Travel Day

I had a wedding on Saturday so we flew out on Saturday night on a red eye flight. We got to Orlando FL at 4am FL time and 2am UT time and had to wait/try to sleep in the airport until our shuttle at 10am. We rode a big bus out to the Port about an hour away. I didn’t see an alligator along the road the entire drive, dang it. We got to the port and had to go present our passport to get on the ship. We got on the boat and ate lunch on the pool deck and wandered around meeting people until dinner. The Super Bowl was on in the auditorium as well!

Dinner was at 8:15pm every night and the guys who put the cruise together made a seating chart to help everyone mix up and meet each other through out the evenings. I thought it was genius and led to lots of really cool conversations.  After dinner we thought we would head back to our room cause we were so tired. But we just happened to hear singing coming from a central area and there was basically a lip-sync battle going on with the cruise director. Our little group ended up singing along and dancing and heading to a dance party for a few hours and it was so fun!

Luckily Monday was a boat day all day so we were able to sleep in. They had different activities and tons of food around all day up on the pool deck. It was pretty crazy being in the middle of the ocean and seeing the sun in February. The first night was formal night for dinner but our group dressed as mobsters and gangsters. We ended up in the Piano Bar after dinner and there was a girl that could play and sing about any song you could think of. But someone requested the Titanic song and she said that was the only one she is not allowed to play due to paranoia. We all ended up in the dance party area that evening again!

 

Tuesday was the first port day. We headed off the boat to the Dominican Republic at Amber Cove. Basically there was a little fake port city that is only about 3 years old that was built by the cruise industry. The guy leading our group served his LDS mission here and coordinated about 10 taxis to take us to a waterfall adventure. It was called  27 waterfalls or Damajagua at Puerto Plata. It was probably 30 mins from the port and we got to drive through the countryside.

At the waterfalls, we got helmets and life jackets and hiked up about a mile or a little more. It was pretty HOT compared to UT! They had everyone get in a little pool of water and jump off of a tiny rock to warm us up, and then they took us down the 27 waterfalls and natural rock slides. There was a big group of us so they pretty much pushed us off most of the jumps. It was super fun and I loved using my Go Pro. We got back on the boat on time and headed to dinner and the dance party on the pool deck that night. We brought cards and enjoyed playing games around the boat as well.

Wednesday was Hiliary’s birthday! We decorated the cabin as quietly as possible and brought her breakfast in bed. It was a port day at St. Thomas, part of the US Virgin Islands. It was very obviously a richer island than before. We all loaded up on jungle taxis and headed to the other side of the island to Maegan’s Bay which is rated as one of the top 10 beaches in the world. It was beautiful and it was fun to lay out, rent paddle boards, and play spike ball.

 

Hiliary and I met the cutest couple in the group and they agreed to bring their fancy clothes to the beach and model for us. It was a highlight of the trip for me! This was the latest port day and we didn’t board again til after dark so we got to shoot at sunset. We celebrated Hiliary’s birthday at dinner and headed to two shows that night.

 

There was a newly-wed show that evening and they had 3 couples come up to answer questions. One couple was honeymooning, one had been married around 30 years, and the last couple had been married 68 YEARS. They were the sweetest and their answers aligned exactly. After that show there was a magic show and of course we made sure our birthday girl got on the stage!

Thursday was the Puerto Rico port day! I was excited to go here because I’ve heard stories of Puerto Rico for my whole life because my dad served his LDS mission here. We had a zip line tour booked for this day and headed towards the rainforest. I thought there would be more obvious destruction from the most recent hurricanes but I did see a little bit. I loved getting to see the countryside on the shuttle ride and it was my first ever zip line and it was really fun. The longest line was 1000 feet through the trees. It was sooo beautiful and you could see the ocean from the top of the trees.

When we got back to Old San Juan, the port city, we took an Uber to the old Fort at the top of the hill. This city is 800 years old and very European in feel. As photographer’s we were freaking out about how cute the colored walls were. It was nice to be able to check in with family this day as well cause we could use our phones. We ended up walking back through town from the fort which wasn’t a short walk but it was fun cause we were taking lots of photos. I just wanted to absorb as much as the island as I could! It was beautiful!

 

Friday was the last port day at Grand Turk. It’s a super tiny island that is basically a sand bar in the ocean. There is a beautiful beach right off the boat and we got a group together to go on a snorkel tour. They took us to the drop off where the ocean goes from 20 feet deep to about 700 deep. We saw lots of yellow fish and you could feed them. Luckily the salt in the ocean keeps you pretty buoyant while snorkeling. A guide caught a smallish shark and we got to touch it.

When we got back to shore, we headed down the beach to rent jet skis! It was my first time on one, let alone riding one in the ocean! It was so fun and I giggled the whole time. Hiliary totally knocked us both off at one point. We got back on the boat right at sunset. It was an 80’s dance party that evening!

Saturday was a full day at sea. There was a hairy chest contest and ice sculpture creation on the pool deck. We spent the day soaking up the sun and even participated and won Trivia Pursuit!  Our competitors found this frustrating haha. That night we country danced as a group and even went out to the top of the boat and played Lightening on the basketball court. I won one of the games! It was incredibly windy and chilly that night on the top deck and there were the largest waves of the whole trip to rock us to sleep. We had to pack everything up late that night because wake up calls were at 8am the next day.

Sunday we got kicked off the boat and shuttled back to the airport. We rented a car and headed to church at a local ward and then drove the Orlando Temple and took pictures around the grounds. Hiliary and I stayed another night at a discounted Disney Resort and then went to the airport the next day. We got home at around midnight in cold Utah. I was land- seasick for about 4 or 5 days which was weird cause I wasn’t sick on the ship. Between that and the jet lag it took a few days to feel normal.

I’m not sure I had a favorite part or day of the trip because every day was so different. I loved getting to experience so many countries quickly, the food was super yummy, and I loved the entertainment and shows on the boat. In the future, I would love to go back to any of the islands as a longer vacation, especially Puerto Rico.

I kept thinking how “easy” it was to get there. International travel always seemed like it was next to impossible, but all it took was booking a flight and booking a cruise and there I was. I truly enjoyed getting to step away from life and experience something different from my normal life and making the sacrifice to experience it. The best part was traveling to somewhere warm in the winter and I loved turning my phone off for a week. I totally suggest going on a cruise sometime!