Honeymoon Day 10 - August 7, 2008

Location - Brooklyn, New York

Today we woke up and the ship was already docked. No room service today! We had to be out of our room by 8 AM, so we got the last things packed up and headed out to the breakfast buffet.

Since we were driving, we were the last to disembark. We had to meet in our disembarkation area at 10:00. There, we saw a couple (Dave and Karen, pictured right) we had dinner and played games with earlier in the week, so we sat with them and caught up on the week. Their son is applying to dental school, so Rob had lots of information for them.

Getting off the ship was easy. Finding our bags once we were off…not so much. Plus, we didn’t account for the fact that now we had to actually lug all the bags back to the car. Thankfully, Dave and Karen had fewer bags than we did and offered to help. After a quick check at customs, we were free to go. Dave helped us to the car with our bags, so we offered to take them to their pick up point to save them some time. And doing so, we got to meet their son! He asked Rob if he could come to his office and shadow him sometime.

So now the honeymoon is over and reality begins again. As we drove home, we were already trying to plan our next cruise! We agreed that we could have spent another week on the ship. The service was outstanding, the food was gourmet, the ship was spotless, the shows were entertaining, the people we met were awesome, and the excursions were quite an adventure! And the best part of all, we got to spend 10 days by ourselves! On a scale of 1 to 10, we give this honeymoon at BIG 10!

Honeymoon Day 9 - August 6, 2008

Location - At Sea

Today we are nearing Virginia. We had our usual breakfast.

We decided to spend the day at the pool and it was HOT! We watched Night at the Museum on the big screen and drank dirty bananas. Rob didn’t wear sunscreen today and let’s just say that by the end of the day, he was BURNED!

It's sushi day at the lunch buffet, so we loaded up our plates and had beer, wine, and sushi by pool! Life is good. We’re now considering becoming part of the crew so we never have to leave.

Tonight is the second and last formal night, so we got all dressed up again. We also have reservations at our favorite Italian restaurant! And dinner was over the top, as usual. We had so much we didn’t have room for dessert (even though they really didn’t want us to leave without having some).

There is was so much going on tonight! They had a champagne waterfall in the Atrium, a Millennium Dance Party in Skywalkers Club, and Sarge, the cruise ship comedian, was back for one last show. So, after dinner we ran over to the theater to get seats, but it was already full. Luckily, they were also showing it on the big screen at the pool, so we went up there to watch it.

Since we are arriving in New York tomorrow, we decided to call it a night and start packing. The crew would be picking up checked luggage throughout the night. All we need to do is put the bags outside out door!

The Atrium on Formal Night

Honeymoon Day 8 - August 5, 2008

Location - At Sea

We are heading back to New York. This morning, we were near Florida. We had our usual room service breakfast - coffee, OJ, frosted flakes, an orange, and a grapefruit. The view from our balcony is unbelievable. It's just water everywhere, but it never gets old!

Rob is still battling a little cold, so we took it easy. We had three more Photoshop classes today. Each class was an hour and there were only three other people in it. We’ve learned so much so far!

Did we mention there are art auctions on board? Every day there has been an auction where they give out free champagne and sell artwork – they even have a Picaso! Several works have been up for over $20,000! Today they are auctioning off the ship’s nautical chart. This chart hangs in a case right outside the buffet and charts our position every day. It also has information about our speed and the weather. We checked it out every time we pass through and thought it was awesome. When we found out it would be auctioned off, Rob decided he wanted it. So we went to the auction, had lots of free champagne, and WON THE CHART! We were determined to win and now we have the best souvenier ever!

Tonight’s dinner was at the steakhouse again and it was delicious! Shrimp cocktail, caesar salad, filet mingon, grilled tomatoes and mushrooms, spinach, fresh rolls, and our favorite Pinot Noir - Castlerock! We stuffed ourselves, then went to bed.

Honeymoon Day 7 - August 4, 2008

Location - Grand Turk, 1PM – 6PM

Today we are heading toward Grand Turk. Since we have a free morning, we decided to be productive and do some laundry. Rob kept an eye on the clothes while I went for a run on the treadmill in the gym. The gym is on the top floor of the ship and it overlooks the water. I could see us approaching the island.

Grand Turk is home to the capital city of the Turks and Caicos islands. It is 7 miles long and only 1.5 miles wide. Approximately 3,720 live on the island, which is just a little more than the population of our ship! Grand Turk was developed mainly as a cruise ship destination. There is a huge Margaritaville right as you get off the ship, lots of stores, and excursions.

Our dune buggy trip was canceled, so we decided to do a mini boat adventure instead. It was awesome! After a short bus ride to Captain Jacks, we were given our snorkel gear, a quick lesson on how to operate the boat, and then picked out the one we wanted. Rob drove it and I held on tight behind him. The guide took us out into the ocean and we turned up the speed! We stopped midway through the trip and went snorkeling, then we hopped back in our boats and took off for another beach. After a short stop there, we all headed back to Captain Jacks to drop off the boats and get a drink. We decided to walk back to Margaritaville instead of taking the bus.

Back at Margaritaville, we hopped in the pool and got a drink at the swim-up pool bar. If you didn’t know better, you’d think you were at spring break! Everyone was partying. We had to be back on the ship at 5:30, so we didn’t stay long. Once we were on board, we headed up to the pool, got a quick dinner and watched Iron Man at the pool.

After the movie, we headed to the Princess Theater to watch the International Crew show, which was a talent show for the crew. The ship's doctor played the piano, one of the officers sang in a rock band, which was made up of other crew members, and another crew member played the guitar. It was surprisingly good. After the show, we headed to the late night buffet and took our snack to our room, watched a little of Kung Fu Panda, and fell asleep on the sofa. Hmmm...sounds just like home. We’re getting very comfortable here! In fact, we may never leave the ship.

Honeymoon Day 6 - August 3, 2008

Location - Tortola, BVI, 7AM – 1PM

Today we woke up in Tortola, the capital of the British Virgin Islands. It is also the largest of the BVI, covering 28 square miles. Tortola means “land of the turtle doves” and was named by Christopher Columbus. Approximately 25,000 people live in the BVI, and 17,500 of them live in Tortola.

Our tour left at 8 AM today so we were up and ready nice and early! A ferry met our group outside of the ship. It was raining and the clouds looked ominous, but we went anyway! The ferry took us on a 40-minute ride to Virgin Gorda, home to the famous Baths.

The Baths are small pools of water created by enormous boulders that were left behind from a volcanic eruption. The boulders also created awesome caves and grottos that you walk through to get to hidden pools and beaches. Some of the openings were so tight you practically had to crawl in your hands and knees…in water! We had fun exploring the caverns, playing on the rocks, and trying out the native fruit.

Our tour was short because we had to be back on the ship by 12:30. Once we got back, we showered, went to lunch, and took a nap. The sun really takes a lot out of you here!

Tonight’s dinner was at Sterlings Steakhouse, which is the other special restaurant you can eat at for an additional charge. Our reservation was at 8PM, so we had some time to kill.

We hopped online in the internet bar, had a drink, and checked out some of our wedding pictures that were already posted to our photographer’s website. And as usual, our dinner was delicious. Rob has been a little under the weather, so we came back to our room after dinner and turned in early.

We’ve been married for one week now…so far, so good!

Honeymoon Day 5 - August 2, 2008

Location: St. Thomas, USVI, 8AM – 10PM

Today we woke up in St. Thomas, which is the capital of the US Virgin Islands. St. Thomas is just 40 miles east of Puerto Rico and covers an area of 32 square miles. Total population is 56,000. Our excursion left at 8:30, so we had time for room service and coffee on the balcony.

Our trip today consisted of a two-hour catamaran sail to St. John, lunch, drinks, snorkeling, and beach time. The area around the island had some nice coral reefs, so we spent most of our time in the water. We saw something we had never seen before – Fire Coral. This coral has a mustard yellow color and “burns” you if you touch it. We stayed away from that stuff. The beach was beautiful and the water was crystal clear! The ride back was very relaxing. We got lots of sun and lots of rum punch, which seems to be the drink of choice down here!

We gave the prize of “most annoying woman ever” to one of our fellow passengers. By the end of the trip, we were plotting of ways to throw here overboard without being caught. We had a feeling we actually might be doing her poor husband a favor! Rob didn’t help the matter. He keep saying things to her to get her agitated. I guess you have to make your own fun sometimes ; )

When we got back, we showered and decided to go back out for some sight-seeing. We grabbed some more of the yummy Indian pizza and as we were about to leave the ship, it started to pour, so we turned back and decided a long nap was a better idea!

Tonight we watched a very funny comedian named Sarge perform in the Princess Theatre. We laughed so hard that we cried. After the show, we headed to our room for some much needed sleep. Our tour tomorrow leaves early!

There were big lizards on the island!

Honeymoon Day 4 - August 1, 2008

Location - San Juan, Puerto Rico, 6PM – 12AM

We woke up again to room service knocking on our door to deliver our breakfast. It’s so hard to get up in the morning! Our bed is actually quite comfortable. In fact, everything on this ship is comfortable.

Today we are heading to our first Port of Call – San Juan, Puerto Rico. San Juan is the capital of Puerto Rico, which is a Commonwealth of the United States. It is also the oldest city within the US territory. Puerto Rico covers an area of 3,400 square miles and has a population of 3.7 million people, with nearly 1.6 million living in San Juan.

The ship is a few hours behind schedule. (Rumor has it we down an engine and were also slowed by some rough currents.) We were supposed to get in around 12:00 and we didn’t get there until after 6:00, so our ATV excursion through the jungle was canceled. We had a quick Bavarian style dinner at the buffet, then headed off the ship.

We found an inexpensive tour that would take us around the ship and stop at a few of the major sites. We learned some history of the island, got some pictures, and even got to stop at the fort, which was built in the 1500’s.

After the tour, we walked around a bit, had two delicious mango mojitos for $11 each, at which time the heavens opened up and we got caught in a huge storm, so we took a 2 block cab ride for $25 to get back to boat. We later learned the cabs are not metered and you have agree on a price BEFORE you get in! Live and learn right?

Rob and Becca at the Fort

Honeymoon Day 3 - July 31, 2008

Location - At Sea

Today was our second full day at sea. We woke up to room service delivering our breakfast again. With no visible clocks in the room, it’s hard to keep track of time. It was a busy day for us! We had two computer classes in the morning, where we learned how to edit photos in Photoshop. Then, we took a walk around the Promenade (pictured below) and then went up to the outdoor track for a quick run and decided to spoil our workout by eating some of the best pizza ever made by an Indian guy!

After lunch, we went down to the coffee shop where we had Bloody Mary’s and hopped online to check out our photographers website to see if anything was posted yet, and sure enough, he had a half dozen pictures up and they are AWESOME!

That afternoon, we hit the pool with the giant movie screen, where they were showing Raiders of the Lost Ark. A few Dirty Bananas later, we decided to come back to our room and get showered…we still had lots to do!

At 5:30, there was a special champagne toast for honeymooners in the Explores Lounge. All the couples introduced themselves and we sat around and chatted for bit, then we toasted our new marriages.

Dinner tonight was at the Coral Dining Room and the theme was French! We sat with two very nice couples and after dinner, we decided to all meet up later for a game of team trivia in the Explores Lounge. We ended up 8 out of 12 questions correct and in 2^nd place (as did most of the teams), but we had a blast. After the game, a very funny comedian magician performed. One of our team trivia couples stuck around for that as well, so afterwards, we decided to all go up to Skywalkers club for 70’s disco night!

Honeymoon Day 2 - July 30, 2008

Location - At Sea

Today is our first full day at sea. This morning, we woke up to the room service guy bringing our breakfast. It was awesome having coffee on our balcony!

We spent a good part of the day exploring the ship. We had lunch in the Coral dining room and the food was excellent. The menu changes every day and if we had to pick one word to describe it, it would be GOURMET!

We headed to the pool for the afternoon. There are 5 pools and today we decided to lay out at the adult pool, which tends to be less crowed. And the view is to die for. The adult pool is located at the back of the ship and seems to go right to the edge. It’s strange to look out and see nothing but water.

Tonight was the first formal night and we got all dressed up! We went to the Palms Dining Room and ended up having to wait a bit, so we went to Club Fusion where they were having karaoke hour. And yes, we got to sing a few bars of Hey Jude. Dinner was delicious and to top it off, we got a surprise from the wait staff. Since we are on our honeymoon, they brought us out a special cake and had all the tables around us sing. Very cute!

After dinner, we had our portraits taken and when to Skywalkers Night Club (which is located at the very top of the ship) for a New Year’s Eve Party! After a long night of dancing, we stopped at the buffet for a midnight snack, then off to bed.

Honeymoon Day 1 - July 28, 2008

Location: Brooklyn, New York

It's two days after our beautiful wedding and we off to our honeymoon! We are taking a 10-day Caribbean cruise out of New York and going to four islands - San Juan, St. Thomas, Tortola, and Grand Turk. We have awesome excursions booked at each destination!

After a well deserved day of rest, we got packed and hit the road by 8:30. It took us approximately 4 hours to get there, so we had lots of time to dish about the wedding! The drive was not too bad until we hit Manhattan. It took us about 45 min to drive 7 miles, but we got to see a good bit of NYC!

Once we hit the cruise terminal and saw the ship, it hit us...we're on our HONEYMOON! And the ship is HUGE!

Then is was time to embark! We parked the car right at the cruise terminal and handed 6 bags of luggage to the porter. Then we walked into the big concourse.

After an easy security check, we were greeted and sent to our room. Our room is awesome! 300 sq.feet of space, a full bathroom, large closet, sofa, queen bed, and two tvs. Our stewart's name is Bienvenido - he'll take care of us and clean our room twice a day. He even put "Just Married" balloons on our door! And since we are in the middle of the ship, the room hardly rocks. We are 9 decks up on the starboard side.

The crew is all foreign, but they all speak English. They are friendly, hardworking, and eager to please. There are approximately 1,000 crew on board and they work long days, but always greet you with a smile. (By the third day, many of them know us by name and know what we like to eat and drink.)

Our luggage was delivered to our front door. Once we were situated in our room, we went out on our balcony and got some great shots of the statue of liberty. It was the first time Becca had seen it! Then we walked around the ship. We could not believe how big it was!

Up on the top pool decks, there was a sail away party, so we went up and waved goodbye to NYC. Afterwards, we decided to explore a bit and found ourselves at a very cool bar. The bartender recommended a specialty Italian restaurant - Sabitini's - for dinner. She even called over and got us a reservation. Because it was the first night, we were the ONLY people in the place and had excellent personal attention. We had over 12 courses of the best Italian meats, cheeses, lobsters, veal, pasta, pizza, scallops, and desserts. We were stuffed!

After dinner, we watched a live rock band in one of the bars, had some drinks, then stumbled back to the cabin for a good nights sleep!