I am sitting here at terminal E67 in the Tampa Bay Airport about to get on a plane home to Salt Lake City and my baby, Miss Emma. It is a bittersweet moment as I have missed my baby SO much, but am also to be concluding the cruise that we had been anticipating for nearly a year and that fulfilled and surpassed all previous expectation. I know, you probably all want to kill me, but it was a lifetime experience that we feel very blessed to have had.
This is the prior to picture post, since I don't have the cord to load them onto the camera (it awaits me at home), but I will just mention a few highlights of our trip:
-A Day in Disney - Four parks is our new record. And though Matt complains that he is "Disneyed Out" I can never tire and so we began the day at Animal Kingdom to ride Everest Expedition twice and a couple other tamer rides. It was better than we remembered! You should go. Next: to MGM and Rockin Rollercoaster. The lines were long, but the wait well worth it both times. Tips to making the wait go faster: play "Name A Band" (each person has to name a band starting with the letter in the alphabet that they are assigned starting with A and continuing through - if someone can't think of one they are out!) this game can also be played with Movie Titles - I rocked movie titles! After hitting RR twice we rode Tower of Terror and proceeded to the exit. Next was Epcot. We single rider lined it through Test Track, fast-passed it through Mission Space, and hit Nemo and Friends just as it began to rain. Via Monorail, we made it to Magic Kingdom in time for Dole Whip and Pirates of the Caribbean. At this point, we were gussied out and satisfied with our Disney experience and thus we headed out of the park to Olive Garden for some Italian Cuisine and to Marriott Vacation Club for a warm shower and a nice warm bed.
-Im Ports Tant - In trying to sum up our cruise into a reasonable read for those of you who don't really want all of the details, but just a brief overview (a.k.a. anyone reading this). I will note Cave Tubing in Belize, which was an incredible if not life threatening experience. The cave tubing part was the safe part - I just thought I was going to die on the bus ride out! But, the company we booked with were incredible friendly and capable - also knowledgable. We had a great time. Guatemala was just beautiful from the people to the scenery. They were the most friendly people we came across outside of the ship and the landscape was completely made up of lush foliage covering rolling hills. The poverty was rampant, but the people seemed content with what they had and happy to have visitors. Matt got a private tour of Santo Tomas De Castillo from some local children. He would probably tell you that it was the highlight of his trip! We also got a quick tour of some Mayan ruins and another crazy and lengthy busride through the country. In Cozumel we had a rough snorkeling experience and mostly came out on top with the shopping. And those are the ports.
- All Aboard! - The most amazing part of our entire experience was the friendships that we made with our cabin steward and dining stewards. I hope to be able to post pictures of Rizky, Dwi (Dewey) and Vindi. They were all from Indonesia and all were some of the most friendly and personable people I have ever encountered. I was SO impressed with all of the staff on the ship and also thrilled with some of the friendships we made with our fellow passengers. I never expected a cruise to feel so welcoming and so homey. Oh man, the beds were incredible and though the pitching and rolling of the ship was a little hard to adjust to when awake, it was also akin to being rocked to sleep every night and I have never slept so good in my entire life! I will also note the food - DELICIOUS and readily available at every turn which was Matt's favorite part of the cruise. We both enjoyed the luxury of having as much or as little to eat at any time of the day with no thought to cost or calorie. We will probably be thinking of calories now that it is over!
All in all, it was the most carefree and luxurious vacation we have ever taken and we recognize the fact that we are beyond incredibly lucky to have had the chance to go. I promise to post pictures as soon as we get home!
Snow here we come!
Sarah
