We were so fortunate to be able to go on a Caribbean Cruise March 19 - 26, 2011.
To see our daily adventures on the cruise click the links below:
ENJOY!!!
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Cruise Day of Embarkment
Our cruise day vacation started out with a pretty long travel day. We had to be at the airport by 4:30 am for our 6:00am flight. We weren't able to get a direct flight to Miami, so we had a layover in Charlotte, NC. We didn't land in Miami until 1:50 and actually didn't make it to our ship until 3:15! To say the least, we were so happy we made it!
After getting to our room, we had to participate in the safety drill. The safety drill only lasted about 20 minutes and then it was time to explore the ship! We quickly found the 24 hour pizza bar and helped ourselves to our first of many slices of pizza!
I wish I would've taken pictures of us leaving Miami, because it was beautiful! I quickly learned to carry my camera everywhere! We left Miami around 5:00pm.
After we pulled out of port we headed to our rooms to unpack. For our trip we had the late dinner seating at 8:15
Here's a picture of B and me at our first dinner.
Dad, Mom & Reid 
After dinner we headed to the "Welcome Show" on the ship. Before the show started we were surprised by an unexpected announcement by the Captain. He had to let everyone know that due to a serious health issue of another passenger, the ship was having to turn around and head back to Miami to let the sick person off the ship. Due to us having to turn around, we were not going to be able to stop the next day in Half Moon Cay, Bahamas and would instead have two days at sea before our stop in St. Thomas. Everyone was very shocked by this announcement. Even though we were disappointed about not stopping in the Bahamas, we weren't going to let this unexpected event ruin our trip! We were ready for a couple fun days at sea! After the show everyone was pretty tired from the day of travel, so we headed to our rooms for bed!
After dinner we headed to the "Welcome Show" on the ship. Before the show started we were surprised by an unexpected announcement by the Captain. He had to let everyone know that due to a serious health issue of another passenger, the ship was having to turn around and head back to Miami to let the sick person off the ship. Due to us having to turn around, we were not going to be able to stop the next day in Half Moon Cay, Bahamas and would instead have two days at sea before our stop in St. Thomas. Everyone was very shocked by this announcement. Even though we were disappointed about not stopping in the Bahamas, we weren't going to let this unexpected event ruin our trip! We were ready for a couple fun days at sea! After the show everyone was pretty tired from the day of travel, so we headed to our rooms for bed! Cruise Day 1 - Day at Sea
Day 1 of our original cruise schedule was suppose to be spent in Half Moon Cay, Bahamas. However, due to the health emergency of another passenger, we weren't able to make our stop in Bahamas. We unexpectedly added another day at sea.
I started the day with room service and breakfast in bed! I had been talking about room service breakfast in bed long before our cruise!
After breakfast, we headed to find a spot to soak up the sun. It was actually pretty chilly on the boat that day, so we didn't spend much time laying out.
One of the scheduled activities for the day was "the hairy chest contest". It was hilarious to watch grown men dance and try to win the contest!
Here is a picture of everyone gathering for the contest.
Our ship had a "jumbo-tron" that they showed movies, NCAA basketball games, and other ship events on. They were broadcasting live the hairy chest contest!
Quick picture with dad!
And Mom!
And here we have the winner of the contest!
Haha and ewwww!!!
The contestants...
Our ship also had a water slide! 
We finally found a spot on the very top deck where the wind was blocked. Here's a picture of Dad and Reid enjoying cruisin'! 
Mom and me!
B found a perfect spot where he could watch the basketball game and he had a great view of the ocean! He was in heaven!
B and me at dinner...
The fam...
B found a perfect spot where he could watch the basketball game and he had a great view of the ocean! He was in heaven! 
After hanging out on the deck, we headed to get a snack since we had the late dinner seating. After eating a snack, we decided to take naps (you will see a theme of this throughout the trip).
Here's a picture of Dad and Mom before dinner...
B and me at dinner... 
The fam... 
And our towel animal that was left in our room! Not really sure what it is...
We headed to the disco after dinner (you will see this is a recurring theme of the trip).
Dad and B enjoying the disco!
Reid and Dad being cool in the disco!
My beautiful mom and best friend!
After hanging out in the disco we headed to our rooms to rest up for another fun day at sea!
After hanging out in the disco we headed to our rooms to rest up for another fun day at sea!
Cruise Day 2 - Day at Sea
Day 2 was a scheduled day at sea!
I didn't take a lot of pictures during the day of our second day at Sea. We spent the day laying out on the deck and soaking up the sun.
We had our first formal dinner night, so we had to get fancy for dinner!
We had a couple professional pictures taken before dinner that turned out great!
The group picture:
Barrett wasn't thrilled about this one, but I really liked it! 
We had a little time to kill before we could be seated for dinner, so we headed to the lounge to listen to music and watch people dancing :)We also took more pictures!
Little brother!
The men...(B was really tired of pictures by this point). 
My <3 
My best friend!
At dinner!
At dinner! 
Other side of the table!
This was the towel waiting in our room after dinner!
After dinner we headed to the disco for dancing! You can barely see in the picture but it's Reid, B and me doing the "wobble". :) SO FUN!
Mom and Dad dancing the night away!
And other people dancing! It was almost more fun to watch other people dance! haha!
Chillin' in the disco...
Mom & Dad
After hanging in the disco for awhile, we headed to bed. We needed our rest before exploring St. Thomas the next day!
After hanging in the disco for awhile, we headed to bed. We needed our rest before exploring St. Thomas the next day!
Friday, April 1, 2011
Cruise Day 3 - St. Thomas, USVI
Day 3 was our first day off the ship! After two days at sea we were ready to be off the boat and explore St. Thomas!
Here is a picture right after we got off the ship!
At St. Thomas we had pre-purchased an excursion that did several different things. The excursion took us on a quick bus tour, stopped at a beach, and also took us to Blackbeards castle.
The excursion began with a bus ride. Here's a picture of the fam on the bus!
Me and B!
I'm not going to lie, the bus ride was a little bit scary. The roads in St. Thomas are very narrow and we were going up hills. However, the crazy ride was well worth what was waiting us at the top! Here is a view of the first over-look we stopped at. Our ship is the one in the front!
Amazing, gorgeous, blue water! Notice all the little sailboats in the bay! 
Let the picture taking begin! Those views were just too beautiful to pass up!
Let the picture taking begin! Those views were just too beautiful to pass up! 
Beware blog readers - this may be the Barker Christmas card for 2011! :)
Dad, Mom and Reid
Love this picture! Probably my favorite of the trip!
Loving St. Thomas!
Dad and brother!
Little brother!
While we were taking the views in we noticed this beautiful beach area! Little did we know that would be where we were going for our time on the beach!!!!
I thought this little guy was cute!
After stopping at two different over-looks we headed to the beach area called Magen's Bay.
It was the exact beach we had been looking at from the over-look.
Reid was creeping in our picture!
Close up!
Close up! 
After spending a couple hours on the beach, we headed to Blackbeard's Castle. Blackbeard's castle actually ended up being an entire property with lots of different things to see. Here is the view from the courtyard on the property. Notice our ship!
This tower is actually the castle, so we were a little diappointed it wasn't an actual castle, but the property was really cool!
This tower is actually the castle, so we were a little diappointed it wasn't an actual castle, but the property was really cool! 
Mom and I taking advantage of the photo opportunity! haha!
The view from Blackbeard's tower...
Me and B in the tower!
Me and B in the tower! 
This wall was made of amber and is valued at 2.5 million dollars!
After leaving the Blackbeard Castle property, we took a ship back to our boat to eat lunch. After lunch we headed back off the boat to some of the shops around the port.
After leaving the Blackbeard Castle property, we took a ship back to our boat to eat lunch. After lunch we headed back off the boat to some of the shops around the port. We also took the "classic cruise picture" in front of our Ship!
Dad, Mom & Reid
We found this picture board area and had to be silly...
Reid didn't get the memo for silly face!
The fam (if you can't tell, B doesn't like pictures!!!)
Reid, Mom & Dad
We had a great time in St. Thomas.
After our day at St. Thomas we headed to the ship to take a quick nap before dinner. When we got up and dressed for dinner, we were leaving the port in St. Thomas.
Here are the St. Thomas lights as we were pulling away...
The wind was a little bit crazy!
Mom and I on the deck!
Dinner pictures for Night #3
Me and B
Reid, Mom & Dad 
And our towel animal was waiting in our room after dinner!
After dinner Mom and I headed to the show on the Ship honoring Frank Sanatra while the guys headed to the casino. The Frank Sanatra show was great, but the guys' luck in the casino wasn't! ;)
After dinner Mom and I headed to the show on the Ship honoring Frank Sanatra while the guys headed to the casino. The Frank Sanatra show was great, but the guys' luck in the casino wasn't! ;) We headed to bed a little early to get ready for the next day! We needed to rest up to be ready to PARTY for Dad's birthday!
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