Jamaica!

The second full day at sea was another day of wonderful nothingness. We hiked up flights of stairs, and more flights and stairs, and more and more flights of evil, tortorous stairs. They were out to get me for all my eating. Every flight of stairs we took reminded me that I was carrying not only my own personal weight, but also that of fries, and grilled arugula sandwiches, and ice cream, and hot dogs, and sushi, and...you get the idea. By now, these stairs were becoming my nemesis. We were determined not to take the elevators...we would defeat the stairs! Or we would just stay on one deck and try not to have to climb up and down them all day! Yup, we even went to an art auction in an effort to avoid going back to our room to get our Carnival Capers schedule. Or maybe we went for the free champagne. My memory fails me.




Our towel creature that night was very cuddly and begged me to pose with him after dinner. I think it was a howler monkey, but since I'm not really sure what exactly a howler monkey is, I leave yet another towel creature up for debate.

After dinner, we excitedly browsed our Carnival Capers for the next day. It was time to get off this boat and go to dry land...Jamaica! After looking over our options for excursions, we decided that we really just wanted to go lay on a beach and have fun. All the others seemed like they required too much energy, and that just wasn't what this cruise was all about. With that decision, we set an alarm, called it a night and tossed and turned excited about our day in the land of rum, Jimmy Buffet, and reggae.

We awoke the next morning to see the coast of Jamaica slipping slowly and quietly by. We apparently had not done our pre Jamaica homework because we were not expecting the mountains and jungles that we saw off in the distance. After a quick breakfast, we went up to the top decks to find a good view for pulling into port. I was very perplexed as to why massive amounts of bamboo and wood were floating by. I half expected to see a couple of Jamaicans floating by with them. Instead, I saw more bamboo and then our temporary captain cruising up in his little boat. I must give him kudos! Our boat could have easily swallowed his little boat (perhaps that's where the wood came from). He pulled right up to the door that suddenly appeared on the side of our ship, then took a fairly long leap on to the netting that was dropped out for him. Luckily he made it!

Soon, we were pulling into the port town of Montego Bay, approaching the cruise terminal, waving to the Royal Carribbean ship already in port, and...pulling past it?! Huh? We were going to the industrial shipping port. What's up with that? Apparently, Montego Bay only has room for one cruise ship, and we did not call it first. We were greeted with this site as our first landed view of Jamaica:

I must admit that Brad and I kind of looked at each other for a minute and questioned whether we would be getting off the ship. We were seeing a bit too much of the real Jamaica for our purposes. We wanted fun drinks with umbrellas, not freighter cars, mud, and oil. After pondering our fate for a bit and realizing that this was really where we were docking for the next 7 hours, we made our way to the excursion desk where a long line was forming. When it finally came time for us to talk to this wonderfully helpful (sarcasm) lady, our conversation went something like this:

Us: Do we need to take an excursion or is it safe just to go to a beach?

Her: It's safe.

Us: How do we get to a beach?

Her: Taxi.

Us: Where do we find a taxi?

Her: At the cruise terminal.

Us: How do we get to the cruise terminal?

Her: You walk over there. (umm...fantastic. I knew I should have brought hiking boots)

Us: Is it easy to get a taxi back?

Her: (with a look of shock) Of course.

So with that in mind, we went and gathered our stuff, took one last look from the ship at the city that was Montego Bay and began our journey.

As we got off the ship in our cattle call type line, we heard one of the entertainment people from the ship say that a bus would be taking us to the terminals. Okay, this is better...no hiking through mud, diesel, and scary people. But which bus? An army of busses had appeared to take people to their excursions. Before we knew what was happening, we were ushered onto a bus, which seats people 5 wide! Yes, we even sat in the aisle. The buses had this crazy extra seat that folded out. Great for moving people. Bad if a wreck should occur...or you think you're on the wrong bus and you're on the very back of the bus. Yeah, that was pretty much our predicament. We had been ushered on so quickly that we hadn't really had the chance to ask if we were on the right bus. We started asking people around us where they were going, and they all seemed equally confused. We were fairly certain we were being sold into slave labor. Suddenly, the bus lurched forward and off we went! And past the cruise terminal we went! Huh? Where on earth were we going?

Our bus driver broke into a tour guide explanation of things we were passing...the prison, a ratty hotel, a stray dog, some pot dealers. We weren't sure what kind of tour bus we were on, but we certainly couldn't complain about not seeing the real Jamaica! A few minutes later, we finally got an explanataion of what was going on. Our driver was stopping in two places, downtown and Doctor's Cove Beach. We could get off at which ever destination we chose. Phew. We were going to live to see a beach after all! Or maybe. First stop, downtown! I don't know which I was more scared of, our bus driver's driving skills or the skills of the other drivers. I'm fairly certain we hit something, but the bus driver didn't seem too concerned. He just changed directions and kept on going.

Finally, we arrived at the beach. We drove past Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville, but it was closed for a private event. Oh well. Our beach provided plenty of entertainment without it. It was a private beach, with chairs, umbrellas, entertainment and a restaurant. We claimed our chairs and for the first time that day, relaxed and enjoyed being on a tropical island.

The water was fantastic...calm, warm, and beautifully clear. We didn't have much of a beach to walk on, but it was great just to float around. The view behind us was gorgeous as well. A large mountain lurched behind the beach resort, covered in tropical forest and beautiful pink flowers. We couldn't have asked for a better afternoon. At one point, Brad even found a super large starfish. I would have a picture of it, but before I could run out and grab the camera, the star fish started wrapping it's arms around Brad's fingers. I'm fairly certain I heard a scream, but I have no evidence.

We finally were tempted by the smell of something delicious to roam up to the restaurant. The entertainment was great. A man on giant stilts was walking around on the sand serving drinks. Another man was swallowing fire...and lighting himself on fire.
The wonderful smell was Jamaican jerk chicken. Of course we had to try jerk chicken! What else do you eat when you're in Jamaica?! I must say that it was delicious. Brad got a kick out of the fork...it was almost a hook 'em horns kind of fork.


We were really having a fantastic afternoon, but Mother Nature decided that it was time that we returned to our ship. About 4.5 hours after arriving, the sky started making ominous noises and within 15 minutes had opened up its water supply. Luckily the hoard of taxi drivers at the beach had already quickly grabbed us and another couple and thrown us in a car. I really think Jamaica is a country that likes herding Americans into vehicles. I'm not sure what its ultimate purpose is, but I know we experienced it often!

We arrived back at the shipyards, walked through the maze of freight cars through customs and waited in line for our turn to get on the ship. A reggae band played for us the whole time! I love free entertainement. Did I mention that it was the same song...5 times in a row??

Once safely back on board, it was clear that many of our shipmates had clearly enjoyed much of the local product, and I don't mean the Appleton rum. I half expected one young couple to be throw into the ship's timeout center. With the exception of the pouring rain and the local entertainment, the rest of the evening was fairly uneventful. We were greeted by a cute kitten that night.

Life at Sea

Since we weren't really scheduled to be on a 7 day cruise, we weren't really sure what our plan was supposed to be. All we knew was that we were on vacation! I don't really think Carnival knew what our plan was supposed to be. So the first day was...well...wonderfully boring! We slept in, or at least tried to. I realized on the first morning that not having a real window in your cabin has one major flaw. You have no idea what time it is. Brad and I alternated waking up and wondering if it was 3 AM or 3 PM. (If it's 3 AM, then it's obviously too early and rock me back to sleep big ship! but if it's 3 PM, we might be missing food!) It was usually closer to 3 AM, or 4 AM, or 5 AM, but ultimately I think we got a lot of sleep that first night. We just added to our mental list of cruise details that a bedside clock would be a good addition to our bag (in addition to the Dr. Pepper).

So we woke up fairly rested, hopped into our nicer gym wear, skipped up the 6 flights of stairs to Lido deck, enjoyed a nice light breakfast of one slice of french toast and some fruit (no really!), skipped up 2 more flights of stairs, and went to the gym (no REALLY!). It was kind of like being in a gym right after New Years. Every treadmill was occupied by people who clearly haven't seen a gym in a while (and there were a TON of them on this ship...Biggest Loser could have cast the next three seasons). Every bike was equally as occupied. Every weight machine was in horrible condition. So with sadness on our faces (hide that smile Brad), we decided that working out on the ship was likely not going to be on our schedule. We would just take the stairs every day all day, swim on our days in port, and go up to the track for a mile walk after every meal.

The rest of the day was spent lounging at the pool, watching the hairy chest contest, watching ice carving demonstrations, reading, munching on fries and arugula sandwiches, and enjoying the fantastic Yellowbird drink (I now know how to make it if anyone needs a new fun drink). Basically, it was fantastic. We ended the day with formal dinner, lobster and bread pudding, a bottle of wine, and a wee bit of slots (c'mon little dino...let's go digging for gold!). Our towel animal for the night was this little guy...I vote pig.

At Sea!

After chasing down one last fountain Dr. Pepper for me, Brad and I got to the Galveston port at noon. On a side note, I still don't understand how a cruise line expects to sail out of Texas and not serve Dr. Pepper. The airlines have all figured it out...why can't Carnival? But back to cruising. We lined up, filled out our health surveys, looked around to see if anyone looked suspiciously sick, (noticed people carrying on 12 packs of Dr. Pepper...smart, very smart), got our boarding passes and then walked onboard to begin our journey.

After exploring the ship and grabbing a bite to eat, I took Brad to the cabin that would be our home for the next week...all 150 square feet of it. He took it surprisingly well! I'm pretty sure he rationalized that it was like being on a European vacation, but whatever works! We unpacked, bumped into each other a few times and then made up first trek up the flights of stairs for our evacutation drill. I felt left out. My life vest didn't have the cool blinking light on it for in case I was floating in the Gulf waiting to be rescued. I tried to rationalize that the sharks wouldn't be able to see me either, but somehow it didn't provide much comfort. At least I had the super clean, brand spanking new, non swine flu and other cooties life vest. And yes, that is the lovely port of Galveston behind me. Ah, the smell of diesel is a great way to start a tropical vacation.

The rest of the day passed as pretty much any cruise vacation would...super stout drinks of the day with little umbrellas, a few dollars spent at penny slots, watching the ship pull out, enjoying 5:00 sushi, picking out an excursion, and pretty much packing in as much activity as you possibly can in a few hours. Dinner offered a small surprise though. I had mentioned to the booking agent that it was our anniversary trip. That night at dinner, all the waiters on our side of ship gathered round, sang Happy Anniversay to the tune of Happy Birthday, made us kiss in front of everyone, and presented us with the first of many, many, many deserts. We're not entirely sure what it was, but it wasn't half bad.

Finally we called it a night and met our first towel creature. I think it was a walrus.

We're BACK! and slightly more freckled...

Yes, that's right. We do still blog...at least for a while. Yes, I will eventually go back and post pictures and details of Aruba, London, and Seattle as well all the goodies about being newlyweds in a 50 year old house. First and foremost though, it's cruise time!

As our first anniversary approached, my 30th b-day passed and Brad's approached, I decided that we should celebrate with a quick getaway south of the border. I had spent many a long weekend over the past 15 years enjoying mother/daughter (and one mother/daughter/father) trips down to Cozumel as well as mother/daughter cruises to the same destination, but Brad had never been. I thought it was time my husband got to experience my little getaway and be able to join in on the Cozumel conversations. After a week of scouring the internet for good deals, we finally found the perfect cruise...the 5 day Carnival Ecstasy cruise to Cozumel and Progresso. It was the best of all worlds...Brad would get to see Cozumel and experience a cruise, we would both pick up a new destination in Progresso, and best of all, it was SUPER cheap.

For months, we talked about the cruise, the excursions, the drink of the day, the sites and attractions. We read up on Progresso, tried to find the best snorkeling spot in Cozumel, and started shopping for shorts, sunscreen and new flip flops. The excitement was uncontrollable, and the weeks seemed to drag slower than they had even before the wedding.

Yes, we discussed the whole drug cartel war going on in Mexico (remember that?). People were being beheaded! But none of them were American tourists that we knew of, and certainly no red-heads, so I felt we were safe. Regardless, we promised the parents that we wouldn't be going on any unauthorized journeys into the jungles searching for Mayan ruins just in case the drug people were waiting for us. And then one Friday night late in April, I flipped on the news and heard this little blip about a flu bug spreading in Mexico. Flu? Who cares? Big deal. They spent less than 20 seconds talking about it. Saturday, it was still just a blip. Sunday, it wasn't even on the news. But Monday? Ah yes, swine flu. Need I say more? Suddenly the world was forbidden from travelling to Mexico. Carnival and the other cruise lines stranded passengers on cruises to nowhere. Imagine just swimming in circles around the Gulf, waving to Cuba, Mexico and the oil platforms and tankers as you passed. AGONY! We were 2 weeks from travelling and they were cancelling all Mexico ports of call. What were we going to do?!?! I didn't want to just sail around for a week.

With a week to go, we finally got the news. Our 5 day cruise to Mexico was now...a 7 day to Jamaica and Grand Cayman! Go swine flu! (ok, not really go swine flu, but you get the idea). Off to Galveston we went!

Galveston was still a war zone from Hurricane Ike. I couldn't take pictures because I was too busy just staring. Entire blocks of homes were leveled to the ground or fenced off for demolition. Every home and building still standing was undergoing repairs. The old oak trees that once lined Broadway were either dead or sick. Stores still didn't have basic supplies. The old hotel that one stood on the water was missing a huge chunk of its wall and all of its bridge. And it was here where we began our adventure...

Honeymoon!

The first 24 hours...


After our wedding was over (details later), the limo took us from Tyler to the mystery hotel that Brad had booked for us. Brad made me wait until we were exiting from I-30 into downtown to tell me where we were spending our first night together. I was delighted to find that it was the historical Magnolia Hotel in downtown Dallas.


Our limo driver pulled up to the entrance that his not so handy dandy little GPS told him he should be at. Little did we know, but it was NOT the correct one. The doors on this side of the hotel were locked at night and could only be opened with a hotel key. As we had not checked in yet, we obviously did not have one. So while Brad went around to the main entrance (which was not large enough for a stretch limo), the driver and I stood on a dark, downtown Dallas street with all our luggage, the wedding dinner that I hadn't gotten to eat and 2 bottles of champagne (thanks Rhonda!) while the homeless and others roamed around.


Brad soon came and opened the door for us, and I was suddenly left with a dilemma. Did I leave all our bags sitting outside and hope that one of the passerbys didn't help themselves to one of them (there were some shady looking creatures) while our driver slowly brought them in or did I stand there by myself waiting to make the 5 AM news as the bride killed on her wedding night for a bottle of champagne? I chose to risk it and stand outside...couldn't very well have my swimsuits walk off before going to Aruba. Sure enough, as Brad and the driver worked to get our bags in, I was approached by a guy that wanted money...or my champagne. He was willing to take either, but he wanted one of them. Luckily my smooth talking skills, my total lack of cash, and my death grip on my bottle of champagne won out and the guy walked away...or maybe it was the security guy and our driver walking out that saved me. Anyways...


Brad and I finally checked in and went upstairs to our very lovely room, complete with another bottle of champagne. OK, so maybe I didn't have to risk my life for the bottle of champagne, but I was a newlywed who hadn't had anything remotely of a celebratory nature to drink yet, and I wanted a glass of champagne with my husband. Now, I had 3 bottles...and chocolate covered strawberries, and milk and COOKIES! Yes, I was probably more excited by the cookies than I should have been, but they were tasty! I don't know whether to blame too much Sesame Street and the Cookie Monster as a kid or whether it's my complete inability to "romantically" eat chocolate covered strawberries without ending up a brown and red mess, but I much prefer cookies. That doesn't mean that I didn't help my share to the strawberries. The champagne covered ones were especially nice...after Brad started laughing at me and spilled his glass all over them.











The next morning, the towncar picked us up to take us to the airport. I knew we were in trouble when the pockets of said car were full of motivational materials that our driver felt compelled to point out to us. I knew we were further in trouble when he started telling us about his wife...and the fight they got into over a loaf of bread...and how he wasn't planning on going home that night because of it...but that was love! Yeah, he felt like imparting advice to the newlyweds. Don't fret the small stuff he says. Apparently he doesn't know that a loaf of bread is the small stuff, but at least his overall message was good...just don't listen to the details.


Our flight to Miami was relatively uneventful. In fact, it was so uneventful that I don't even remember any details about it. The flight on to Aruba was a different matter. We spoiled ourselves with first class tickets. As soon as we sat down, our flight attendant introduced himself to us and seemed quite excited to be on the flight. Wouldn't you be if your job took you to Aruba for the night? Shortly after takeoff, he brought us our little jar of roasted nuts and me my first glass of wine. Apparently he noticed that I was picking through the nuts trying to find all the cashews and pistachios because within the first hour he had brought both Brad and I another bowl of nuts...and had picked out everything but the cashews and pistachios! OK, so some of my friends might consider that a bit creepy, but personally I was delighted...then again, the flight attendant didn't believe that wine glasses should be empty so I was delighted by a lot...especially all the little islands we flew over!


Soon we were landing in Aruba, clearing customs and preparing to start our vacation!

Sneak preview of wedding pics

Well, we still don't really have our wedding pictures, but I did manage to steal this one from our photographer's blog (caseyjaybenson.blogspot.com). I guess you get to wait a while for pics when you have a really good wedding photographer and a June wedding.

Bridals

I'm officially the worst blogger ever. Okay, perhaps not the worst, but certainly not in the top 80% of super bloggers. What can I say? I'm a busy girl!

Now that the wedding is over though, I can go back and start catching up! I finally got a chance to look over my bridal shoot in detail so I thought I would share a few with my faithful followers...all 2 of them.