Cassie: 2008 Cruise

So here it is...almost 2 months late, I know….the post about one of the most amazing trips I've ever taken! Our family had booked this cruise vacation over a year in advance. And although that seems ridiculous, it made the year building up to this vacation so much better. We saved big time on the expense and we made memories just talking about what we wanted to do while on this trip.

On Saturday March 1, 2008 we boarded a plane in snowy Cleveland, Ohio and had a direct flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico. The flight was wonderful and in just 3 hours and 53 minutes of taking off from Cleveland's 20-some degree weather we were in beautiful 80-some degree weather! After arriving at the hotel we headed to the beach.

After we visited the beach for awhile, we went back to the hotel to get cleaned up for dinner. We went to a little place for pizza. It was pretty good. On our way back we stopped at a little store and me and dad bought a beer and went to the hotel roof. Up there we met some people from Detroit who were going on the same cruise as us. I told them maybe we will see you around the ship....laughing inside because what are the chances with 3,700 guests on the ship, not including staff. The first day on the ship we were at the pool and there they were, hanging out on the top deck. What a small world! It gets better because that night we went to dinner and they were sitting at the table right next to us! Geez! They were great people, except for the fact they were Michigan fans…BOOOO!

Anyways, back to San Juan! On Sunday we got up early and took the bus to Old San Juan! We went to mass at the Cathedral and then walked around a little bit!
After we checked out of the hotel we headed down to the pier to board the ship! We were all really excited! This was Ben’s first cruise so he was quite shocked when he saw the ship! We boarded the ship and headed straight to the windjammer for lunch! Aahhh! It was good! We waited for our rooms to be ready and once they were we headed that way.
Day 1 we were at sea the entire day! It was a great day to explore the ship and just relax! We spent time at the pool and enjoying the beautiful sea!
Day 2 we arrived in Aruba for a fun-filled day! We had booked an excursion called the Kuku Kunuku bus tour which took us to two landmarks and then to Palm Beach! It was a fun-filled time! We had a blast!

Oh, I forgot to mention that our first night at dinner on the ship we met our dinner mates for the duration of the trip. There were 3 of them. A mom, dad and their daughter, who happens to be the same age as me. Her name is Shawna and she spent quite a bit of time hanging out with me, Lisa and Ben!

Day 3 we arrived in Curacao and were super excited for our excursion. What could this excursion be you ask? The Dolphin Swim of course!! At first I wasn’t going to do the dolphin swim but after thinking about it for a few months, I decided that it was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I really should do it. I was extremely nervous but it was so incredible. We had a blast. Oh, Shawna came with us too!

Day 4 we were at sea again all day! Another fantastic day to lie in the sun, sleep and explore more of the ship! The days went by so fast!

Day 5 we were in St. Maarten! St. Maarten is such a beautiful island. This day started off rough (I was having some slight health problems) but turned out to be a great day! We went to Orient Beach (the nudist beach) where the water and beaches were incredible. If I ever get to go there again I will be sure to spend more of my time at the beaches! They are gorgeous! We took a tour and it dropped us off for shopping which wasn’t that great in the area they took us too! They do have excellent shopping near port though!

Day 6 we were in St. Thomas and since my parents had been to St. Thomas 3 times and me and Lisa had been there once before we decided to take a ferry over to St. John’s Island. It’s about a 45 minute ferry ride and we went to Trunk Bay for snorkeling! I think St. John’s was by far my favorite island. It is an incredible island. I would go on my honeymoon there and I recommend it to anyone who is looking for a vacation. This would be a great place to go for a week to relax.

Day 7 we were back in San Juan and sad to get off the boat! We had an incredible time and would soon find out that back in Ohio everyone was getting hammered with a really bad snow storm. We hadn’t really seen much news related stuff while on the ships so when we checked into the hotel in San Juan we turned on the news to see the snow storm! This really made us wish we weren’t going back home the following day!

Here are some great pictures from the trip!!