Thursday, January 27, 2011

Summer Cruise ~ The Epic

My mom, invited me on this amazing cruise this late summer. We also tagged along with step grandma Shirley and her daughter, Marie. This was my 2nd cruise. This truly was an amazing trip. The ship alone was worth every penny. I am just amazed on how this ginormous ship can stay afloat (I leave the engineering to the hubby). We set sail from Miami and our ports were St. Maartins, St. Thomas and Nassau, Bahamas.

The Ship ~ NCL's Epic

Epic is an understatement. This ship was massive. It is one of the largest at sea. It made it's maiden vogue just two months before we set sail.

Specs:
Overall Length: 1,080 ft / 329.5 m
Guests: 4,100 (double occupancy)
Cruise Speed: 22 knots

The ship featured 20 restaurants (freestyle....one of them was teppinaki), 3 water slides, an Ice bar, Blue Man Group, Cirque Show, Legions in Concert, Casino, rock wall, bowling and other activities. It even had an escalator and the largest chandelier at sea!

Here are a few photos that I stole off the net of the ship.


What our cabin looked like. Super roomy! Huge balcony.








Here are my photos of the trip....

Us in St. Maartin. It was the first day on land in 3 days. From left to right: Grandma Shirley, my Mom, Jill, Me, and Marie. The first stop in St. Maartin...we took a submarine to the reef and saw tons of fish and jelly fish. We also saw starfish and even a few turtles! St. Maartin is half Dutch and half French.

Our ship is St. Maartin.


What I woke up to....the first day of LAND. I NEEDED to get off ASAP!


I coxed my mom into eating sushi. Well, got her drunk first, then talked her into eating sushi for the first time. First stop was to teach her how to use chopsticks. She was happy when she was able to pick something up.

She looks terrified to eat the sushi. I started her off on Cali roll, Shrimp Tempura, and Spicy Tuna. For it being aboard a cruise ship....it was quite tasty and fresh!


Baby stingrays at Atlantis in Bahama's.

Saw Shark at Atlantis in Bahama's.

Atlantis in Bahama's. It was AMAZING there.

Amazing glass installations around Atlantis.


My mom and I on the beach in St. Thomas. MY FAVORITE part of the trip. Well the food was right up there....but this beach was amazing!

See how crystal clear the water is. I snorkeled. Yes, I snorkeled and LOVED it. (Remember this blog: Jamaica freak out moment). I feed the fish dog bones. There was hundreds of fish and just a beautiful day. Water was perfect. I swam and snorkeled for hours. Even seen barracuda fish and didn't freak out.


Iguanas around St. Thomas.




Ice Bar fun!!! Yes, the entire bar was made of ice. It was freezing....I had no socks or pants for that matter.







We had one major snag coming home. Our plane was delayed 7.5 hours. OMG! Sitting in a Ft. Lauderdale airport for that length of time....when you are tired and unburnt and just want to get home. Poor Grandma S. She was super sick. Plus, when we arrived in Phoenix, they had another 2 hour ride home. They didn't get there until 4:30. We were all up for 26 hours.

We all had a wonderful time. Even after the delay. It was great time to spend with my mom. I was very lucky I got this great opportunity!

Oh, and I got to knock off tons off my 101 list!

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Introducing Mr. Tristan

Ryan's sister, Amanda gave birth to a perfect little man named, Tristan Jackson! He was 8lbs, 21 inches. He was born on Friday, January 14th.

He is the cutest baby. Seriously, he is adorable! Tons of hair. Welcome to the world little man! And yes, I will be that obnoxious auntie that will kiss you way too much and send you horrible sweaters!




By the way....his little chin. It is the same chin and Ryan and Amanda. So.....chances of our kid having that same chin is quite large.