Finally! The Royal Caribbean Vacation! This was Lauren and I's first vacation together. I was surprised by how many people asked if I was going to propose. Do we really seem married already? hah. And if you are wondering, no I didn't propose, but we looked at plenty of rings in the thousands of jewelry stores. And if you are wondering some more, no i didn't buy one...even though some were 2 for 1, lol.
Day 1 - Miami, FL
Our trip started out 4am Monday 6/2/06. We took the red eye out of Louisville to Cinci, where we stopped and had a delicious breakfast at Quizno's Subs @ 9am. Our flight from Cinci boarded and we were off to Miami. We didn't get to do much in Miami except listen to the bus driver on the way to the cruise from the airport. He basically made fun of Miami for 20 minutes and how much it was sucking at the present time. This is a picture of us on the bus
For the remainder of the day we sat around and drank fruity stuff. As to our surprise, drinks weren't nearly as expensive as most people made it out. All drinks were approx. $5-$8 including tip, which seemed pretty reasonable to me.
That night we went and saw the 'show' that was happening. It was a comedian, can't remember his name, but he had been shown on The Tonight Show, Last Comic Standing, and a few others. His routine was pretty funny and it got the cruise off to a good start. We went to the casino and I ended up $20 ahead for the night. That's the best it got for me gambling.
After that we went to dinner and met our table. The table consisted of one other couple, Jeff and Leslie, who were good friends by the end of the trip.
Day 2 - Nassau, Bahamas
Lauren had this day planned out from the get go. We had to be up EARLY!, like 7:45am early, on a vacation nonetheless. We had a sting ray snorkeling trip that included a private beach.
this is our 8am faces...
a view of nassau's atlantis
on the boat ride to the sting rays...it took about 16 shots to get lighthouse in the perfect position on a moving vessel.
over looking Nassau
the private beach
the sting ray snorkeling adventure. those black dots are the sting rays
another view of the sting ray tank. the black dots are the rays
After the snorkeling we walked around Nassau and checked out a few jewelry stores, I bought a liter of pineapple rum to sneak on the boat, and we went to the 'bargaining tents'. If you wanted a fake coach, channel, prada, etc. purse, you could find it there. All I ended up getting was a $3 cuban cigar.
We went back on the boat and took a nap for a few hours. Then it was time for BINGO! We played bingo 2 of the nights. It was $29 for 4 games and 2 for 1 drinks on Bahama Mamas (semi-good deal). On this day, we won nothing.
This was Lucky Lou Lou, she was the games coordinator or something.
This was also formal night on the cruise. Since we were going tropical, I'd figure I would wear the Brooks Brothers shirt I have only worn twice. It is pastels to the max. Dinner was amazing again. Lauren started getting sick during dinner so she went back to the stateroom. I went to the 'Cigar Afficienados' room where I smoked the cigar you see in my pocket
Day 3 - Coco Cay
Coco Cay is Royal Caribbean's private island. We had to take a boat to the island. We didn't have anything planned for this day except to lay out, relax, and drink. Even though i felt like I had plenty to drink the night before. Give me a break, I'm on vacation!
When we got back to our room I had never seen Lauren so happy. The stateroom attendant made the towels into an elephant (Lauren's favorite)
We went and played another game of BINGO. This time it was 2 for 1 Margaritas, stiff ones too. We ended up winning a game in Bingo this time. It was super exciting until we found out 2 other people had won. So we had to split a cash prize of $90 between 3.
We got dressed for dinner, then went to the casino, where I eventually lost it all,including the Bingo money, woops!
Before dinner we went to the Boleros room where Trivia night was happening. We ended up sucking at that, then headed to the dining room. The head waiter got on the microphone before dinner and had all the servers start singing and dancing. For some reason everyone started waving their towels, I had to get a shot of that.
After dinner we went back tot he casino where I would try my hand at some craps. Jeff and Leslie were crap masters (i think that came out wrong) and tried to teach me how to play. I was up about $20 at one point then eventually lost it all. There was a 'scavenger hunt' going on in the 'club' room so we went to check that out. It was lame for the most part, but something else to do on the ship. Afterwards, Lauren and I went to the top deck so i could finish the night off with a cigar, then headed to bed.
Day 4 - Key West, FL
Lauren had this day pretty well planned out also. We got off the boat and rented scooters. I started out of the parking lot and nearly slammed into an Altima. I wasn't so bad ass as I thought I was. We took it around the block a few times and we started getting the hang of it. We drove to the Southernmost Point to get a pic.
This was by the Southernmost Point, I call this one, Paradise Behind Bars.
By this time our para sailing adventure was about to start. It took about 20 minutes to find a parking spot for our scooters. We went to the para sailing spot and met up with Jeff and Leslie who were on the same para sailing adventure as us. We went up in the air and that's where things went wrong for me. My harness got all jacked up, and I was hanging in the air by my boys. The driver had to dip Lauren and I in the water so I could get my harness straightened out. I finally did and the 2nd half of the para sailing adventure was fun. The first half, not so much.
Notice the not fun pose!
The water was extremely choppy on the para sailing boat so I went back into the cruise ship to lay down for a bit. Ended up puking up my breakfast, ya I bet you really wanted to know that one. 15 minutes later I was feeling great. Lauren and I left the boat and went to Sloppy Joes to eat and have a drink. I had the conch fritters and a Yuengling brew daddy. The one thing I love about Key West is that every single bar we walked past had a band or acoustic music. There is nothing more I dislike than some loud DJ playing Kanye West all night. That's why you won't see me out on 4th street that often unless it's a Howl at the Moon night.
After wards, we drove our scooters around the island for a few hours and took a few photos. We stopped at The Hemmingway House.
We stopped by the Swinging Monkey Saloon because they had alcoholic icees. Everyone knows how much i love slushis and it was about 95 that day so it was a crucial stop.. We started walking back to the boat and went in a few shops, I bought a new pair of sunglasses for my Keeneland croakies and Lauren shopped around at American Apparel.
Back on the boat we sat around and napped until it was time to get ready for dinner. We got ready and then headed to Boleros again for trivia. We did a bit better than before, but still not enough to win a keychain. Then we headed to dinner where the servers repeated their singing and dancing routine. Afterwards we went to the casino and I lost the rest of my spending money. We had a few more cocktails then went to bed to end or fabulous vacation.
Day 5 - Miami, FL
Woke up extremely early again because the cruise director got on the intercom system and woke everyone up in 15 minute intervals. Lauren and I went and got breakfast then headed off the ship back to lovely Louisville.
Look at all the pictures here in the Facebook Albums:
Vacation on Royal Caribbean Cruise Line
Vacation on Royal Caribbean Cruise Line #2