Wow. I can't even believe that our trip is over and I'm back home. We had an incredible time, soaked up every minute, and enjoyed our time away. It was bittersweet, leaving the boys, but it was a much-needed break from everything. Ahhh, I don't even know where to begin. Throughout the week, I kept thinking, 'Oh yeah, that'll make the blog!'. So I'll try to remember the highlights here......
We had scheduled a 9am flight out of DFW that Saturday, so that we could get this party started. After getting to the airport a little after 7am, we decided to really get the party started with some breakfast and drinks. :)
Before I knew it, we were headed to Miami! The weather was beautiful and our hotel was right on South Beach. We relaxed by the pool, took a quick walk on the beach, and just enjoyed the downtime. On our 2nd day in Miami, one of Jordan's friends who recently moved to Miami met up with us for a day at the beach. We had a great time!
Later that night, Jordan and I got all gussied up to go enjoy a fancy dinner at Prime Italian. It was absolutely delicious! Justin Beiber was there the week before for the fried Oreos, so I insisted on having them too. After finishing up a bottle of wine, we headed back to hotel.
We Skyped with the boys one last time before we headed for the ship on Monday morning. I have to be honest, I got teary-eyed telling them bye knowing I wouldn't see their handsome faces for a week. We were one of the first people on the boat and quickly got started on some tasty drink specials.
Historically, you had to pay for each alcoholic beverage separately, as it wasn't included in your overall purchase price. But this year they started a trial program where you can pay a flat fee per day, which allows you 15 drinks in a 24hr period, but then cuts you off after that. (15 drinks should be sufficient, you would think, however, we did cap out one day after only being back on the boat for 6 hours......whoopsie!) If you bought 6 or 7 drinks in a day, you would get your money's worth. It was definitely a good investment for the week for us! Even though Jordan and I were there to celebrate our big anniversary, a good friend of mine from work and her hubby were also there celebrating the same big anniversary.
We still had plenty of alone time, but it was fun to come together and hang out. The four of us had a BLAST! For 5 days, we lounged up on the sun deck, drank too much, gambled away in the casino, enjoyed some adults only time, and visited some beautiful Caribbean locations. We even managed to sneak in a couples massage at the spa on the boat, which was super-relaxing. Here are some of the top moments from our trip:
- We gambled a bit in the casino while on the boat. Kinda hard to avoid it. The first night, no luck at all. However, on the second night, I was on a roll. I pretty much only play Blackjack, and they had this extra bonus at the Blackjack table. Well, I hit it, and it payed out 50 to 1. On top of that though, I got a 'Players Club' t-shirt. Needless to say, I felt pretty special. :)
- The ship was recently renovated to create a 'Serenity Adult Retreat' area on a part of the upper deck. The area was sorta Vegas-style with little private cabanas, couches, beds, loungers, showers, hot tubs, and a bar. This was definitely a retreat and where we spent a good amount of time. At one point, the four of us sat in the hot tub during a rainstorm for an hour drinking. Good times for sure! A cruise ship is an amazing place.......one where drinking at 9am is perfectly acceptable. :)
- Our first port was in Turks & Caicos. I've always heard great things about it, and was excited to see it for myself. As soon as you exited the ship, there was a crystal clear beach and a Margaritaville with a giant resort-style pool and swim-up bars. We lounged on the beach, hung out in the pool, drank (of course), and enjoyed some fun antics at Margaritaville. There was a DJ up there pouring shots in people's mouths and girls in dirty dance contests, with one in a sheer swimsuit (yep, that's what I said). Definitely entertaining. After the girls did their dance contest, they asked for guys to come up there. Thinking it was going to be another dance contest, Jordan went up on the stage (it's no secret that the boy has moves!). However, then they asked for their wives/girlfriends to come up as well. Needless to say, I was not going to be happy if Jordan tricked me into a dirty dance contest in front of hundreds of people! But I ended up having to lay on top of him while he did push ups. Unfortunately, some giant black dude that could bench a truck stole the show. But my man made me proud!
- The second port was at Half Moon Cay, which is a private island in the Bahamas. Let me tell you, the sand on this beach was like walking on baking flour. It was incredibly soft and I just wanted to bottle it up with me to take back home! Once again, we lounged on the beach and drank. Are you seeing a pattern here?!
- The third port was at Nassau, Bahamas. We planned ahead on this one and were very much looking forward to spending the day at the Atlantis resort. The four of us got day passes and acted like teenagers running around the place all day. There were some super scary water slides/rides, one which included going through an enclosed area that was surround by a shark tank on all sides. It was incredible. The Atlantis resort is humongous and incredible, and wouldn't mind visiting there for a stay with the kids.
Here are a few other random pics.....
Jordan chowing down at the 24 hr pizzeria
Me being silly at the casino
Watching the NBA Finals game up on the giant screen on the pool deck
A beautiful sunset from our balcony on the boat
A shark right above us while going through a waterslide at Atlantis!
Celebrating my 15th drink of the night before I was cut off :)
Jordan mad after he was cut off!
All gussied up for dinner!
Sad after getting to the Miami Airport at the end of our trip
Overall, we had an AMAZING time and it seemed to fly by all too quick. I missed the boys and felt a little bit of guilt over leaving them. But I feel like making it 10 years, we earned a week away from 'life'. We were sad to come back, but reality awaits! I'm sure I left off some great highlights. Either they were not blog-appropriate, or I just forgot with the excitement of the week. :)
What a great way to celebrate a decade of matrimony! In a few weeks on our actual anniversary (July 26th), I have a whole weeks worth of 'special' blogs in mind. Should be eventful.
