We're Back!

From our Cruise that is. 

*Disclaimer--sit back and relax, you're in for a long one.*

I'm not really sure what to say or where to start, so I will just say this:  Cruising is definitely the way to vacation!  We went on a 5 night Western Caribbean cruise that stopped at the Cayman Islands, and Cozumel.  Because we were on the Western side, we were not affected by hurricane Sandy at all.  I have no idea where to start, so I will just go over some of the highlights of the trip:


-Grand Cayman.  We hit up world famous "stingray city" and got to swim and hold the stingrays.  It was awesome!  They felt like big portobella mushrooms, and were very gentle creatures.  After that, we snorkeled at Coral City were we saw lots of fish.  It was my first time seeing any thing like it!  We bought a water proof camera and took lots of pictures with the sting rays and fish, but I haven't gotten them developed yet.  I can't wait to see how they turn out!

Enjoying a nice boat ride out to sting ray city, and coral reef to snorkel

We saw hundreds of iguanas sunbathing lol

Our future vacation home.  ha ha yeah right...our bus driver said these properties start at $56 million!

-Cozumel.  Our excursion here was at a  private resort where they had a ropes course, zip-lines, rock climbing and repelling.  We also snorkeled at the private beach. The snorkeling here was even better than at the Cayman Islands.  We saw more sting rays, barracudas, eels, and hundreds of other colorful fish.  We had a couple hours before our excursion left, so we spent them exploring the shops by the port, and taking lots of pictures.

Mexican Terminator

You had to pay for soda on the ship, and it was expensive, so we didn't drink much.  I was so excited to finally get a "Coke Light" as it's called in Mexico

It was "Dia de los Muertos" in Mexico, so they had some local dancers we stopped to watch and get a pic with them.

All geared up for some fun

Even with the safety line, I was still pretty nervous!

Dan and I raced each other to the top of the rock climbing tower--and guess what, I won!!! 

Our guides were awesome!  They have a pretty sweet job, they get to play and snorkel all day!

After the excursion we relaxed on the private beach before heading back to the ship

The beach was beautiful

Friends since elementary school

We ate at a local restaurant where we saw these bath tubs.  We thought it would be hilarious to take our very own "cialis pic".  I think it's one of my favorite pics of the entire trip!

The Carnival Paradise

-The entertainment on board the ship.  There was never a dull moment.  We saw talent shows, kareoke shows, live bands, comedy shows, dance parties, and countless other activities.  There was also a casino on board, and Dan and Casey had fun playing roulette, craps and blackjack. Kristi and I spent lots of time on the deck/pool area laying out and tanning.  There was even a waterslide into the pool that we took a few runs down.  Luckily, they had a pretty impressive fitness area, and I worked out each day to help chip away at all the desserts I was eating!

We enjoyed relaxing and watching the sunset at night

Even Dan let loose and had fun dancing the Macarena ;)

Just some of the yummy desserts they had one board.  My self control flew out the window ;)

At the comedy club.  There were two comedians on board, I forgot their names, but they were very hilarious!

On the ship with Tampa in the background

Dan and I exploring the ship.  Everything was so nice!

-Mini-golf and ping pong.  We played lots of both.  Dan and Casey also played in a mini golf tournament, and took second and third place.

-Halloween.  The friends we went with both forgot their costumes, but Dan and I still had fun dressing up. Everyone loved Dan's costume, he pulled it off really well!  We had lots of strangers just asking to take pics of us, and one lady wanted to get her picture taken with Dan AKA "Ice Man".  We also enjoyed the yummy Halloween desserts they had at dinner ;) 

Top Gun's Ice Man and GI Jane lol

Pumpkin Ghost Cheesecake

The random lady who wanted her pic next to my hunk

-Formal Night.  I love any excuse to get all dolled up and fancy, so I had been looking forward to formal night for a long time!  We had lobster and prime rib for dinner then spent all night getting professional pictures taken around the ship.  I didn't realize at the time how expensive they were going to be to buy ($22 per picture!!!)  At the price I couldn't justify buying them, so here are a few I snapped myself:

Me and Kristi

At dinner

-The staff and service on board.  Everyone was so friendly!  We didn't come across one employee who didn't go out of our way to make sure we were having a great time.  We loved coming back to our room each night to a new towel creation! 

We left a little towel creation of our own on our way out.

Our awesome dinner waiters

Andrew, our head waiter, was our favorite! We were treated like kings and queens.  He referred to us as "Sir Dan" and "Miss Savannah"  We will miss him!

-We had a late flight out of Tampa, so we spent our last vacation day exploring the city of Tampa.  We went and explored downtown Tampa, then took the trolley to the historic district of "Ybor City" and ate at the oldest Spanish restaurant in the US--The Columbian.  I had my first "Cuban" sandwich and there famous 1905 salad.  Both were very delicious. 

A cool fountain downtown

A sweet Mural

I give this restaurant a thumbs up

The trolley we rode around town

This pic cracks me up.  Dan telling me to hurry up so we can catch the trolley.  Apparently, I was taking too many pictures ;)

Well, two hours later, I have finally finished this post.  I know it's long.  I know there are tons of pictures to look through.  Trust me, this doesn't even scratch the surface lol.  I ended up taking over 300 pictures, and it was so hard to pick and choose!  Needless to say, I am sure you all appreciate that I didn't post all 300!!! 

Lastly, I just have to give props to Dan's parents who drove us to and from the airport, and took care of Yuki all week!  We love them.  Thanks for reading ;)