Travelog: Norwegian Escape Cruise

Boy, it has been a minute since summer. This Travelog is more than a little late, I know, but I had a hard time getting all the pictures together and then organizing them. It didn't help that I had two trips right after this one that made this cruise seem like a distant memory. Alas, these are all excuses. What's important is that it is here and ready for you to read now. I now present to you our 2016 cruise on the Norwegian Escape.

8/27/16 Seattle/Travel Day

The travel portion of this day was actually quite short because we had a red eye flight to Atlanta followed by a connection to Miami. We arrived at the airport ridiculously early but I had no gripes about that since it gave me time to read. Once we got on the flight, we discovered what amazing seats we had. Right up against the bathroom with no recline and a lovely lavatory smell to accompany us for the entire four hours. I spent most of that flight alternating between gently drifting off and reading. Sleep was a distant memory by the end of that flight.

8/28/16 Miami/At Sea

By the time we landed in Atlanta, it was already morning and we did not have as much time as we allotted ourselves in Seattle before our flight to Miami. The only thing we could do was grab a quick breakfast and hopped on that plane. Thankfully our seats were much better (as much of an upgrade as you can get while staying in economy) but the flight was short enough that I only got a moment's worth of shut-eye before being awoken to raise my seat back.

Upon landing, we changed into some cruise appropriate clothing and freshened up while we waited for our ride (our travel companions had arrived a day ahead). We returned the rental car and proceeded through a smooth check-in process, marred only by a gigantic papercut across my thumb knuckle (curse those crisp pages!). Instead of waiting in line forever to get our key cards, we were able to use the express line because we're gold members with NCL and I found that to be very exciting. It's about time we got some recognition for all the cruising we've done.

color changing chandelier
& glowing stairs (x)

Finally aboard the ship, we chowed down on some lunch at the buffet, briefly explored the ship, and the group split up with some going out to hang out some more and others headed back to their staterooms to rest before dinner. We decided to eat at the Manhattan, the main dining room, we were seated at one of those fancy long tables because we had a large group. It felt very exclusive. During our meal, we were greeted with a lovely surprise! I don't recall if I mentioned it in my Travelog last year, but there was a very memorable waiter from the Norwegian Jade that was known across the ship as "Washy, washy!" To our delight, he actually remembered us! It was a great start to the evening.

Following dinnertime is showtime. Some of our party did not make it to dinner on time which resulted in us missing the Welcome Aboard Show but this opened us up to see Oh What A Night! at the Supper Club. Y'all know I love Oh What A Night! if you were reading my blog last summer. There was some variation to the set and I have to say I preferred the group we saw on Jade to this group but they still performed well and you just can't help but dance and sing along to the Four Seasons regardless of who's singing. Another thing I wanted to mention was the venue. I walked in and it felt like that scene from The Goodfellas. I'm so glad we got there early and snagged a booth where we watched the show in style. By the time the show was over, we were all pooped so even though the night was young, we all retired early.

The kids table in the Supper Club!

8/29/16 At Sea

I always love at sea days but this one in particular was extra special because it was my brother's 18th birthday! I got up early to wish him a happy birthday but promptly fell back asleep because that's what at sea days were made for. On a short cruise like this one, there aren't many opportunities to have lunch in one of the dining rooms so we seized the opportunity and did just that. As eager as we were to check out Taste, one of the two twin restaurants, we failed to check our Freestyle Daily, the daily newsletter, to see when the restaurants actually opened. To pass the time, we headed up to the photo gallery to hunt down the photos we've already had taken.

After lunch, we decided to make our way to the top deck to see if the ropes course was open. It's hard to find time for the ropes course on port days so we wanted to make the most of our sea day. We were delighted to find it open so we all rushed downstairs to change into the appropriate clothing but by the time we got back, it had started raining. All that rushing for nothing. We returned to our cabins dismayed but found housekeeping had left a cupcake and a card for Gordon's birthday! We've celebrated birthdays on cruises in the past but we've never received such a nice surprise. Usually it's just the card inviting the birthday person to celebrate at dinner where they'll give you a big chunk of the mass birthday cake.

"Happy Birthday!" -Birthday Cupcake

Since we had time before dinner that we could no longer fill with ropes course, the others went shuffleboarding and otherwise explored the ship while I opted to stay in the stateroom and have some R&R&R (rest and relaxation and reading). I always fly through books on cruises and I never seem to download enough onto my Kindle. In the months before starting school (aka having no reading time) again, that is a problem I love to have.

That night was seafood night so between the buffet and O'Sheehan's, the 24 hour restaurant, there were seafood offerings all around. The plan was to have the seafood buffet for dinner and we were all excited for it but we got there, checked out the offerings, and weren't that impressed. When I say "we" I mean the kids. The parents were all for it. But since it was Gordon's birthday, the kids joined him down at the Manhattan to have our own meal. We had a comedy show to catch afterwards but so it was a very rushed dinner and we unwittingly created a lot of extra work for our waiters... Sorry! I'll never let a certain somebody forget about the veal...

You can't run from this birthday kiss.

In Headliners Comedy Club, Lucas Bohn had his family show and it was a hoot and a half. Here's a taste of his set. We reunited with the rest of our group in O'Sheehan's after the comedy show to take advantage of the one-night-only seafood basket. You never truly stop eating on a cruise ship. And if you thought the night ended there, you'd be mistaken. The night is still young! We haven't even made it to the Escape Theater where all the headlining shows happen! Believe it or not, we were still too early to go save our seats in the Escape Theater. And we save our seats the second the doors open. Looking back, it seems impossible that we've essentially had two dinners by this point plus we'd already seen a show. While we waited for doors to open so we could get a jump on the best seats in the house, we watched some fellow guests play the Newlywed Game in the Atrium. I'm always cheering for the oldest couple.

One of the many gorgeous sunsets.

Finally it was time for After Midnight, a Broadway-style show. I was super excited to see this show because y'all know I love Broadway and I was confused as to why there was apparently going to be a cast recording but it never happened. Now that I've seen the show, I can totally see why they decided to forgo the cast recording. There was a live band playing and there were songs but the idea was to transport you to the Cotton Club in Harlem for a Blues/Jazz show. There was a lot of energetic dancing and lively music. I was especially impressed with this one tap dancer. I wonder if every production is different since certain performers bring certain talents to the table or if they must have an incredible tap dancer in every After Midnight cast.

After the show we were parched from all the food we ate earlier so we went in search for some water. Here's a tip: stock up on your water before 11pm when the buffet closes. When that happens, you gotta go to a restaurant for water. You also have an ice bucket in your room and that is drinkable if you let it melt. I really don't see why they couldn't just keep one water machine open. Highly inconvenient.

8/30/16 Roatan, Honduras

Having had a day to relax, we were well-rested and ready for a very, very exciting day. Needless to say, it was an early morning, but I was not about to complain about it.

Our day started with a tour of the island. The first stop was a lookout point with a beautiful view where our guide, Larry, told us about the whale sharks you could dive with at the island across the way. Hearing that got me excited because, even though I hate being wet, that's something I want to experience. Plus, Buzz Aldrin did it and wrote about it in his book so that's another reason why it piqued my interest. We were then driven to another part of West Bay where there was some gorgeous real estate plus a new resort being built. We got permission to walk to the the water on the resort's property to see the tiny lizards and volcanic rocks. It was very picturesque.

the ocean at the end of the lane (ft. volcanic rocks)

On our way to West End, where the main touristy area is, we stopped by this lighthouse on the side of the road and treated ourselves to a couple golden coconuts. Since we were touring the whole island, we only drove along the West End beach before turning around. The shops there have plenty of patronage. Something I found funny was how they covered any signs for vacant buildings. I'll let the sign speak for itself.

Golden coconuts!

"???" is how I feel most of the time.

It was a long drive to the East End, where our main attraction was, and on the way, we pulled over so Larry could show us a cargo ship that burned down in the bay. It actually took months for the fire to extinguish because cardboard burns reaaaaaaaal slow. One would say it burns as slow as a sloth moves...

To be clear, the one Carnival ship is NOT the burnt one. 

How's that for a smooth transition? Our main event of the day was the monkey and sloth hangout! It's actually an animal sanctuary so there are a bunch of animals all around but the little monkeys and the sloths are what draws in the crowds. Daniel Johnson's Monkey and Sloth Hangout is actually very relaxed and you get a personal tour guide to introduce you to all the animals and facilitate the interactions. We were lucky enough to get Daniel himself to show us around! There were raccoons and a white-nosed coati in their own pens with three-toed sloths roaming free among the trees.

Our first interaction was with the monkeys. We had to enter using a two door system so they wouldn't escape, leaving us with nobody to play with. Once we were in there, they were so energetic and outgoing. They were swinging around and using our heads as stepping stones. I have a very ticklish right side of my neck and when a monkey sat on my head and curled its tail around my neck I could hardly handle it because their fur is so soft. And these little guys really will grab at anything. One spent a good minute or two trying to eat the hair off my head. I'm glad I put them in some tight braids that day.

Being tickled and eaten at the same time is overwhelming.

We played with the monkeys for a very generous amount of time before moving on to the birds. We first visited the red macaws, the national bird of Honduras, and had a chance to hold them. I've held birds before, but I never really got the chance to pay attention to the details. Turns our their feet are soft and warm (aside from the talons) and their beaks are terrifyingly sharp. I think I started mildly freaking out at that. It's what I call my "eye thing." These birds are so beautiful with their gorgeous plumage and long tails. They were also kind of heavy but I think that's on me. Not everybody has sticks for arms.

A gorgeous bird on a spindly arm.

*"Real in Rio" starts playing*

The next enclosure over was the military macaws. They're very green and the state bird of Roatan. Unfortunately not a single one of them wanted to come down a greet us so Daniel just told us some things about them like how they're the most popular pet on Roatan and you can tell males and females apart because the ladies have flat tails while the gentlebirds' tails are bunched up.

Before we get to hold a sloth, we had one more stop at the spider monkey, Tony. This was Daniel's first exotic pet and the animal that started the whole sanctuary. Once people heard he was taking good care of this spider monkey they started coming and dropping off their unwanted pets for him deal with. Tony was pretty reserved, only halfheartedly playing with Daniel's finger, but that's better than the alternative. I didn't know this but apparently spider monkeys are highly unpredictable. They only trust one person and while they may seem mellow when you first get one, they get real aggressive after puberty. Aggressive like they'll literally go for the jugular. So if you hear of any monkeys clawing the faces off their owners, it was probably a spider monkey.

😍😍😍

Finally!!! Sloth!!! I was up first and I cannot tell you how much I love that sloth. I thought its fur would be coarse because it looks like it would be but it was like holding a cloud. It was so sweet and gentle and snuggly I can't describe the surge of affection I had for that creature. I just wanted to kiss him and hold him forever. I was lucky to be up first because we started taking photos and we didn't like the lighting so we had to move around and retake the photos so I got to hold him longer than anybody else did. Seriously though, I cannot get enough of that sloth. I wanted to kiss it and hold it forever. Eventually I had to give everybody else a chance to hold him and he was very curious, always moving his head around. It was extra cute when my dad was holding him and Daniel fed him a hibiscus flower. Apparently hibiscus is like candy to them. Walking away, I deeply felt this feeling that this was a once in a lifetime experience that should never be passed up. Fingers crossed it isn't just once in a lifetime.

We said goodbye to the animals but our time in Honduras was not over just yet. Part of our tour was a trip to the beach. After a quick stop at another lookout point where Gordon and Austin ate some plum-type fruits that we've been seeing on the trees, Larry took us to Parrot Tree Plantation Resort, a private property with a quiet beach and some nice hammocks to relax in. I am very much not a fan of swimming or the beach so I stuck to the chair and read my book while the boys splashed and explored further out. Despite having my legs propped up on a chair, I still managed to get covered in (very obvious!) sand flea bites. I guess they can jump really high. (I have zero knowledge on the anatomy of sand fleas it is my pure speculation that they have the ability to jump.)

Parrot Tree &
sand fleas

Stunning lookout point! 

That was the end of our time in Roatan. Back at the port, those who didn't have business in the gift shops (mainly those who were still damp from their swim) went back to the ship while I perused the souvenirs. We were already cutting it close time-wise but there was just enough left to rush back to the ship and speedily get ready for dinner.

After a day like that do you even care about our evening? I'm not sure I would if I didn't live it. You're gonna get to read it, nevertheless. Usually we go to the main dining room for dinner since it's complementary but NCL offers a number of specialty restaurants for an extra price. We've tried most of them on previous cruises so this time we stuck with the one. Teppanyaki. If you're curious, I got the filet mignon and lobster combination. Fancy, I know. We also took this meal to cash in Gordon's birthday celebration card. Gotta get the biggest bang for our buck, ya feel?

Teppanyaki squad goals

Following our meal, we returned to the Supper Club to see the comedy juggler Scotty Cavanaugh in action. It was a fantastic show. We scored another Goodfellas booth so we didn't have to participate but watching other people participate was a lot of fun! Lots of great audience interaction and I was laughing at his jokes and being amazed at his skills all the way through.

Winding down for the night, we did have an early morning, after all, I went up to the buffet for some soft serve ice cream and good old fashioned water. It was the perfect way to end a spectacular day.

8/31/16 Belize City, Belize

So we've followed my most highly anticipated day with my most dreaded one. It's no secret I hate the beach and today was a designated beach day. This I already knew going in and I was prepared for it, but it gets much worse. Stay tuned.

Belize City is a little inconvenient as a port of call because it requires tenders to get to shore. On the plus side to that, we got a great view going to and from the ship. Very photogenic, she is. That's how my dad captured the picture of the Escape at the top of this post. We had booked a tour to a little island and it just happened to be one of their first voyages out that day so that meant we had to be on one of the first tenders to shore. It took about fifteen minutes to get from ship to shore and checked in with the tour company. The tour companies are in the same building as a bunch of gift shops so we killed the forty five minutes before boarding our boat shopping for souvenirs.

Goff's Caye

We arrived at Goff's Caye after half an hour's worth of naps and bagged water. Personally, I was not a fan of the island. Obviously I don't like beaches in general but, to quote one of my least favorite Star Wars characters, "I don't like sand. It's coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere," and this sand was coarse as heck. It makes sense since it's a cay which means it's an island on a coral reef. This coral reef made it perfect for snorkeling so everybody but me did just that. I stayed behind to watch everybody's stuff and to not be wet (honestly I'm getting heated just typing about it) but the struggle was there is absolutely no shade on the island. So I sat on my bench covered by a towel and read my book. I had my feet up on the bench and turns out it was recently painted bright orange. It was try enough for anything to be touching it unless it was salt water. I did not discover that was the cause until it was too late. At this point in time, I just thought it was a patch that hadn't yet dried. It got on my heel and I transferred it onto my shoe before I realized, which made me angry.

My only company while I fried in the sun and painted my shoe.

It felt like hours before people started coming back to shore for lunch. Lunch consisted of some super fresh lobsters and that was the only good thing to come out of the day but it was not enough to undo the damage inflicted by being on the beach and the stupid paint. Since everybody was coming out of the ocean, there was salt water dripping everywhere. This is where the day gets worse. So I'm just sitting in one of my favorite pair of shorts when I start noticing everybody who has sat on the paint had bright orange smeared across their clothes. I start worrying about my pants and I was told they were fine until I look closer and they weren't. I held out hope that when we got home we could use gasoline to get the paint out but no dice. I've been thinking about this day a lot since then and I seriously would rather die before going back to a beach. This is not an exaggeration. There's nothing for me there except misery.

Tails on tails on tails rice.

We kept on buying more of those lobster tails until it was time to leave the island. At long last, we have reached the point where I can escape from hell. At least there's bagged water on the Belizeian Beauty. We went from boat to boat, hopping on the next tender as fast as we could to return to the ship. I could finally put that hideous place behind me (clearly I'm not over it as I am still whining and very, very upset about my shorts, no matter how trivial it is).

Tear off a corner and you've got yourself a drink.

Everybody was hungry and ready for dinner by the time they got back and, while I didn't do any swimming, I was more than willing to eat my sorrows away. The menu in the Manhattan was fantastic and I ended up ordering almost every appetizer... Whoops? I think I deserved it after the trauma I experienced that day.

Washy Washy!

Since our dinners have been so early every night this cruise, there's been so time to squeeze more activities (such as running into a favorite waiter of ours) in before our shows in the evening. By the time we finished up dinner, there was still a while before another round of Lucas Bohn's family comedy show. In the atrium we played along with Jeopardy and had a fail moment at the penny presser machine before making our way to Headliners. Every time I cruise, I realize I am severely lacking a stand up comedy presence in my day-to-day life. Stand up is so good. It was the same material as the first time we saw Lucas's set but it was just as funny.

The timing was a little tight but we were able to speed walk up to the Escape Theater to see For the Record: the Brat Pack. The Brat Pack, a musical tribute to 80's teen films, was so much fun! There were platforms set up in the audience for the actors to run across and act on. There was so much energy in that room and it definitely brought my attention to all the 80's teen movies I have yet to see.

The show ended and we realized it had been a minute since we'd eaten dinner so we went to our beloved 24hr O'Sheehan's for a late night snack and ended ordering almost the whole menu to share. It didn't look like much on paper but then the food didn't stop coming. It was one of those nights where everybody wanted to stay up talking and just being in each other's company.

Overall, I think Belize is great. I'm not going to let a beach and some wayward paint taint my impression of the country since I've seen literally none of it. From what I experienced, the people were incredibly nice and welcoming. I feel cheated. I have never been to Belize and even now I don't feel like I can say that I've been. I didn't learn squat and I certainly didn't see anything I haven't seen before. I have to go back one day and do it justice. Don't let that face down there fool you. I was thoroughly unsatisfied.

Can we photoshop the extraneous people out?
(I was not joking about no shade... This was legit the only tree.) 

9/1/16 Cozumel, Mexico 

Although this was another port day, it was one of our least active days overall. Three days nonstop is taxing on anybody so we made the executive decision to cut it down to two. To be honest, there's nothing in Cozumel that really interests me. It's all beach and I think we all know how I feel about beaches by now. It was the perfect excuse to sleep in until eleven and have brunch at O'Sheehan's before leisurely strolling off the ship. Since we missed the heavy traffic and the ship was parked in such a way that put it on display, it was the opportune time to take our traditional jumping picture. It took a lot of takes because I kept covering parts of the cool Guy Harvey art on the ship but we eventually got it after a lot of weird looks. I'm not embarassed about it. It's a winner.

#flawless

When we decided to get off the ship, we just thought we'd stay near the port and explore some shops nearby and we got way more than we bargained for. I mean, I knew this place was built for tourists, but I didn't expect it to be so accomodating. They made it as streamlined as possible, carving out a straight path between the ship and the outdoor shopping mall. Yeah. A whole mall. We knew what we were going to do for a couple hours. It really was nothing too exciting (and we did more browsing than shopping) but we did pick up a few knick knacks before heading back to the ship. By that time we were all in desperate need of a shower even though we were in the shade for the most part. Summer is so unforgiving.

We didn't take any pictures of shopping so here's a nice one of me and my mom and the ship.

We had another dinner in the Manhattan before our nearly (I say these shows were nearly back to back because there was a little break between the two and that's when I took this picture and tweeted it live from the ship) back-to-back comedy shows. First a family show with Flip Schultz and then an adult show with Lucas Bohn. I found Flip's style to be more aligned with my sense of humor, plus he incorporates topical elements into his set so it almost feels like a "had to be there" type of thing. I wish I could've seen more of his shows. Here's a taste.

That was our whole day. It wasn't very long because we started it halfway through but I thoroughly enjoyed it. And I got that jumping picture so it was an all-around successful day.

9/2/16 At Sea 

Another sea day, another couple additional hours of sleep. Honestly, it probably wasn't all that much extra sleep since we stayed up a little bit later the night before. Regardless, there wasn't much time to waste in the morning hours anyway. It was the final day of our cruise. We had to pack. Since the stateroom is so tiny, I waited for some people to filter out before doing the responsible thing and not having fun. Is this what it means to be an adult? On the plus side, since I finished a bulk of my packing before I actually started my day, I was worry-free and happy to just enjoy the day.

We made plans to meet up with our whole group for lunch but even having packed up my suitcase, I had time to kill. Our first order of business was to hit up the CruiseNext desk where we got the deals on booking a future cruise and, more importantly, picked up the ship pins. Every NCL ship has pins with its name and art on it. I'm not sure how many people know about these since I never see them anywhere so I like to think it's our little secret.

Having taken care of that, there was still time left over before lunch so my dad and I meandered up to the buffet for some ice cream and ended up finding the boys in the pool while exploring the open decks. This might be the first they heard of this... We made a loop and returned to the buffet and, looking at the selection that day, decided it looked pretty good. It was too late to cancel our lunch plans so we flew down ten flights of stairs and had a lil somethin' at Savor before going back up those ten flights to sample the offerings. I'm pretty sure all those steps cancelled out any calories I consumed via the ice cream, right?

peach yogurt &
strawberry ice cream

You can't see the wind,
 but "Look Ma, no hands!"
is actually a pretty big deal

At this point, we knew this would be our last chance to do the ropes course. It was our last day aboard the Escape and the skies weren't clear (which is better, tbh I'm not here for a sunburn) but they weren't wet either. We went back to our respective rooms to get changed and I made it up to the ropes course line with my parents and the rest of our group did not show up. So we got on the ropes course without them (we were in the line for 20 minutes I'm not sure where they went off to) and played for a long while before they showed up and got in line. Of course, the line is still long and I was getting tired of holding on to the ropes that people have coated in their sweat. Not to mention it was super windy and we were probably up there long enough for the population of the ropes course to replace itself twice over. I had a feeling it was about time to go anyway so I made my exit. They weren't up there for long before I realized the time (aka there was almost none left until our dinner reservation) and rushed to the room to get ready. I still managed to look cute af by the time I got down to Savor.

Just look at me. Cute af.

Well, since we're already in a rushing mood, why not speed through dinner so we can watch Oh What A Night's Farewell Show in the Escape Theater? I mean, I'd do anything to see Oh What A Night so rushing dinner felt very natural to me. I thoroughly enjoyed their performance, but I echo my sentiments from that first night. They simply were not as good as the first Oh What A Night group we saw on the Norwegian Jade. To be fair, that group did have a founding member on it (but that doesn't explain how they were slightly out of sync...). I can't complain, though. Farewell shows are always a lot of fun albeit bittersweet. They bring out all the heads of departments and the most popular and most recognizable crew members like "washy washy!" and the cruise director (let me hear you say YEAH). The Escape didn't make as big as a deal of their farewell as some other NCL ships do, but maybe that's because this was a six day cruise? I can only speculate.

A popular last-night activity on a cruise is to go to the photos and make your last minute selections. We often do not purchase any because they cost an arm, a leg, and your first born child. As a first born child myself, I really don't think we can afford it. It was fun to look for photos we got from the ropes course but those were not yet printed. Oh well. The inside of some recycle bin (I hope) will have a very nice windswept photo of me standing over the side of the ship.

We returned to the room to finish packing anything we could and thank goodness I had done the bulk of it in the morning because I had time left over to go out and do one last thing before retiring for the night. I chose to check out Howl at the Moon, a piano dueling show. It got a little raunchy but they play what's requested (it helps if you slip in a dollar or five with it) and I just had a feeling they were going to do Backstreet Boys. I like to think I bring that sort of a vibe into the room. I stayed until they got the message I was using my brainwaves to project to them. I'm glad I got to see them do their thing because it was super impressive how they played off each other and it was awesome when Tyler, our cruise director, hopped on stage to join them on drums. It was a party if I ever saw one.

9/3/16 Miami/Travel Day  

Our last morning on the ship. 😢 It was a relatively early morning to take care of any last minute packing before taking care of the bill at guest services and have our final breakfast in the buffet for the trip. Sometimes when it's time to say goodbye to a ship I get really sad but this time I felt pretty neutral. The Escape is the Getaway's sister ship and it has only been a few years since that cruise so there wasn't much new to get attached to.

One thing we've been doing on recent cruises is walking off on our own time. This way we can keep our luggage with us and do any last minute packing, making our lives much easier. We needed to take as much easy as we could get because the rental car situation was not ideal. I'll spare you the details but it took a really long time. I am a fairly patient person but it was pushing it even for me. I tried not to complain too much, though. I was back on American soil and could text my friends to tell them all about my lovely (for the most part) week on the Norwegian Escape.

Finally in our rental cars, we sang Happy Birthday to my mom as we drove to this Chinese restaurant in Miami we looked up before the trip for a lunch of dim sum. It was passable. We then said goodbye to our friends and were on our way to the Fort Lauderdale Airport to fly home. It was very uneventful but I must say it was exciting to find an open outlet to hog to ourselves. At this point we were already gearing up for our next trip, just a few days away.


Phew. That was a lot. It was also almost three months ago and as I was writing, I felt like I was reliving those moments again. Memories are so cool. Memories are also what I rely on a lot of the time so I forget I need to take pictures to show y'all. Sorry if there weren't as many as you were hoping for! I need to get into the habit of pulling out my phone and/or camera. Also, I would like to congratulate you if you read every word of this blog post. It took a long time to write so I can imagine it would take a long time to read. I need to give my eyes a break from this screen. I hope you enjoyed reading about my cruise this year! I had a really good time (aside from the beach but we don't need to rehash that, do we?) and it was awesome being able to go to some new places. We actually had to wake up early so we could make the most of our day. That hasn't happened for us on a Caribbean cruise in a long while.


Talk to you soon!

xo, Yvette