We had the best time on vacation!

Last week we enjoyed a wonderful vacation. We had such a great time and are looking forward to our next trip one day. So, before I forget all that happened and all that we did, I will post it here. If you're reading this, sit back and relax... you'll be here a while! :)

Sunday, May 31: Our First Plane Ride, The Shuttle to Port Canaveral, An Evening on the Sensation

My mom picked us up from our house around 6 a.m. Once we arrived at the airport, we checked our luggage and went to wait in our terminal area. Lucky for us, the lady at the boarding counter asked if we'd be willing to change seats to accomodate a family wanting to sit together, we said yes, and to thank us, she moved us to first class! The plane ride was great, not a single bump! It was definitely a good way to break us in to flying! We landed in Orlando around 9 a.m. eastern time. From there, we found the Carnival desk on the airport's lower level, checked in, and waited for the shuttle to Port Canaveral. The shuttle was a pretty large and pretty full bus. We rode about an hour or so and reached the port. It was cool to see a Royal Caribbean ship and a Disney ship there as well. The embarkation process was very smooth.... get off the shuttle, get in the line, go through security, go up the stairs into the Carnival building, sign a form (promising we don't think we have the swine flu), get in line, sign in at the check-in counter, get our Sign and Sail card (which we used to get on and off the ship and buy things on the ship), and then get on the Sensation. I really liked how easy and organized it was. Anyway, so we got on the ship, found our room (M136... an interior room mid-ship), set our stuff down, and went to eat a late lunch in the SeaView Grill (our buffet restaurant). I can't really remember what we ate at each buffet meal. I do know that it was always one kind of each: fish, beef, and chicken; baked potato, fries, or wedges; different steamed, stir-fried, or fresh veggies; lots of fruit and yogurt; quick dishes like burgers, etc.; and a whole bunch of desserts to choose from. The food was always good, no matter what time of day or night we went to eat. Back to Sunday.... we ate late lunch/dinner, we explored the ship a bit, found the new adults-only Serenity Deck (which sounds kind of dirty with the "adults only" part!.... It was just a quiet place on the ship where no kids or teens were permitted) and watched the sunset, and then headed off to bed early to get ready for our big days ahead.

Monday, June 1: Fun on the Ship, Snorkeling in the Bahamas, Our Formal Dinner Night, The Show

We ordered room service for breakfast (cereal and toast, etc.), ate, and got ready to go to Freeport for the day. Once we were on the decks of the ship, we took a few videos of the ship and Freeport. Of course, since we were on a cruise, we HAD to eat breakfast twice, since there was a good breakfast buffet. After breakfast #2, we debarked the ship and went to the pavillion where people were waiting for the snorkeling excursion we'd booked. When it was time to go, we took a boat that held about 60 of us about an hour from the dock to a secluded area where there was a coral reef. We put on our snorkel gear, got into the water, and had a good time swimming and (attempting) snorkeling. Our gear was a little difficult (Sam's mask was leaky, and my flippers came off in the water), but we had a good time. Sam saw one fish, and I saw nothing but still had fun looking into the water. We got back to the ship around 3:15, fifteen minutes before the ship was to leave. Eek! Next, we got ready for Formal Night. This was our one night that we decided to eat in the dining room, because on the other nights we were having too much fun to stop and get ready to eat in the dining room and instead decided just to go the buffet and eat on the deck. For dinner that night, we had soup and salad, lobster and steak, veggies, and great desserts. At the end of the dinner, our server brought out a little cake with a candle, which confused us a little. He then had other servers gather around to sing a happy anniversary song to us, every few verses putting his hands on our heads and making us kiss. It was sweet and very embarassing. The lemon cake we got was good! After the formal dinner, we walked around the ship, changed into comfy clothes, and then went to the 80's Revue Show, which featured lots of fun music, clothes, and dancing from the 80's. It was pretty funny.

Tuesday, June 2: Fun on the Ship, Playing with Dolphins and the Atlantis Resort in Nassau, Fun in the Evening

We reached Nassau early in the morning. Sam and I woke up very excited about the day ahead. We had breakfast (twice!) and got ready to go. Once we got off the ship, we enjoyed looking around at the beautiful surroundings... colorful buildings, pretty docks, and a total of five other cruise ships docked all around ours! We waited by the proper pavillion until it was time to go off for our excursion. We chose to do the "shallow water dolphin encounter" at the Atlantis Resort. The Atlantis folks picked us up in little buses and took us to the resort entrance. The resort was really amazing, designed to look like the lost city of Atlantis. The towering buildings seemed to be made of rough stone and clay, with all these incredible gardens, pools, statues, lagoons, and walkways winding though and between them. We found our way to Dolphin Cay near the back of the resort, where this really pretty beach and water area was home to the dolphins. There were probably thirty of them there, sixteen of which were a group of dolphins raised together at a seaquarium in Mississippi that was destroyed during Katrina in 2005. The group of sixteen were actually washed out of their aquarium with the flood and were found together at sea a couple weeks later. The Atlantis resort is their new home. We had the chance to meet, hug, feed, kiss, and play with Hercules while we were there. Afterward, we walked around the resort, had a bite to eat, and walked around some more. We then got back on the ship, watched The Newlywed Game on stage, had dinner on the deck (a little of one of everything on the buffet), and then went to the midnight party doing the Cupid Shuffle and the conga line. You may actually see these antics on the Food Network in September, as they were there on our ship filming for an upcoming cake competition show.

Wednesday, June 3: Fun Day at Sea, The Show, Getting Ready to Leave the Ship

We got a late start to the day, relaxing and just taking our time. Of course, we had our two breakfasts. Next, we decided to lay out on the deck and just watch the entertainment... the hairy chest contest. Pretty funny! When we were ready for a break from the sun, we went inside to the show stage, where I participated in the towel animal class. I am now the master of creating towel elephants and towel puppies. :) This is a very valuable skill, I'm sure! We pretty much spent the rest of the day on the upper rear deck, relaxing, laying out, and reading. Once the sun had seemed to pass by, we went in and got ready for dinner. Dinner again was a full buffet of so many choices. Later was the big Vegas Revue-type show. I'd hoped to see the dancers in the big Vegas-y feathery costumes, and I definitely wasn't dissapointed. Great show! Afterward, we were sad to pack our things and get ready for the next morning's debarkation.

Thursday, June 4: Debarkation Day, The Hilton in Orlando, Aquatica

We got up early to get ready and make sure we'd packed everything. For just a few quick minutes, we decided to go to the deck area one last time. We were looking at the water, and Sam saw two dolphins very close to our ship! Around 7 a.m., we were called for debarkation, a very smooth (and sad) process. We boarded our shuttle and rode to the Orlando airport. From there we called the shuttle to take us to our hotel. In Orlando, we stayed at the Hilton Grand Vacation Club* at SeaWorld, a very nice hotel with great pools, restaurants, and activities. It was very cute place to stay. We dropped off our things in our room, got ready, and went to SeaWorld Aquatica, SeaWorld's waterpark. There you'll find a few lazy river rides, slides, and pools. We stayed for the afternoon before visiting Margaritaville. For dinner we just ordered pizza and relaxed in the room.

*Our travel agent was fabulous! She found us the option of two nights at the Hilton along with SeaWorld/Aquatica tickets with airfare home a couple days later all for the same price as the much higher airfare to fly home the day we got off the ship. She did a great job booking our trip. Her name is Mindy at the travel place by Target near the mall.

Friday, June 5: Hilton, SeaWorld, The Pool, Getting Ready to Come Home

We visited SeaWorld. Our favorite animal exhibits were the sharks, the killer whale show, and the sea lion area. At the sea lion area, we saw a two-day old baby... so tiny and sweet and still had the fur it had yet to lose. Very cute! We left the park around 4 p.m., went back to the hotel to rest and relax by the pool, had pizza for dinner in our room, and then pack for the trip home.

Saturday, June 6: A Very Early Morning, The Plane Ride Home, Picking Up the Pugs

We left our hotel at 3 a.m. Ouch. Our plane took off at 6 a.m. Ouch again! We made it home by around 7 a.m. our time. My mom picked us up, and we went on ahead to get the dogs from Hillcrest, where we'd boarded them for the week. They seemed happy to see us. We spent our Saturday catching up on much needed sleep.

That was it! We had such a nice time relaxing and enjoying each other's company and the beautiful scenery around us. We are very much looking forward to our next cruise.