Happy Honeymoon to You!

 

The Westin was a great place to stay while waiting to board the Carnival Pride.  We found out the next morning that there was a fabulous indoor pool and now I wish that I would have jumped in it.  After we got on the road, we stopped at Dick's to pick out our snorkel sets (mine is pink!!!).  While we were in Dick's, we found the best shirt ever.... "The Birds"!!  These shirts almost made the trip, but Dave Ramsey would probably not have approved so we kept it moving.

I have sailed on this ship before back in 2009, but I was so excited to share the experience this time with my husband!!  The ship sailed under the Key Bridge and Bay Bridge.  We sailed all the way out of the Chesapeake Bay and down towards our first port of call, Grand Turk!

 

Picture courtesy of:  http://www.baltimorecruiseguide.com/carnival-pride-baltimore.jpg

The picture above is the Pride sailing under the Key Bridge.  We didn't take the picture, but I thought it was pretty cool.  The picture below was taken by Eli after we went under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

  

We didn't have this cake (pictured below), but saw it in the window in one of the stores on the ship.  This will be a great time to tell you about the title, "Happy Honeymoon to You".  Say this one more time and sing it to the tune of "Happy Birthday".  This is something we heard nightly (mostly the birthday version).  Now for those of you who have never cruised before, most of the crew are from countries such as Peru, India, South Africa, etc.  So imagine this song sung with an accent.  So funny.  We have the video of them singing to us, so I'll have to figure out how to put that on here!

 

The ship was a lot of fun.  We spent a lot of time reading and sitting by the pool watching all of the kids play.  They were having a blast and we got a kick out of watching the "care free" attitudes that children possess.  Who can squirt people with a water gun, jump in the hot tub with goggles and a life jacket, run from the outdoor shower to the pool to the hot tub over and over and over again and not even care who you bump into, get wet or annoy???  KIDS!!  They are so much fun.  Makes me love being a teacher.

 




Grand Turk.  Grand Turk is a really small Caribbean island.  I believe it is fourteen square miles total (did I say that right??).  We got there on Wednesday and snorkeled during the first part of the day and then spent the rest of the day by the pool in Margaritaville.  I believe our waiter at Margaritaville was native to the island but of course he had a connection to some places in the states including Duval county.  Only Eli can go out of the country and have someone know something about Jacksonville!  Eli enjoyed a huge burger and fries while catching a nap on the lounge chair while I swam around the enormous pool.

 

Half Moon Cay, Bahamas.  Half Moon Cay (pronounced "key") is my FAVORITE beach that I have ever been to.  We got to HMC on Thursday.  This was my third or fourth time to Carnival's private island and it was still just as fabulous.  However, it did rain but even the rain can't ruin a good time on the island.  We got off the boat pretty early to an overcast sky.  We swam in the ocean for a good while.  We snorkeled and saw some pretty cool fish.  A lot of them appeared to be just as clear and white as the sand and water so it was hard to see.  After a few hours passed, the storm clouds really rolled in and it POURED while we were having a picnic lunch.  I insisted we wait out the rain, but after an hour or so and no relief, I gave up and we walked back to the tender to get on the ship.  It's all good, because we'll be back!!!!!!!!  :)  I only took this one picture there because I was just so happy to be on the beach and I guess I forgot about pictures at that point.

Freeport, Bahamas. The pictures below were taken in Freeport, Bahamas.  Freeport is an industry based port in the Bahamas so when you dock there, it isn't much to see.  You really have to do an excursion or take a cab out of town and to the beaches to see the island.  Eli and I decided to take our time that morning and not rush off the boat.  We were only in this port for about six hours so by the time we got off, there wasn't time for a cab ride to explore.  So we got off and walked around the straw market and saw some local Bahama mama's.  
 

We sailed back to Baltimore all day Saturday to arrive bright and early Sunday morning.  The trip was relaxing and enjoyable.  The food was delicious and the sun was fabulous.  I got good use out of my straw hat (thanks Mari!!!) pictured below.

I praise God every day for giving me my husband.  Eli is such a kind, compassionate and loving man and I can't wait to see what God has in store for us. 

I will write about the wedding soon, but for now, I'll leave you with a few photos by none other than Nathan Bell of Richard Bell Photography (AMAZING).