A week with my husband and good friends was all I had hoped it would be! We had so much fun relaxing, eating, playing cards, seeing a little bit of four countries we had never been to before, and eating some more. This was our second cruise; the last was to celebrate our 10th anniversary. This will be 15...I can't believe we are that old! We went a little early because our good friends Brandon and Stacy agreed to go with us to celebrate their anniversary too. It was so much fun! The first day at sea we laid out on the windy deck and ate too many ice cream cones. It was formal night, so we got to get all dressed up to go to dinner. Our waiters were a little quiet the first few nights, but then they warmed up to us. Eddy, Welly, and Hari, All from different countries around the world. It was fun to have the same people serving us all week and getting to know them a little bit. All the staff on the boat work so hard. They are on contract for 6 to 9 months at a time. Some have families at home and only get to see them for 3 months out of the entire year. And they say it is a privilege to be working on the ship. Here we are at the first formal night!
Oh, I forgot. When we first got on the ship we were exploring all the decks. We passed by the spa and were asked to do a tour; they try to sell you on everything. While we were standing there waiting, one of the ladies got really close to Kurt's face and asked him if he shaved today, examining closely. She insisted that he get a shave. He couldn't say no, literally, he tried. Apparently they needed a volunteer to demonstrate the services they offer. So he sat in the chair and a girl from South Africa began to tell us what she would do to him. We thought he would just be there for our group...oh were we wrong. Before she even started shaving him our group moved on to see the next service. He had to sit there and be shaved...and get a facial....for all the other groups passing by!!! When we were done with the tour about 45 minutes later he was still in the chair. Poor guy, he was so embarrassed! But his face was soft and his skin nicely hydrated!
The first port we went to was the Dominican Republic. Cruise ships just started coming there in October of 2015. We took a bus ride for about 45 minutes, through a few little towns that looked very much like places in Nigeria or other third world countries we've visited. The woman giving the tour told us that the country is very hopeful because the cruise ships coming in will provide many jobs. Hopefully this will be true and benefit their economy. We heard a lot of other interesting information on the way as well, but we never know how much is actually true or just what they think we want to hear. We finally arrived at a beach and boarded a little boat that took us to a big katamaran. There were probably about 50 people on board, a bus full. We went to two different snorkeling locations and then they served us a wonderful lunch. Snorkeling was okay, we saw some pretty fish. I fed some, and would not recommend it! The little fish are cute and fun, but then a big fish came along and bit me and actually broke the skin...only me. After lunch they put up the huge sails and sailed us for about 2 hours back to our ship. It was amazing!
The second port was St. Thomas. We took a ferry over to St. John (a smaller island with less than 5,000 people living there) and snorkeled and relaxed at Trunk Bay, one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. The snorkeling wasn't much to speak of, but the beach was absolutely amazing. We could have spent more time there! This was the view from up above. Yes, we were there right on that sand!!!
Third was San Juan, Puerto Rico. We didn't plan a shore excursion with the ship this day. So we got off the ship and got sucked into a tour for much cheaper with a local company. It was actually really good. The driver was great and gave us a lot of information. We saw a lot of historical sites and two different forts. They were pretty amazing to see. Then we walked around the old city with cobblestone streets. We ate at a local restaurant and ate mufungo, a national dish made from smashed plaintain filled with meat and lots of sauce. It was very, very good. This picture is a watchtower in one of the walls of the fort.
The fourth stop was probably our favorite. Grand Turk. We just walked off the ship onto a beautiful beach. There were a lot of chairs and people right by the ship so we walked to the opposite end of the beach. We got a few chairs and an umbrella from a place called Jack's Shack and enjoyed the whole afternoon. It was pretty warm and the water was perfect and refreshing. There was a dog that belonged to the owners that ran and played in the water in front of us all day. I think you can see him in the picture. It was just a great relaxing, beautiful day seeing God's creation. At the end of the day a huge sting ray swam right by the shore!
It was such an amazing trip. We meet so many interesting people on and off the ship. People love to share their stories and talk. I love hearing how stories from all over the world. I love being on the ship and looking out and seeing the ocean on all sides. It is huge and I am so small. Even the gianormous cruise ship is tiny compared to the expanse of the ocean below and the stars above. As I think about God's love being so deep and wide, I see it so clearly looking around me and breathing in the ocean air. God is so much bigger and greater and more powerful than I can even begin to imagine. I can feel bad spending so much money on a vacation when it can go other places. But I'm reminded that we need to invest in and celebrate our marriage as well. We need to enjoy time together and just being. It was so refreshing. I write this from our hotel room where we are staying one more night before we fly out in the morning. I wanted to write all we did so I wouldn't forget after the whirlwind of getting home and having tons to do. I'm so thankful for our parents who watched the kids for us! I'm not ready to come home. We both miss the kids a ton, but it was such a good trip....it will be hard to go back to reality!
