Land! I see land!!

Don and I recently returned on Sunday from a wonderful Vacation aboard the Carnival Fun Ship Destiny. This was our 3rd year anniversary trip. We have been saving for three years for this!! We flew out Sunday morning to Fort Lauderdale and met up with an old high school buddy of Dons, Mike Anderson. We stayed with Mike (his wife, Brittney and son, Cade were out of town) for the day and attended a cool meeting that night with their area Seventy visiting. He then drove us later the next day to our ship for boarding. The lines were long but made fun by two big beach balls being bounced through the air by all that were standing. The children in line especially liked it (aka Don).
We boarded, found our room on the 7th floor (awesome Balcony room!) then went and explored. We booked the excursions we wanted to do at the different ports of call and were throughly excited of our decisions afterward. We had planned on the Atlantis Adventure in Nassau, Bike ride around the Island, Kayak and Para-sailing in Half Moon Cay, and Snorkeling in Grand Turk.
The first night was a lot of fun! We explored the ship finding numerous cool places to hang-out as well as attended some seminars. The "Super Shoppers" for the Cruise, the people that tell you were the best deals are at, what to look for, and how to get discounts were actually friends of ours back from BYU, Stephanie and Christian Hansen! It was fun to see them after a couple of years, and we hung out with them a few times during the week.
The following morning we arrived in Nassau (Bahamas) and explored the town after departing the ship. It was crazy there! Drivers all over the place but a lot of fun. It was like a normal out of country tourist spot. Everyone wanted you to use their services and they had no problem getting in your face to convince you they were the best. No worries though, you just have to be assertive :-). Don and I boarded our designated bus to travel over to the Atlantis Hotel and Aquarium. We had a very knowledgeable tour guide and really enjoyed the aquarium. I have to admit though, I felt Ripley's Aquarium in Gatlinburg was better...just my opinion though.
Anyway, to cut down on this already lengthy entry we had a wonderful time. It was very windy the next day in Half Moon Cay, which resulted in two canceled excursions (para-sailing and kayaking) (sad!)- we still enjoyed a wonderful bike ride and some personal snorkeling in the water. We attended a musical dance show on board as well as played mini golf and tried our luck in $850 Bingo. The hairy man chest competition was hilarious! The ice sculpting demonstration was amazing, and the formal night was very refreshing. Was fun to get all dressed up. We had a blast aboard another boat that brought us out to a secluded area to snorkel and enjoy a private side of the beach in Grand Turk. The water was crystal blue and lots of fascinating things to observe while snorkeling. However, about 15mins in the water I felt SO sick! I don't know why, but I was about to throw-up which would not have been a nice show for my fellow snorkelers. So I got back in the boat and was out for the next few hours. I am not sure what hit me, most said it was just your body swaying back with the water while half under and gave a motion sickness effect. I don't think it was that, because I really enjoyed the water and the current, but maybe it was? Anyway, the whole trip was very successful. I like how we came back to our room every night to find our bed made and a little towel critter. The staff everywhere were very friendly.
Mike Anderson picked us up that Saturday morning and we spent the day with him,moving furniture and trying to break into the apartment after the door knob/key lock stopped working. HaHa It was a good day and we had fun spending time with him. (Sorry you got stuck in the Colorado storm Brit! We really wanted to see you and Cade...next time for sure!!)
A Big thank you to Jula Cannatser for getting us a good deal on a Cruise, Christian and Stephanie Hansen for allowing us to hang with ya and get us some great deals, and to Mike and Brittney Anderson for picking us up, letting us bunk in Cades room, and then bringing us back to the airport.

Now...back to reality!

(p.s. to tattle on don...he ate a whole Rum Cake...tisk tisk tisk.)

Below You will Find Numerous Pictures. Just Click on photo for a larger view.