Cruise Day 1

We had such a great time on our cruise! We left Monday morning just in time to beat the snow, thank goodness! We got to our ship, The Sovereign of the Seas, around 1pm. First on the agenda was eating our first buffet meal, and having our first drink. Then we walked around and did a tour of the entire boat. Here is a picture of our ship, and of our room. It was tiny, but you really aren't in it that often so it didn't matter much. The bathroom left a little to be desired though!

That afternoon we had to do our "Muster Drill" which was when we had to put on life jackets and go stand near our lifeboat. That evening we went to our first show, and had dinner in the Mirage Dining Room. We had second seating, which was at 8:30pm and the meal was great. The best part was that if you wanted two of the appetizers you could. If you'd rather have a different side, you just had to ask Nicholi (our main server) and you got it. After dinner we went to Karaoke Superstar (and wow, Simon from Amerian Idol would have had a hayday with some of them!) and then hit the sack. We were getting up early Tuesday morning!

Cruise Day 2

Day 2 of the cruise was my birthday!! Rather than docked, the boat was tendered, so we took little ferry boat over to CoCoCay Beach - the private island owned by Royal Caribbean. We got there about 9am, and even though it was cloudy, it was all still so beautiful. By 10 am, we'd had our first drink (a CocoLoco!) At 10:40 we had our first excursion - all 6 of us went on the Wave Runner tour. It lasted about an hour, and we got to stop a few times, and even though it was a tour, the guys were still able to drive the wave runners as fast as they wanted.

Lunch was a fabulous barbecue and then we went snorkeling for a few hours. The fish were beautiful and as soon as we get our underwater camera developed I'll post pictures. We left the island around 4:30pm to go back and get ready for formal night. As a birthday present from Jason, I got to have my hair done. Sitting up in the dimly lit salon/spa, feeling the gentle rocking of the boat, which having my hair done was so relaxing!

We all met for drinks in the Captain's Welcome Aboard Reception and then went to dinner that. The highlight of the meal were the appetizers - Jason and I both had the shrimp cocktail and escargot - yum! At the end of dinner our table, plus our 3 waiters all sang happy birthday to me and brought an extra dessert.

After dinner we went to see the night's show "Dancin' Thru the Movies." After that it was time for the Rockin' Dueling Piano show (and more drinks of course!)

The best part of the night was the Chocolate Buffet - so much chocolate, so little time! We finished off the night with the pizza buffet. What an action packed birthday!!


Oh and when we got back to our room we had our first towel animal - an elephant!

Cruise Day 3

Happy Valentine's Day!

This is the day that we were docked in Nassau. We weren't all that impressed - once you saw one block it was all the same. There were tons of jewelry stores, and of course the straw market. "Hey pretty lady - you want your hair braided?" Jason was most impressed with the Nissan Skylines he saw driving around and the guns on a ship we went by.

We went back on the boat for lunch and then back out to Nassau to take a water taxi over to Paradise Island and Atlantis. It was beautiful over there! The largest room in Atlantis goes for $25,000 a night, with a 4 night minimum. To see the room you have to put down at $5,000 deposit, which you lose if you don't book the room. Atlantis is also famous for it's aquarium - and Jason took tons of pictures of that!

That night we decided to just eat dinner in the buffet, and then we to see the "Love and Marriage Game Show." It was hilarious with questions from "how many people did your spouse date before you" and "where is the most unusual place you've made whoopie?" The couple that had been married 58 years won the show. Afterwards we went to the Dancing Under the Stars and poolside midnight buffet. Then it was time for bed! We had two swans kissing from our towels that night.

Cruise Day 4

Thursday was our day at sea. The morning started out sunny and hot, but the closer we got to Florida, the cloudier and cooler it got. We still had time to lay out, but ended up spending a lot of this day watching some of the contests (Men's sexy legs, and the belly flop), hanging out in one of the bars, and playing in the casinos. (We came out $6.25 ahead.)

Dinner was at the buffet again, and then we went to see the last show. It was called "Flashback" and then did some awesome musical numbers. At the end they brought out a lot of the crew and it was a great way to end it.

After the show we went to Superstar Karaoke again, and then came the highlight of the cruise. We played an adult scavenger hunt game called The Quest. Some of the items were:
- a male team member must bring up two ladies bras. Jason took up mine and Beth's.
- a female team member had to go kiss a guy's bald head. I did this one.
- 2 male team members had to skip around holding hands. Jason and Ben did that one.
- a male team member had to go crawl around and bark like a dog. Jason did that one.
The grand finale was:
A male team member had to take his shirt off, put on a bra, wear lipstick, ladies shoes, and carry a handbag. And you guessed - Jason did it! If you click on the link below you can see video of it (sorry, no sound.) It starts out and Jason tells Rob, our cruise director, that we are team #5. Then Rob tries to fix the bra on Jason. Then you get to see his fabulous model walk, finishing up with a nice smack on the butt. Enjoy!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUM6Yz-N_pk

In case you can't get the video to work, here is a picture:

After another great pizza buffet we went to bed. Our final towel animal was the best!

Congratulations Megan and Allen!

Gavin Andrew Tucker entered the world on Feb. 7th, at 3:11am. He weighs 6 lbs, 8 oz and is 21 inches long and has a full head of black hair. The proud parents seem to be doing great! Jason and I get to go meet Gavin tonight at the hospital and we can't wait - until then, here is a picture of him: