Ok this is a crazy long update with lots of detail and pics so get comfy ok !!!
Let me start at the very beginning, a very good place to start :-) So once we got over all the craziness of Summer and trips and school getting started etc. I said to Dave that I had a babysitter for our Anniversary weekend, which was a long weekend this year and he needed to start thinking of somewhere different for us to go. Anyway so sometime early in October I asked him if he had any ideas coz I needed to start making the bookings and plans and his response was 'I have it covered' end of conversation !!! I asked him what this meant and all I got was 'I have this covered' ... this was scary (hehehe), Dave NEVER plans stuff but I was intrigued and excited all at the same time.
Anyway as time passed he said to me that he had to change the weekend from the one I had sorted out with our babysitter to another weekend but that he had cleared it with her and it was ok. This totally annoyed me because firstly it was our Anniversary weekend which was a long weekend and now we would be on a weekend that was not a long weekend. Also you can't just change a weekend and make bookings without talking to me, other than messing the babysitter around which by the way had just lost her job and was frazzled, I had work commitments, Jade had cheer commitments and it's a crazy time of the year, you can't just book out an entire weekend without telling me, I was so annoyed :-(
So he eventually said he changed it to another weekend, oh my gosh what was he not getting ... (hehehe) well it turns out that he did not want to tell me what the actual weekend date was because he was worried I would put two and two together and figure out where we were going which he was right in being worried because when he told me the date, within hours I had a hunch but wasn't sure ...
The next day I was texting my friends hubby about something and in passing I said to him 'Isn't it cool that we are cruising with you guys' and his response was 'yeah that is cool' !!! No surely he would not give it away like that ??? I didn't respond back but the following day I was chatting with his wife Jennifer which called me to ask details about Ambers Halloween costume she was making for me and in conversation again I said so ... my gosh we are cruising with you all and she said 'I am so glad he told you, I could not have lied to you for all this time' (hehehe) !!! I did not let on that he told me and she kept giving me details and before I knew it I knew my kids were going with us ... ON NO !!! This was my Anniversary trip, no kids allowed !!! But I knew that cruises were fun for kids too so figured they would go into the Club Carnival Camp and we would have lots of alone time anyway so it was ok but now to not let on that I knew.
I was so good ... oh my gosh Dave gave me so many little hints which he doesn't even realize he did along the way but me knowing picked them all up :-) There was so much planning to be done but I had to be so careful he would not pick up that I knew, I totally did not want to ruin the surprise, well yeah it was a little ruined already but you know what I mean, he went to all this trouble I wanted him to still tell me when he was ready but my gosh ... when was he going to tell me ???
On our actual anniversary he did not tell him, I could have killed him, I was sitting on tender needles and nothing !!! So I said when are you going to tell me, you know he was only going to tell me like 2 or 3 days before, is that not crazy and I needed to pack Summer clothes and we were in Winter now and he wasn't going to tell me till just before we went, the joke is he even thought of doing the packing for us all, yeah 3 girls and not tell me at all. After all these years does this guy not know me at all, I would have killed him !!!
Anyway so he did this cute Powerpoint presentation to tell me and it was like 10 minutes long and the whole time I was inbetween bursting our laughing and tearing up not knowing how I was going to say I knew ... so at the end he asked if I had a clue :-) and I hopped up and ran over and hugged him and said 'I know' :-( but I didn't want to spoil it for him coz I was soooooooooooooo proud of him that he pulled this off and was spoiling us in that way :-) I could tell he was a little disappointed but he was ok, I think it was ok.
So now all the planning had to start and it was a crazy rush coz we were leaving in a week and now I had a ton to do but of course I pulled it off and we left the Friday morning after Thanksgiving, yeah Black Friday, as excited as I was to go on this trip, Black Friday, it's my Christmas shopping day ... oh no well what could I do right.
We left out of Charleston which is about 3 1/2 hours away from Charlotte which was nice since most cruises go out of Florida, this was an easier drive for us.
The parking and getting on the ship wasn't too big a deal but it all took way too long. Once we had gone and dropped off our hand luggage in our minute cabin, oh my gosh, did I say minute cabin ... let me tell you how minute it was, I knew it was going to be small but it's really small. We had a king size bed, the one side was against the wall, the front had about a foot between the bed and the wall, not space we ever used ... then the other side, you took one giant step and you were in the passage way between the bed and the door. Off that passage way was the bathroom which was a toilet, basin and shower, not actually too bad for such a small room. Oh but wait the kids beds, when you go into the room the beds / bunks are folded into the wall, they come and open it late in the evening just before bedtime, they open above our bed, about a foot and a half above us and there is about three feet between the two, oh my gosh, yeah if you were claustrophobic you totally could not stay in one of those rooms !!! Pity I didn't get a picture, not sure why, maybe my lens was too big (hehehe) !!!
Ok so we went up to the buffet for lunch, this is where we ate breakfast and lunch every day for the most part, let me tell you, cruising is all about food or if you drink, drink and food, it's crazy. Let me give you a small run down of food, breakfast there was you know the usual buffet of eggs, bacon, sausage and all that goes with that, breads, toasts, pastries, pancakes, waffles, cereals and fresh fruit. It was a little different every day, too big a start for my day if you ask me, especially since we got a late start most days coz we waited until Amber woke up.
Then lunch was a variety of stuff, every day it was different, there was always American food, like Hamburger, Hotdogs, Fries and of course Pizza which you could get 24 hours a day. There was always an Italian buffet and some other stuff too. There was always fresh fruit and ice cream which was also 24 hours a day, most times there was sushi and made to order sandwiches but oh my golly the dessert table, too much or too much !!! It was always different and so much to choose from, unbelievable really.
But now dinner, that was the most amazing meal of the day, something you absolutely looked forward to, it was a three course meal in a nice dining room, you would get a menu every day, the left side of the menu had stuff that they served every day, the right side was new every day. I cannot even give you an idea of everything we tired but here's the thing, if you ordered say for instance a soup starter and it was yummy, you ordered another one, all food is free on the boat for the most part, then say you liked the main meal, like there was lobster one night, Dave had three main meals !!! Oh and dessert, yeah no, you would order one you knew you would like and another one to try too, unbelievable !!! And everything absolutely everything we ate in that dining room was yummy and for me to say that, yeah it was yummy. Ok enough about food !!!
Ok so back to that first day ... you know Dave gets bad motion sickness well those first two days were not good, even for me but that first day, shame the guy had to excuse himself from our fancy dinner and go to bed. I took Amber back to the room at about 10 that night and he was ok but not great, left her there to go to bed with Dave and Jade and I went back out, till around midnight and when I put my head down on the pillow I thought ... oh gosh I am going to fall out this bed tonight, it was terrible. Apparently the waves were 6 - 8 foot which is choppy for the little boat we were on. Thankfully day two him and I spent a lot of time on the deck and the fresh air helped, he was ok from them on out.
Jade and Amber both enjoyed the camp, Amber was in there a lot !!! It was just easier to have her in there than have her with us all the time, we would do breakfast with her, then she would go in for about two hours then we would grab her for lunch and she would hang with us a while and then we would put her in early evening, she would actually even have dinner in the dining room with the camp and she would not sit with us, so it made that evening meal more enjoyable. Oh what I didn't tell you is that we were cruising with 23 people in our group, our friends David and Jennifer (who planned most of the trip), their three kids, Kaleigh (13), Laurin which is Jades best friend (9) and Ava who Amber adores (5). Then their friends which we know Thomas and Stephanie and their Ava (5). Jens mom and her partner and then two other families which they knew. Why I am telling you this is Laurin having an older sister is probably more mature than Jade so while Jade enjoyed the camps, Laurin did not and she would go in and try and talk Jade into not going back which was tough sometimes. This mom had to suck it up for sure this trip and allow her 9 year old at that stage a bit more freedom. She got to go places with Laurin on her own, freaked me out a bit but thankfully she was ok but still. So that all being said, Dave and I actually didn't get as much of a break as we thought we would, it was actually quite exhausted all of it really, on getting back you almost needed a vacation from your vacation.
Ok so that's day one and two, just ship stuff, lots of karaoke, way more than I ever wanted to see but Jade loved it, she even got to sing with a live band which was neat. We got to see lots of cheesy stuff onboard, bingo, games and competitions but there were two really nice shows. Oh and a comedy show which was ok.
Day three, Nassau Bahamas, let me start by saying, every picture you have ever seen of the Bahamas, that beautiful clear water and fantastic beaches, it's nothing like that at all. Don't get me wrong we had a great time but SA has better beaches I am thinking !!! Ok the water was nice in a few spots but still not like I thought it would be.
Here are a couple of pics ... yeah I know you never thought I would get to the pics, I know, I told you this would be a long update !!!
Waking up in the port of Nassau was exciting, we went up for breakfast and this was the view from our table, that is the famous Atlantis Resort, beautiful.
Imagine living in that house !!! As beautiful as it looks we saw how badly all the natural storms had touched this place, the devastation is crazy, so to chose to live right on that spot, you have to be certifiable !!!
Ok so let me warn you, it is going to look for the next too days like we only have one child, that is because both times we left the ship we left Amber onboard, yeah I know she could have had some fun with us too but you know we had a lot more fun knowing she was being taken care of onboard and we could have a bit of a break. Also I think everyone that said 'poor Amber' in our group that had little kids, especially the two 5 year olds, wish they had left their kids onboard too, was the best decision we made !!!
Look in the distance, there are Dave and Jade standing next to our boat we just got off.
I wanted this to be a picture of the entire ship in the back ... but the lady taking our picture did not get that :-(
There you go, that's the shot I wanted.
Other than fattening you up with food on the boat, I think their other aim is to take as many photo's of you that they can, they really take pictures at every opportunity, dinner time, while shopping, certain areas on the boat, getting on and off the boat, everywhere, so there are many places like here where they would take professional pics of you, but this one I just too ... we never bought any of the onboard pics, they were crazy expensive.
At the port we bought a tour from one of the hundred of people selling tours. This one took us around the island, this was one of the places we stopped, it was called the straw mall or something like that, it wasn't too different to the stalls all over in Cape Town, everyone was selling the same touristy items, only you could negotiate with them easily and bring the prices down way low. I bought David a cap from there since he forgot his on the boat and Jade bought herself a necklace.
Love this picture of Dave and Jade, so tropical.
Look at these trees growing on the side of this hill, how weird is it that the roots are on the outside and not in the soil.
This was one of the families we went away with, our friends Jennifer and David, their three kids and then other Ava which is Stephanie and Thomas's daughter, they went shark diving, yep with no cage, so Jen kept Ava for them. And that is Jens mom and her partner on the right.
And us outside the Atlantis Resort, as a tourist you could only go so many places in the resort, they apparently have an amazing water park but we did not get to see it sadly.
It was really pretty there, so many big luxury boats in the background ...
Jade and her BFF Laurin got to sit in the Million Dollar Chair ... yeah no, I don't know (hehehe) !!!
More Atlantis Resort.
Four of the girls in our 'black' taxi, just like the SA black taxi, taking our tour.
After our tour, our guide dropped us off at a local beach for about 3 hours, it had nice white sand and as you can see the ocean was pretty blue but the waves, it doesn't look that way below but the waves were really rough which didn't allow you to get out past the breakers easily, poor Jade tried quite a couple of times before she got it right, they would really smack you down hard, left her in tears one time but once she got out there she had a good time with Dave. Here are some of our group feeling the water for the first time and realizing it was not as warm as they thought it would be.
David M with the endless rum coconuts that he drank on the beach, with his daughter Laurin.
Having fun in the sand, this was about the only time I felt bad Amber wasn't there she would have had a ball on the beach.
Very festive on deck right :-) was the best part of the boat to hang out at, Dave and I enjoyed it there.
Jade on the left going down one of the slides on the boat, the other slide actually hung out over the side of the boat and she was not too keen to do that one. They were great for the kids only the water was so cold that not ideal this time of year.
Ok this was the next day at our next port in the Bahamas, Freeport. I surprised David and Jade and we went with most of the group to a secluded beach to go snorkeling on the reef. Here David was walking Laurin and Jade in. The highlight of my trip was that I didn't think snorkeling would be my thing so I rented a kayak for two hours and paddled out into the ocean, totally loved it, was scared to death at first but totally loved it, wished I could have done it for way longer. Thought I would be so stiff the next day but I really wasn't and I was getting a good workout out there. Why I was telling you this was Dave wanted Jade to go out onto the reef with him but Laurin was nervous so I pulled her and Jade all the way out there behind the kayak while Dave swam. That was tough !!!
They had a good time, Jade unfortunately got stung by fire corral but thankfully the sting did not last too long and she still got to enjoy the experience out there. When Jade got tired she swam in with the other adults while Dave and I stayed out there for about 2 1/2 hours. Very cool experience. They got to see so many wonderful things on the reef, totally not my thing but a great experience for Jade and for Dave too.
Two besties hanging out together. Definitely a vacation Jade will remember for a long time.
Our hang out for the afternoon. Looked like a real dump but it was really cool hanging out there, another highlight is they sold Ginger Beer, not the SA type but it tasted the same so that's all we drank the afternoon, also brought enough with us to last us the rest of the trip, wish I had bought more, it was so much cheaper there than it is here in NC.
Dave and I took a walk along the beach, our beaches in SA are still better !!! I did this picture below, seen it so many times but could not get a great shot of it :-( I would have had to walk into the water and it was full of rocks and corral and I was barefoot and yeah I am a baby so this was the best I could do.
The girls snorkeling in the shallow water.
This is Funship Freddy, he is the Club Carnival Mascot. Amber didn't like him at first, she doesn't like these big characters but she eventually warmed up to him. This picture was taken on our last day, just after Jade did her singing in the talent show, see video below this.
As I mentioned earlier she actually sang with a live band on this stage earlier on in the cruise but I never had my video with me and well since we weren't connected on the boat, I didn't even have my phone with me to record her. This was her in the talent show though.
These last pictures were taken on the last evening, told Dave we had not taken any pictures on the boat really, was just a pain to carry the camera round all the time. Anyway so here you go, just a few and sadly it had just rained and the weather was yucky, not the best time for pictures but it's better than nothing right.
This was outside our dining room.
This is a cheat picture ... this was one of the canvas's that you could stand at to have your family picture taken but I thought it looked really pretty.
Just a picture of the different floors, cool looking right ?
I so wanted to take some sunset family pictures but because it rained that last evening, they weren't that great :-(
Poser number two.
A mommy and girls pic ...
And of course a daddy and girls pic.
Jade again.
And our final sunset on the boat.
Another picture of the deck we hung out the most on.
The girls being silly.
This is where we did most of our casual meals ... and where the kids got to have so much ice cream, I think every time Jade went past here with or without us, she grabbed ice cream. It also become a thing to have ice cream on the way back to the room for bedtime, yep not many times the girls will get that opportunity right ? It was fun though.
One of the highlights to go back to the room at night was to see what our next towel animal would be :-) In camp Jade learnt how to fold some of these, very cool :-)
Wow ok, now I feel like I have been sitting here for hours, no I have been sitting here for hours !!! But I am so done with the cruise update, now there is really only December, Jades birthday and Christmas, I can see the light !!!
On a last note, there were many things on the cruise which were not enjoyable for us but there was also tons of fun too, would we go again ... not so sure, if we went again it would have to be a bigger boat so that we didn't feel the boat moving as much ... funny thing is that for at least 3 days after you get off the boat, the ground still moves for you, how weird is that ? Pretty gross !!! Also we would try it again with maybe just Dave and I or the kids would have to be a lot older.
Dave thinks the best trip would be something similar which would be a trip to Mexico to one of the everything included resorts, it would still be by water and on the beach, still have a camp and lots of activities for the kids and adults of course, the food plan would be the same but it would be on dry land and also not so cute off from civilization, that was weird and hard at times.
That all being said, I am VERY thankful to my hubby for allowing us the opportunity to take a trip like this and to experience it all so that we can now say, been there done that !!! I am even more thankful that he wanted to try and surprise me, anyone that knows Dave knows he is not that kind of guy that so that touched me way more than the trip itself, now I am just wondering how he is going to one up this one :-) Jade is super thankful for getting 3 days off school, even though it meant a project on what she did and learnt on the trip which was more work for mom !!! Oh well ... very very thankful for my family and all we get to do together.
Thank you David, love you like crazy babes !!!
REMEMBER TO SCROLL UP AND DOWN TO MAKE SURE YOU DON'T MISS ANYTHING, CRAZY BIG CATCH UP SESSION AGAIN.
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