Why a "do-over"? Weeeelll, although it took me several years to admit it (every girl wants her honeymoon to be idle, right?), our honeymoon was a bit less than perfect. Let's just say a July 29th wedding plus a cruise landed us right smack in the middle of hurricane season in the bahamas-Hurricane Erin plus our Carnival cruise boat didn't make for the best combination. We were unable to make 2 of our 3 ports of call due to trying to avoid the eye of the hurricane. Hundred foot waves came crashing over the 10th level of our massive cruise ship, barf bags were placed in each window and anti-nausea medication was passed out at the information desk instead of excursion info. Of the 2600 people on board, during the 2 day storm, less than 100 at a time showed up for meals due to motion sickness and fear. Shows were cancelled, midnight buffets indefinitely postponed. Our "friendly cruise director Larry" came over the intercom every so often to reassure everyone that yes, we were still frequently changing directions in an effort to avoid the hurricane, and no, we would once again not be stopping at our port of call, but not to worry, Field of Dreams was playing on an endless loop on our in cabin TV. Not kidding. That was the only movie choice for 3 days straight. I would like to think that if this had happened in 2015 instead of in 1995, I could have raised a big enough stink via social media to get a little more out of it than we were offered. Carnival offered 2 nearly broke college students a great deal. Book another cruise within 6 months and get $50 off! Wowzers. Thanks.
All that to say, we needed a new cruise memory. This time however we were a little older and wiser... January instead of July. 7 day cruise instead of 4 day cruise. Caribbean instead of Bahamas. It turned out to be a great trip. The perfect bit of relaxation during a very hectic season of life.
Here are some of new cruise memory's with a few original honeymoon shots thrown in for fun...
We discovered a new favorite beach town in Key West, Florida. Picturesque and perfect...
And, oh my word. The key lime pie and conch fritters. To. Die. For.
Second honeymoon ship...
First honeymoon ship...
In addition to Key West, we also stopped in Cozumel and Grand Caymans. Both beautiful.
Not a drop of rain on the second honeymoon. Beautiful sunsets every night...
First honeymoon- missed ports of call and clouds. Lots. of. clouds.
We tried a snorkeling excursion at the last port of call that they tried, but the water was too rough to really do much.
How young were we?!
We spent a lot of time in this little cabin and not just because it was our honeymoon- there was nothing else to do on the ship except wait for the unchanging announcement from our "friendly cruise director Larry"- his voice still runs through my head!
At least for our second honeymoon we upgraded to a room with a balcony which apparently also included nightly towel animals...
Finally a day of sun back in 1995- taking advantage of the deck of the ship...
20 years later, enjoying a poolside movie at sunset...
The selfie has evolved a bit since 1995. Back in the day, you held the camera out with your arm hoping to get your faces in the frame, and assuming you were both mature enough to look normally at the camera, you might have a decent picture 2 weeks later when you get the film developed...
At least today, you both can see what you're getting...
And this time what we got was the perfect cruise experience. Yay for do-overs.
And for those of you who may be feeling a little bit sorry for Jason who I've clearly said is not a beach person, don't worry, when our actual anniversary rolled around in July, we had a little fly fishing get away at a friends cabin in Heber Springs. We were so relaxed there that I managed not to take any pictures (at least that I can find now!).
Happy Anniversary to us!
