Back to reality... but with a tan!

Well, this has been a fantastic March Break... as if there were any doubts! I really enjoyed just being away but being on a Disney Cruise was a nice perk!

We had quite the adventure just trying to get to the cruiseship. We left Friday after work and stayed in Syracuse. No problem. We got up at 4 am and headed to the airport. No problem. The flight was delayed...problem. We arrived in Atlanta 10 minutes too late for our connecting flight... big problem! We tried a standby flight and didn't make it. We finally got on a flight out of Atlanta at 11:50 and long story short... arrived at 3:50 at the port! That's just 10 minutes before it closes the gangway...yikes. We were stressed. We did the "amazing race" run through the airports and finally felt relief when we were on the Disney bus. Crazy! I will never fly same day to a cruise or with a connecting. Crazy I tell you!


I didn't read one book... so unlike me. Shawn read two and a half books! We live such different work lives that he just loves to getaway and read! Me? I read like crazy all summer but on vacation I just relax. Oh I read a few magazines for sure but no books.

I love laying in the sun! Every day turned out beautifully! We had some clouds and even a quick little shower but the captain did his job well and steered us in the direction of the hot sun... god bless him! There were a few really rough water days and boy did I feel the first one! Last Sunday I was SICK! I get crazy motion sickness on a good day but those waves did me in. Everyone always says that you can't feel it on a big ship. I beg to differ. Really, I finally went to the health centre and got some pills that made me all good. No drowsiness and just happiness. Thank goodness because I would have died if I'd felt that way all week.

We laid pretty low this time around. No big excursions. We just swam and layed around a lot. I guess Shawn and Gavin did go sea-dooing one day in St. Maarten but other than that we were pretty low key. It was great. I think doing this a second time around helped us relax more because we didn't feel the pressure to "do it all"! We took in a great magic show and watched BOLT in 3-D. Both were super fun!

Gavin spent quite a bit of time at the Oceaneer's Lab. He was in a different group this time around and quite loved the new club. It had a huge tv and lots of computers and games and science stuff. He had lots of time with the characters and we didn't feel nearly as guilty as last year because we knew it was fun for him and really good for us.

When Gavin was off playing we got to have some quality time together. We drank coffee on the comfy lounge chairs, hung around the Quiet Cove pool (just for adults!) and shopped in the Disney shops. Did I mention the Heineken Light beers yet? Oh and we drank many a HL! So love those on a hot day! I did however, indulge in a Presidente while in St. Maarten!

We did a couple great beaches. Orient Bay in St. Maarten was clothing optional... scary but we made it through with only a few old girls hanging out. The beach section we were on was called Bikini Beach and had a great restaurant and bar. The water was warm and wavy. Gavin does not like the salty water and had to come out regularly to wipe his face. Too funny!

Maegan's Bay in St. Thomas was one of the top ten beaches according to National Geographic. It was calm and cooler. Again, we played and drank and relaxed. Gavin found a few new friends here... cute italian family. I thought St. Thomas was so pretty. The homes covered the hills and there were some great shops too!

I got two new charms for my bracelet. On St. Patrick's day, we were in St. Maarten and I got a cute little green flower charm. In St. Thomas I got a sweet little starfish charm and a new bracelet! Now I have one more to fill...so fun! Shawn got a new watch... watches are very popular there. Every store has watches...enough already! I was going crazy looking at watches for hours! Sheesh. I picked those charms out in two seconds flat. Let's get to the beach already!

We met many more people on this cruise and on the islands, as compared to last year. Among those were Lisa from Tennessee, Pat from Texas, a few couples from Ottawa,Big Mama and Big Pappa, and a few other characters. Good times. We were sooooo close to becoming a Disney Vacation Club Member. Shawn attended a session, recommended by Lisa, and came back excited. They really do suck you in with all this Disney stuff. Seriously, for Shawn to get excited about this it must have been good but then reality kicked in. As if. There is no way he would ever do that! He is, in his words, "disneyed out"! Me? Not so much but as long as I get to go away somewhere I'm good.

The flight home was far less eventful. We arrived in Syracuse at around 5pm. We made reservations to stay at Holiday Inn Watertown. Yes, I managed to extend our holiday. You know me.. I hate when a holiday ends even one day early. Shawn was tired and didn't want to drive and we wanted to take our time. So, we got up and did some more shopping today. Then we drove home and picked up... wait for it.... our new MACBOOK PRO! Woo hoo. Finally.

All this excitement and good tv to watch. This really is the Fanatasy Life... for today anyways!