Life, Kids, Technology & that move to another continent
On our last full day in Aruba we decided to rent one of the awesome poolside cabana’s and relax in style. It was really nice. The free towel service, water and ice on top of the guaranteed shady chairs made the splurge worth it. I can’t see spending money on them every day but since we had the cabana we stayed by the pool a lot longer today. Teagan enjoyed her nap in the shade as well.
It was a fantastic last full day in Aruba. Sad to have to be going home tomorrow.
Today Teagan took a power nap with me while I walked her in the stroller on the beach. She then took a two hour nap after lunch. We got lucky. The weather continues to be fantastic. For Lunch we walked to the Westin Hotel and grabbed food at their poolside cafe since MC & I did not think that much of the poolside cafe in our hotel.
For dinner we had reservations for a beachside meal right on the water in the sand at our hotel. It was one of the two splurge nights we decided to have on our stay. It was pretty amazing to sit and relax at a table right on the beach. They timed it so we started to sit down as the sun was going down.
The food was pretty good. it was the first time i had a lobster bisque soup. The service was a bit slow but we attribute that to the distance the servers had to travel to get to us! Teagan was very cooperative also. She generally is a fantastic baby and she fell asleep in MC’s arm’s after it got dark but not before she was up way past her bedtime. Overall a perfect day in Aruba.
Today was the last day of the cruise. That basically means we wake up, get to port, and then leave the ship. Because we flew out of Orlando, and we rented a car on the way in, we had to find other transportation back to the airport. We ended up spending the money and getting bus service back to Orlando. It turns out that was a fantastic idea. Our flight was not until later in the afternoon, because we rushed last year to get on an earlier flight. The boat wasn’t late like it was last year, so we got out and cleared customs relatively fast. The downside of that meant we had to spend several hours in the airport in Orlando. I would rather have done that anyway then be worried about rushing to catch a flight.
The flight home was generally uneventful. We caught a cab easy enough and were home in our new apartment. We came home to the same set of boxes waiting for us to be unpacked that we left. I secretly wished that helper elves had unpacked everything while we’re gone. They didn’t.
When checking my voice mail when I got off the plane I got a message from my new boss. Apparently while I was away there was a reorganization and I moved to a different manager. I knew it was coming, but wasn’t sure when. It was weird to know that I have to meet my new manager on the phone first thing the day I get back from my honeymoon!
I want to note that all of the blog posts about the honeymoon or written after-the-fact. Actually I finally got around to writing them sometime in August. I postdated everything since I like to know for me when things actually happened, and not just talk about them past tense. MC will talk about how she won’t go on a cruise for a while, and had a not so great time because of the weather and the rough sea conditions. That part wasn’t the greatest, but overall it was a vacation and I enjoyed it.
Today was our last full day of the cruise. It was also and other sea day. My parents and I think of one or two other people recommended for us to do breakfast in the room on our balcony. Up until now we have eaten in the Windjammer and had the buffet. We kept wanting to do it, and never really ended up remembering to schedule it the night before. When it came time to planning breakfast for the last day we had to decide between breakfast on the patio or the formal breakfast in the dining room that we also have wanted to try. Room service won out. It was nice to be able to sit and eat with the open at sea air and the view. We had some minor drama about actually getting the food on time, but the room service people sorted it out and were extremely friendly.
We spent the rest of the day relaxing, and reading by the pool.
For dinner we decided to splurge and go to the steakhouse for dinner. Man am I glad we did. The steak was fantastic, the drinks were really good, and the desert was out of this world. As luck would have it we ended up sitting next to the scene couple we met during the mystery dinner.
It was a great night to wrap up what was not always the most enjoyable cruise. MC had a few days of seasickness due to the choppy water, and I think a little bit of cabin fever being on the boat more than we planned. I see her point, and even though I enjoyed myself a lot more than she did I don’t think we will be doing a cruise in the foreseeable future.
Other things we did on the cruise that I forgot what days we did them on were two rounds of music trivia. one of which we were so close in winning, but we blew one answer and ended up in second place. We hung out at several different bars, and I tried to get them to make me a sidecar. One of the bars was very good at it, and other not so much. We saw a dancing panda, some other different trivia games. And decided to not take part in a cupcake making class.
After being on the love and marriage game show, it was funny and a little bit spooky to be constantly recognized where ever we went on the ship. I’m not sure if that is going to be my 15 minutes of fame where I realize what celebrities have to go through all the time. I am not kidding, we got recognized 3 to 5 times a day after that easily. if I had to do that again, I wouldn’t change anything. Well maybe one answer or two but you know what I mean!
Today was another sea day. I took this opportunity to schedule a hot stone massage in the morning. It was extremely relaxing. I typically only go for massages on vacation, so it was a real treat to go twice this week.
For lunch, we get another treat and went to Johnny Rockets again. After eating at that place I feel like I need to take a nap. Thank goodness we were on vacation.
We relax by the pool, red, and just generally enjoyed ourselves for the rest of the day.
We had dinner in the dining room again since tomorrow, our last night at sea we’re planning on doing something special.
Today was our second port of call in St. Maarten. All MC wanted from this vacation is the line the beach a little bit. The night before when we were planning our shore expeditions the concierge said they did not think the weather was going to be nice so we decided to book a tour since going to the beach did not seem like it was an option. we’ve been having mixed luck on this cruise, so it turned out the weather was fantastic. Unfortunately we already paid for a boat and land tour.
The first half of the tour was a catamaran ride around the bay showing off some sites. I got some fantastic photographs and it was a fun ride on the water. The second half of the tour was a van ride to the other side of the island. The scenery was pretty nice, but overall it was not as fun as the boat ride. We had a nice lunch in a café by the water. And then headed back to the boat when the tour was wrapping up.
We hung out by the pool for the rest of the day. After that we had dinner in the dining room. And hung out.
Today was our first port of call in St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands. I’ve been to St. Thomas once before in 2000 when working for Datastream. I was even by the pier where we docked. the weather didn’t look fantastic but we wanted a beach day. We didn’t get one in the Bahamas so we decided to head off to one of the most famous beaches on the island. We got there and have lunch, then we grab some lounge chairs and just relax. It was nice, but I didn’t go into the water. The weather just didn’t seem too great and I wasn’t up for it our day at the beach was cut short when it started to drizzle. At first we thought it was going to pass, but then it started to drizzle again so we decided to call it a day.
On the way back to the boat we stopped and walked around by the shops near the entrance to the pier. We can Byberry much, MC ended up with some books to read. We found her selves back on the boat pretty early since we left the beach early. we ended up at the pool relaxing since most of that area was covered so we were protected from the weather. Our lock it looked like it stopped raining as we were settling in to lie out by the pool.
We had dinner in the dining room. It wasn’t other pretty good meal. We got some pretty fantastic photos of the ship leaving port from our patio in our cabin.
After dinner we went to the love and marriage game show. I thought it was fun last year so we decided to go. I joke previously to MC even before we got on the ship that I wanted to try to get on the show. We were honeymooners so that is one of the couples they generally look for for the game show. At the time I thought we had absolutely no chance of getting on since we were probably not willing to do any ridiculous things to make it on the show. Apparently if there’s a lot of people looking volunteer that is one of the ways they weed out who to put on the show and who not to. So when it came time for them to ask who were honeymooners we raised our hands. Then they asked how long people were married for. We been married for less than two weeks so we said so. They were couples on the ship who were even married on the ship but apparently none of them were at the game show. that means we were the most recent married couple to volunteer, so we ended up on the game show. At first I was really really surprised, then it was just like holy crap what did I volunteer us for. I wasn’t wrong though, they did make one or both of the other two couples that volunteered to do some pretty funny stuff in order to make it on stage. I guess they just don’t do it for everybody.
I’m not going to many details about the game show, because for one it would take a long time explaining it. All say is it was fun, funny, and we did not win. after the show several people said that we should’ve one because it seems like they counted the points wrong. It really didn’t matter and I didn’t even think about it, but it was interesting for several people to say something. We want to gift basket of all the prizes that you could possibly win and all of the other events on the ship. It was basically a big gift basket of swag from Royal Caribbean. We have a video of the event but I think the only people that may ever see it will be our future children.
Today is another day at sea. Since yesterday was supposed to be a shore day when we came aboard we scheduled a couples massage for the first Sea day which was supposed to be today. We went in the morning so we could relax before lunch. My massage was pretty good, I think MC was not as happy with her masseuse than I was. Still very relaxing. We hung out by the pool reading a bit before lunch.
For lunch which checked out Johnny Rockets. We grew to like Johnny Rockets on the first cruise we took last year, so we were glad to go back and try it again. Their food is very bad for you, but very delicious. It’s a next of charge, but it’s all you can eat.
After lunch we both decided to try an introduction to yoga class. I think MC liked it. I on the other hand had to stop early. The different positions were causing me to get dizzy, so I stopped midway through the class. I just sat waiting for MC and read a bit.
For dinner we were back in the main dining room. But none of our table mates were there.
Before dinner we checked out the headliner show. It was pretty good. I’m normally not into Broadway like shows. But the mash up they worked on was funny.
Day two of the cruise, or the first full day at sea we were scheduled to tender at a private island in the Bahamas. The seas were extremely rough and apparently the ship was unable to conduct tendering in that kind of weather. That meant we were spending the entire day at sea along with the next day at sea until we get to our first port of call. I wouldn’t have minded an extra day at see if the weather was good. Today all we were going to do was lie around on the beach in the Bahamas, so I could’ve just like around by the pool on the boat. what prevented that from happening for a lot of the day was it was extremely choppy water. Even on one of the world’s largest cruise ships it was very uncomfortable. I had some trouble walking on the rough decks every once in a while, MC didn’t feel so good from moving Seas.
Most of the day was generally low key. With some time at the pool, spending most of it in the Jacuzzi and reading. We also took some time to relax and take a nap since we neither of us are feeling so hot. There was some exploring of the ship, but not too much.
One bright spot of the day for MC was she went and got a massage. I am planning to go later in the week.
Dinner was one of the fancy dress-up nights. That means I got to suit up! MC was her usual awesome looking. We had dinner at our table in the main dining room. We didn’t do that yesterday because we went to the specialty restaurant for the mystery dinner. There should’ve been two other couples or three other couples I can’t remember, but only one of them showed up. The food was delicious, and overall I was a great meal. I have to say the service on the cruise ship so far have been fantastic.
After dinner there was a get together in the nightclub for all honeymooners. Off being on our honeymoon we figured we would check it out. Apparently there was somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 or so couples who registered with the ship saying that they were on their honeymoon. The staff said there’s probably was even more they didn’t even say anything. Bunch of them showed up for a raffle and cake, then dancing at the nightclub. We didn’t win the raffle, but we had fun dancing and the cake was pretty good. I got some pretty funny photos with some statues, as well as some nice shots with MC.
Today we checked out of our hotel in Orlando and headed off to Port Canaveral to get on the the freedom of the seas for our seven day honeymoon cruise! MC drove the hour and change trip to the rental car drop off in Port Canaveral.. It was very busy with a lot of people doing the same thing we did by dropping the rental cars often taking shuttle buses to the crew ships. I always get anxious with long lines and a deadline like getting a boat, but we were really early and the boat didn’t leave for hours so really wasn’t a big deal. In the end we got to the port just around when we had originally planned to.
After our last cruise I had gone online and signed up for Royal Caribbean’s frequent travel program, Crown and anchor. I figured why not. I typically sign up for those frequent flyer and hotel points since I started traveling a lot back in 99. I was glad I did. I was surprised that there was a special line for people that I had only gone just one cruise. I wasn’t complaining, I was just surprised. Because of that we breezed through checking in, there was a short wait for the extra machines and then we were on the boat.
Unlike last year’s cruise when we had actually arrived too early to go straight to our room, this year we were able to bring our stuff right to the room and settle in. This year we did check our luggage so we didn’t have it right away but we packed stuff in our carry-on bags that we might need.
We grabbed lunch at the Windjammer and then did some exploring of the ship.
One of the things we were disappointed that we didn’t do the last cruise since it wasn’t available on a five night cruise was the mystery dinner theater. This year when we booked the cruise we checked and confirmed that there was a mystery dinner. I know it sounds kind of cheesy but we were both excited to give it a try. The dinners only offered once on the cruise and it happened to be the first night we were selling. I went to Portofino’s Italian restaurant where it would be held to sign up for the dinner.
Our cabin was pretty cool. This year I wanted to splurge a little and we got a cabin with a patio. MC would’ve been fine with what we had last year, but I convinced her to upgrade when I cashed in some AMEX points to offset the difference in price. I think we were both happy by that decision. We had a room amidships on deck nine and it was perfect.
As we were settling in MC noticed a cabin down the hall from us that had a big sign and streamers that said they were on their honeymoon. She wondered if it was free. So the guy since I had made it a point to tell the travel agent that we were going on our honeymoon. I am not sure what MC went off to do but when I had some time by myself I went down to the concierge and asked about the sign. it turns out it wasn’t free and they offered a ton of different packages that we could get if we wanted to. MC really seemed excited for one so I wanted to splurge for it. I told them we would be going to dinner after 7 PM and that they should come by after that but before 10 PM to set it all up. The guy I was dealing with seemed kind new because he took a while to figure out how to get the computer to do what we wanted, but eventually he got it all squared away.
I am going to skip ahead till after dinner. MC had a question about some shore excursions so she wanted to go to the concierge. I wanted to Get her down to the room first but she wanted to go to the concierge right away. I was deliberately staying away from the line and the receptionists when MC was going to talk to them, but she called me over when she had a question for me also and it turns out the guy that was helping her with the same guy who helped me earlier in the day. He stupidly asked MC if she found any surprises in our room. He didn’t realize we had not gone back to our room yet. I don’t get it, I would assume someone like that would think not to bring something up. Oh well. So he ruined the surprise, but MC was excited to see what exactly I had done because she wasn’t really sure. After that and sorting out the excursion questions we headed back to the room. MC was extremely excited to see the decorations. I have to admit it turned out pretty cool.
The mystery dinner was also pretty enjoyable. We started off at a bar on the top of the ship where you can overlook the entire pool deck. On the last cruise it was one of our favorite bars to go to because it was a great view and there was live music. Tonight we started off with cocktails with everyone else doing the dinner, and then the performers came out and started the mystery dinner. After that we headed down to the restaurant for the second act and the food.
The meal itself was pretty good. It was multicourse tasting menu. The mystery dinner part of the dinner was fun but semi-predictable. I thought I guessed it right but I didn’t. We sat next to an interesting couple from Canada who we chatted with for a while. Overall it was worth the money. We both had a good time!
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