Celebrity Eclipse Here We Come!

I have been looking forward to blogging our cruise and have ran into a lot of computer difficulties. I ended up splitting my entry into two portions and will have all of my commentary on this one (good luck following it). Without further ado... here our some pics from our fabulous cruise.

When RJ graduated from OSU with his MBA in 2009, he took me on a cruise. Since then, we knew we wanted to go again. Our good friends, Dave and Mila Newcomb have been on several cruises and expressed interest in cruising with us. We decided we would cruise together in 2012. The day to leave actually arrived and I was beside myself with giddiness. Pam and Reed flew to Minnesota to watch the kids and hold down the fort. We flew to Miami early Friday morning and stayed in a hotel that night.

Waiting for the shuttle to our hotel.

We felt a little lost in the hotel that night. It was so quiet and we didn't have a million things to get done. We walked the scary streets of Miami looking for a dinner and breakfast stop (for the next morning). The next morning, we took a shuttle to the port and were anxious to get on the ship.

Yee!


Jumping for joy with Celebrity Eclipse in the background.

There was a lot of waiting going on inside. We waited to get through security then waited to board the ship. We finally met up with Dave and Mila on the soon-to-be familiar buffet-style deck. It was so great to see them and they looked fantastic. They have been doing a special diet and working out hard.

Dave and Mila with Miami in the background.

We took ourselves on a tour of the ship while we waited for our luggage to arrive.

We finally made it to our stateroom (9164). Here's the bathroom.

RJ showcasing the interior.

Getting ready for some serious pampering.

Mislabeled. The robes are NOT one size fits all.

I don't necessarily have all the pictures in order. There were two formal nights where we got to dress up for dinner. I only brouoght one dress so Mila let me wear one of hers. It was fun to get gussied up. It also felt luxurious to eat dinner at a private table by the window with Dave and Mila in restaurant fashion. Our waiters names were Everton and Jose. It felt amazing to eat out and be able to order appetizers, entrees and desserts every night for 7 days!

Picture Time!

I made this shrug on Monday before the cruise. I am pleased that it actually worked!

Group pictures on a spiral staircase.

The ship was so beautiful with art and wonderful textures and fabrics.

Every night our "housekeeper" would leave an itinerary for the next days' festivities as well as chocolates on our pillows. He tidied our room, made our bed and brought fresh towels twice/day. We tried to take advantage of everything the ship offered. We went to most of the shows and participated in many of the activities.

One of the first activities was a pool volleyball tournament. RJ, Dave and I formed a team and a few strangers joined us. It wasn't until I got to the poolside and watched the other teams that I noticed the depth of the water, 5'9". Just so you know, it's not easy treading water while playing volleyball. RJ pulled his weight at the net but we got killed anyway.

We played bocci ball, ping pong (reigning champ- Dave), putted, shot baskets, played board games (courtesy of Mila), danced, played Family Feud, watched a Not So Newly Wed show, played loaded questions, battle of the sexes, sat in the hot tub, and hung around the karaoke lounge a few nights. Mila even build up the courage to sing "Midnight Train to Georgia" and at the end, Dave, RJ and I made a train out of ourselves and marched around her. I was very proud of her for having the courage to do that. She has a pretty voice.

Each night we went to the main show and some were better than others. They had their main dancers/singers and to be honest, the choreography was rough. We got to hear some Broadway songs, see a circus/type performance (very impressive), a magic show (less impressive), a comedian, and a female impressionist (way fun). Don't forget our cruise director Mike Gibbons. He loved to sing and actually had a good voice. As I sat there many nights, I couldn't believe my luck. I even began to feel like a pleasure glutton. I just tried to take it all in.

We decided to keep our workout regimen even if our dining regimen was slowly going to pot. We hit the gym or track faithfully 5 out of the 7 days. One of our excursions was supposed to be highly strenuous so we counted that for a workout even though it didn't feel like one.

Our first port was San Juan Puerto Rico. There are two forts that look like castles and we toured one of them. It was called Castillo San Cristobal. It was HUGE! The walls were so thick and there were long dark tunnels. I really liked wandering around checking out the dungeon and sleeping quarters.

Our second port was St. Thomas where we went kayaking, snorkeling and hiking. I am happy that I can write to tell about it since we almost lost some arms with some reckless driving on the way there. We used a two man, sit on top kayaks. I was nervous how RJ and I would work as a team (too much Amazing Race watching maybe) and we decided to stay calm and communicate. I worked! We paddled around some mangrove trees and I was struck by the story of the sacrificial leaf. The mangrove trees grow with their roots in the ocean floor. They have built in filters to filter the salt out of the water. It's about 97% efficient. The remaining three percent is soaked up by the yellow sacrificial leaf that absorbs the salt and consequently dies.

We paddled out to an island covered with purple clawed soldier Caribbean hermit crabs. They looked like piles of rocks but upon further inspection, you could see movement. Our instructors names were Travis and Casey. They told us to find the feistiest one and we would race them. Casey drew a circle on the ground and we put our crabs in the middle. On "go", the first hermit crab to get outside the circle was crowned the winner. I guess I'm not a natural when it comes to training hermit crabs because mine never left the circle.

We "hiked" a short distance to a blow hole and took some pictures getting sprayed. Then we went back to the beach to snorkel. RJ was nervous that he wouldn't be able to do it since he had tried once as a kid and was unsuccessful. He put the mask on and took off...no problem. I was the one who struggled at first. I put my face in the water and when I tried to breath I panicked and couldn't get air. I kept trying and told myself to calm down. It worked and we had a lot of fun watching the fish. The biggest one we saw was a puffer. From far away, I wondered if it was a small shark. I would have liked to have seen more and I would definitely do it again. Maybe I won't tighten my mask so much next time though. I felt like I had a bruise on my forehead for a few days. The whole thing was awesome!

Our last port was St. Marten (half Dutch, half French). RJ and I decided to use our on board credit to do another excursion. We went to a butterfly farm and Willie taught us that butterflies are as important as bees for pollinating. I had fun taking pictures of all sorts of butterflies. I really wanted a blue one before we left so RJ made it happen (hopefully he didn't break it's legs).

We went to "The Orient" beach afterward where we got a complementary beach chair and fruit punch. We ran and splashed and rode the waves. It was so fun to feel like a kid again. Not a care in the world. We decided to walk along the beach and enjoy the fine warm sand in our toes. It was then that we saw that some people only packed half of their swimming suits! In all fairness, we were warned that there may be nudity on parts of the beach. I guess I thought there would be a section of "them" and we would avoid that part of the beach. When all was said and done, I wasn't as offended as I thought I would be (none of them were Bay Watch material).

As we approached the end of our cruise, I tried to prepare myself mentally to return to real life. My only concern for an entire week was "what should I wear?" and "how should I do my hair?" I wanted to bring some of my laid-back-ness to my children. I had let myself slip into a rut of grumpiness. How could I bring this calmness I was feeling with me? I didn't know the answer but I thought about it for a good 24 hours. As wonderful as our trip was, one week was enough of "living the life" to remind me that the lives worth living for were in Minnesota.

The kids greeted us like royalty when we finally arrived. I was most concerned with how Reagan did. When she walked around the corner and saw me, she waddled towards me then turned and dropped her face to the ground. When I picked her up, Grandpa approached and she reached for him! Thankfully she did come back to me and she buried her head in my shoulder for a long time without moving.

The house looked great and dinner was ready. I could tell that the kids really enjoyed spending time with their Grandma and Grandpa Reeve (and their i-pads). They did a great job with the kids and we can't thank them enough. We got to spend a few days with them before they headed back to Utah. We went to a Timberwolves/Kings game for our January date on Monday and saw Jimmer play. He didn't stand out like the hot shot he was when he played for BYU. I had a good time nevertheless.