WARNING: Long Post
For Christmas, mom and dad Briggs gave us an ornament that said Caribbean Cruise 2010. We took that cruise May 30 – June 6. The catch was that we would leave our little ones at home. I had mixed emotions at first, but got used to the idea as the cruise date approached. My only fear is that Kimball would walk while we were gone. Mom Packard watched Kimball for us the week we were gone, so she made sure not to work with her too much so that I wouldn’t miss that milestone in Kimball’s life. We realize what a sacrifice it was for her and dad, but we really appreciate mom’s willingness to take care of her. I knew she was in good hands!
I had several pictures to post, so I decided to separate them into separate albums. I won’t be offended if you don’t look at them because there are a ton! I am waiting to get pictures from the rest of my family, so maybe I can update the photo albums later.
In this album you will find pictures of us at the hotel waiting for our shuttle to the cruise pier in Miami, dining on the cruise, our time in St. Maarten, 70’s night dancing in the street (Royal Promenade), my brother Dave participating in Jeopardy, towels folded into animals, enjoying the sun & drinks (virgin of course) on the top deck, the theatre were we would watch performance and several random moments. The service on the ship is amazing. Our servers at dinner were incredible. Our servers were Louis from Trinidad and Blyton from India. We really liked the sourdough rolls they had at dinner every night, so when we arrived at our table, there were 2 baskets of sourdough rolls waiting for us. It is amazing that our rooms were in a straight line down the hall and we very rarely saw the family except for at night. My family would go to the 24 hour cafe on ship and get a chocolate chip cookie and milk at midnight. We had a few nights where we played ‘Make-a-million’ and ‘Settlers of Catan’. We sat together at dinner and spent the nights having fun. Kevin even surprised me and went dancing at midnight in the night club on board for about 15 minutes (starting off slowly).
Ice Skating: There was an ice skating rink on board, so there was an ice skating show one night. It is pretty amazing that we were watching this on a cruise ship. The skaters were amazing and from all different countries.
Destination – Puerto Rico. We thought Puerto Rico was nice. It was a very clean city and had beautiful cobblestone streets. We walked up a huge hill to a fort. The view of Puerto Rico from the fort was breathtaking! Of course, Kevin found where the guns and cannon balls were! I was able to call home from Puerto Rico and see how Kimball was doing because Puerto Rico is a commonwealth of the U.S.A. and Verizon doesn’t charge more for calls made to the United States from there. It was pretty hot there and I was pretty thirsty, so we found a McDonalds and I was able to get a Diet Coke. It was delicious! Kevin was a trooper letting me wait in the long line to get it. Thanks babe!
Destination – Labadee Haiti. I guess Royal Caribbean owns this port, so it was like being on a private beach. The beaches here were amazing! White sand beaches and clear blue water! We could see our feet when we were walking in the ocean! We ate lunch on shore because we didn’t have to pay for it. Instead of going back on the ship to eat lunch they brought it on the island to us. VIP treatment, baby! There was an artisan marketplace that we walked through and the locals would come up to you and try selling their crafts. Kevin and I went to a few huts and bartered with the people there to get what we thought was a good deal. This was probably our favorite destination because we just chilled on the beach and took it easy. Something we don’t get to do everyday.
Bittersweet moment – leaving the ship and going back to reality. I was sad to leave the ship because that meant that I wouldn’t be waited on hand and foot and I would have to cook & clean again. I was excited to get home and see Kimball!!! I think that a week is a perfect length. When we got home, I just wanted to hold my baby girl again. She woke up when we went upstairs to go to sleep and so Kevin held her first and then I got a turn. I just held her and rocked with her for a few minutes. I swear, she grew 10 inches and looked more like a toddler when we got home.
We got off the ship at 9:00 AM and got to the airport around 9:45 AM. My parents were advised by their travel agent, not to book our plane tickets until after 3:00 PM just in case anything happened and we were late arriving in Miami. Our flight didn’t leave until 4:45 PM, so we had a good amount of time at the Ft. Lauderdale airport. We didn’t mind though. The airport had free wi-fi, so we all checked our email and Kevin was able to get back up to speed on things. We played games in the airport and spent time reminiscing about our week. Time went by really fast and before we knew we were leaving Ft. Lauderdale.
Thank you so much mom and dad for taking us on this amazing adventure! Words can’t even express how much fun we had. It is an experience that we will never forget!
Thank you mom for watching Kimball and taking such great care of her! We really appreciate your sacrifice!
2 comments:
WoW Ashley! Way to blog it up! I should for sure be in bed, but you just reel me in with all your pictures :). Looks like you guys had so much fun! Glad you're back. P.S. My mom's maiden name is Briggs. Maybe we are related after all :). Just may explain a few similarities. j/k.
WOW>> what an amazing experience.. it looks like loads of fun and i'm sure with no kids..it was hard, but able to enjoy the scenery more. SO we were thinking that next year we would just stop by your parents at christmas and see what the ornament would say for us! ha ha ha... sound good?
Also, cute suit!!! loved it.. i mean ashley's suit Kevin... i guess yours was cute too.. if you want it to be! LOL.. looked like a great trip you guys!
Post a Comment