March flew by very fast... All that really happened this month is more school, work and getting ready for the big trip!!! We were really excited to go and it was getting closer and closer. Finally on the 27th it was time to go. We flew to Florida Saturday out of Salt Lake. We drove with my sister and aunt to the airport.
When we got in the airport we sat and waited for everyone else in our group to get there. We were in a group of 15 so there was a long wait and a TON of luggage.
We stayed the night in Florida and departed out of Cape Canaveral Sunday afternoon.
When we finally got to the ship that day it was the longest process actually getting on. It took a few hours but we were too excited to really care how long it took. The ship that we were on was called Freedom of the Seas and it was massive!!! It holds a little more than 4000 people on at a time. After we got settled in to our rooms we roamed the ship until departure. We walked around and looked at all of the stuff we wanted to do that week... we also looked at the menu for that night because we were starving. We had dinner that night and it was amazing!
The next day we arrived at Coco Cay which is a private island owned by the cruise line in the Bahamas. We went snorkeling and laid out in the sun just relaxing. They had a BBQ buffet set up for everyone which included BBQ pork, hot dogs, hamburgers, salad and chips. It was really yummy. The fish that we saw there were so colorful and amazing. The only bad thing about that day was that is was a bit windy that made it a little chilly. Though you wouldn't know that with how much sun we looked like we got but is was a bit cold. That night for dinner we had our first formal night where we got all dressed up for dinner and had pictures taken, It really made the night fun!
When we went to get food all the tables were really full so we just took the food back to our beach chairs and ate there. We didn't know that we weren't supposed to eat there because of the birds but we learned fast when they started to surround us and one of them even pooped on my brother.
Tuesday we were at sea all day long. It was nice but for some reason it was really really windy. It was still fun though we ate a ton and played hard! They had a bunch of dance parties and parades that were a lot of fun the watch and dance in. There were also game shows and lots of other shows that you could go to.
Wednesday we arrived at St. Thomas. We went on a excursion which included kayaking, hiking and snorkeling. Scott and I kayaked together and then when we got to the island we had to catch a hermit crab and we had a race... Scott's crab (that he named Carlos) won over everyone else's. They took us on a little hike to a place where the waves were huge hitting the rocks and it was beautiful. We weren't allowed to take our cameras so there are not many pictures. Then we went snorkeling... we saw puffer fish, a shark and the biggest manna ray ever!! There were also jelly fish and lots of other cool fish. The water was so clear and peaceful it was amazing!
Thursday we were at St. Marteen. We went shopping all morning on the dutch side and that afternoon we had another excursion but it was on the french side of the island. We went to a private beach. It was a lot of fun... the waves were not too big but big enough that we couldn't really snorkel. Scott went out with one of my brothers and snorkeled but I was too chicken. We had fun trying to stand the power of the waves but after a while it got tiring so we went in and laid out.
Friday morning I was able to get a massage with all of my sisters, sister in-laws, my mom and aunt. I got the lime salt scrub massage. It was amazing and so relaxing. They put this salt scrub all over my body and then I had to shower it off but when I did my skin was so so soft. Then they rubbed me down with this warm oil. I felt like a million bucks when I left and my skin glowed! But that day we were at sea again. We went mini golfing, singing karaoke and I got to participate in a game show. That night they had a 80's dance party which we most defiantly attended and rocked out to!
Saturday was our last day to be on the ship. We tried to go do everything that we didn't get to do yet but it was hard. They had a buffet party set up in the main walk way with lots of beautiful food and many other decorations. We went to a magic show and so many other things that I can't really remember. There was gourmet food every night and some shows by the waiters and staff of the kitchen. I was really excited about the food on the ship and I defiantly ate a ton of it all. Every night we had an animal made out of towels waiting for us in our stateroom with our bed made and everything cleaned up.
Sunday we arrived back in Port Canaveral where we got ready to fly back to Salt Lake. It was pretty fast going back, even customs was fast. Though we did have one set back when we were driving back to the Florida airport our driver wasn't quite sure on where to go. He ended up pulling into one wrong section and backing out and then he pulled into the car rental return section where it was going into a covered garage where a charter bus will not fit. After backing up all the traffic for what seemed like for ever he decided to back it out. He started to back up and kept having issues. A couple times I thought that the bus was going to tip over. But after he drove over the curb, dug up all of the grass and ran over a few sprinkler head while scraping the bus we where able to get out of the one way road. He looked as if he wanted to cry but he got a lot of pity tips out of it all. After checking into the airport we flew to Atlanta where we had a few hour layover. We ate and hung out and then boarded the next flight to Salt Lake. We got home late and exhausted. It was a great trip and hope to someday be able to do something like that again.
