April 5th-April 18th
Back in the planning process for this trip...we thought it would be the most brilliant idea to end with a bang...a cruise through the Caribbean. I know it sounds absolutely ridiculous to end one "vacation" with another...but that is precisely what we did. What a better way to end a third world excursion than to embark on a luxurious and pampering vacation? Okay Okay...I tried to justify it...but you're right...it's still ridiculous. Anyway....we started hunting for cruises and almost gave up until we found a deal so silly cheap for 9 days we couldn't turn it down. So before we even had tickets to and from Central America...our final adventure leaving from Miami was booked!
We landed in sunny Ft. Lauderdale late afternoon on the 5th of April. We stared out the window in complete awe at the huge high rises and the perfectly manicured highways. Somehow, I mixed up the name of the hotel and our cab driver dropped us off at the fancy Ocean Manor Hotel and Resort. I knew it looked too good to be true! Upon getting out of the cab and grabbing our stuff...who do we run into but Dennis Rodman. Covered in tattoos, piercings, and standing like a giant! Before we got to run off and have drinks with him our driver realized the mistake and came back to get us...probably for the better! :)
Our 3 nights on the outskirts of Ft. Lauderdale were sunny and beautiful! We didn't have a car and being 10 miles from the main city we did a lot of walking. Our second day we walked 10 miles uphill both ways to shop for new clothes for the cruise. We realized they may not appreciate our worn and ragged hiking wear. Our cruise was "Freestyle" so we didn't have to get too carried away in the local Target and Old Navy . Once again...we did a lot of sunning, picnicking, and strolling on the playa. Is "Professional Vacationer" an acceptable job title at this point?
 |
| Ft. Lauderdale |
The Cruise....oh the cruise......
First off I should note that we had a legit fear that we actually wouldn't make it to the cruise ship. What was supposed to be a 40 minute shuttle ride from Ft. Lauderdale to Miami turned into 2.5 hours due to a serious accident and stopped traffic. Our itinerary said if we were not on board by 2pm, we would not embark. At 2pm we were still sitting in traffic! We were hustled through security when we arrived but they took us :)
 |
| Taking off from Miami |
The 9 days on the Norwegian Dawn were dreamlike. Rags to riches. We could not get over the ship and all it had to offer! It was a palace on water. I had never been on a cruise and every thought-out detail was enchanting; the luxurious showrooms and fancy smancy staircases, the amazing food and daily entertainment, the deck hot tubs with incredible views and the gym with floor to ceiling windows.
 |
| Taking off |
 |
| Atrium |
 |
| piano bar inside deck 7 |
 |
| outside on the deck celebrating the start of the cruise! |
The ship stopped at 5 ports; Samana, Dominican Republic; Tortola, British Virgin Islands; St. John, Antigua; Bridgetown, Barbados; St. Kitts-Nevis. What I had imagined was being dropped off on some tropical deserted beach. I did not realize that each time we were taken to a port where the area thrived and survived on cruise ship tourism. Though we were often bombarded with vendors it was still a blast! In Tortola and Bridgetown we took taxis to those exact picture perfect, tropical beaches we had seen flashes of planning the cruise. In the other ports we explored the funny little towns. The last port (St. Kitts) was one of our favorites. I got a handful of braids while Adam got massaged (partly against his will) with Aloe Vera plants by quite a large local. Countless locals walk around with little pet monkeys dressed up in all sorts of outfits (Bob Marley, Princess, Knight,...). I believe they are called Green Monkeys. We agreed they are the cutest species we've seen. They all wore little diapers and seemed quite happy to be out playing with the tourists and smiling for photos.
 |
| Barbados |
 |
| Looking at the Dawn as we head to shore in the Dominican Republic |
 |
| Tortola BVI |
 |
| Antigua |
 |
| St. Kitts |
Other than hopping port to port, our normal day looked something like this; Up between 6 and 7:30 for coffee and breakfast. Breakfast as you can imagine had anything and everything you can conjure up. (We had the choice to do fancy sit down meals 3 times a day but only chose to do so for dinners. ) After breakfast we would hit the gym. It was never very crowded and the view out of the glass windows kept us entertained the entire time. This also dissolved a lot of the guilt I had for the countless buttery, flaky croissants filled with dark chocolate that kept begging me to eat them. After the gym we went hunting for the sun. If it wasn't a port day, we would pick two lounge chairs and stretch out for a day of tanning, reading, listening to the bands, and ice cold brewskies. One of the nicest parts of the cruise was that it never seemed horribly crowded. In the middle of the day most everyone was at the pool. If you were out of the deck in the mornings or after 5pm, there was hardly anyone you had to share the floating castle with. We spent a couple evenings watching the sunset from the hot tub on deck 13 at the very back of the ship. Very beautiful and peaceful!
Dinners were great fun! We would dress up (as much as we were able to with our clothes) and sit down for some of the most amazing food we've ever had. There was always a menu of the day where you could pick from a handful of choices for each course. There was also a menu with many more choices that were always available. The first course of appetizers would be something delicious like calamari, garlic and mushroom polenta, sauteed shrimp, salad, crab fritters, spinach quiche ect. The main courses were equally as incredible; lobster tails, filet mignon, lemon crusted fish, seafood scampi, you name it! And then desserts...the best part. Though we never had much room left we couldn't resist strawberry cheesecake, warm molten chocolate cake, tiramisu, key lime pie....and the list goes on.
 |
| glass of wine before dinner |
After hours of dining we would head over to the evening shows. It was some of the best entertainment I can remember seeing. Singing, dancing, ventriloquist acts, hypnotists, illusionists, magicians, comedians. All of it very impressive and entertaining! We crammed in as much as we could before collapsing with exhaustion!
There were a couple of days when the sun wouldn't show his face and the skies sent down scattered drizzles. This was just fine by us. It gave us time during the day to explore the 14 story ship, catch a movie in the cinema, shoots some hoops at the basketball court, play bingo, and visit the casino (only the quarter machine which for some reason excited us as if we'd hit the jackpot). There wasn't a dull moment. We stayed wide awake during the long days with massive amounts of coffee and of course...ice cream cones :) We spoke in British accents more than not and did a lot of dancing down the never ending halls. Life on the Norwegian Dawn was nothing short of incredible…
 |
| outdoor basketball court deck 14 |
 |
| Our beautiful ship! |
On Monday the 18th of April our smiling parents met us at the Charlottesville airport and welcomed us back to the states. It's been great being back and knowing that we get to catch up with all you fine folks soon! Adam started back to work Monday the 25th and I am being a nanny for my sweet little 7 month old nephew AJ! Settling back into life in the US has been wonderful though our brains are still a bit mixed up. Just yesterday on a walk with my mom I twice was sure I spotted Howler monkeys in the trees. We've both bitten our tongues many times not to spit out Spanish in passing.
Though it is always tough to say goodbye to such a fun experience, we are so thankful for all the memories we've made and adventures we'll talk about in all the years to come! Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers along the way...it was evident the Big Man was watching over us constantly :) And thank you to the best travel partner in the world who was nothing but amazing to be around the entire time. Thank you for keeping us laughing no matter what we had gotten ourselves into ! :)
Besos y brazos.....
 |
| our last day in Central America |
No comments:
Post a Comment