Friday, March 13, 2015

One Year Ago: My Caribbean Cruise Adventure

According to my Timehop app, this week marks one year from my epic week cruising the Caribbean with my best friend, Heather. I've been meaning to write about this trip here ever since! So here is my long overdo cruise recap!

Some highlights:
  • many a long talk with my wise friend about all of the things
  • floating on a raft for hours in the Bahamas under a perfect sky!
  • kayaking in the Bahamas!
  • swimming with dolphins!!
  • chilling at the most amazing beach ever in Anguila with the softest white sands and the clearest aquamarine and delightfully warm waters!!
  • amazing food with amazing service on the boat
  • reading a novel on deck in a lounge chair
  • ping pong!
  • hiking in the rainforest in Puerto Rico
  • watching Heather surf on the boat (she was awesome!)
  • ice skating on the boat
  • towel animals in the room from housekeeping
  • sunsets!
Picture time!

our boat: Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas






sting ray!


























view from hammock

after somehow conquering the rainforest hike that was almost too much for me

yes, please.

one day it was REALLY windy

another new life experience: playing the slots! wasted $5
and will probably never do again, but glad I did it.


loved this colorful lady and her big bum.




The trip left me incredibly exhausted and with a super painful sunburn, but oh man was it all worth it. Memories of this week has sustained through yet another long tundra winter. Overall, it was an incredible experience. I didn't expect to love cruising as much as I did, and now I can't wait to do it again. Something I found myself reflecting on during the trip is that a cruise could be a pretty perfect vacation even if I wasn't doing so well physically. The boat was very accommodating for disability, and there would still be plenty to see and do. A bonus is that more able-bodied loved ones could still do more adventurous and demanding activities, even if my body kept me more on the sidelines. This particular trip itinerary was also pretty great for me, because there was an alternation of days at sea and days in awesome places. The days we had excursions on shore were long and action-packed. There would be no way I could do all I wanted if these days were all back to back. On the days we were at sea, I was able to sleep in and generally have a much easier day to recover. And there is plenty to do on the boat, so Heather was able to keep occupied and still have a good time while I was resting.