NEVER A DULL MOMENT: WESTERN CARIBBEAN

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ME!! On February 6th I flew out to sunny Ft. Lauderdale, FL and met Ann to cash in our Christmas Present from our hubbies. Brent gave me a 5 night Western Caribbean cruise porting in Labadee, Haiti, and Montego Bay, Jamaica. And I will just say that IT RULED!!!

I flew through the clouds...it was bumpy...a lot of turbulance. But peaceful. I flew through the clouds!!

Ann and I started our Monday morning walking about a mile or so to the nearest Starbucks...yes, I said A MILE! I didn't even know there was anywhere left in the country that spaced out Starbucks' so far.(jk). I was pretty healthy and just ordered a GRANDE Strawberries and Creame...yeah, right!

Once we boarded the ship, the NAVIGATOR OF THE SEAS, I immediatly made use of my Soda Package...yup, that's right. Diet Coke unlimited all week for $35. And YES, it was worth it! We walked around the ship to aquaint ourselves. You'd think you couldn't get lost on a ship...yes, yes, you can. "Are we in the forward?" "Are we in the Aft?" "Where the H--- are we!!!" Proud to say that by the end of the five days at least one of us knew exactly where we were.

Ode to Don...No, Ann wasn't stepping out on her Irish decent hubby, but she did sneak a kiss from this statue in remembrance. Oh, and did I mention that I kicked her royal wazoo on the mini golf course...I'm just sayin'....

I'm just gonna be honest and state that this is pretty much what we did all day during the day - LAY OUT! And it was fabulous!

Royal Caribbean had some pretty good entertainment for us. One of which was their Ice Skating show...seriously, we're in the middle of the caribbean and these skaters are throwing double toe loops(I don't really know what that is but it sounds good)

One of our towel pets...classic

Formal night...and let me just say how excited Ann and I were to get dressed up for the night. So somehow we missed the memo which night was formal night(well, we know how we missed it but it's too embarrassing to just say we didn't READ)...so when we came out of the Ice show with seven minutes to dinner and everyone is dressed to the nine's we ran..and I mean we ran up those 5 flights of stairs, threw on our dresses, and were down to the dinner table by 6:10-pretty darn good, right!

And this is my Ode to Debbie! VALLEY GIRL!!!

So during those first two days we had leisure days and funfilled evenings with shows, name that tune games, the ice skating, and a midnight comedian, and of course DANCING GALLORE!!!! I don't even care if I spelled gallore wrong because we danced GALL-ORE!

On to Labadee, Haiti, Royal Caribbeans' private island.

Ann and I splurged to defy gravity. We signed up to zip-line down the worlds longest zip line over water. And it was worth every single penny we charged on that credit card! below is a pre-flight picture. Then we went exploring the island-which didn't take long because, well, the island was just big enough to support the two ships at port...

It's hard to see but at the top of the mountain the wires for the zip line begin and then it's literally all down hill from there! It was awesome!

I have to admit I was a little nervous...and not the fake, oh I'm cute if I look nervous kind...I was literally nervous in my stomach. But we started on a practice run(which was great but much scarier than the real deal for some reason).

This is the view from the top of the practice run. That wire is what held my life...

The jeep ride up to the top of the mountain...

And here we are at the top...holy moly! I screamed the whole way down, but out of pure satisfaction that I was flying through the air! A poor sap just a few after me got stuck out in the middle and one of the locals had to wade out, throw him a rope, and pull him in. And Ann, what do we call those poor saps....hehe (SFA)

Death defying really brings on an appetite...I had the best greek salad I've ever eaten. YUM!

Just a simple view from where we plopped ourselves for the rest of the afternoon. The water was beautifully clear, the weather was perfectly hot, and I was most ardently in heaven!

We spent some time in the Craft Market buying gifts for our families. I brought home some maraccas for the kids, a hand made globe for Brent's desk, and a wooden sword and machete for the boys...they loved them! Below is the view getting back to the ship. It was a little overwhelming walking in between these two massive structures. I have to say the thought morbidly crossed my mine...what if...

That night was filled with more name that tunes trivia, an awesome dinner with our table-mates, and the most HILARIOUS impressionist! We were laughing sooooo hard, it was quite possible I had an accident...ok I didn't but he was soo funny! Ann, remember the Michael Jackson ruined cassette tape-so hilarious!!! And of course MORE DANCING!!!

And then on to Montego Bay, Jamaica. I'm sure Jamaica is a fantastic place. Montego Bay...not my favorite. Not even sure I'd get off the ship again if I visited this particular part of Jamaica. Could it have anything to do with the fact that Ann and I decided to WALK into town from the ship port?...maybe. Once I saw a local in the middle of the street pretending to shoot at passing cars I realized we'd made a mistake. But onward we went....

Our goal in Montego Bay was to find a beach, a little bit of shopping, and Ann wanted to go to the legendary Margaritaville. What did we accomplish...A lot of walking, a bit o' shopping(bought Mads a cute little dress), Margaritaville, and a very awkward cab ride back to the port....

That's Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville in the background.

On the menu for me...a virgin Daquari and some nacho's....YUM! On the menu for my dear friend Ann...you'll discover soon enough a bit down the page. hehe

woooop, there it is...now before anyone starts getting excited...They were playing a game and Ann was a contestant...and she won -not the grand prize, but something that was worth enough to her, RIGHT ANN! :) And fulfilled an "always wanted to do". She looked faboosh!

And here is me looking faboosh with my totum...hehe

As I mentioned before, our cab ride home was a little interesting. I gave the guy an extra $1 to take us on a bit of a scenic tour back to the port. AN EXTRA $1!!!! After taking enough turns that the port was clearly in the exact 180 degree opposite direction I wondered the value of that $1 and where it might land us.... Our cab driver ended up taking us up on one of the scenic lookouts. On one side we got a glimpse of the village made up of shacks off the side of the mountain...

On the other, the beautiful water, city, and clear division of living standards...

That night's entertainment was comically horrible! The name that tunes was great, the dancing was great, but the headliner show was to die for..no really, I thought I was going to die watching it. :( But luckily with a bit of humor we were able to make it through. I mean it can't be perfectly fantastic-o.

HEY ANN...."those girls haven't.......!!!" Inside joke that really wouldn't be funny to anyone but the subjects its' about - ME and ANN! :)

The last day was an "at-sea" day. Which translates into another lazy day. YUP!!! And the final pics are random, like this water that could swallow me up before anyone noticed I was gone...

And this titanic-like, grand staircase into the dining room. By the way, the food was GREAT!

We ALL enjoyed the flowerless chocolate cakes...Ann was just the only one smart enough to ask for it in bulk..hehe! THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT! :)

Falcao...out waiter. He was great!

Our tablemates...Laura, Dan, and Jan...

and their Ode to Debbie(valley girl)

Karen, Debbie, and...and...Paul? Doing their best Ode to Debbie...

And Sue and Larry...and their Ode to Debbie...Yup...valley girl made the rounds at our table :)

For remembrance sake...Larry reminded me so much of my dad. His mannerisms, his quick wit, country like comments, his politial views(yes, dad, he's a Mit fan!), even his salt n pepper hair. They were a great couple! All our tablemates were great! Once again, a great dining experience.

And last but not least I couldn't leave out the hall art. It was odd, to put it respectfully. Shoes....

Barbie...

A random piece of fabric hanging over a rod...

And this crazy blonde that for some reason wanted to pick a fight with me...

What a great vacation! What a great cruise! Most happy with Royal Caribbean once again. I need to sign up for their frequent cruisers club or something. Next cruise I'm taking the kids. But this time...THANKS ANN FOR A GREAT VACATION!!! And THANKS BRENT FOR GIVING ME THE VACATION!!!!

Last but not least, this poor guy was roaming around the Ft. Lauderdale airport on Saturday morning. What a survivor! He was happy as could be hopping around on one foot. Actually, he was using his stump quite efficiently. :)