Happy New Year and welcome to my Cruise High. I am going on my third cruise in nine days with my parents and brother!! I am big on saving money, and what better to save it on, than super fun experiences with loved ones?! (And this is all "my money", from birthdays or Christmas, and any left over that I don't use from my grocery fund. Michael and I obviously have another savings account for house things and vacations together.) Because of the Cruise High, I already have enough of my own personal savings to go on a Friendship Cruise around February 2022 with my friends Mia, Tonia, and Sharanya. And then my mom and I are going to take Emma on another girl's cruise -- a Disney Cruise! -- around November 2024. I wouldn't want to go before then since Emma will be almost 6 1/2 years old then and will hopefully be old enough to enjoy it and have fun and know some Disney characters by then so she will want her picture with them on the cruise.
I'm going to hop right to it. Here are pictures from the cruise that I went on with just my parents from January 29-February 3, 2016. I do not feel like taking time to edit them all today since blogging takes me forever and I already spent the last hour going through and deciding which ones I liked the best and putting them in specific folders for these posts. 3 posts, 99 pictures total!! Let the reminiscing begin!!
Saying goodbye to Michael before leaving for six days. I don't remember why he didn't come on the cruise too. Maybe he couldn't get the days off or he didn't want to spend his own money. He prefers spending his money on tangible items instead of vacations. Recently he told me that he doesn't have any interest in going on a cruise unless it's an Alaskan cruise!! ($8,000 per person, plus
the price of a plane ticket to fly there from Florida.) Maybe one day we can take Emma on one.
But I'll stick to $500 Bahama cruises for now!
Side note: I remember training a guy named Jeff on 911 on night shift and at 11:59pm on July 28, 2015 (exactly six months before the cruise), I told him to not answer any phone calls for a few minutes while I ran to the supervisor's desk at midnight to request the time off for the cruise. Usually they only let one or two people off in a shift, so I wanted to make sure I got the days reserved first!! I have to do the same thing this year at the end of March to request a weekend at the end of September off so I can go to my cousin's wedding in Indiana (except now we have an online system for vacation time requests). We're not allowed to request off prior to six months in advance.
^^ Parked at Port Canaveral and waiting in line to show our passports and board the ship!
And purposely wearing our matching shirts. :)
^^ Our cabin/room. In the bottom corner you can see the "couch". That's where I slept (I remember being comfortable enough and have no recollection of my dad snoring loudly) and we pushed the little coffee table under the counter to the right for more room. The staff members bring our luggage to our room for us so we get to explore the ship and start eating the endless food!
On the cruise next weekend my dad reserved two rooms- one for my parents and one for me and my brother. I was glad we wouldn't have to play Rock, Paper, Scissors for turns on the couch or use the little beds that pull out from the ceiling. I already worried too much about rolling off the side!
PS- the last time the four of us went on a cruise was in the January I was in 9th grade.. so 2002?
^^ The Luxury deck, up higher with softer chairs. People have to pay extra to use that area.
And I think there was maybe even a "Nobody Under 18 Allowed" sign?
^^ Daddy already got his first drink! & we got the traditional soft serve cones!
Everyone has to participate in a safety lesson before the ship departs around 4pm. We get in a huge line with several rows on the side of the ship with safety vests while they tell us what to do in the case of a crash or the ship starts sinking. It takes about 30 minutes?
This is the bar and "Mall area" with lots of expensive jewelry and sunglass shops, as well as touristy shops where you can buy all the Carnival merchandise and magnets, etc. We had to pose on the red carpet!! On my first cruise I bought a silver bracelet with starfish charms (estimated cost $12-20? I can't imagine splurging more than that at age 14), you can see me wearing it in some of these pictures too and I have it set out for next weekend. :)
^^ Trollie and Suzie got to enjoy themselves on the cruise too!
^^ I'm trying to spare my viewers and not post every single food photo that I took. But purposely asked for this photo of my napkin tucked in my shirt to show Michael later (we to leave our phones on Airplane Mode to not be charged for International data!) since he hates when adults give themselves bibs. Haha! Most meals included an appetizer, entrée, and dessert. One night the waiters sang to us!
^^ The omelet line is always a must. They are so yummy & fun to watch the guys flip the eggs up in the pans and catch them so perfectly! Even though I ate super healthy for a couple months to make sure I was 105 pounds for the cruise, I really let myself enjoy lots of yummy foods and desserts on the cruise! I'm currently in another health kick again now, but will probably be around 125 this time (my weight has stayed higher since I had baby Emma in June 2017), and then also eat whatever I want on this cruise weekend too!
^^ A cruise ship usually has about 12 floors. They definitely have elevators that can be used, but we mostly take the stairs and then laugh about how our knees and legs are sore! Daddy needing a break. ^^
^^ Enjoying the deck and the fast slides!
The last photo is of the guy who took care of our room. Right now I don't remember what his full job was (not cleaning), but in this photo we had to do another safety drill and everyone had to be out of their room by a certain time. I laughed when he said (with an accent), "I saved you." I think his name was Aron.
On to the next post about the three beautiful island stops our cruise had! :D
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