Our Cruise Vacation!

Ryan and I were SO lucky to be able to get away for a week and spend some time together just the two of us. It was SUCH a fabulous break for us to get out of parent-mode and just enjoy ourselves! Other than our honeymoon, we never really got the chance to travel much as husband and wife (with no babies in OR out of me), so this trip was extra special to us. (Shout out to my in-laws for watching Heidi for a whole week!! We weren't sure who was going to have the most fun - or be the most tired... Heidi, Ryan and Me, or Mimi and Poppy!)

I have cruised before with my family, but I have just been dying to go on a cruise as an adult (and with my hubby)!  It's such the perfect balance between "doing stuff" and laying by the pool, napping and having someone deliver drinks to you.  That's the kind of vacation we tend to go for ;).  However, Ryan has never been on a cruise before, so it took some convincing...well okay actually I just forced him.  I knew once we were there he would like it, but Ryan is not really a crowd person (nor am I) and I think to a lot of people who have never cruised before they just assume it's like living at the Galleria on a Saturday for 7 days straight. For those of you wondering... it is NOT like that!  Sure there are some times where you are around other people, but it's not like going to Disneyworld or anything.  (I also figured hey - if I can get Ryan to fall in love with NYC I can probably get him to enjoy cruising.) Just a few short weeks beforehand, we booked a cruise on Royal Caribbean that sailed to Cozumel, Belize and Honduras. I couldn't WAIT!

We were also concerned about leaving our baby for a whole week.  Ironically, Ryan was the most worried about leaving her/missing her too much despite the fact that he has been away from her for longer periods of time for work trips. I on the other hand have only left her for 24 hours - hard to believe! I really felt like I would be fine... SO because I felt like a week would be an okay amount of time to be away from her I was worried I was underestimating how much I would miss her. It truly ended up being perfect. We both missed our angel of course, but not so much that we weren't able to enjoy ourselves - even on day 7. It was bittersweet coming back really.  I wasn't quite ready for our getaway to be over (especially knowing how long it probably will be before we get another opportunity like that) but was obviously excited to see our baby again. It was QUITE difficult getting back into mommy-mode, especially since Heidi had gotten much better at walking while we were gone. That was a rough Monday. (Heidi's routine was also thrown off as she was used to her routine at her Mimi and Poppy's. She was just as upset as I was that vacation was over!)

We had a FABULOUS week and highly recommend cruising to anyone who enjoys pool time, mai tais, napping and fun excursions in beautiful countries. Can't wait until we get to do this again!

Here is a little photo "tour" of our week together!!

Day 1 - Embarkation, Galveston, Texas

Boarding the ship!!

First drink - Mai Tai!

First meal!

Lunch.

 

The view from our room.

Our "illegal alcohol" made it on board!! (You are technically allowed to carry on two bottles... but we decided we needed to bring a few more - and champagne for mimosas in our room of course!)

There is a channel on the TV that shows a view from the front of the ship during the day and then a view of the interior promenade at night.  If you look reeeaalllly closely, you can see someone in the window above the "S" on the right hand side of the TV screen ;). 

Our room above the wine bar!

         
Day 2 - At Sea

Day 2 (first morning - a little post-yoga shuffleboard (and no Ryan did not participate in the yoga part of that).

In action.  Mochas every morning were a must.

Aaah :).

Chillin on the helipad at the very front of the ship.

Each morning we would grab some coffee and then come up here and spend some time enjoying the views.

Pool time!  We found an area on TOP of the top deck (right over the bar) and we had the whole space to ourselves!  I did a bad job of taking a picture that actually shows this... oops.  

The view from on top of the top deck!

Panorama (click picture for full effect)!

Ditto.

First formal night!

After dinner.

Day 3 - Cozumel, Mexico

Looking straight down as we are about to dock.  Such a crazy shade of blue it almost looks fake!

Oh hey there Cozumel!

Pouring.  The towel idea sounded like a good one at first... until we realized we had to cart soaking wet towels around with us all day long.  Oops.

Sought refuge at the closest covered area.... which just so happened to be a bar!

Nothing like a 9:30 a.m. beer.  Hey it's vacation!  

Made it to Margaritaville after a 3 mile hike from the ship!

Crystal.

Beach. Pool. Beer.

Thanks Cozumel!

Adios Mexico!

Day 4 - Belize City, Belize

Good morning Belize!

Moments before we realized getting on the tender boat was a HUGE mistake - trapped in a crazy huge storm at sea!!  In a tiny double decker boat!   It was quite terrifying...

As soon as we got to shore in Belize we turned right back around and went back to the ship.  Our excursion was an open boat river tour (not conducive to stormy weather) and we were already too stressed by our death ride on the tender boat to enjoy it.  Plus, we knew that there was coffee, bars, hot showers, etc. back on board! I am so sad that we weren't able to see Belize because I feel like it would have been the most beautiful of all 3 ports we stopped at. Hey Belize I'm coming back for you one day!!

Back on board hittin up the pub!

Tom Collins let's do this!

Ryan sitting outside of the pub.

Picture frame pic!  

Double fisting it on vacation because - why not??  (It was a good idea at the time...)

Super dark pic of semi-formal night!

Day 5 - Roatan, Honduras

Rainy day in Roatan.

On our way to dolphins!!

Taking a long narrow boat across the way to where the dolphins are!

We had 30 minutes of more "instructional"/guided interaction followed by 30-45ish minutes of free swim and snorkel with the dolphins.  It was incredible!

     

Warming up and relaxing in the hot tub after a long but fun day of being cold and wet!

Thanks for a fabulous day Honduras!

Day 6 - At Sea

Our go-to spot!

Formal night!

Day 7 - At Sea

Last day enjoying our daily morning routine.

Sunset.

Day 8 - Debarkation, Galveston, Texas

Screenshot of the Galveston webcam I took on my phone... if you look reeeeallllly
close towards the front of the ship... you just might see us ;).

We had such a fabulous time and truly enjoyed getting to spend a whole week together uninterrupted!  Not sure if/when we will get this chance again so we definitely soaked in every minute!!