our waiter knew everything and anything about us last year because he took interest in knowing us and having fun and making our experience great. (On Royal Caribbean we had a similar experience having a great waiter that definitely added to our experience) This time our waiter really only knew my name (and creepily told me that I was his favorite) and rushed us through every meal. The food was good (on a side note), probably too good actually... definitely gained some of the weight I've lost on the 20 Ton Challenge back after the last week. But anyway back to our waiter, I can't even tell you his name. Like he just, I don't know, was definitely a slacker. Never danced in the group dances or anything.


So we started our v-cation (our fam always says v-cation instead of vacation because that's how my sister used to say it when she was little) and in the airport we saw some famous guy (I can't remember his name) who my mom was so excited to see and went up and talked to him. All I know is they said he was in the movie Poseidon Adventure. Idk. Don't ask me- Ernest something? Then Levon Kirkland was on our flight. Can I just say plane rides are so much better with crown and cokes. That's what me and my dad drank on the way down (he brought little airplane bottles) and I was actually in first class on the way back so I ordered some. 

 

You know I had to get the shirt.

First stop: South Beach, Miami!!  And can I please just say OMG I NEED TO GO BACK THERE AND GO OUT!! *Girls, let's go. Seriously- let's skip the Vegas trip and go to Miami* I loveeeeddd it!!! Our first stop was... (as if you wouldn't have guess).... DASH Miami! Hahaha I do have a tip that I'd like to give the Kardashian's. They're actually really stupid. Everything in their store was waaaayyyy over priced and when I was in there I saw a TON of people come in and get pix, look at the 15 items they had in the whole store, realize they weren't going to buy anything, take one more pic, then leave. If they had some cheaper items- say a necklace or any kind of jewelry or underwear - that the everyday person could afford then they'd be selling twice the amount of stuff! Like no, sorry I don't want a $600 sundress that I could probably get at H&M for $40 or no I don't want to buy your QuickTrim products. Buttttt I definitely would have boughten something cheap just to say I bought something and just to get one of their cute shopping bags. They did have water bottles and candles for sale, but they didn't have a price tag on them and I honestly felt stupid asking how much they were.

We saw the ocean walked up and down ocean drive looking for the best place to eat. We ended up eating at the place the Jersey Shore people went out at this week! Hahaha I got home today and watched the episode and was like Ocean Ten! That's where we ate! And I had one of those huge ass drinks you're drinking too! yay! hahaha 

While we were there we didn't see Ronnie dancing up a storm, but we did see a guy in an Argentina number 10 shirt with some awesome dance moves. Please enjoy.

Also, also please watch this video. This guy was walking up and down Ocean Drive. He might be my new favorite person in the entire world.

The next morning we got up early to get in some Miami sun before heading to the ship. Me, Natalie and Gary headed up to the pool on the roof and soaked in the rays for a few hours. It was soooo nice. I really loved Miami. I  found this dress I lovvvvveeeeedddddd, but after trying it on I really wished it didn't come in a pattern print and it would have just been a solid color. If it had I totally would have bought it. I keep thinking about that damn dress cause I loved it so much, ughhh.

So Monday we got on the ship. We were one of the first people on the ship. It's kinda funny because at all the ports we were honestly always one of the last 20 people on the ship and then when we got off on Saturday we were one of the last to get off the ship. Hahaha we wanted to maximize time!!!

Please notice my cruising one piece outfit that I thought was completely appropriate. 

Which I also wore with my floppy hat. I was definitely in top cruising style.

First we toured the ship, took pix of like everything, then once we got our luggage changed into our bathing suits and hit the top deck. 2 Buckets of Coors Light, a few fruity cocktails and lunch down we had our muster drill and then we pulled away from port. Everyone kept commenting to me as I was walking down for the muster drill because I was carrying my bucket of beer (hey! I still had 2 left, I wasn't going to leave it on the deck for someone else to drink!) Soaking in the rays, watching Miami pass us by I'm enjoying my day so far. Thennnn my day took a turn for the worse. I'm sitting out on the deck and on the huge screen above the pool they start playing the Jonas Brother movie (this wasn't bad, I was actually kinda excited because I'd never seen it before). I'm starting to feel nauseous and really really dizzy. I start thinking- well. Maybe it was all the alcohol I consumed in a short amount of time? Did I eat enough at lunch? I thought I did? Maybe I didn't and it's upsetting my stomach? What the heck? So I stand up and look out at the water and immediately feel even worse. Uh-oh, I honestly thought I was going to throw up. So I walk to the bathroom, trying to be calm, still not sure if it's because I drank or if It was something else. How could I be sea sick? I've been on plenty of boats before, none of them ever made me sick. Well, I end up throwing up. Head back to my seat and I'm trying to concentrate on the Jo Bro movie and I like can't even keep my eyes open. My sister says we should head back down to get ready for dinner and I start thinking, uh-oh I'm definitely going to throw up again. So we get down to the cabin, I pass out for like 20 minutes and I wake up and I'm still not feeling well. Pretty much had the worst shower of my life, definitely flooded the bathroom and kept feeling like I was going to pass out. At this point I guess my sister and brother told my dad because he came in with medicine from the ship saying it'd help with sea sickness. I take it and struggle to get ready for dinner. I contemplated not going to dinner, but I didn't want to miss one second of our trip! Instantly I start feeling better. *sigh of relief!!* THANK GOD!!! 

The rest of the night I felt fine, I took the pills the next day too and after that didn't need them anymore. It was soooo weird because I definitely never got sick like that ever before in my life! I will say one thing though, the Destiny was a really shaky ship. I've never really felt the ship moving until this trip. I swear I felt it every moment of the day. The only time I really remember feeling it last summer was the last night when we ate at the back of the ship in this Parrot restaurant. I don't ever remember feeling it like this on the Royal Caribbean ship. Oh well. I made it through!! haha

First day was a day at sea. Started working on our Caribbean tan, started with mimosa's at breakfast and drank until beers at the roulette table. Ok, so I'm definitely not one that likes to gamble. My whole family really isn't. When I go to the casino I end up spending $25 at the most and mostly just go to drink and socialize. Well on this trip my dad, mom and myself found a new love- roulette. We seriously would look forward to playing it every single day hahaha. I played on $50 all week and ended up walking away with $138. I'll take it! haha (It helped pay for a few of those drinks)


Our first port was Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos Islands which are in the British West Indies. Um. I honestly don't think my pictures do this place justice and I don't even know how to describe the color of the water or how beautiful this place really was

The port was real touristy and built up for the cruises. It had a huge pool, a hopping margaritaville, lots of shops and a gorgeous beach lined with swaying palm trees. 

If you looked out at the rest of the island there was pretty much nothing. There were a few houses and a few buildings here and there, but it was not populated at all. It was sooooooooo pretty. We did a snorkeling excursion that took us out on a boat to an inhabited island.  First we passed by a small island that housed numerous species of birds, it was pretty cool to see it from the boat. It's a national park and noone is allowed to go on the island to disturb the birds. 

Once we got to the inhabited island we jumped off the boat and got our snorkeling gear. We got to snorkel all around the island and saw some beautiful fish and coral. A stingray passed us by, along with a school of squid!!! That was soooo cool to see!! I've never seen a squid in the water and to see a bunch of them was honestly soooo sooo cool. I loved it. Turks and Caicos are known for their conch shells and you could see them everywhere in the ocean and on the island. Once we were done snorkeling they took us on a hike through the islands. It used to be a plantation years and years ago. Just looking out onto the water from this little tiny island, where you could see all sides of it was just so neat. The sites were gorgeous. 

I've been to a few different islands in the Caribbean and also have been to the Canary Islands. This place and the Canary Islands are still wayyyyyy at the top of my list as the most beautiful places I've ever seen. Once we rode the boat back (which they blasted bob marley during the trip and gave us rum punch) we just floated in the water and enjoyed the day. I wish we could have stayed on that island all week. It was sooooo relaxing and beautiful.

Second Port of Call: Half Moon Cay. 

Carnival's Island was amazzzzzinnggggg. First off, it was soooooooooo freaking hot. Definitely the hottest day. *whew* Just like all the private islands they had a section roped off for snorkeling. We got to the beach and played around in the water for awhile before we went over to the hut to rent a raft and snorkeling gear. 

Well, we learned this was a bad mistake. They were all sold out of rafts and snorkeling gear. We were upset, we really wanted to go snorkeling again. So my dad went to the excursion desk to see if there were any more spots left. Myself, my dad and my brother ended up going out again to snorkel. This time they dropped us off pretty much in the middle of the ocean and just let us go around 4 different reefs. I wish so bad I would have taken my camera or would have had an underwater camera... it was seriously the coolest thing I've ever seen. At one point I swam up to this spot and saw just tons of reef in front of me, which in the middle dipped down and had all these purple fan coral looking things on the bottom. I felt like I was in the Little Mermaid. We saw a HUGE barracuda! Needless to say we started swimming the other way, fast. 

Me just floating in the water :-)

The rest of the day was just spent swimming in the crystal clear water. This island and Grand Turk had the clearest water I've ever seen. There were even star fish right where we were swimming! it was soooooo cool!!!!

Our last port of call was Nassau.

Nassau, it's still Nassau. The funniest thing though was last year my sister, Joey and I went to this beach called Cabbage Beach. There were very few people there and it was like we had the beach to ourselves! Beautiful clear water, white sandy beaches, not a lot of people- it was great! So we suggest we go back there this year. I'm just going to show you 2 pics... the first one is last year. the second one is this year.

Last year:

This year:

I think we got asked if we wanted to rent jet skis or ride a banana boat or get our hair braided or buy a scarf or bracelet AT LEAST 98723 times (within the first 5 minutes of being there). At one point a guy asked if we wanted a banana boat ride and my dad yelled NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO and the guy goes 'gesshh what did the banana boat do to you?'. It was hilarious. Other hilarious answers that I heard from people around us were

'Banana Boat?' - Bahamian guy

'BANANA NO!!!!' - real southern guy

'How many for the banana boat?' - Bahamian guy

'None!' - really hairy guy

It was pretty funny. They were really trying to sell that damn banana boat. We collected some cool shells and I kept trying to find ones for Natalie to make me a bracelet with, but she kept shooting them all down.

At every beach we had some water animal encounter. It was no different at this beach... except I didn't see it until it STUNG ME!!!! Stupid jelly fish.

Of course we hit up the straw market. I really wanted to hit up Senior Frogs again, but we ran out of time. This was the only day that was cloudy and overcast as some points. When we were at the beach I swear there was a huge cloud that just covered Paradise Island and just stayed there until we left. Once we got back downtown it was beautiful and looking over to the island you could see the cloud was finally leaving. ugh- whatev.

We again were one of the last people one the ship- made it just in time. We actually ended up leaving 3 people in Nassau because they didn't make it to the ship on time! The would succcckkkk.

All in all the trip was great. My brother picked up girls at the teen club, he dressed up in my clothes and went walking around the ship trying to get people's reactions, we ate (a lot), 

I fell in love with a boy who I still don't know if he was with his whole family and the girl that was with them was his sister or if it was his girlfriend, we karaoke-d,  we saw funny comedians, we played tons of roulette, 

we drank a lot,  ran a mile on the top deck just to see what it was like to run on a moving ship, I rode the water slide at least like 10 times a day, we sat with a great family from new england at dinner, 

we got a lot of sun, had great weather, I bought a ton of jewelry, I spent way too much money, I never even thought about my life back home and it was grrrrreeeeaaaaatttttttt.

BOOOO I DON'T WANT TO COME BACK TO REALITY!!! Between my mom's camera, Natalie's camera and my own I currently have over 600 pictures on my computer. If you wanna see them come over!!!

New place to add to my list of cities I want to live in: Miami and in a hut on Grand Turk.

<3 Peace. Love. Margaritas. 

Juls