Hi Gang!
Thanks for the welcome back. DH and I had a very nice, relaxing vacation. The relaxing part was the most important thing for us. We went on a cruise out of Port Canaveral, FL with stops at Nassau, St. Thomas and St. Martin. The weather was beautiful we toured each of the ports.
If you are interested, here is a cruise review I wrote for another group of friends:
Ok - Cruise update!
For those of you that have never cruised - I highly recommend it! A lot of people think you'll be closed up and get bored and claustraphobic - nope - there is more to do on the new, large ships than you could ever do in a week. We love cruising. This was our 4th cruise so we didn't feel obligated to attend every show and activity - we took it easy. Not to mention, the whole reason we took the last minute trip was to get away from the stress in our lives and relax. There are constant activities going on around the ship - everything from bingo, pool-side activities, art auctions, production shows, wine tasting, casino, dancing, karoke.......
We boarded the ship - Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas on
Sunday in Port Canaveral. The boarding process was quick and we were in our cabin about 30 min after arriving at the port. We booked a balcony cabin because we love to sit outside and enjoy the sea air and watch the stars at night. The ship left about 5pm on Sunday and we found a spot up on the very front by the bridge to watch us sail away. Sunday night we had dinner with two other very nice couples. This was the only night we ate with them because we had requested a table for 2 and were moved the next night. Normally we enjoy the company and meeting two people, but this trip was about us!
After dinner we strolled on the deck and went to the casino --- we like to gamble so the casino was a part of each evening.
OH - and before dinner I had a hot stone massage. OH MY - it was heavenly. Great way to start out the trip. Although, expensive on board. We decided next time we'll get massages the day before we leave.
Monday morning we arrived in Nassau, Bahamas. We love watching the ship pull in to port and seeing the activity of tying up to the dock. It's amazing how they navigate these huge ships. We booked an excursion through the ship to go tour the Atlantis resort. We took a ferry to Atlantis and took a group tour through the grounds of the resort. It's a beautiful place. Then played some cards in the casino. We ended up cutting out of the tour early because I started to feel miserable. I had an allergic reaction to something and started breaking out in rash on my neck and down my chest. I tried to be a good sport, but I could only hang on so long. I decided to go see the ship's Dr. when we got back on board. Thank goodness I did. He gave me an IV Cortisone shot and some prednisone. I started feeling better w/in 30 minutes from the shot!
Tuesday was a day at Sea. We lounged around, sat on the deck reading. Went to the art auction (one of our favorite things to do on board), played shuffleboard, pingpong, scrabble, tried to play the mini-golf they have on board, but it was too windy. Just had a great, relaxing day!
Wednesday we at St. Thomas, USVI. We didn't book a tour through the ship. Instead we got off board and hired a cab at the pier. He gave us a tour of the island, stopping at some scenic areas. It's a beautiful place! They have a great shopping district at the pier - tons of jewelry stores in the caribbean. We had lunch at a little local place and then I spent hours wandering through the stores. I bought some local art and decided on a rainbow topaz ring set in white gold with a matching pendant! That was my treat to myself!
Thursday we were in St. Martin, USVI. Again we didn't book a ship's tour. We got off board and went to a rental car place. We rented a Jeep, got a map and took off!
We drove the perimiter of the island stopping at beaches and interesting places along the way. The island is 1/2 Dutch, 1/2 French - when we were on the French side we stopped at one beach that turned out to be a nude beach.
We walked around a little, kept our clothes on and left. I wish I was as comfortable with my body as the people there. No one cared what anyone else looked like. There were people of all shapes and sizes just enjoying their day. We planned on doing some more shopping back at the pier, but there was not as much as the day before - probably a good thing cause I didn't spend much more $.
Friday and Saturday were Sea Days. Again, just very relaxing days on board the ship. I treated myself to a facial one day. I had never gotten a full facial before. It was great! Again, lots of lounging around, playing shuffleboard and games, went to a couple bingo sessions - won nothing. Friday was the final art auction where we made our biggest art investment yet. We purchased a limited edition Rembrandt etching - the
Raising of Lazarus. We also got a few smaller items. Every cruise we go on we buy some kind of art work. Can't remember what else we did the last couple days. It was just very calm and relaxing.
Sunday morning we were back in Port Canaveral. We were off board about 10:00am. Got a shuttle to a rental car place and drove back to Orlando. We had the day to ourselves so we went to Disney's MGM Studios. It was a beautiful day. We wandered around, went on a few rides -- the Tower of Terror is our favorite --- and had a nice time.
Monday morning we caught and early flight home!
Back to reality!
That was nearly 2 weeks ago now - I can't believe it.
Since then I have been trying to get back into a good routine. This week I got back to journaling food, more exercise, facing the number on the scale... It went well - I lost 2.2 pounds this week. I weigh in every Friday morning! I need to add in more exercise this upcoming week.
I hope you are all well. I'll have to catch up personally later. Time to start on some work!
Hugs!
Barb