We then went to find our room, Chris was a darling and had some surprises for me inside.
We had
7 days at sea and
5 days on land. . .
OFF WE GO!
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| The back of the ship, imagine wake boarding on that bad boy! |
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Exploring and playing while at sea . . .
The pool deck . . . Tanning, burning, drinks . . .
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| This guy never left the side of the pool, poor guy no one ever played volley ball with him. . . |
Oh the
water is sure
fine, fresh, and clean. .
The sun kisses our cheeks
and feet, and we love
to be out at
sea.
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| The pool is filled with ocean water |
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| The beautiful view off the side of the ship |
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The sun was hot, and the wind gusting, and it felt so good.
These are some of the awesome pictures we got with our underwater camera.
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| He is just so adorable! I married that cute one! |
Ice sculpting is amazing, Chris and I went to a demonstration, one of the Chef's is also conveniently a MASTER at ice carving. It is pretty amazing to watch a block of ice turn into an eagle.
Our fine dining experiences . . .
Chris and I were so blessed to sit in the company of many incredible people. We sat with 4 other couples. Our table was friendly and vivacious. We had so much fun building friendships with each couple, we will never forget their kindness and the fun times we shared. We loved going to dinner each night. Our seating was at 6 pm. The food was excellent, the service was great, the atmosphere was beautiful, and the company could never be better!
First Formal Night
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This was our handsome crew. This was the first night we met our table partners and it was the first formal night on the ship.
(Sylvia & Mike bottom left (sitting down), Bob top far left, Lynda & Jim top left (next to Bob), Karen 3rd from the right top row (Bob's wife), Brenda & Joel far right top, Chris & Ariel sitting down bottom right) |
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| The amazing huge mosaic above our table. |
Ours was the largest table in the whole dining room. We found out that this was the Captain's table, but he liked to dine at the second seating. Chris usually sat in the Captain's seat. Everyone at the table joked and called Chris "Captain Chris", until he got a little sea sick the next day. They all decided they couldn't have a sea sick captain. (He didn't stay sick very long.)
Our table must have been the liveliest group. Two of the couples are from Scotland. Karen & Bob, and Jim & Lynda. They are hilarious people and so amazing. They would share stories each night and all the men would poke fun of each other. We the ladies sat back and enjoyed the entertainment. We really had a blast. Brenda and her husband Joel were so much fun, Brenda is such a sweet southern bell and her husband an amazing accomplished Doctor and Veteran. Sylvia and Mike were a little more reserved but still so sweet from Florida.
On Land Adventures!!!
First Stop:
Aruba
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| This is in the middle of town close to where we found our taxi. (I took this picture while we were driving by.) |
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| I took this picture when we were in the cab on our way to the beach. Aruba is a rugged beachy island. It is know for cactus and dessert like plants, however it is a tropical island. Interesting! |
Chris and I were scheduled to go on a submarine ride/ tour in Aruba, but upon arrival we were told it was canceled. So instead we took a cab to the beach and hung out under the sun, in the water, and at the beach bar. There we had a HUGE HAMBURGER! Look at that monster!
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| They put cucumbers on their burgers in Aruba, I guess it is a local favorite. It was REALLY GOOD! |
He is just a little guy that wants to float his bitty boat in the ocean!
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| Chris in the Aruba waters! |
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| Chris has the hairy legs! |
Aruba is proud that they have a "real" white sand beach.
Apparently other islands like to claim they have white sand beaches, but really don't have them. But Aruba does! Look at that white sand. It was really pretty, and the water was clearer than I have seen in a long time.
The water wasn't too cold, but just the right amount of refreshing.
We saw some of the couples from our dinner
table at the beach. They were all laying out,
getting nice and tanned.
We had a great time hanging out at the beach all
day like two bums. We had sand on our feet,
food in our tummies, and sunshine in our hair.
What more could we ask for?
We love some Beach time!
After being in the sun all day we turned back to the ship. Chris and I watched as we departed the dock in Aruba. We stood on the 5th floor outside as close to the ocean as possible.
All of a sudden after Aruba's coast was about a half of a mile away Chris pointed out 6 dolphins leaping out of the water along the side of the ship. They were small and spotted. They are some of the most beautiful creatures in the ocean. We were so lucky to spot them, Chris' favorites animal is the dolphin.
The next day was
Another day at sea. . .
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| There was a midnight finger food and fruit buffet on the pool deck. Chris and I went up to look around, there was music and dancing, and amazing displays of food, like this one. |
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| Our room attendant would always leave us little friends. . |
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| This is looking up at the very highest point of the ship. It is also the very center of the ship. There was always live music playing, and drinks being served. |
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| This is same spot as the picture above but looking down into the center of the ship. |
We ordered a virgin (non-alcoholic)
Strawberry and Guava Daiquiri for me and a
Pina Colada (non-alcoholic) for Chris. . . . So good. What would vacation be with out splurging a little?
Chris and I loved to look over the edge of the ship into the great blue depths.
Often we would see flying fish. They were small and silver, skipping across
the water much like pebbles on a smooth pond.
Day two of on land adventures:
Columbia
At dinner before we docked in Columbia all of the crew members warned us that no one should wander alone in Columbia. There are safety issues, and therefore they told us it would be wisest if we traveled in a group. We asked our friends from Scotland if we could join them on their adventures in Columbia. They were so kind and said we were welcome to anytime.
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| Colombian flag, flying over the Fort. |
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| From the dock we could see a horizon filled with sky scrapers. |
Fort Carthagena
Our friends had plans to travel to this beautiful Fort. And being the wonderful people they are, took us with them.
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| This is the entrance. It is a gorgeous fort. |
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| And here is a sign by the entrance, what ever that says. |
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| Our friend Jim put Chris in jail. |
Columbia is such a beautiful place. The architecture is amazing.
The colors are incredible, just a beautiful place. But very very hot.
Chris loved to see some of the artifacts left behind. The Fort is no longer functioning as a defensive base or a jail to hold prisoners of war, but is completely open to visitors, we were able to explore all of the living quarters and jail cells. As well as all over and under and passages we could discover.
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| These guys stand there all day, paint themselves black everyday and when anyone goes to take a picture they charge a dollar. I think that was well worth this shot! |
There is so much beauty in the Old City, and the architecture is just incredible! SO colorful and beautiful! They just don't make places like this anymore, at least not in America.
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| We had so much fun wandering around The Old City with our fun Scottish friends! We stopped to have some cokes and get out of the blazing heat. |
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| This was a very popular sculpture in Columbia, in all the corner stores they had miniature versions for people to buy and put in their homes. Fatness is beautiful in their culture. (Our taxi driver helped guide us through the popular local spots and he educated us on things like such.) |
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| This is an amazing Cathedral in the middle of The Old City! |
As you can see there are so many beautiful colors all over the city!
I do not suggest that anyone takes a bite of anything that looks like any of these! Our taxi driver said something in Spanish to woman who made these interesting "treats", and next thing you know she hands me something that looks like a doughnut cover in sugar, but it DEFINITELY WASN'T! Then she hands me something that looks like a coconut ball, but it wasn't! It was awful! I made everyone in our group try it, and no one asked for seconds! Weird stuff! Our cab driver was very amused, and loved to watch us suffer.
The beauty speaks for itself. . .
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| This is such a neat little sculpture in the middle of a street. Yes brick streets were almost everywhere! |
The Brotherhood.
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| Just a shot of the coast line in a random spot while we were driving by. |
After a beautiful day of touring we headed back to the ship, went to dinner, and
enjoyed the rest of the evening before another day of adventures on land.
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| Another one of our little friends. |
The next morning we got up, went to a nice sit down breakfast then exited the ship for . . .
Day three of on land adventures:
Panama
The local creatures. . . they are called Coatimundi, I thought they were really cute.
The locals were feeding them.
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| Chris is holding our tickets to enter the Panama Canal. |
And here is the Gatun Locks, a part of The Panama Canal.
Chris and I stood on the observation deck for an hour, that was perfect timing to see one huge Cargo Ship enter the Canal, lower with the water level, the gates open, and the ship continue on to the next gate where the water level needed to lower once more to reach sea level.
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| This is on the right side of the gate where the water level is low. |
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| This is the end of Canal, there is one more gate after this one you can barely see in this picture, that last gate opens up into the ocean. |
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| As you can see on the left side of the gate the water level is still high, and on the right it is too low to see. |
These ships that pass through are huge with only 2.5 feet space left on each side of the ship
(tight fit, if the ship was any wider it would not fit!)
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| This is the ship before the water level started to lower. |
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| This is the same ship in the same spot after the water level finished lowering. |
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| The gates then opened and the ship proceeded forward. This whole process is just amazing! |
After leaving the Panama Canal we headed to a water and bathroom stop. Chris found this totally weird tree.
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| This tree is amazing, it grows these weird branches that go down into the ground so if a tsunami comes it can protect itself. |
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| These are the cutest Teddy Bears made out of alpaca fur. |
Finally we left our fun in Panama and boarded the ship. Chris and I always watched the cruise ship pull away from the shore, and we thought it was especially pretty leaving Panama.
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| The sun was starting to set and that is always so beautiful out at sea. |
That night at dinner we celebrated the Scottish Mother's Day. Since we had four beautiful woman with grown up children we wanted to honor them, Chris and I bought 4 roses and Chris handed them out at dinner.
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| Sylvia, Lynda, Chris, Karen, and Brenda |
Lynda and Karen are from Scotland, they are true beautiful Scottish Mothers.
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| Bob doesn't usually have that much hair . . . So he borrowed some of mine, he was so much fun! |
| After dinner most nights Chris and I would attend the shows. |
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| These were the beautiful curtains that hung on stage before the performance started. |
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| Chris and I at the comedy show. |
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| Cute little guy that had a message for us from our attendant, he was so sweet, we would leave notes for each other. |
The next day was another wonderful day on land . . .
Day four of on land adventures:
Costa Rica
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| This guy was swimming right by the port dock. |
Chris and I got on a bus and were off to our Canopy Tours up in the tree tops!
We were off to ZIP LINE!
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| This was the windy narrow narrow road we drove up for about 15 minutes. It was a little scary to me, but Chris loved it. |
There were some really cool looking plants up in the dense forest.
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| There was just and amazing view up there and it was even more amazing with each platform we landed on. |
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| The gear that held on to us for dear life. |
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| We are all ready! Little Monkeys. |
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| Chris was the very first to go! |
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| There were monkeys and toucans and sloths up in the trees with us, we could hear them all, but they were hiding. |
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| This is the end of the thirteen stations we were able to zip-line to. It was so much fun! |
Once we were finished one of the canopy guides went off in the forest and found a banana tree and picked fresh bananas and brought them for us to eat. We also got fresh pineapple. Those were the best fruits we have ever had!
Chris and I bought some little chip bags, and inside of Chris' bag
he found this cute little green monster.
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| Chris and I both tried the Coconut water. . . Chris loves it, I don't. That coconut came off the tree right behind Chris. |
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| This is a special flower. These are the petals. Our tour guide stopped the bus on the side of the road on our way back down the mountain, she stepped out grabbed a bunch of these flower blossom off a huge tree, she told each of us to crush it in our hands and then smell it. This is the flower that is used to make Chanel No. 5. It smelt just like it! AMAZING! |
Costa Rica is very humble and poor.
After a full day of adventures on land we retired back to the ship.
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| This is the back of our ship, these massive ropes were holding the ship in port. The ropes were about the size of my leg. |
That night we went to dinner as always, of course it was just as amazing as every other dinner. Following our four course meal we attended a magic show.
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| One of our servers made this little bird out of a napkin. |
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| This box was used at the end of the show, the magician put his assistant in the box, chained it up, then lifted it into the air and in the end he was the one to come out of the box. Weird, because Chris and I went on stage to inspect it and sign the box, the C heart A is what we signed. |
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| When we went to our room that night this is the little friend we found. |
The next day was a
Day at Sea . . .
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| Handsome Captain Christopher |
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| Aye Aye Captain!! |
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| Oh silly me and my Coca-Cola. Can you believe no one on this ship even knew what Dr. Pepper was? |
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| Just awesome, let me see anyone make their food look this good. |
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| Holy ginormous cake! Black forest cake! |
Golf, on a ship is no easy feat.
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| Royal Caribbean Golf on the upper deck at the back of the ship. |
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| I believe if I recall correctly I beat Chris by one point! Rare occasion! |
That night was
Formal Night number two.
We had
Lobster that night! So good! It is Chris' favorite!
Chris ate 3.5 lobsters!!
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| Of course it has to be served drenched in buttery garlic sauce. Best thing ever! |
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| These were our awesome servers! They were so funny and sweet. |
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| This guy was just hanging out in the room. Reading some ship news. |
The next day was
day five of our
Final Adventures on Land:
Grand Cayman Islands
The Cayman Island we visited was the very best stop we made the whole cruise!
We were so blessed to
Swim with Dolphins,
Swim with Sting Rays,
visit and
Pet and Hold Turtles at the Turtle Farm,
and
enjoy relaxing at Tiki Beach
as a closure for our wonderful wonderful fun filled day!
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| Beautiful view! |
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| Our wrist bands that allowed us to ride the dolphins! |
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| Fishy fishy facies! |
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| The beautiful scenery on the Island! |
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| I discovered this huge guy (Really huge! He was probably as tall as me! At least 5 feet long!) Right by the dock where we boarded a boat to take us out to a sand bar with Sting Rays! |
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| This was next door to the boat dock. |
Here is the boat that took us to the sting rays where we got to get in the water and feed and pet the Sting Rays! It was a nice boat!
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| My all time favorite picture! Ever! He is so handsome! |
The water was so clear and beautiful, we could see straight to the bottom and it was 12 feet deep!
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| This is the sand bar where all the Sting Rays like to hang out. |
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| Chris wandering around with the Sting Rays. |
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| Chris and I used snorkel gear to explore the Sting Ray Sand Bar, we found all kinds of pretty fish and huge Sting Rays that liked to swim in deeper waters. |
I know there are no pictures of the Sting Rays, that is because I couldn't capture a picture in focus, they moved so quickly! We were given handfuls of Squid to hold in our hands and the Rays would swim up and such it up like a vacuum. They were so soft and smooth!
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| It looks like I am in a pool, but I am definitely in the Ocean! I found this Star Fish right under our boat, well like 8 feet under it. It was just amazing water! |
After we finished swimming with the Sting Rays we climbed back onto out boat and back into land. Once we got there we took a bus to where the
Dolphins were! There we swam with dolphins.
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| This was a group of people in the water before us, but they were only able to pet the dolphin, Chris and I rode the dolphin! |
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| Here is the Dolphin giving Chris a kiss! |
When we were in the water or around the water we weren't supposed to take pictures because they wanted us to buy their pictures for 25 dollars each! So instead Chris and I took a picture of their picture on the computer screen, it isn't very good and we only have one of Chris and one of me, but we know what we did and this will suffice for memory sake.
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| Here I am riding the Dolphin's belly and holding his fins! |
We each got to pet the dolphin, shake his fins, rub his belly, kiss him, ask him to do tricks,
and watch him flip and dance.
The best part was we each were able to ride him twice!
Once he swam up under us upside down, so we would grab his fins and
he would swim and carry us across the pool.
The second time we held onto a boogie board and he would swim
under us until he reached our toes and would push us with his nose
across the pool up to 35 MPH.
Chris and I both did this, and my favorite was when I rode on the Dolphin's belly.
Dolphins feel like one huge smooth muscle, they are super slick,
but almost rough feeling because they are so so firm.
It wasn't what I expected to feel.
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| Chris and I once we were finished swimming with the Dolphin, behind us is the pool we swam in, it actually isn't a real pool, underwater we could see huge fences that let the ocean water come in and out, but did not allow anything that could harm the Dolphins in. By our feet when we were in the water standing and playing with the Dolphin we could see all kinds of bright colorful, tropical fish and they would swim through our legs. They had 4 Dolphins, most of them are rescued Dolphins. And they were so cute because they liked to watch each other do tricks and they would jump up and down in the water to see each other. |
After we left the Dolphins we walked across the street to the Turtle Farm!
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| These guys are so huge! We were told they live to be 150 years old or older! |
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| Chris caught a baby. |
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| My little baby Turtle wasn't very happy, so we were told to stroke their necks, they like that I guess. |
Here is a baby baby Turtle, he is the size of my palm, and my palm is tiny!
After playing at the Turtle Farm we headed out to Tiki Beach! There we had some food which was ridiculous expensive, and relaxed at the Beach, The water in the Cayman Islands is incredibly clear!
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| This was on the beach where we liked to hang out. Just like in the magazines huh? |
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| This was the beach, the water was just so incredibly clear! |
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| Chris loves Ariel forever! |
Just some artist beach shots I took at Tiki Beach.
Soon it was time to leave Tiki Beach and the Cayman Island all together. We traveled back to the pier where a ferry picked us up and shuttled us back to the Cruise Ship.
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| This is the ferry on its way to pick us up and that is our Cruise Ship in the background. |
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| Here is the ferry that we took |
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| This is one of the beautiful Cayman Islands as we were leaving it. |
After leaving this Island we headed back to the ship and had only two more days at Sea.
We went to dinner and enjoyed it of course, shared pictures and exchanged stories with everyone at our table. We exchanged information to keep in touch, made many wonderful relationships and friendships!
On our last day at Sea we visited many of the activities we had already done and loved. Chris and I loved to wander the ship, we swam some more, climbed the rock wall, golfed, ate a lot, tanned, danced, trivia, game nights, visiting with friends, ping pong, shows, movies, games on deck, shopping, visited the Casino, and so much more! We had a total blast! Best honeymoon ever!
We did visit the Casino a few times when we were at Sea.
Our Casino Adventures . . .
Chris and I never played with amounts larger than 14 dollars, we made back every cent we lost, and even made a profit. We do not think gambling is wise, but we tried it and we thought of it as playing a game. We had our allotted amount to play with and once it was gone we were done.
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| I only had a few quarters to play with, probably 3 dollars worth. |
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| Poor Chris used up all of his quarters for that day. |
These are some of the beautiful works of art in the Casino.
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| Look who is in the background on the left with her hand to her chin! Lynda! Our Scottish friend from our table! |
One day Chris was randomly selected to play in a Slot Machine tournament.
It was free and he had the chance to win money or a prize.
The very last night on the ship . . .
Chris and I started to pack up to leave early the next morning when we arrived in Ft. Lauder Dale. Chris left to get a soda and on his way back he walked through the Casino and found two quarters on the ground. He brought them back to the room, we finished with our bags and decided we would go and play the 50 cents in a slot machines. Chris let me pick a slot and we played, we won two more quarters then lost two, our luck stayed, because we never ran out of quarters and finally we decided to play another game, we walked by machines and kept finding quarters we found and won up to 3 dollars in quarters. Eventually we made our way over to our favorite game, Craps. There we found a woman we met earlier in the cruise, her name was Marcia, she loved Chris and she was very superstitious, she believed in beginners luck and since Chris liked to dabble in the game of Craps and didn't have too much experience, Marcia would pay for Chris to roll every time she saw him. Chris always made everyone at the table 50-100s of dollars depending on how they were betting. Chris was a very good roller. On this last night we showed Marcia how we made three dollars out of 50 cents Chris found on the ground. Marcia insisted we give her the quarters because they must be lucky, and she gave us $5 and insisted Chris play Craps, and she again payed for his bet, and paid him to roll. Chris turned the table from losing hundreds of dollars, as we had heard the man besides us lost 400 dollars, to a winning table. After Chris rolled for 20 minutes he had made that same man 200 dollars back, half of what he lost. Marcia decided to bet on the roller who was Chris at the time, and she told the dealer to give Chris what ever that bet made. She placed that bet on hard 4s, Chris rolled those twice, which is very rare. Everyone at the table was winning. Chris finally ended his luck by rolling a 7. However at the end of his turn the Dealer handed Chris
$55 in chips. We were stunned. Marcia smiled at us and told us to keep it. She was so kind and urged us to leave before we were too tempted to bet away our winnings. We listened and went straight to cash out our chips. We always wanted to return her money each time she paid for Chris to play, but she would never take it and told us that one day when we have what she has that we should remember to be generous and give to others like she did for us. Everyone on our Cruise was so kind and generous to Chris and I, we will never forget their kindnesses.
So that night at the Casino we entered with two quarters we found, and left with $55. It was a wonderful final night of our honeymoon!
Chris has one last surprise for me when we got back to the room, a small beautiful memento I will treasure forever.
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| My Swarovski Crystal Bunny! I love bunnies and this is just the most adorable beautiful Crystal creature I have ever seen! |
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| He is so amazing and perfect and mine! |
The next morning we woke up to a beautiful sun rise in Port at Ft. Lauder Dale.
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| Sunrise in Ft. Lauder Dale. |
Next thing you know we caught the next flight home, we couldn't have asked for a more beautiful ending to a perfect adventure.
The amazing aerial view as we left Ft. Lauder Dale.
In fact our adventure isn't ending we are just beginning our lives together forever.
Here is a baby baby Turtle, he is the size of my palm, and my palm is tiny!
Just some artist beach shots I took at Tiki Beach. 
These are some of the beautiful works of art in the Casino. 
The amazing aerial view as we left Ft. Lauder Dale.
