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Spring Break 2014 | part 1

Monday, April 28, 2014

Happiest Monday to you all :)  I'm normally not so chipper about a new week starting (and lets be honest, this was written yesterday so I probably am miserable right about now), but I am so happy to be home after a week of r & r with Nick.  We made the semi-impromptu decision to go on a cruise this spring break in the Eastern Caribbean back in February/March and are so happy we did.  Our itinerary was as follows: 

April 19: leave Miami, FL
April 20, 21: At sea
April 22: San Juan, Puerto Rico
April 23: St. Thomas
April 24: St. Maarten
April 25: At sea
April 26: back to Miami, FL

I took a boatload (pun intended) of pictures, and intend to share a few of them while breaking up the trip into two parts.  Part 1 will cover through St. Thomas, and part 2 will cover the rest :) 


We boarded the ship around 11am on Saturday and were happy to see Miami come and go. The weather was quite humid there, so getting out to sea brought a break in the heat/humidity.  Sunday we didn't spend much time outdoors as it was very overcast & the waves were extremely choppy.  Instead, we went to an onboard Easter mass, ran into my godmother (whom I didn't know would be on the same cruise as us!!), and enjoyed some shows and activities around the ship.  


Sunday night was our first formal night, and although we were both feeling a little sea sick, we got dolled up for a nice evening out.  Although we didn't sit with others every night, we had the pleasure of sharing our company with a couple celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary.  How precious their love is; I can only hope ours will grow to be just as strong :)


After the choppy day at sea, the weather broke and we docked in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  Nick and I didn't make any special arrangements to see/do anything in PR, so we instead walked old town and took a few snapshots along the way.  




I'm not certain San Juan will be a place we'll revisit, but the weather was gorgeous and the time spent together was great.  Perhaps if we did revisit, we'd try out the zip lining; we had heard it was a good time.  


The second port of call was in St. Thomas.  Again, we had no set plans, and decided to catch a taxi to Magen's Bay and are glad we did.  The water was crystal clear and absolutely stunning.  We shared the ocean with tons of fish swirling around our legs and feet (which initially freaked me out), as well as with other people we met from all around.  This was the epitome of relaxation & rejuvenation.  


I would absolutely go back to St. Thomas and do more exploring.  The great thing about cruising is that you can pack a few locations in conveniently; however, you aren't given enough time to partake in multiple activities.  I'm sure someday when we save our pennies, we'll be back.  


After St. Thomas, we moseyed our way back onto the ship, and continued onward to the next port of call.  Although the first two stops were a good time, I think Nick & I mutually agreed St. Maarten was our favorite :)  

Some other cool things that we were able to experience on our ship were:
-The solarium (an indoor pool/deck setting with controlled temperatures)
-The lawn club (an area designated to relax & play games with real grass)
-The bars (an ice martini bar was our favorite; however, the dry-ice-using molecular bar was also quite interesting)
-A wine & food pairing (we were surprised to see just the difference the right wine really can make with specific foods)
-A sin city comedy show, a vocal impersonator/singer/comedian (she is totally worth checking out!!  Christina was hilarious and spot on), an illusionist/hypnotist, as well as dance and singing performances.  
-And of course, soaking up the sun by the pool while enjoying a cocktail or two :)  

More to come...!  

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4 comments:

Katie said...

what a fun trip!! sounds wonderful!!

Anonymous said...

I absolutely LOVE cruising. PR wasn't our favorite place either. We did some shopping and somewhat enjoyed Senior Frogs (lots of drunk young kids at that time though!) St. Maarten is beautiful. Fishes at my feet freak me out too!!

Can't wait for more posts!

Linnea said...

I love cruising. We will be going to St. Maarten on a cruise we are taking in October!

Laura said...

What a fun cruise!! It is really similar to the one we did a couple years ago. We felt the same way about St. Thomas - we wanted to spend a few days there and decided it would be a great place to come back to! Love your photos!

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