It was all a dream.....

I have the most amazing husband ever who surprised me with the most amazing trip ever! For our 10 year anniversary, my 30th birthday, and his graduating from residency, Andy decided we deserved a trip like one we had never done before.

I was a crazy person getting ready for this trip. I needed new clothes (that fit), swim suits, cover ups, a DRESS (that was the worst), I was trying to get the house perfect for hitting the market, getting the kids ready for me to be gone for a week, etc. There was so much to do, but we got the job done. I never really and truly felt excited for the cruise until we were at the gate waiting to board our plane from Cleveland to Florida and I posted on Facebook, that is when it hit me.

We landed in Florida and went straight out to find a taxi to take us to the cruise ship. Everything went off without a hitch and we made it in no time at all and had a great time talking to our Haitian cab driver. The line at the dock was very long, but also went very fast, we had our ship passes in no time. We had to walk across a covered bridge/tunnel thing to get to the ship, and it was so amazing to me when we actually stepped onto the ship, I had no idea. It is like a city on water, it is amazing. The Navigator of the Seas is a beautiful ship.

We immediatley went to find our room and were anxious to put on shorts and flip flops! After we changed we went to the Windjammer, which is the buffet, and got some lunch, and then walked all over the ship. They have everything you could ever want or need on the ship. There was a movie theatre, ice skating rink, mini golf, basketball court, rock wall, in line skating track, library, and it goes on and on. I just could not believe it was all on the ship. I have to add at this point that Andy was acting a little odd. He kept trying to call "his mom" and check on the kids. I was thinking to myself that I didn't understand why he couldn't let it go, we already said goodbye,so quit dragging it out. The calling and texting was a little exsessive, but I just let it go. After walking around forever we decided to head back to our room and do a little planning/reading up on ship activities. That is when we met our room attendant who knocked on our door twice to give us important info. Then there was a third knock on the door, again, I was thinking the room attendant was getting a little excessive, so out of annoyance, I made Andy answer the door. He opened it and stepped out into the hall because no one was there. So I got up and went to look for Andy, and then, BAM!!!! There is Clara Starkey! I ran into our room and slammed the door. I could not believe it, I opened the door again, and there was Brian and Clara. My heart was racing, and I just could not believe it. Brian is my best friend from high school and we have been great friends for many years. I love him and Clara like family, so to see them on the cruise was a great feeling.

It turns out that Andy has been planning this since last year and he and Brian planned the whole surprise. The Starkey's also got 8 other couples to go on the cruise, so all together, there were ten couples!! So after all the hugging and "oh my gosh's", we decided to walk around more and find the rest of the gang. Our first night on the ship was so fun. We had a great time getting to know everyone (especially Kathy who gave me the best hug ever!), and eating dinner. (Also this night I started to not feel well, sore throat, ear pain.)


The dining room.


Leaving the port in Fort Lauderdale. I loved seeing the other ships leave, very cool. We also had a very funny moment here. We were standing along the railing watching the ships, when a normal boat went by us. The passengers on their boat were all waving at us, so we waved back. There were some people standing down the railing from us who shouted something, and the next thing I know, we are getting an inappropriate show from the people on the little boat. It was a great way to start the trip.....


How could we be at the front of the ship and not have a Titanic moment. It was perfect with the amount of wind we were having that night. Clara and I had some rockn' hair.


Brian and Clara, aka, "The Sneaky Ones"


Here we are at the gym on the ship. The trainers were advertising the classes that they were offering, and of course, Brian had fun with the sign. Can you see where it was supposed to say "flatter abs".....

Moving on the the second day on the cruise which was a day of cruising. We woke up, had breakfast, and then put on our swimsuits. It was so nice to just sit in the sun, listening to Bon Iver, talking with friends, drinking a pina colada. The whole thing seemed surreal. It was so crazy to look around and see nothing but amazing blue water all around.


Clara and I with our pina colada's! Also notice my awesome aviator sunglasses that I had to borrow from Brian. Who goes on a cruise and leaves all three of their dollar sunglasses at home....ME.


This was Andy if we were ever not doing anything. He has the boards on the 21st so he was taking advantage of every minute of down time. He is such a hard worker!


That afternoon the guys decided that they wanted to particpate in the dodgeball competition. They were on fire and beat the other 6 teams!!


Good buds. I love that I have a best friend who has a shirt that says "I love your mom". It is not to make mom jokes with Brian, it is always about who can do the best burn.


The champs.

This night was also the first formal night. It was fun getting all dressed up and seeing everyone on the cruise looking their best and super fancy.


Some of the gals before dinner.


Brian and Clara


Andy and I at dinner.


The four of us, good ol' OG reunion.


The dodgeball champs after dinner.


Everyone after dinner on the stairs.


The craziest women on the ship. I love to see everyone's faces.


Andy and I on the stairs (I am sporting my super swollen neck, throat hurting super bad!)


This was our first towel creature in our room after dinner. I loved that they used my sunglasses on it.

Day Three of the cruise, our first stop was in Grand Cayman. Thanks to Rachel for setting up this super fun day. We were headed for a full day of snorkeling and stingrays!


Everyone on the catamaran.


The water was so beautiful, Andy finally is seeing crystal water.


Here we are approaching the sting ray city. This was a hot spot this day.


The stingrays were so huge, I had no idea how big they would be, it was incredible. They are so soft too. I was fine around them, not too nervous, but if they swan in-between my legs without my seeing them, that is when I would scream like a little baby.


Andy and I getting a massage from the stingray.

After stingray city, they took us to the Great Barrier Reef, where we got to snorkle around, and then we went to another snorkling spot which was also amazing. Seeing the hundreds of fish all around is so breathtaking. The different colors and shapes, and sizes are un-imaginable. We finsihed the boat excursion and still had a few hours before we needed to be back to the ship, so we had the driver drop us off at 7 mile beach. We had to pay $2 to get to the beach, but it was worth it. The beach was 7 miles of pure white sand and amazing clear water. We ordered onion rings and just played on the beach. It was still all surreal.


7 mile beach in Grand Cayman

We ended this day by walking about 2 miles along the beach (because we were too cheap to pay for a taxi) to get back to the ship. We had a great dinner that night and slept so well. The rooms on the ship are amazing, they are so dark and quite, if we did not have our alarm, we would probably still be sleeping.

Day 4 of the trip, we woke up in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. I wouldn't mind waking up there again. We did not have anything planned for this day and at breakfast we decided to tag along with some of the group and go tubing down the white river and then head to Dunn's River Falls for a climb up the waterfalls. This was a great day, I had so much fun!

I don't have a picture of us tubing. I wish I would have thought of bringing a waterproof camera, but oh well, maybe next time. The tubing was amazing. The river was so clear and the water was very "refreshing" as our guide called it. We had some little rapids, but nothing too crazy, but enough to make it exciting. We stopped about halfway down the river for a break and Andy and a few other decided to jump off the "plank" into the river.

After we got to the bottom of the river, our driver Phil was there waiting for us. I made my first purchase of the trip and bought Tessa a "day and night" doll. Phil then took us to Dunn's River Falls.
Again, one of the most amazing things I have ever seen, just beautiful clear water cascading down the rocks, you walk to the bottom of the falls on a trail, and then climb back up through the waterfall, so fun!


Here we are just as we got into the falls. Andy was trying to get me more wet, but I just wasn't ready to commit yet.


We made it to the top alive!


Self portrait.


They had this doneky at the falls, I think they wanted you to pay money to get your picture with it.

After the falls our driver Phil was insistant on taking us for some real Jamaican food, so he took us to a place called Scotchies and boy am I glad he did, it was so good and fun to try the food, and it was cheap! After eating we just had a little bit of time to walk around before we had to be back on the ship.


Streets of Jamaica


The Navigator of the Seas in Jamaica


Andy and I


Us with our new friends Brad and Kathy.


Leaving the port of Jamaica, it is so beautiful there.

Day 5 of the trip we woke up in Labadee, Haiti. Hello, how ya doing Haiti! This was an island that the cruise line owns, so it was so clean and strictly for us tourists. We got off the ship and immediatley went to claim a spot on the beach. It was so hot there that day, we were all trying so hard to get the half shell looking things for some shade. We had so much fun in Haiti just chillin' on the beach, swimming, hanging out on the floaties, and talking. We only had one thing planned for this day last minute and that was to do the aqua park. Again, I have no pictures of that for lack of a waterproof camera, but it was so fun! We did the watertampoline, super slides, etc. It was just so fun to goof around with everyone, our time went way too quickly there.


Shay, Kathy, Clara at the beach.


Jeremy and Lindsay on the kayaks about to be attacked by the Starkey shark. Which I just remembered that Kathy was standing in the water yelling "shark" to Jeremy and Lindsay to warn them about Brian coming. Needless to say she was getting some pretty weird looks.


The village across the bay in Labadee.


We decided towards the end of the day to rent a kayak and go for a ride with Starkey's. We went a little out of the boudaries and got in just a little bit of trouble, but it was worth it, and besides, no one told where we had to stay (for the record).


Paddles up!


Another beach on the island.


Some of the men decided to go on an excursion of there own and explore the island, they did not get very far.


Is this real???????


Brian and Clara before we got back on the ship for the final time.


We had to get a good kiss in Haiti.


The gang.


This animal was in our room when we got back on the ship. I think it was a dog, again, loved, that it was wearing my sunglasses.

Our last day on the ship was a full day of cruising back towards Florida. It was nice to take it easy. We just ate breakfast and then headed to the back deck with everyone and sat and talked, well I talked, Andy studied. We had lunch (do you see the eating pattern here), the guys competed in another dodgeball tourny and won, we hung out by the pool, packed, went to another show, and then had dinner.


I loved our waiter Clive and assistant waiter Arnel, they were so great to us. We had so much fun every night sitting with Brad and Amanda, Jeremy and Lindsay, and Brian and Clara. Every night they have a photographer come around and we would make different crazy faces every night! I loved it and being with people who were so easy going and just wanted to have fun.

I just cannot say enough about how amazing the trip was. I wish that I felt better and more like myself the first few days, but I eventually found my way, but I still would love to have those first couple of days back. Everything about this trip was great, being with Andy, meeting new friends, seeing the shows, participating in the scavenger hunt, cheering friends on in the dance competition and in the marriage game, napping, eating, laughing so hard that my body was sore (I love laughing like that), staying up late and going to bed early, eating, eating, and eating.

I missed my kids like crazy towards the end, but knew they were having so much fun with Andy's parents back home. I am very grateful to them for giving Andy and I the opporunity to go on this most amazing trip. Thank you so much Matthew and KayLee for being here to take care of them, we so appreciate your time and all you did for the kids while we were gone.

Andy, I love you so much. We are going through so much right now it is crazy, and this was the prefect time to have a little break. Thank you so much for working so hard so that we could do this together.

Starkey's you guys are the bomb, your friendship means so much to me, thank you for always being there, and for sharing your great friends with us, we loved everyone. Miss you guys already.