Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Our FABulous Cruise!


The picture roll has begun. I'm going to try to keep the words to a minimum so you can enjoy this very long journey through our week long cruise to the Bahamas. I've broken the pictures down into 3 categories. Fun on the ship, Fun off the ship, and Fun wearing Formals. So, here we go...

Fun On The Ship

We started our trip in Baltimore, with the Bahamas very far away. So, that meant two days at sea. Cruising with Carnival (the Fun Ship), there were lots of great things to do on board. When we weren't in the dining areas, or watching shows, we were playing games with Aubry and Chris, Adam's sister and her husband. The Great Dalmuti and Settler's of Zarahemla were our games of choice. Competition is fun. hehe
Here's us in the card room.
Every night we got a new little towel animal. Hello Mr. Bulldog.
My favorite thing. Just relaxing on the deck. Laying out or just feeling the wind on our skin.
Oh, my other favorite thing. Eating yummy gourmet food night and day. I'm surprised I didn't get a picture of us at the 24/7 soft serve ice cream, because we spent a lot of time there. We had prime rib, lobster tail, giant shrimp, duck, yummy soups, not to mention all the desserts. The chocolate melting cake had to be my favorite.

Here we are with Nicart and Di, our fabulous servers. They were hilarious and very accommodating. Every meal was excellent thanks to their expert recommendations and prompt service. yay! Oh. I can't forget the Carnival fun slide. Adam with all the little kids. Hearing him go down the slide, yelping and giggling was not a sound I'll soon forget .

We also saw a variety of entertainment from dancing and singing shows to ventriloquists and comedians. All were very entertaining. We also spent a few nights singing Karaoke. I ventured out and did my very first number ever! Woohoo! So, Carnival definitely lives up to it's name. Fun ship all the way.

Fun off the Ship

Our first stop was on Grand Turk. A fabulous little island with lots of history. We ventured out on a rented golf cart and manged to see pretty much the whole island. Then we hit the beach and snorkeled for a while. It was beautiful.
Lighthouse on Grand Turk.

Our next stop was Carnival's own Half Moon Cay. A private island with soft white sand beaches and crystal clear blue water. We spent most of the day snorkeling after an hour out on a kayak.

Perfect picture moment. Love it! Yes...the water is that clear!
Posing and being silly.

Ooh! Freeport was next. We went off the beaten path a bit and took a chance with a trip to Paradise cove, also known as Dead Man's Reef. We had the whole spot to ourselves. We went kayaking and then snorkeling. A lot of swimming. We took a lot more pics. You can see them on Facebook.Here's Adam swimming with the fishies.

Fun wearing Formals

Two of our nights were formal nights where we got to dress up and feel like royalty. It was awesome! A big thank you goes out to Sara N for finding these ridiculously awesome dresses! She did have to go all the way to Utah to find them.

Anyway, every formal night came with photographers and a variety of backdrops. It was so fun taking pictures. We must have taken hundreds, but these were our favorites. We even won a free 16x20 canvas of one of them. Can you guess which one we picked? Hope you like.





Thanks for sticking it out til the end. We will definitely be going on another cruise. Talk about self indulgence at it's best. Totally worth the money. We weren't even home 2 hours before Aubry and I were looking up our next cruise on the internet. Any suggestions?

Oh...and I can't forget to thank my brother Jake for staying behind with the kids. He did an awesome job. I'll never forget the big hug I got when I walked in the door. "Ariella! Thank you for coming home!" teehee

15 comments:

Matt Bell said...

Wow, you guys look great (you always do)! Mary just said that we want to come along on the next one. Can we come, please, please!

Crystal said...

That looks like so much fun! I don't think I can talk Cheyenne into a cruise though. He's decided that being on a ship isn't fun. At all.

The dresses are beautiful! Boy, Sara does a good job.

Jared and Lydia said...

Looks like a blast. So where DID Sara find those dresses? They're gorgeous!

Brandi said...

Jealous, jealous, jealous. That's all I can say.

Crystal--maybe we can go on one together and leave the kids with the husbands who think being on a ship isn't fun. At least Cheyenne has an excuse for feeling that way. Will hates the smell of the ocean. Yes, he's a freak.

I'd like Sara to be my personal shopper. Those dresses really are gorgeous.

The Galan Family said...

So. Much. Fun. Cruises are the best because you don't have to do anything! You look so good Ariella, and I bet I know where Sara got those dresses...Alysse's Bridal. Just a guess. Everything looked so beautiful. Glad you guys had a good time.

Linds said...

Looks like lots of fun. Love the blue water on the beaches- how gorgeous! You guys look great- I love all the formal photos.

I think Sara needs to be my personal dress shopper. I have issues buying nice dresses that fit me right and are still modest.

SheL said...

I am glad you had such a great time! You look fabulous!

Shilae said...

I'm regretting my two kids now. It'll be YEARS before we're free enough to do something like that. And those dresses, LOVE them. Especially the white one. You both look fantastic, and I love the blonde hair!

Aubry Wilkes said...

Seriously so much fun sis! And I can't wait to do it again... talked to Aaron after we got home, and I have a feeling that they might want to join us on the next one...I really needed this break.

Unknown said...

Shilae just take your kids with you! We took Eliza on our cruise and had a blast. Okay so we couldn't do certain things but there were still enough things to do that we didn't care. I'd just look for itineraries that don't have too many "fun days at sea" because there are more options off the boat with little kids (who are too young for the ship kid camp). Someday we'll do one alone. I agree that cruises are awesome for being all inclusive. We started looking for our next cruise as soon as we got home too. Oh and Brian didn't think a cruise would be fun after years on a submarine but he loved it. There's something about not eating military food, sharing a rack with a fellow sailor or working that actually makes a cruise much better. :)

Monique said...

Mediterranean cruise all the way!! hint hint hint...

{leah} said...

Looks like so much fun! I totally want to do a crusie!

You look AMAZING!!!

Amanda said...

So my sister is in need of a modest formal. Where did your super shopper get them? Looks like you had tons of fun!

Ariella said...

These were found at a JCPenneys in Utah. I'm wondering if you can find them online. Both dresses were fabulous! I love them!!!!

Rodriguez Family said...

Hey there. It looks like you guys had a great time! I love the picture of you guys with the sunset behind you. You look totally relaxed and pleased and pretty.
I also have to say thanx for giving me the two week trial to Transformations. I love it so much I wonder how I could ever live without it. All the classes are great and are kicking my butt. It's all great!