Back when we were planning our wedding, my roommate got engaged as well, and she told me about their plans to go on a honeymoon cruise. That sounded so amazing, but we really didn't have the money. We went to Afton, Wyoming instead, thanks to the generosity of Brian's siblings. It was actually perfect since Brian had already started his school semester when we got married. We tucked our cruise dream away for a few years.
After school and the house, we decided that we would go on a cruise as soon as we finished paying off our student loans. We made a chart with a cruise ship, and we filled in a square for each increment of loans we paid off. It was exciting and motivating! When we finally paid off those loans, we decided to finish our basement.
So, in the year leading up to our 10th anniversary, we decided that if we didn't go on our cruise for our 10th Wedding Anniversary, we probably weren't ever going to go. After asking my parents if they could watch our kids for us if we went and receiving their gracious agreement, we booked our cruise in February 2018. We were SOOO excited.
Finally, on January 29, we went to the airport, said goodbye to our children, wished my parents good luck, and got on the plane to Fort Lauderdale. (I should mention that the night before, Rachel got an ear infection. It was with some slight hesitation and worry that we left, but my parents assured us that they'd raised six kids and could surely handle an ear infection.)
It was lovely seeing these snowy peaks, knowing we were going somewhere warmer.
Have I ever mentioned how much I love flying? This view out the window reminded me of an aerial poster of farmland that one of my teachers had hanging up in her classroom. It made me so happy to see this patchwork of farmland.
We landed in balmy Florida. We could hardly wrap our heads around how warm it was. It was super strange trying to figure out how to pack for a tropical trip when we were in the thick of snow and ice, but I think we did okay. After checking into our Air B&B, we headed out to find food and the beach. We grabbed some bread at Publix to tie us over until we made it to the Thai place we wanted to eat at for dinner.
After dinner, we had to walk along the beach. It was really dark, and there were hardly any people out and about.
We stopped by Publix on our way back to our room and grabbed a few more essentials for our cruise and some frozen breakfast meals and pastries for the next day. We ate our super nutritious meal the next morning, out in the garden, all the while going, "I can't believe it's December 30 and that it's warm enough to eat breakfast outside!"
We caught a ride to church, dragging all of our luggage with us. The local unit met in this tiny church building with overflow rooms in an office building next door.
Finally, it was time to head to the port! Here we are with our ship
And in front of a picture of our ship:
and finally walking on board the ship after that long process of checking in.
The ship was all decked out in holiday decor.
Which messed with our brains, due to the beautiful weather.
Due to my tendency for seasickness and my need for fresh air, we booked a balcony room, and it was amazing.
After lunch on the ship, we went exploring
and found a chapel. Since it was Sunday, and we were trying to keep it holy, despite the extreme recreation abounding, we took a few minutes to read scriptures here. We were excited to see a large variety of religious texts in the chapel, including a Bible, Book of Mormon, and Koran. While we were in there, a couple walked into the Chapel, made their way to the alcove where the guy held up the Book of Mormon to his friend/girlfriend/female companion and made some remark about it, joking. I was about to say something about, "Yeah, isn't that such an amazing book? You've read it?" when they left. It made me upset that he would poke fun at a book I love so much.
They had to do a mandatory drill where we had to report to a certain area. This was so we'd all know the proper protocol in the event of an emergency. It was hot, and it seemed to take forever as we were standing there on the pavement, crammed in like sardines. It was the worst part of the cruise, which really wasn't bad. Especially with Brian behind me cracking jokes and the like. Also, we had our phones and reception still.
We tried to stay on deck for when we officially launched, but our scheduled dinner time arrived, and so we headed to our table to eat. Here's a picture of our reflection looking at Ft. Lauderdale slowly going by while we ate dinner.
First official dinner picture:
The next morning, we decided, "Why wouldn't we order room service?" We enjoyed pastries and fruit on our balcony as we watched the waves of the ship.
Boy, were we living the high life!
They put the day of the week on the rugs so we'd be able to keep track of what day it was.
Yet another meal on the cruise:
We decided to go swimming--so weird! They had a sweet waterslide and a wave rider thing. We gave both a try.
And we had to try the drink of the day, because it was served in a pineapple.
It was far too sweet. Apparently that's pretty common with the virgin versions of drinks.
Since it was New Year's Eve, we had our first formal night. We'd ordered the photo package before embarking, since pictures are my favorite souvenir. I'm not sure I'll do it again since the photographers only knew how to do about 4 poses--and every photographer did the same 4 poses. But that means that we finally got a prom picture together:
The shop provided festive tiaras and hats for every table, as well as noise makers and other favors.
And for dessert, they had a "Yule Log" cake thing, so I had to try it out.
There was so much going on. They had filled hundreds or thousands of balloons and raised them up in netting to be released at the stroke of midnight. I so wanted to see it, but the interior promenade was toxic to me. I got so sick every time we hung out there, despite my seasick patch. Everyone says the very center of the ship is supposed to be the best place for those with motion sickness, but that was not the case for me. I had a hard time walking straight in there, looking as drunk as some of my fellow passengers even though we only drank water!
Still, the atmosphere was super fun, and we spent as much time as I could handle down there.
We took advantage of the photographer to get a shot in front of one of the Christmas trees.
And we got to pose for a picture with the captain:
And found a photographer who was willing to go off script for a little silliness:
We spent a little time in our room. We realized that we're not big into all the crowds and party scene, and we loved just relaxing in our room, reading a book out on the balcony. The first day, I felt guilty that we weren't taking advantage of all the activities, but then I remembered that this was OUR vacation, and we both were happy to read.
Plus, we got to see this fun creation (which sadly turned out to be one of only two towel animals we ever got, much to our disappointment, and despite telling our room attendant that we loved getting them.)
Don't worry though, we joined in the dancing on the deck to welcome in the New Year. It was pretty windy, but we had a lot of fun.
We knew we were getting into the Grand Cayman early the next morning, so we went to bed not long after welcoming in 2019.
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