We just got back from our cruise last night so while I'm still on the vacation high,
I thought I'd get a post out :).
Tyson and I absolutely love sailing with Norwegian Cruise Line.
Out of the 5 cruises I've taken, 3 have been with Norwegian and it's by far my favorite.
We were so excited to cruise on Norwegian's newest ship this year,
the Norwegian Getaway.
We were scheduled to go to St. Maarten, St. Thomas, and Nassau,
but unfortunately, Hurricane Gonzalo swept through
and we had to turn around on day 3 and head for safer waters.
To say we were bummed about not being able to go to the original destinations is an understatement.
We've been looking forward to this cruise since February when we booked it.
But, there was nothing we could do about it and we were on a beautiful cruise ship in the middle of the Caribbean Sea heading to Jamaica and Cozumel.
I definitely have to say, aside from not getting to go to the original islands,
not being able to eat what I wanted was definitely the most frustrating part of this trip.
Not being able to have dairy definitely cramped my cruising style lol.
But, as long as I let the restaurants know about my food intolerance,
they were beyond helpful and accommodating.
I just missed being able to binge on soft serve in a waffle cone!
This was our longest cruise we've taken so prepare for LOTS of pictures!
This music video was filmed on the Getaway and
this song has been stuck in our heads for the last 9 days lol.
Listen to the song in a different window/tab as you scroll through this post
and enjoy feeling like you were there with us ;)
// D A Y 1 //
The first day was just a lot of exploring the ship and figuring out where everything was.
We booked a balcony room and we were greeted with
lots of free gifts which was an awesome surprise!
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| Leaving Miami |
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| Our over-priced first day photo ;) |
// D A Y 2 //
I LOVE what humidity does for my hair!
It gets a natural curl and I don't have to do anything with it lol.
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| Breakfast view |
This ship has 5 slides that we loved going down a bunch of times.
The Free Fall was definitely the best.
The ship also has a rope course on the top level and we were sneaky enough
to get lots of great pictures and video of us playing around up there.
// D A Y 3 //
The weather was PERFECT everyday on the ship so we were able to work on our tans
so we could cover it up in fall clothes when we got back ;)
I bought a bunch of gold, silver, and black metallic tattoos on Etsy before we left.
They were so much fun to play around with on vacation.
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| Sushi dinner at Wasabi |
The Getaway has a great little 9 hole mini-golf course under the ropes course.
We waited until night to play so there weren't kids running around everywhere.
// D A Y 4 //
Jamaica!
The port of Jamaica is beautiful and we got so many amazing pictures from our balcony.
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| Another metallic tattoo |
Since we were re-routed last minute, we had to book excursions on a whim.
I didn't have any customer reviews to go off of, so I was really nervous booking excursions.
But our River Tubing and Zip-line tour in Jamaica ended up being so much fun!
Minus being eaten alive by mosquitos.
And we met a great couple (behind us) that are from and moving back to Utah.
Always fun to meet fellow Utahans on vacations :).
Yummy Jamaican jerk style chicken for lunch
My mom is on the board at the Tracy Aviary
and I got a kick out of finding this beautiful aviary on our excursion.
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| Finally bought Tyson some sunglasses for the trip |
When we got back on board, a CRAZY lightening and thunderstorm rolled in
and we got some amazing pictures.
I don't think I've ever heard thunder as loud as I did here.
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| Leaving Jamaica |
We did a dinner/magic show at the Illusionarium and it was great!
They were so accommodating for my food intolerance and the entertainment was a lot of fun.
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| The "salad" was a bit too strange for me lol |
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| The ceiling is a large video screen (like at the Clark Planetarium) |
// D A Y 5 //
Between the sun draining my energy, and the sound of waves,
I couldn't help but take a nap almost everyday from the edge of my bed.
It was so perfect.
Beneath the ropes course is a rock climbing wall.
We were surprisingly really good and quick at climbing this thing lol.
Who knew?
We enjoyed our daily entertainment from trivia, comedy shows, and hilarious couples game shows.
Dinner at one of the complimentary bar and grills.
Tyson enjoyed catching up on some sports :)
Tyson enjoyed catching up on some sports :)
// D A Y 6 //
Cozumel!
Tyson and I actually visited Cozumel on our honeymoon cruise in 2011.
Since we had to book this excursion last minute as well, we decided on the Tulum Mayan Ruins tour.
We LOVED the ruins we went through last year and thought this would be great!
Good morning Cozumel!
Obsidian is the rock they use to create some of the most beautiful pieces of art.
When the sun hits it, you can see the gold-like sheen within the black stone.
It was fun hearing about the history of obsidian in Cozumel and how the
mythical City of Gold (El Dorado) came about.
Because the stone reflects the gold-like color in the sun,
that's believed to be the reason travelers thought they saw a city made of gold.
Really it was just the obsidian glimmering in the sun :).
This Mayan calendar stood about 2-3 feet tall and cost almost $10,000!
It was beautiful!
We bought our own little statue figurine for $30 and called it good lol.
DREAMS COMING TRUE!
I was seriously giddy when I saw a baby/teenage lion when we arrived in Tulum.
I just had to hold it and didn't want to leave until I did lol.
Bucket List: Play with big cats of all sizes :)
I like to consider myself pretty intuitive on reading cat behavior.
I can tell when they are miserable, irritated, and do not want to be touched, let alone held.
This poor guy just wanted to take a nap.
But I'm sorry, I had to hold him.
* Meet Simba *
I could tell he was a little irritated.
His ears were out to the side and the look on his face says it all lol.
But again, I didn't care.
I was careful to move slow but I was in absolute heaven!
He growled a few times, got fidgety, and didn't want to really be held.
But as you can see by my smile,
I was too happy to care that he was getting aggressive and annoyed lol
The guy kept telling me to put my finger in Simba's mouth and I had no idea why lol.
Maybe to calm him down?
He sucked on my finger for a little bit like a bottle but that didn't last long.
Was I worried he'd bite off my finger?
Nope.
Small cats just aren't aggressive that way and I wasn't a threat, nor did I feel threatened.
Once he started getting too irritated being held, I finally gave him back.
I'd like my face to be scratch-free from those giant kitty paws!
I seriously just want to hold, snuggle, and touch all sizes of cats.
They're my favorite and I'm so happy I finally got to hold one!!
We were laughing that they had a lemur.
Just reminded us of King Julien from Madagascar the movie.
"I like to move it move it!"
The monkeys were so adorable.
I love the coloring.
Once we were back on the ship, I had totally forgotten I'd ordered
this beauty of a cake for Tyson before we left on vacation.
It smelled amazing and I was so sad I couldn't have any.
I can have the oreos though so that was a plus.
We had dinner at an amazing Italian restaurant on the ship.
The food was amazing and we got to watch the storm roll into Cozumel as we ate on the deck.
We received this note that night on our bed and I seriously got a little sad lol.
It's crazy how fast a week can fly by!
// D A Y 7 //
I bought this romper from Forever 21.
I just loved the pattern but Hello! It was butt cheeks short!
I was pretty proud of myself for sewing an extension and side detail on the shorts :)
More metallic tattoos and yummy strawberry pina colada smoothies!
Norwegian always puts on not only a great farewell show,
but great entertainment and a fun atmosphere all week long.
Since our cruise was redirected and we never got to the Eastern Caribbean islands, I guess we're just going to have to book another cruise there in the future during the spring/summer weather :)
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| Leaving Florida |
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| I love flying over Salt Lake City; day or night |
I do love being home though.
I'm ready to get back in the Halloween festivities and spirit.
Not to mention...... my second niece Harper Ryan Ehin was born while I was gone!
She was a week early so I was super bummed I wasn't there to see her "first birthday".
But, I did get lots of snuggle time today with Harper and Addi
so it was a very good Sunday to finish off a great vacation.
Love these gorgeous nieces of mine.
My brother is begging for a niece or nephew of his own ;)
