This cruise Itinerary is kind of unique in that the cruise itself is a re-positioning cruise. When ship change their home port they offer unique destination groups to the cruisers. On this cruise It leaves from Port Canaveral, Florida and ends in New Orleans, La. 9 days tour. Our Itinerary includes some southern, eastern and western ports.
Day1: Day at sea
Day2: Day at sea
Day 3: Aruba
Day4: Day at sea
Day5: Ocho Rios, Jamaica
Day6: Grand Cayman
Day 7: Cozumel
Day 8: Day at sea
Day 9? well that's actually the embarkation day, which is really a half day.

So we are at the first full day of the cruise...Sea Day.
Sea days can be as boring or as exciting as you like. Some people lounge all day by the pool and some play sports, gamble in the casino, sleep in really late, or do everything they possibly can.

This morning when we got up we did what we usually love to do in the morning. We grabbed a coffee and headed to the walking track on deck 11. Today it was very busy with runners, more than walkers. It was also pretty windy. So, we decide to head to deck 5 instead. You can walk the whole perimeter of the ship. Its track is bigger and no one else on it this morning! If you walk 2.5 times it equals a mile. Down here there is less wind, until you get all the way forward anyway. Seas today are pretty calm and it looks to be a wonderful day weather wise.
 We walked several laps and headed back in to the cabin to get our children up for the day. We had breakfast  at the deck 10 aft pool area. They have all the same food there basically. I'm a picky breakfast eater so I can eat at either buffet and find the things I wanted anyway. In the aft pool area the breakfast was held at the Tandoor station. I usually just have 1/2 bagel and some breakfast potatoes. I usually don't eat eggs. ( you'd think that was weird because I have chickens and sell eggs. ) Actual I hate commercial eggs, Ill eat my own chickens eggs. The taste is way better!

aft pool pic taken while in port

 Anyway, back to the cruise!
What is a great way to spend the morning? Hot tubbing.
The pool was pretty cold so we all relaxed in the hot tub and then relaxed again on the lounge chairs in the aft pool area. I love sitting back there. You can see everything. The seemingly unending ocean and the wake of the ship. The views are breath taking. There is something about the scene that relaxes my soul. I think I was meant to live near the ocean. I could watch the water forever.
 After we had enough relaxing we headed back down to deck 5. They had chess, giant patio size sets, and bean bag toss games. My daughters love to play chess and while 2 of them played the rest of us played bean bag toss.

chess, Mike stealing pieces!

They were setting up a seaside BBQ there too. I have heard that its really good and on my last cruise never made it to the BBQ. They only have it sea days and at lunch. They had burger sliders, quesadillas, nachos, shredded pork, and many other things, like salads. I had a burger slider that was very good. I was still full from breakfast. I think I was full the whole cruise. There is food at every turn.. That being said I had to finish lunch up on the aft lido at the tandoor. I love Indian food! The smell and and the flavors just explode in your mouth. I love the vegetable relish. Its fresh vegetables like carrots, cauliflower and peppers in a very flavorful sauce, spicy too!!! Also the stews and rice dishes are amazing too. To top it off naan bread is so good!
NO dessert for me I am way full now!
 After our food settled we played around in the pool and hot tub until it was time to get ready for another meal! Tonight is "Elegant" night I call it formal night. So we all dress up in fancy dresses and men in suits.
We have our pictures taken at the many different photo ops around deck 3, 4, 5. There are dozens of backgrounds to choose from and no obligation to buy. We buy some. The prices compared to studios at home are unbeatable. No sitting fees and you pay for only what you want. I'll post the pictures later in the blog. We had our girls pictures put onto canvas, as in our last cruise My husband and I had ours done.
We have fun posing for all the pictures and meeting the photographers. They were so nice.

 For dinner i had lobster and shrimp. I love shellfish. For a drink I had Moscato, my favorite!! so yummy!

I sat to the right of this picture

 On board entertainment is free with your cruise so we headed to the Encore theater for the Broadway style show. It was called "8 Seconds More" It was popular country songs and they had a dance set to the songs theme with backgrounds and props. I did like this one even though I'm not a hug Country fan. I like all genres of music though. We sat kind of to the side. I did see almost naked men, well, they were in bikini briefs and pretending to shower! Few! They had great bodies-wow! So, if you don't want to see them almost naked do not sit on the sides of the theater. Or do, the view is nice!!!
 Tomorrows show is Motown....umm... we skipped that. Just not my thing. I'd rather listen to angry opera!
We were all so very tired we went to bed. The sun does drain you. Luckily we used plenty of sunscreen we aren't burned.

towel animal

 Trip date April 5, 2014
  This morning we woke early and took a walk to the beach. I have always wanted to walk the beach while the sun was rising. Well, this vacation again we missed it. it's tougher to get the kids moving. There's a Starbucks in the Hotel so I filled them with some sugary caffeine drink to entice them to the beach.
 The tide was out at the beach so you could walk along the denser wet sand. Easier for flip flops. We hoped to find some interesting shells on the beach, but did not find much.
 We also opted out of breakfast this morning. Knowing that as soon as we get on the ship and for the next 9 days it will be food galore.
 Back at the room we re-packed all of our stuff and headed to the Cocoa Beach Budget car rental place. There were people getting off their shuttle to pick up cars and a few dropping off. One of the people dropping off was on our ship. We had met them yesterday at Fishlips. In thirty minutes we were headed to our ship! I was so excited I was almost in tears!
 There is nothing like seeing your ship for the first time. Incredible is a good word to describe it. This ship was Huge! It's also nice knowing I'm going on that ship. Months of planning has led us to this point.
 Next is the worst part! Checking in. I like to get there early. The lines get very long and I'm not the most patient person when it comes to lines. Just to get through the door was an ordeal. They check your documents and then bottle neck the line toward security. That was confusing and not well run. They only had one security scanner and about 400 people trying to get on to the check in area. Once past that point I felt like I could breath a little again.

 NO real line for check-in. Hmm what happened to all the people was was crammed with 5 minutes ago? We got our sail and sign cards and headed to a seat to wait. We were seated in the priority boarding area by accident. We just sat there and no one directed us to anywhere or asked us any questions. So later a couple wanted to sit in the area and they were stopped and told they had to go sit somewhere else because they were not priority passengers. Woops! Neither are we! My guilt was building so I asked a guy where we were supposed to sit, that we sat here not knowing where to go. He said to us just stay where you are, I put you there. Nice! Thanks Guy!
   About 11:30 we got to board...tears threatened again! I'm an excitable person I think. We got our cheesy picture taken as a group before we boarded, then off we go. Its an amazing experience to board the ship for the first time. Its kind of confusing. Cabins are not ready until about 1pm so for an hour and a half we we wander the ship taking pictures while its still people free. We grab our lunch at the burger joint.
 They don't have Guy's Burgers yet. But, its still good. I head to the Tandoor for some vegetarian dishes that I love so much. Indian food is the best. The flavors are incredible.
 At 1 we drop off our carry on bags in our room and go exploring the ship some more. This ship is so big. If you walk the lap on deck 5 outside it only takes 2.5 times to make a mile.
 The Safety Drill was at 3:30. Ugh I hate them. You wait and wait for it to start because there are always people that try to hide and not go to them. Trust me they know if you hide they search the entire ship including staterooms to make sure everyone goes, and there are people on guard everywhere. Once the drill starts it goes by fast. We all meet in the Crimson Dining room as our muster station. Years ago we used to have to line up on the deck next to the lifeboats, that was hot and claustrophobic. This way is better, and more comfortable.

  I hate to miss sail away. So after the muster drill we head up to deck 10 Lido deck aft for sail away. Our cruise critic people were going to be there too for a get together. Now usually it rains for sail away, today it was sunny and beautiful out...perfect!
   A Disney ship sailed out before us and another smaller Carnival ship sailed out behind us.
   The seas were calm and it looked like smooth sailing ahead.


I had my first "Kiss on the lips" drink. Oh my, they are delicious! You can't drink them too fast or you'll get brain freeze..lesson learned ;o) White drink is a pina colada(virgin) for the kid and my Kiss on the lips mmmmm!






   We chose an early dining option for this cruise. So at 6pm we headed for dinner. Our luggage had not yet arrived to our cabin so we had to go in what we had on.

   I had the sweet and sour shrimp for dinner. That was very very good. I also had a spring roll that I shared with my daughter for an appetizer. For dessert I had Creme brulee. One of my favorites except I can only eat half as the sugar crust is so sweet.
 After dinner our luggage was waiting for us outside our door. So we made a mad dash to get all unpacked and stow the luggage under the bed.
   We headed to Karaoke up in the comedy lounge but it was dead in there. Boring. So, we got our swimsuits on and headed to the hot tubs on the aft lido deck. It was not crowded and was very relaxing.
  We later had a midnight snack of pizza slice and headed to bed. Tomorrow is a relaxing Sea day, and I could no longer keep my eyes open so off to bed we went. The seas were still calm so sleep was nice and comfy.
  All I can say about this day is I'm so glad it finally here, after my months of planning and dreaming.

   I chose the Four Points By Sheraton Hotel because of the price and the brand. We have stayed in them before and they have always been very good and if you have an issue or a need they do their best to take care of it for you.



  It was 11:00 when we got to the Hotel. You have to drive into the parking garage a bit and the entrance is right there. You can park there for checking in. Our room was already ready...Yeah! I love early check in.
They gave us our keys and a parking pass for the rental car. We drove up to the 4rth level in the garage and used the entry there to get to our room. It was on that level, so easy access. There are steps once inside that door though 3 or 4 shallow steps. Clumsy with luggage and if you have mobility issues, not too good. Use the ground floor and take the elevators if you can't use stairs.
   The room was really nice. A couch and TV area and then a hallway with a bathroom and a microwave/fridge area. Then the bedroom part with two queens and a window view to the surf shop that's part of the hotel. It's not Ron Jon's, that's right across the street.
   We decided to eat lunch at the Hotel. It's called Shark Pit. It had a huge aquarium in it that had among many other fish,  2 small sharks, and a big green eel that looked menacing. Lunch was very good there. We all had burgers and I had a beer. Hot sun and beer go very well together in my opinion.
   We grabbed our camera and headed back out of the hotel for a walk to the beach. The weather was hot and amazing! Coming from the endless winter of the Frozen Tundra in Green Bay it felt like Heaven. The beach was only 2 short blocks away. A very easy walk. The beach was not crowded and it was pretty quiet. We spent about an hour walking down the beach and back. On the way back to the hotel we saw a possum, an Iguana, some parrots in a cage and a squirrel. It was like wild Kingdom!
   I could live here! I see why people flock to Florida for the winter. I would love to be able to, but my husband loves winter. The sacrifices I make! LOL
 We stopped at Ron Jon's Surf Shop and bought some trinkets and then headed back to our room to change into our swim suits for a cool down.
   The pool here is very small and once we got inside the gate to it I noticed no towels!!! I had to walk all the way back-into the hotel to get some from the front desk person. I had to sign to get them. Well, the water wasn't bad and I got used to it fairly quick. There is a waterfall feature that hides the hot tub from the pool.
   I belong to a web group called Cruise Critic. Its kind of a chat group that separates into roll call for each ship sailing. It's a great way to meet people on your sailing and learn a lot of things from fellow cruisers. One of the great things is the meet and greets. We all had a plan to meet at a local place near the port to eat and drink and watch the ship sail from port today. Our meeting place was called "Fishlips". They had a live singer there and the food was very good. They had a disney ship and a Royal Caribbean ship leaving. Tomorrow is our turn. I cannot wait.
  Tomorrow----cruise day!!!!

   This morning we got up so early. I'm not a morning person at all. I struggle to get up this early, but its vacation ahead so I manage to get up right away when the alarm goes off. We had signed up for the 4:30AM shuttle( 4:45 was filled). Our flights are at 6 and you never know how long the lines through security are.
   I'm glad we did get there early enough to beat a mad rush of people coming in through security just after us. We grabbed an expensive coffee at one of those little shops on the way to our gate. We only had between 30 and 40 minutes before boarding. I made a big mistake when getting up to take a picture and set my coffe down. I kicked it over as I got back to my seat and spilled the whole $5 cup all over.

Theres the top of the coffee lid just under the Running shoe. OOps! well live and learn.
  Our flights with Southwest were great. I had pre checked in exactly 24 hours prior to flight to save a place in line. If you have never flown Southwest Air, there are no assigned seats. What they do is give you a boarding number when you check-in. The earlier you check in the better. If you travel with a larger group like us. It may pay to pay the $12 to check in weeks early so you can sit together. I checked in at 6am the day before and had B group boarding in the 20's. we were able to sit together. Last cruise husband and I never got to sit together, and that was just 2 of us flying.
   I noticed too, that people board and take the window and aisle seat. So, as the plane fills its harder and harder to get a seat. People just dot want to move and let you sit down. Planes these days do not fly half empty anymore like years ago. They fly full to oversold in most cases.
Our flights were pretty good. The pilot would announce often that we were flying over some bad weather so the flights would be bumpy. It wasn't too bad though. I've been on much worse turbulent flights. The kind where its white knuckle on the arm rest until we touch down.

Sorry this pic is sideways
   Its so beautiful to be above the clouds. One thing I love about flying is the awesome sights to see from the air. Todays clouds were pretty flat. I love the fluffy clouds that have a lot of texture to them. No clouds too are nice to see the ground. I have never been one to read while flying. If I have a window seat I would rather just look out the window. On this fight I was sandwiched in the middle seat, so, I read one of my "romance" novels. Someday I'll blog about that subject. :o)
   Our flight landed right on schedule at 9:20am. I love direct flights!
After getting our luggage we headed to the Budget rental car counter. Holy cow! It was at least an hour long line! I hoped they would still have a car for us when we got to the counter!
 It was over an hour wait and the line was longer than it had been when we first got in it. It was worth the money savings. For 5 people a shuttle would have costed us 5 times more, plus shuttle to the port the next day, and we wouldn't have the freedom a car gave us to go anywhere we wanted for dinner.
  I had a coupon code for Budget that made the cost of our SUV ridiculously cheap. We were in Orlando and we could drop our car off in Cocoa Beach where our ship would be.

It's  a 45 minute easy drive from the airport in Orlando to Cocoa Beach. Their are 2 tolls to drive through. I think they were a $1 each. Along the way we drove by a wild brush fire. On the news later on today I heard there were 3 in the area. A helicopter was flying around it dumping water on it.
 Almost to Cocoa Beach we could see the port. It looked like 3 ships were in port today. We could also see Kennedy Space Center in the distance. That brought back memories of visiting on a rocket launch day. That is an amazing site to see if you ever get a chance.
 Driving into Cocoa Beach you can see its very much a tourist town. Hotels everywhere, surf shops, restaurants, tourist trap shopping, and lots of traffic.
Next installment..............Cocoa Beach, our hotel, shopping and more!

Day 1, April 3, 2014

Today was the most painful of all days in the countdown. Our kids had to suffer through a whole day of school and the Husband as well at work.
 At 3:00 though vacation begins. Time to leave all of our work behind, enjoy being with each other and experience new sights and cultures.
 We are flying out of Milwaukee, Wi. as it saved us a ton of money. We try and fly Southwest Air as much as we can when we fly. They almost always have the best deals and direct flights. Milwaukee is their hub, so they offer a lot of direct flights. Also, bags fly free that also saves lots of money when we fly.
 We drove an hour and a half to our hotel we would be staying at before flying out in the morning. Our hotel was the Holiday Inn Airport. We stayed here once before our last cruise and had a great time. The pool was big and warm and the hot tub also big and not too hot. We had the whole pool to ourselves which was great. Our room was a king suite. Our kids shared the pull out sofa. They loved that because they had their own TV to control. We also had a full kitchen and an island to eat at. I loved it. It was plenty of space for everyone. The bathroom too was bigger than the average room. Everything was clean and quiet.
   For dinner, we ordered in our traditional pizza delivery. This time we chose Marco's pizza. I had just seen an advertisement for this and was curious to try it. We ordered 2 large. One cheese, one supreme. They were very good. Even my picky eaters loved it. I also am a pizza snob. I would definitely order from them again.
Here's a few photos of our room and hotel.

Above is also a game room, with an air hockey table too.
   We booked this hotel with a park and fly option. It was a lot cheaper than airport parking for 11 days.
I would book this place again. It also has a restaurant and bar.
   Tonight, although, a fun hotel, it is an early bedtime. We have a 4:30 shuttle to the airport reserved. Our flights are at 6:00 am.

Cruise vacation 2014, amazing trip.

  I had waited for this cruise for a very long time. The countdown began in the 200's. I researched and planned and read countless reviews and watched as many videos as I could find. This cruise would be the last before my oldest child starts college. 

  I found this cruise itinerary and knew this was the one immediately. It was a nine day repositioning cruise from Port Canaveral, Fl to New Orleans, La. It combined southern and western ports not usually put together. Four amazing destinations, that I have already been to. The most wonderful thing about going to the same port again is that you can choose a new adventure or try and repeat one you've had before. We did both. 

   Our Itinerary included Aruba, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. Four days at sea and as usual the first day counted is the embarkation day.

   I write this with my sea legs still. When I stop moving for a bit I can still feel as though I'm on the ship. Especially lying in bed, I can still feel the waves of the ocean.Its like a dizzy sensation that lasts a few days. My children do not feel it, they say. 

   I keep a travel diary that I write in every night so that I don't forget what we did. I still go back to some of my diaries and read what I did years ago.

   It will take me weeks to write the whole trip. So, keep checking my blog as I will update as often as I can. I will also make entries of cruises I have taken years ago, and trips I have yet to take. 

   I hope to inspire you to travel and see the world, to seek out your vacation desires, and make great memories. Travel is my passion, as well as photography. Please enjoy my blog, like my facebook page and when you decide to travel keep me in mind to help you find amazing destinations.