Cruisin'

Do I still have any loyal blog readers after my last post? haha

Back to our vacation update! After a day at Legoland, we spent the night with my uncle (technically 3rd, I think, cousin but we call him uncle) at his house in Orlando. The next morning, we popped out of bed ready for blue water, umbrella drinks and meals that I didn't have to cook.

Uncle Denny's pretty backyard swing... note Avery's shoes on the wrong feet... she would NOT let me fix them. Little Miss Independent.

I don't have any pictures of the 1st day because this day was overwhelming. Basically every passenger on the boat is on the lido deck, someone is constantly making announcements on the intercom, there are a lot of chimes and that darn muster drill is annoying albeit necessary. This day overwhelmed Parker who has some sensory issues. We started to wonder what the heck we did signing our family up to be stuck on a boat for 6 days.

After a nice dinner, we put the kids to bed at their usual time of 7:30. This was *key* to enjoying the rest of our vacation! They slept until 9:00am thanks to having an interior room with no light... it was glorious.

The kids woke up happy and we breathed a huge sigh of relief when we realized that they weren't so overwhelmed anymore. Our 1st day was at Freeport, Bahamas. So after a great night's sleep and a yummy breakfast, we got off the boat and got a cab to take us to a local beach. Much to our surprise, the water was COLD and it looked like it was going to storm but we enjoyed playing in the sand. Excursions to play at beaches were $60+ dollars a person... we paid $27 round trip for the 4 of us for a cab to a public beach with bathrooms, a restaurant and a nice bar. #winning

No filter! That was really how the sky looked!!

These piggies!!!! I love them!

The next day was Half Moon Cay. This was our favorite day! It was warmer and the island had lots for the kids to do!

They enjoyed the water slides and shallow, clear water. This island was super family friendly and I recommend booking a cruise that stops here if you have kids!

Each night was pretty much the same. We went back to the room at 4. The kids played legos, we rested a bit, showered and then were at dinner by 5:45. We loved our waitress, Yulia. Parker and Avery were great every night at dinner thanks to bread, crayons and random choreographed dances by the waiters. Shout out to Vitaly (yes, like in Madagascar 3) who taught Avery how to "get low" to the "apple bottoms jeans" song. Really proud mom moment when a 22 year old waiter tells you your 2 year old is a "sexy dancer!" We gave him slack and crossed our fingers that was a "lost in translation" moment! haha

The next day was spent at sea.  Unfortunately, Avery had a fever this day so after a few rounds of mini golf, she and Daniel retreated to the room for naps. Parker had a blast in kid's camp while mama laid out alone by the pool with an umbrella drink. It was nice!

We decided to forgo Nassau since we had been there before and just play on the lido deck while there were less people on the ship. We played on the water slide, ate our weight in frozen yogurt and watched silly contest by the pool. I got a massage while Daniel played mini golf with the kids then we met up to get ready for dinner.

Each night after dinner, we went straight back to the room and put the kids to bed. That just worked for us. They were tired and I think we had a more enjoyable cruise because we kept them on schedule. I had lots of movies and TV shoes on a hard drive that I watched on the laptop with head phones while the kids slept. The Sound of Music with Carrie Underwood also happened to be on NBC one night so I spent 3 hours of my life being a little confused by that musical. Carrie Underwood is stunning and sings SO beautifully but it was just awkward in my opinion. PS- The hills are alive with the sound of music... not the forest.

Daniel played poker every night and boy are we glad he did! ;) He won double the amount of the cost of our cruise! Go Daniel! I didn't feel in the least bit slighted because I was not interested in this cruise's on board entertainment since it was geared more toward the 50+ crowd. (More on that in my next post Cruisin' with Kids) Keeping the kids on their schedule worked for us even if that meant turning in at 7:30!

We're still trying to explain to the kids that frozen yogurt is only breakfast food on cruises and that mama doesn't cook 4 and 5 course meals. They may have gotten a wee bit spoiled but that's what vacations are for, right?