Cruisin'

Just two days before we left on our cruise we had close to two feet of snow. So we left this:For this: (a nice trade dontcha think?)


We flew into Miami the night before the cruise left. It was so great to get out of the cold and enjoy the city together:

Fifteen years ago Diamond took me on a cruise for our Honeymoon. Just as we did 15 years ago, we again left out of Miami. We had to recreate the moment.

Leaving on our honeymoon in 1994:

Leaving on our 15 anniversary cruise 2009: (Seriously, this was SO much fun to do!)

Diamond was thrilled to find a basketball court on the ship:

We also enjoyed watching the sunset during the formal dinner:

We stopped in Freeport, Bahamas only to find rainy, cloudy and windy conditions. We were hoping for some great snorkeling, but settled for mostly sitting by the beach:

Nassau more than compensated though. Diamond found this place called the Blue Lagoon on Paradise Island. There were hammocks hanging from palm trees, clear blue waters, a white sandy beach, and a little bar to get tropical drinks. This was a good day!

My view:

My very favorite thing to do: reading a good book on the beach. Ahhh...

The next day we went to Great Stirrup Cay, a private island owned by the cruise line. Though the beach was a bit crowded they kept the staff busy asking me things like "would you like a drink Madame?" or "would you like something to eat?" Uh, YEAH!

I insisted on staying as long as possible. We had to be back on the ship by 4:30-and most people started packing it in around 3:30. Not us! We got on the very last tender out.


The snorkeling was amazing! We saw all kinds of cool fish like parrot fish, neons,yellowtail snappers, angel fish - Diamond even saw a Sting Ray. (This picture is us taking the tender back to the ship)

It was a fun, relaxing vacation. On the last night we found this guitarist who plays rock/blues music. It was so great to just sit and listen to him play. We even started playing a defacto "Name That Tune" game with him. So my kind of fun!

We had to get off the boat in the morning, but our flight didn't leave until 5pm. We had the better part of the day to hang in Miami, so we opted for South Beach. Unfortunately, we couldn't talk anyone into holding our luggage, so we ended up taking our suitcases out on the beach with us. (Such a redneck moment!) The upside was that a suitcase isn't so bad to lean against while you're hanging out on the beach.

One little warning, should you ever find yourself in Miami and are looking for a beach. South Beach is, um, shall we say, very, European. As in, men in speedos and women in bikini bottoms. Yup, from the grandma next to us, to the young thing frolicking in the water, there was a fair number of sunbathers that opted for bottoms only.

Not a bad way to use two free plane tickets: