Dry Land

We arrived back to Fort Lauderdale today. I was rather glad to step off the ship, a week of eating and drinking has spoiled me very much. I thought I'd share the picture of the beautiful ship today even though this was taken a few days back. I just think she is a beauty. I did wish the staff were friendlier and the service a little better but I had a good time regardless. Goodbye Ms. Allue, I will miss thee!

Farewell

The last day at sea was spent sunning because we finally had a sunny day with no rain! After pruning ourselves and drying ourselves out, we showered and headed for the Move it! Move it! Farewell parade. I am a kid at heart so watching the Dreamworks characters parade around was fun. We had dinner and lazed around in our room because we are exhausted by our vacation.

Snorkeling in Cozumel, Mexico

Today we arrived in Cozumel, Mexico and headed for our 3 reef snorkeling after breakfast. The snorkeling was great except I got sea sick on the small boat. At the third reef, the water got pretty darn rough and I was exhausted (another story of how unfit I have become) and then it starts to rain. The ride back took the cake and I ended up "feeding the fishes" out the boat. Fun times! Seems like my vacations are always wonderfully puked filled. After we got off, I felt better, we headed back to the ship, showered and went back out to Senor frogs where Jason got a free shot answering a question and I got a yard drink that hit me hard! Then we found a taco stand and had the most delicious tacos, shopped, and bought tequila. I have to say Mexico was my favorite spot and I would have loved to spend more time here.

Formal Pictures

ended up paying for last night's drinking session, jumping around and dancing the cha cha slide and cupid shuffle drunk as hell, I ended up puking my guts out. We took easy today since it was a sea day. We did some ice skating and rock climbing and relaxed by the pool. Today was also the 2nd formal night, so we got some professional pictures done for the fun of it. We eneded up late for dinner and missing our comedy show. Oh well.

Falmouth, Jamaica

Today we stopped in Jamaica. This port of call was new and under major construction. We still managed to get ourselves a great Jamaican patty, and some cheap rum. I think we did a lot more shopping here than expected. We ended up finding this really cool wood carving of a red stripe bottle, with exact dimensions and all. I wish there was some sort of a beach nearby, but we just ended up going back to the ship and getting into the pool.

Labadee, Haiti

I had never been to Haiti, so I was excited about this stop. I had high hopes for the beach this being Royal Caribbeans private island and all. I must say I was a little disappointed. The beach was very rocky with dead corals. I know the weather has not been kind these past few years and major hurricanes have blown through so the beaches have all suffered greatly. The water was very calm, and I would have loved some waves. We had a good spot on the beach, lazed around, drank a Labadoozee, ate lunch, and shopped. Then it started to rain so we headed back to the ship.

The Captain

One of the things I enjoy about cruising is dressing up for formal nights. Since we barely ever have a chance to dress up unless for weddings, this makes the vacation even more fun. The downside is that you have to pack a lot more. We waited around to have our pictures taken with the captain. I fell in love with Captain Johnny and his corny jokes on his captain's log on the TV every morning when we get up. We had a wonderful dinner and caught Chicago, the Broadway musical with front row seats.

All Aboard

We arrived at the port at about 10.30am and were in the ship by 11.30am. It felt almost unreal. The Allure of the Seas is beautiful and extremely large. It is so easy to forget that you are on a darn ship. That is why I fell in love with the Jacuzzi with large windows facing towards sea. And seeing it in person made it even better. We ended up changing into our swimsuits as soon as our room was ready and jumping to relax in one of the hot tubs. This is life!

Road Trip

We started on our road trip to Florida at about 8.30am, half an hour off our projected time which was pretty good given how we are both not morning persons. We do road trips pretty efficiently and stop enough times when needed in order to not feel totally like ass when we arrive at our destination. We made it to Pompano Beach a little over 10hrs even with the bad traffic on the Florida Turnpike with drivers acting confused at the toll booths. Tomorrow we board the largest and newest cruise ship in the world.

Packing

The one thing I hate about going on a trip is packing. I managed to pack a few things here and there today but tomorrow will be my official packing day. Somehow I always manage to do the pack the day/night before leaving and have survived! Very excited now!