Cruisin' Together (Part 1)

"The music is played for love,
Cruisin' is made for love
I love it when we're cruisin' together."

So... do you want to hear the good news or the bad news?

Ok, of course. The good news! :)

We just got back from an amazing cruise vacation on the Navigator of the Seas - a Royal Caribbean Cruise. This was our major family vacation that we have truly had to save up for... our splurge!

Our flight to Florida was so easy... too easy. Devon watched movies on his DVD player and Dean either drank his bottle or slept on our shoulder on the flight. We made it there in record time and were ready to board our ship.



What a gorgeous ship! It had everything you could think of... multiple pools, 5 10-person jacuzzis, 6 restaurants, an indoor city with shopping, pubs, and a coffee shop, a casino, a rock climbing wall, a spa, a mini golf course, a sports court, an ice skating rink and incredible views of the ocean everywhere you looked! It was everything we dreamed it would be.


This was the pool deck.


Another view of the pool deck - our favorite place to spend our mornings after breakfast.


This was the adults only pool area. Firoze and I both took turns coming up here for a quick nap or to read a book in peace.


This was the amazing sculpture that spanned 10 floors! It was made to look like the bubbles from a diver under the ocean, but it was metal balls suspended on wires that moved as the ship rocked.


This was the indoor promenade, or the mini "city" on board. It was an open atrium at the center of the ship with shopping and dining options.


This was the coffee shop that you could come to every afternoon (or anytime at all because they are open 24 hrs!) to get a free coffee or tea and all the pastries you could stuff yourself with! Trust me... I took full advantage! Is it wrong to have a calzone, a cinnamon bun and a apple strudel with a cup of tea at 3pm in the afternoon? I don't think so!

But my FAVORITE part of the ship was our room! It was our first cruise with a balcony room and it was heaven! From now on, I'm spoiled... I can't go back to an inside cabin. Now that I know what it's like to wake up and throw open the curtains to see the ocean for miles and to slide the door open and hear the sounds of the waves and feel the sunshine. Nope, no going back.


This was the view from the balcony looking in.


This was the view looking out at our balcony - notice the nice pack n' play that the cruise ship set up for Dean. (More on that later!)


Firoze and Devon step out on our balcony and enjoy the sun!


Of course Devon brought "Baby" (you don't think there was any way he would leave his "best friend" at home, do you?) Baby should really have a passport by now. What stuffed animal has been on at least 10 flights by now and has literally flown around the world and has now taken a cruise? Hmmm.... lucky panda!


So happy to be on vacation!


We're all smiles here, even Firoze was so excited to be on vacation... away from the hotel... away from the stresses and pressures of everyday life. Little did we know what we were in store for! (More on this later :))

The first thing we did was to head up to the pool to enjoy the "Sail Away."



We started with sips of a fruity cocktail and smiles all around to feel the warm breezes, to watch the ship leave the Florida port and sail into the sunset, and to look forward to 6 days of fun and relaxation...

At least that was the plan. Parts 2 and 3 coming soon!