Day 9: On Friday, May 2 I had to work from the condo so I could finish up end of month for my job. I woke up early and got caught up on work emails and then went to lunch with Marisa, Mark, and Cynthia at Steve's Famous Diner, which is right across the street from the condo. After lunch I went back to the condo to work for the afternoon. I was done at about 4:30, so I relaxed while I waited for everyone to get back from their activities. That evening we went out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant called Maria Bonita. After dinner we went back to the condo to play a game of Phase 10 and Mark won. Day 10: On Saturday, May 3 the weather was cloudy and rainy, so we didn't get to play miniature golf like we wanted to. Instead the girls went to the movie theater to see The Other Woman. I liked the movie and I thought it was really funny. We went shopping after the movie and I bought a souvenir t-shirt, a really cool hand-made candle, and a pair of Tory Burch sunglasses. The guys picked us up and we went back to the condo and played another game of Phase 10. This time Marisa won the game. When we were done playing we went to dinner at a seafood restaurant called Down the Hatch. It was really cool to sit right on the riverfront. Yet again, we went back to the condo and played more Phase 10 until everyone got tired and went to bed. Day 11: Our last day of the trip was Sunday, May 4. Everyone else laid by the pool and got some sun. I've already gotten too much sun on this trip, so I stayed inside and relaxed. The girls went for a quick lunch at Ruby Tuesday and then we went back to the condo to finish packing. We left the condo at 2:45 to head to Orlando. About an hour later we got to the airport and went our separate ways. Cynthia was in a different terminal and I was in a different gate from everyone headed to Indianapolis. Overall, this was a great trip! It was nice to have time before and after the cruise to hang out and relax because our time on the cruise was really busy. I am happy that I was able to do and see so much on the cruise, but it did make the time go by really fast and the cruise was over too soon.
I will have some final thoughts and some exciting news in tomorrow's post. Stay tuned!
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Day 7: The next day was Wednesday, April 30 and our last full day on the ship. I had ordered room service the night before for breakfast at 8am and ate it out on the balcony again. I could feel a tradition starting for eating breakfast on my balcony on sea days, hopefully one that will last for future cruises too! Again, the room service coffee wasn't that great, so I went to the cafe and got a mocha. Then I went to the casino and played slots until I won almost $200! After that I went back to the room and got on my bathing suit so I could meet everyone at the pool. I stopped at Squeeze, my favorite bar, to get a drink and then walked over to the main pool area to meet my friends. Later I got another drink at the Sky Bar, which is one of two bars near the pool. They also had a bingo game going for a $500 prize. I was only one spot away when two other people won. After leaving the pool, we went to get lunch at the buffet before going to the ice show at 2pm. I had read online that it was a good idea to have reservations for the ice show, but when we go there no one was checking for reservations. Everyone just grabbed the first spots they could find. I liked the ice show. I thought it was really impressive what the skaters were able to do in such a small space. After the ice show I walked around and took some more pictures of the ship. Then I went to my room to get ready for dinner. It felt nice to be able to take my time instead of rushing like I had the two nights before after each of our excursions. I was ready for dinner earlier than I needed to be, so I went back to the casino again and didn't really win or lose anything. At dinner I gave thank you cards to our waiter, Cesar, and our assistant waiter, Adrian. We walked to the back of the ship after eating and saw the last few minutes of sunset. After that we went to go see Saturday Night Fever, which was good but I still liked In The Air better. After the show everyone else went to bed, but I still wanted to get some nighttime shots of the pool area. I also still had a casino slip for $36, so I went back to the slots to use it up. I was down to about $4 when I won the progressive for $436 on the candy slot machine! It was a great way to end the night and the trip! After that I finally headed back to my room and finished packing for our departure the next day. Day 8:
The next morning was Thursday, May 1 and we met at 8:30 at the buffet and then got in line at 9:20 to get off the ship. There were delays at immigration, so we waited a couple of hours to be let off the ship. I did get pulled aside at immigration to pay duties on the jewelry I bought in Cozumel, but it was less than I expected, so I didn't mind doing it. And then we were on our way back to Daytona. We stopped at Applebee's for lunch and got back to the condo at around 6:30pm. That night we at guacamole, frozen pizzas, and queso dip for dinner and played some Phase 10. Todd won the game and then we went to bed. Day 6: Our second port day was on Tuesday, April 29. On this day it was only four of us on the excursion together: me, Marisa, Mark, and Todd. Everyone else went and did their own excursions. Cozumel has a dock, so it was much faster to get off the ship than it was with using the tender in Belize. Cozumel is on an island, so in order to start our tour from the mainland we had to take a 45-minute ferry ride to Playa Del Carmen. The ferry ride was pretty rough with a lot of people looking like they were feeling sea sick by the end. Thankfully my Dramamine worked and I felt totally fine! When the ferry landed we went straight to a charter bus that would take us to Tulum. Our first tour guide, Julio, told us about Mayan civilization while we were on the bus. We made a quick restroom break and also shopped for some souvenirs. I found a really cool Mayan mask to hang somewhere in my apartment. We finished the drive to Tulum and our other tour guide, Arnando, guided us through the ruins telling us all kinds of interesting stuff about what we were seeing. After about an hour of listening to him we were given 20 minutes to explore on our own. We wandered over to the back of the main temple and looked out over the cliff to the ocean below. It was really pretty! Once we left the ruins it was time for us to re-trace our steps and take the bus back to the ferry that would return us to Cozumel. Our first stop was Diamonds International. We didn't find anything we liked at that location, so we walked four blocks to the next store. I ended up finding a pair of earrings that I fell in love with and Marisa also found a pair she really liked! Poor Todd had been sitting around waiting for us the whole time we shopped, so we decided he needed an authentic Mexican margarita with chips & guacamole. We went to Pancho's Backyard and then caught a taxi to get back to the ship. We hurried and got ready for dinner and met back up at the dining room. After dinner we went to the bar and all did a lemon drop shot. I went to the casino for a little while and then I went to bed. According to my Fitbit we walked 6 miles this day, so I was ready to relax! Tomorrow I will share pictures from our last day at sea. This was when I took most of my pictures of the ship, so you will finally get to see more of Liberty of the Seas!
Day 5: On the morning of Monday, April 28 we arrived in Belize, our first port of the cruise. There isn't a dock in Belize City, so the ship had to stay out in the water and we had to use tender boats to get to and from land. The whole process of getting everyone off the ship took a long time, so even though we met with our excursion group at 8:30, we didn't start our tour until about 10. Once we got off the tender boat we got on another boat to tour the river for the first part of our excursion. We saw manatees, crocodiles, howler monkeys, and iguanas while we were on the river tour. The only bad thing was that it was 96 degrees and we were all melting on the boat!! I kept applying sunblock all day long but still ended up getting some redness because we were in the sun all day long. After the river tour we stopped for lunch and then got on a bus that would take us to go see the Mayan ruins called Altun Ha. We even climbed to the top of one of the temples, which was really cool! After we were done at the ruins we got back on the bus and then took another tender boat back to our ship. We got back to the ship just in time for dinner, so we all met in the dining room and ate together. After that we went to see a band play and then went to bed. Tomorrow I will write about our day in Cozumel, which included more Mayan ruins along with some jewelry shopping!
Day 4: Sunday, April 27 was our first full day at sea. The picture above is my room service breakfast that I ate out on my balcony. Once I was done eating, I had a craving for a good coffee, so I went down to the promenade for a mocha at the Promenade Cafe. I wandered through the promenade but none of the shops were open, so I went down to the casino. I started with $50 and at one point got up to over $150! I was excited to have tripled my money in an hour and a half, so I called it quits and went back to the promenade where they were having a watch sale. I didn't find any watches I wanted, so I went back to my room. Marisa had left a message that her and Cynthia were headed to the pool, so I changed into my bathing suit and went to meet them. They had gotten chairs by the pool for all of us, so we hung out by the pool for about an hour. Then it was time to head back to the casino for a slot tournament. I paid $25 to enter and didn't make it to the top ten, otherwise I would have been eligible for the top prize of a cruise for two...oh well! After the slot tournament we all went to the buffet for lunch. I was really tired after lunch, so I went back to my room to soak my feet and take a nap. Before it was time to meet everyone for dinner I went down to a Swarovski sale and found earrings that match the ring I bought myself for my 30th birthday! I wore them to dinner that night to show them to everyone. Dinner was at 6 and then there was a Cirque du Soleil type show called "In the Air" at 9pm, so we went and got seats for that after eating. The show was really good! I was pretty tired after the show, so I went back to my room to get some rest before our excursion that we had the next day. That's it for our first sea day! Tomorrow I will share stories and pictures from our first port in Belize and our excursion to the Mayan ruins called Altun Ha.
Day 2: Friday, April 25 was the first full day of our trip and it started bright and early for me. I woke up so early that I had the chance to take pictures of the sunrise like the one up above. Pretty soon everyone else woke up and we headed to breakfast without Todd, who wanted to stay at the condo. After breakfast at the Peach Valley Cafe we went back to the condo and got dressed (we went to breakfast in our pajamas). Once we were all ready to go we got in the rental van and headed to St. Augustine to visit the outlets and get some lunch. I visited the Michael Kors store and the Kate Spade store but didn't find anything to buy. After shopping we headed back to Daytona for Marisa's birthday dinner at Bonefish Grill. Once we were done with dinner we went back to the condo and played Phase 10 until midnight. Day 3: I woke up at 6:30 on the morning of Saturday, April 26 and got showered and dressed before finishing my packing for the cruise. We left the condo at around 8:45, which was ahead of schedule. Even with a restroom break we got to the port earlier than expected, around 12:30. It took a long time to get on the ship due to some delays, so we were hot and sweaty by the time we got onboard. After a little bit of exploring and then doing our muster drill, it was time for sail away. It was so much fun to be out on the balcony, drinking champagne and waving to everyone on shore and on the webcam!! After we took off we stayed pretty busy. We got showered and went to dinner in the main dining room. I had requested a table for us by the window, so we had a good view of the ocean while eating. I thought the food was really good! A lot of people online say the food is just mediocre, but I liked it. After dinner we went to see a comedy show that was pretty funny. Then Cynthia, Jeri, and I went and decorated Marisa's room with the birthday banner and balloons we brought. She was excited and happy when she saw the decorations and realized we had decorated for her! Later that night we spent time in the cantilevered hot tubs, which are 120 feet over the water! It was a good way to relax and get ready for bed. I thought about going to the casino after that, but I really wanted to un-pack and get organized so I went back to my room at around 9:30. Overall, the first day of the cruise was very tiring and overwhelming. It was so exciting to finally be on the ship, but at that point I was ready for a day at sea spent relaxing and hanging by the pool! Tomorrow I will write about day 4 and our time in Belize!
My trip is over and now it is back to reality! I actually got home on Sunday evening, but it's taken me a while to unpack and get re-situated, so I am just now getting a chance to do a quick blog post. The trip itself was a lot of fun. It was just as good as I hoped it would be and we got to see and do all kinds of fun stuff. The group I traveled with was a great group of people and we had each other cracking up the whole time. I am going to do a full breakdown of the entire trip, including pictures. I will probably go day by day so you can get an idea of everything we did and all the places we went. First, let me introduce you to the people on the trip so you know who I'm talking about during my upcoming posts:
My trip started on Thursday, April 24 was a travel day for me. My flight didn't leave Denver until 2:40, so I had all morning to get ready. It was actually worse than a morning flight because the day seemed to last forever! When it was finally time to head to the airport I had very little traffic and got there in record time. I also got lucky and was selected to go through the TSA pre-check line, which meant I didn't stand in line for security at all! I was at my gate really early and worried the time would drag, but it ended up going by pretty fast. Before I knew it I was on the plane! Before boarding, I had noticed a large group of people traveling together and soon figured out they were a cheerleading team headed for a world tournament in Orlando. They were pretty spirited, so it turned out to be the loudest flight I've ever been on!
We finally landed and I met Marisa and Cynthia at the baggage claim. Soon we were on our way to Daytona after a quick meal at Carrabba's. We got to the condo at around 11:30, so we all hung out until midnight so Marisa could open her cards for her 30th birthday. We headed to bed shortly after that, all tired after a long day of travel. First of all, I hope everyone had a great Easter! I spent the weekend with my mom shopping, watching a movie, and going out to eat at Olive Garden. Those are all favorite activities of mine, so it was great!
I also wanted to touch base before I leave on my trip in 2 days. I think I get more excited with every day that goes by, so I can't imagine how I'm going to feel on Thursday when the trip actually starts! I can't remember if I outlined my itinerary in an earlier post, so I figured I'd put it in here anyway:
I plan on taking a ton of pictures on the trip, so I will have a lot of posts once I get home. I am also going to keep a travel journal every day so I will be able to add some notes on what we did and where we went. My plan is to do a different post for each day, so it will take a while to get everything up on the blog. I'm also going to do a Smash book for this trip once I get home. I had originally planned on doing it during the trip, but I figure I'll have plenty of other things to do with my time! I'll post pictures of the Smash book once it's done. Like I mentioned in my post for my packing test run, I needed a few more items for my cruise. I wanted another dress and bathing suit so I'd have more options on the trip. So I went to JC Penney on Monday and found not only three dresses, but also two bathing suits! The American Living Empire-Waist Dress is my favorite dress that I found at the store! I think it will be perfect for our formal dinner on the cruise. This dress is the Worthington Side-Draped Drop-Waist Sheath Dress and is a bit more casual, but I still think it will be nice for a dinner dress. This dress is from Ana and wasn't on the JC Penney website. It's very comfortable and flowy...just hopefully not too flowy for a windy day! This is the Liz Claiborne Bandeukini Swim Top and Classic Hipster Swim Bottoms. I love that even though it's a 2-piece, it still looks almost like a 1-piece. The Liz Claiborne Shirred Halter 1-Piece is a classic silhouette. I think it is very flattering for all shapes and sizes. The best thing about doing this blog post is that it led me to the JC Penney website, where all the clothes I bought are on sale for less than I paid. Now I just need to compare prices to see if it's worth re-ordering everything online for the cheaper price!
Ever since booking my cruise I have been scouring the Cruise Critic website. I have read all of their "First Time Cruisers" articles and spent hours upon hours going through their message boards. Here are some of the tips and tricks I've picked up along the way, some specific to Royal Caribbean and others more generic:
The last tip worked out awesome for me! Yesterday morning I decided to check out the Cruise Critic Price Drop tool and noticed that balcony rooms on my cruise had dropped price significantly. I was originally booked in a Promenade room, so I was one step below a balcony. I called customer service at Royal Caribbean and asked them if they could check and see if I was eligible for an upgrade. The guy I spoke to was very nice and said that I was indeed able to get a free upgrade to a balcony room! I was super excited because all along I wanted a balcony but couldn't justify spending the extra money, especially because I'm alone in my room and still paying the price for two people (which honestly baffles me). The best part of the story is that I emailed the group I'm traveling with and they called and got the free upgrade for the other three rooms in our group. Two of the rooms are even adjoining, so we can remove the balcony divider and have a balcony twice the size of a normal one! I can already envision spending evenings on the double balcony drinking wine and watching the sunset! There must be a ton of other tips and tricks out there for cruising, so if you have anything else you'd like to add please make a comment below.
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AuthorMy name is Beth and I live in Denver. I am a single lady in my 30's and wanted to start sharing my awesome and amazing life through a blog. Categories
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