Ringin' in the New Year

We rang in the New Year, Carnival cruise style!

Not too shabby.

Quite a difference to what we were welcomed home to yesterday.  Although, both of these climates sure have their benefits.  The benefit to a winter wonderland/frozen tundra is that it's now bought us two days off of work.  Which is perfect, considering I had 344 pictures to edit, 3 loads of laundry to do, unpacking suitcases, and putting away all the Christmas crap.  And I should add, it's been extra special to have these next two days with the boys, who were over the moon to see us.

Apparently playing in laundry is so much fun!

We flew in to Tampa last Sunday, the 29th, and wasted no time getting the party started!

We were able to board the cruise fairly early in the day, which gave us a chance to explore all it had to offer like mini-golf, multiple swimming pools, an adults-only section with hammocks and what I called, "love nests", and even an "Enchanted Forest".

Even though it was a little on the cool side in Tampa and had showers on and off, it was still something to be standing outside in short sleeves, drinking an umbrella drink, and watching us set sail off into the ocean.

The first day was at sea and again, we were met with some unfortunate weather.  Cloudy with spotty showers.  That didn't stop us from laying out on lounge chairs on the deck and relaxing.  We were even lucky enough to spot some dolphins swimming next to our ship!

A nap in the afternoon and we were ready to celebrate the first formal night on the ship and our anniversary (5 wonderful years!).  The staff sang, "Happy Anniversary" to us and gave us a special dessert (even though we'd already had dessert).  Yum!  I can feel the extra pounds we gained from the food on the ship just looking at this picture!

The following day we docked in Cozumel.

We had absolutely zero plans, which was a blessing.  The weather was hot, hot, hot!  Finally!  We hailed a cab and told them to take us to a nice beach.  15 minutes later we arrived in Paradise.  No, really.  Paradise Beach.

We left with enough time to do some jello shots and get some balloon hats at Margaritaville on the way back to the ship.

That night was New Year's Eve and we truly had no idea what to expect.  The party was to be on the lido deck outside and by 11pm, it was kind of dead up there.  By 11:45pm, the place was nuts!!!  Maybe it was because people came to their senses and peeled themselves away from the casino or maybe because Stevie Wonder made a guest appearance and sang 3 songs.  Either way, this was the place to be!

The following day we arrived in Belize and woke up bright and early to get ready for our snorkeling excursion we booked.  Hands down, the best excursion I've ever been on!  And that's saying a lot!

We were whisked away on a boat for a 30 minute boat ride off to some magical place on the barrier reef called Geoff's Caye.  Holy moly!  This is what you picture in your head when you think of buying a private island and escaping there for the rest of your life.

We snorkeled for an hour or so around the caye and were able to see jellyfish, a baby barracuda, hundreds of other fish, and live coral.  Beautiful!!!  We came back to the caye to lay out and snack on grilled lobster tails and chicken kabobs.  Delicious!  Again...best.excursion.ever!

Another dolphin sighting on our way back to the ship and picturesque views of the cruise ships docked.

Thursday we stopped and docked in Roatan, Honduras.  Third day in a row of ports and third day in a row of gorgeous weather.

We booked another excursion to do some zip-lining.

It was so exhilarating!  By the time I was fully comfortable with it, we had gone down the entire mountain.  I would do it again in a heartbeat!  Plus, letting the monkey crawl on me and lick my neck at the end was an added bonus.

We were escorted to the beach to lay out for a few hours before we had to be back to the ship and it was another beautiful beach!  A little crowded and some pushy artisans, but who can complain with scenery like this?

That evening was the second and final formal night on board.  We got all dolled up for dinner and came right by to change into comfy clothes to play roulette in the casino.

The final port of call was Grand Cayman on Friday morning.  Unfortunately, the weather was horrible!  The boat was rocking all night and we weren't even sure we were going to be tendered into the port because of the waves.  But, we made it to land!  With the inclement weather, we decided it was a good day to do a bar crawl and experience all the local beverages.

With the weather finally clearing up and the sun starting to come out, it was no surprise that it was time to go back to the ship.  Oh well!  We made the most of it!

Our final day on Saturday was at sea and once again it was cool and cloudy.  We spent the day napping, eating, reading a book, watching TV, and gambling at the casino.  Oh, and I can now do the Thriller dance thanks to the Thriller dance class in the lobby!

As our trip came to an end we docked in Tampa Sunday morning to some beautiful weather.  Figures, right?  But, at the end of the day, it didn't really matter what the weather was like on our trip.  We had a great time relaxing and reinvesting in our marriage.  And after a week away from my boys, we were more than ready to head home!  I'm so blessed to have had this opportunity to sneak away for a week, but I'm happy to be home!