Creating the Good Life

The beginning of February this year, my husband, Curtis, and I made our first adventure outside of the United States. We decided to take a cruise to the Bahamas which definitely made us step out of our comfort zone. Especially for Curtis.

He had good reason to be slightly nervous. Not only were we leaving the country for the first time in our lives but we were doing so during a full moon while heading out on a 70-ton cruise ship through a part of the Bermuda Triangle. But minus a little turbulence on the airplane we made the trip safe and sound.

I highly recommend cruising now but just in case there are any reservations, check out these pictures of all the awesome moments we had with my brother, Matt, and his lovely wife, Chelsea.

 

We checked out the island life and Straw Market shops in Nassau. The Straw Market was quite a wonder to behold. Chelsea and I walked in the building expecting a few vendors but the building went on and on, vendor after vendor. There had to be at least a hundred little shops inside – almost all selling handmade wares.

We made our way down a bright alleyway where we watched numerous crafters carve out wooden animals. Curtis and I took home an owl and a fish. This taught us our first lesson when cruising – make sure to bring big suitcases! We had quite the time trying to find a way to fit those two wooden figurines into our bags.

The next day we ported in Freeport with ominous clouds coming in. The four of us were slated to take a catamaran to go snorkeling but before we even stepped foot on dry land it was no longer dry. Lucky for us, Carnival is amazing and gave us a full refund. Lesson #2 – always book an excursion for the first day just in case.

But the day was not lost. Lesson #3 learned – utilize the adult deck as much as possible. While the rain came down in sheets, the four of us enjoyed umbrella drinks in the hot tub off the Serenity Deck. It was a beautiful view with fantastic company.

The rest of our day was spend enjoying the ship’s atmosphere – we participated in trivia, went to Bingo (don’t knock it ’til you try it), indulged in wine and icecream (not together, of course), and just lounged. It was fantastical.

Our final full day on the ship was a day at sea. Taking in more sights and sounds included a great musical show at the end of the night.

Overall, my husband and I decided it was one of the best vacations we have ever taken.

But now I want to leave you with a few more lessons we learned:

–          Bring a bigger suitcase, instead of four small ones. While smaller suitcases make it easier to just do carry-on, the bigger suitcase will allow a little more give when you decide to bring home two hand-carved wooden statues of a fish and an owl. Trust me, you’ll want to buy those.

–          Prepare for cold weather on your Caribbean vacation. We thought we’d be safe once we left the continental United States for warmer weather. We had already missed our first flight to Chicago because of a blizzard. But no, the blizzard hit the Atlantic and turned into a gorgeous thunderstorm. But I tell you what, enjoying umbrella drinks in that hot tub on the adult Serenity deck while it downpoured was absolutely magical.

–         Which brings me to my next lesson – umbrella drinks are fun no matter how old you are. No explanation needed.

–          Brush up on your Harry Potter knowledge if you want a “ship on a stick”. This is true. And Google “ship on a stick”, you won’t be disappointed.

–          You can lose weight on vacation. While the ship has elevators, we chose to take the fit route. There are seriously stairs everywhere – use them! I lost 5 pounds on an all-you-can-eat cruise. No joke.

–          Praise the pizza gods for having a 24-hour pizza place. Once again no explanation needed.

–          Wine packages are amazing! They will deliver the bottles to you whenever you want, wherever you want. Definitely worth purchasing.