Dan and I decided it would be fun to get away one last time as a couple before our baby arrives this fall, and since the timing coincided with Dan finding a new job at Select Comfort we decided to celebrate with a cruise. We have so many events in May including my mom's birthday, mother's day, my dad's birthday, Memorial Day weekend, work trips and a bridal shower for my cousin that it was difficult to find a week that worked. We finally settled on the week of May 11th and chose a 5-day cruise from Ft. Lauderdale to Key West, to Cozumel and then Belize City. Of course as everyone knows the Swine Flu frenzy happened 2 weeks before the cruise so they canceled the Cozumel day and so our two stops were Key West and Belize.
It was a WONDERFUL vacation! It started off a little scary because we had an early flight on the 11th to make our ship departure time at 5, and the plane had mechanical problems! They delay was going to cause us to miss our connection in Detroit so we were sitting in Minneapolis trying to figure out how to get to our port. The direct flight to Ft. Lauderdale had one seat left, and although having one of us make the cruise vs. neither of us crossed our minds - it wouldn't have been as fun :), so we felt helpless. Finally I asked how far Miami was and upon hearing it was only 45 minutes away we decided our only option was to fly direct and arrive at 2:45 p.m. Knowing the ship closed at 3:30, that was not a lot of time and certainly not enough to wait for our luggage, but at least we'd hope to get on the boat. Our friend Missy's dad lives in Ft. Lauderdale so we called to see if he'd possibly be willing to pick us up in Miami and drive us to our port (quickly!). She thought he would do that for us, so we thankfully had the transportation worked out... now if only the plane would arrive on time, or early! Thankfully it landed at 2:22 and we rushed to the luggage area knowing we needed to leave at 2:50 at the latest and guess what - our bag made it! I don't know how it got off our original plane and on to our new one, and was one of the first bags out in Miami, but we grabbed it and sped away to our port. We were the last ones to check in but the process was much quicker than when the other 500 passengers arrived earlier! Our room was a tiny interior room but we were so happy to just get on the boat we didn't care! That evening we ate dinner and just relaxed after a stressful day.
Tuesday was Key West and we decided to do a Catamaran (sp?) boat ride to the coral reef and go snorkling. It was a beautiful day and we saw a sting ray, a sea turtle and something that looked like a baracuda. We also walked along Duval street and ate Key Lime Pie. It was formal night on the boat that night and so we dressed up and had a fun time.
Wednesday was a cruising day since we didn't stop in Cozumel but it was relaxing to sit on the boat, swim, and read. We played shuffleboard and ate every two hours :)
Thursday was Belize and we had a Jungle River Tubing and Mayan River excursion planned. It was so fun to see the countryside and the river was so relaxing. Belize is very colorful and we stopped and some shops for a necklace and wood coasters to remember it by.
Friday was our last cruising day and we spent time by the pool. Even using sunscreen every 20-30 minutes we both got sunburned! We enjoyed lots of food again and used the ice cream machine by the pool several times!
On Saturday we departed about 10 a.m. (we were last on and last off because we didn't hear them say they were ahead of schedule so everyone should get off the boat - oops!) and Missy's dad dropped us off at the Ft. Lauderdale beach for the day. We walked along the shops and Dan got a shirt and we ate Mexican food which I was craving. They only serve American food on the cruise for the most part which was good - but I wanted something spicy! Then we went to the airport and had no plane issues getting home. It was nice to be on solid ground again, but we both really really enjoyed the cruise. I'd love to go again someday!
It was a WONDERFUL vacation! It started off a little scary because we had an early flight on the 11th to make our ship departure time at 5, and the plane had mechanical problems! They delay was going to cause us to miss our connection in Detroit so we were sitting in Minneapolis trying to figure out how to get to our port. The direct flight to Ft. Lauderdale had one seat left, and although having one of us make the cruise vs. neither of us crossed our minds - it wouldn't have been as fun :), so we felt helpless. Finally I asked how far Miami was and upon hearing it was only 45 minutes away we decided our only option was to fly direct and arrive at 2:45 p.m. Knowing the ship closed at 3:30, that was not a lot of time and certainly not enough to wait for our luggage, but at least we'd hope to get on the boat. Our friend Missy's dad lives in Ft. Lauderdale so we called to see if he'd possibly be willing to pick us up in Miami and drive us to our port (quickly!). She thought he would do that for us, so we thankfully had the transportation worked out... now if only the plane would arrive on time, or early! Thankfully it landed at 2:22 and we rushed to the luggage area knowing we needed to leave at 2:50 at the latest and guess what - our bag made it! I don't know how it got off our original plane and on to our new one, and was one of the first bags out in Miami, but we grabbed it and sped away to our port. We were the last ones to check in but the process was much quicker than when the other 500 passengers arrived earlier! Our room was a tiny interior room but we were so happy to just get on the boat we didn't care! That evening we ate dinner and just relaxed after a stressful day.
Tuesday was Key West and we decided to do a Catamaran (sp?) boat ride to the coral reef and go snorkling. It was a beautiful day and we saw a sting ray, a sea turtle and something that looked like a baracuda. We also walked along Duval street and ate Key Lime Pie. It was formal night on the boat that night and so we dressed up and had a fun time.
Wednesday was a cruising day since we didn't stop in Cozumel but it was relaxing to sit on the boat, swim, and read. We played shuffleboard and ate every two hours :)
Thursday was Belize and we had a Jungle River Tubing and Mayan River excursion planned. It was so fun to see the countryside and the river was so relaxing. Belize is very colorful and we stopped and some shops for a necklace and wood coasters to remember it by.
Friday was our last cruising day and we spent time by the pool. Even using sunscreen every 20-30 minutes we both got sunburned! We enjoyed lots of food again and used the ice cream machine by the pool several times!
On Saturday we departed about 10 a.m. (we were last on and last off because we didn't hear them say they were ahead of schedule so everyone should get off the boat - oops!) and Missy's dad dropped us off at the Ft. Lauderdale beach for the day. We walked along the shops and Dan got a shirt and we ate Mexican food which I was craving. They only serve American food on the cruise for the most part which was good - but I wanted something spicy! Then we went to the airport and had no plane issues getting home. It was nice to be on solid ground again, but we both really really enjoyed the cruise. I'd love to go again someday!
Key Lime pie in Key West!
Snorkling in Key West
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We'll post more pictures of our cruise later, but I wanted to get our baby pictures on first! :)
