Formal Night

There were two formal nights on our cruise- this is where you get dressed up and go enjoy a more formal meal in the dining room. The crew goes all out to make this a really special night.

We had lots of fun preparing for it- even before we left. Claire and Camille brought matching dresses, so we all matched to them. Ben brought his tux, the one he bought for our wedding and rarely gets to use.

I did the girls' hair really pretty and even let them wear lip gloss. It was a fun night!

Embarkation!

Sea Day 1

Here is our itinerary for the week:

I purposely chose this one because it had 4 stops instead of 3, which meant we only had 2 sea days instead of 3. While sea days are, actually, a lot of fun, I don't think anybody minded that we had 4 days on land.

But, we did take advantage of the sea day with some mini golf and touring of our beautiful home away from home.

I mean, come on- isn't this incredible? It was so beautiful!

The towel animals are very important!

We love the big glass elevator and used it as often as possible.

Embarkation

Ben and I went on a cruise when we were first married so it's been about 14 years. I had forgotten many, many things.

I got us the earliest embarkation time (a great secret- always get this because then you basically have the ship to yourself for about 3 hours- it's awesome!). We got there even before our time, and they quickly boarded us. I mean, in about 3 minutes. It was so incredibly smooth. We got on, they sent us right upstairs to the food, so we ate at the Guy Fierei burger bar, which we were told was a must (and it was SOOOOO yummy!), and then went over to the slides before they got crowded.

 We watched videos of The Green Thunder before we left- a water slide that drops you straight down and then shoots you around and around to the bottom. We all agreed that it was too scary and we wouldn't do it. But, it was the only slide open! So, eventually, we all got enough courage and went.

It didn't take long for the girls to find the all you can eat ice-cream!

Claire was very excited to find the Enchanted Forest.

The ship is so beautiful!

Here we are practicing our muster skills, getting all our safety information before launch:

Can you spot Audra and me doing the conga line?

We had a perfect dining room table with incredible views out the back of the ship! Dinner every night was wonderful. We had fabulous service and we got to try a lot of different foods. Our favorite was Baked Alaska!

It was a great way to start our cruise!

Finally, We Depart

About a year ago Ben and I had the following conversation regarding an extended family cruise we were contemplating with my entire family to celebrate my parents 50th in 2022:

Ben: If we are going to spend so much money on a cruise, I want to make ALL the decisions.

Me: Should we go on a cruise then?

Ben: Yes.

Me: (immediately hops of computer and books a cruise)

Well, after a year of anticipation, the day FINALLY came for us to leave! And, we could't get out of the bitter cold winter here in Colorado fast enough!

We left at 4:30 AM to board our plane to Tampa. We purposely went a day before the cruise departed to give us a little wiggle room in case we had flight problems, but thankfully- everything worked out perfectly with no weather or any other issues. In fact, I was incredibly surprised with how smoothly everything went.

We got to Tampa and checked into our hotel, the Marriott.

And, I had to share this: Claire loves Piggy so much. Of course she brought her and it was so sweet how she tucked her in everywhere we went.

This is about a million times better than what we left- here the girls are on Thursday. Saturday was much better!

Valentine's Day

For Valentine's Day we had a little party with some of our homeschool recess group. It was great- very low key, lots of snacks, a craft and a couple activities, and voila- a perfect party was made.

My rockin' mom friends!