Trippin'

As most know, Eric and I both LOVE to travel and this month we were lucky enough to be able to add to our long list of adventures!

I will admit that I'm pretty spoiled, Eric is so much better at making things happen than I am. I have SO many things on my "bucket list" but when it comes down to it, I'm also quite a cheapskate. Especially because we're both still in school and money doesn't grow on trees. (for us at least) But Eric is a champ. He did his research and we discovered that we only have one week out of the entire year of 2011 that our school breaks match up because we go to different schools. So crappy! So he did a little more research...which made my Christmas and Birthday presents so exciting! I had no idea what he'd been planning. What's even better is that he did everything, he booked our flights, the hotels and transportation in Miami, our cruise plus all of the fun excursions we did on our ports, not to mention his major budget/saving skills to make it all happen. Yep, he's a CHAMP! All I had to do was pack my little bag and get on the airplane.

This is how it all went down....

First, we flew into Miami and spent a day checking out the beach. At night we took a cab down to South Beach for dinner and totally loved it. The night life in South Beach is awesome, and I swear there are hardly any Americans (mostly Europeans) but we found this huge complex that was full of cool shops and outdoor restaurants.

Day 2
Waking up and walking out to the beach is more than and ideal way to start any day so that's what we did! We didn't have to board our ship till noon so Eric and I spend the morning on Miami beach in front of our hotel and from there we grabbed our bags and boarded the Carnival Liberty. These ships are unreal. I can't believe how big they really are and how much stuff they can put on them. When we first got on the ship they had lunch ready up on the main deck where we could find literally anything you wanted to eat and eat as much as you wanted. So we grabbed some lunch and a plate of cheese cake and headed out to sit by the pool. And then we were off!

Day 3
We cruised all night and all through the next day on our way to our first port. When I say these ships have everything, they really do cause we never ran out of things to do. There was mini golf, basketball courts, volleyball courts, games rooms, live chess, casinos, comedy shows, magicians, water slides with 3 pools and hot tubs. Our favorite thing was the huge movie theater out on the main deck. We'd go out there every night after all of the singing/dancing shows ended and grab some popcorn, hot chocolate and a blanket to watch a movie. I hope I never forget those nights.

Day 4

Cozumel, Mexico

We had a full day in Cozumel so we had planned to try to see as much as we possibly could. When we got off the ship that morning, we rented a jeep and headed to find the ancient Mayan Ruins that are still on the island. This was pretty funny (not really) Eric and I discovered that we could probably never be on the show Amazing Race...one of our favorites that we've always wanted to audition for. To sum it up, we got lost.

This pic was before we got lost...hence the happy faces. haha

 The Mayan ruins we were trying to find were in the middle of the island, in the middle of a forest. haha not so easy to find and for some odd reason none of the locals we stopped to ask directions from knew where these ruins were. Especially weird because this place was quite a big deal once we got there but anyway. Once we were on the right track the rest of the day was like a dream. We took the top off the jeep and just cruised the island doing whatever our little hearts desired...



We did some Jet Skiing. This was actually pretty hilarious because our 1st jet ski broke down clear out in the ocean....I am deathly afraid of sharks so I was sure I was shark bait. Luckily the people saw us after about ten minutes and came out to rescue us. Thank goodness!!!

We Snorkeled...

Here are a few more pics of our Mexico adventures.

Then it was back to the ship to get cleaned up for another delicious meal. Not a bad way to live my friends.

Day 5
This was another day on the ship which was great because sometimes you just want to relax; and you better believe relaxing is what we did! It was awesome.
Day 6
Grand Cayman! This was such a blast, When we arrived to Grand Cayman it was go time. We went straight out to the great barrier reef to snorkel. I think it was about a 30 minute boat ride to get out to the reef but once your out there, we literally just jumped off the back of the boat and went for it. So fun! If you've ever seen the movie Finding Nemo

After a few of our out to sea adventures, we decided to go to the famous 7 mile beach I'm still not really sure why they call it that because it's definitely a lot longer than 7 miles but whatever, this beach was perfect. It was what beaches look like on post cards...not real but this totally was. It had silky white sand, the water was 80+ degrees and it was hardly crowded at all. It honestly felt like a dream!

Day 7
Pretty sure this day was insane. We ported in Ochreos, Jamaica and I will have to try my best to adequately describe this day without making this post go on forever. (because it already has)
 Let me start off by explaining Eric's love for Bob Marley, a part of me thinks he may have picked this cruise for the sole reason of the ship porting in Jamaica, only a cab ride away from Bob Marley's house. For whatever reason, I'm so happy he did! as soon as we stepped foot on land we headed strait to the people we booked this tour with and that was it. The whole thing seemed a little sketch and everyone on the ship kept warning us to be careful everywhere we went in Jamaica and we'd be especially crazy to try to buy anything...definitely didn't listen to them. We were directed to a van along with several other people from our ship(which was slightly more comforting to know other people would be with us) NOT! We were driven across the street where they told only Eric and I to get out and get in this tiny car with our cab driver. Maybe we are totally stupid but we did as we were told and got in the car. Our cab driver (Cedric) was the man. At first I thought he was gonna totally screw us over...or kill us for that matter but clearly he didn't. The nest thing we knew we were cruisin up through the mountainside in Jamaica. I feel like this in itself was should be a survival story, the streets were insanely narrow, like smaller than a single lane in the states but it had both directions of traffic using it plus all of the people walking along the sides. Most people in Jamaica don't have cars, the walk everywhere and by the looks of their homes/huts I think its safe to say they were just thankful to have those. It was amazing though, we got to see all of the little school kids walking to school in their uniforms and they were SOOO cute! It's definitely a different world out there though. We didn't realize the cab ride was going to be so long but it ended up being over and hour and a half . This turned out to be my favorite part of the day. After trying to get passed the thought of this guy tricking us to actually be taking us up to the mountains to kill us, I didn't want to miss out on what I was seeing. I loved that we were able to get out of all of the touristy areas and see the "real" Jamaica and it's beautiful people.  They are beautiful.

Cedric apparently was friends with everyone we passed, we'd pull over and someone would give him some fruit through the window for him to eat which he shared with us, he'd honk at everyone and they'd all wave to greet him. Like I said, he was the man and all of this totally added to our experience.
When we made it up to Bob's house, Cedric asked us if we smoked...no. Long story short, we were offered all sorts junk but Cedric our trust cab driver totally helped us out and fought them all off for us. Thanks Cedric. Bob's house was everything Eric had hoped it would be. We did a little tour with another couple that (thankfully) pulled up a few minutes after us that were also from our ship. That made me feel so much better. The dude that showed us around was hilarious, no doubt he was already high and it was only 9am! He was great though, he told us all about the property and what memories of Bob's childhood. The best part was that he;s break into song midway through half of his sentences with lyrics from Bob's music that was written from that very place and applied exactly to what we were seeing. SO COOL! We loved it. Bob was also "buried" there (along with his mother, brother and grandparents)  However, he was not actually buried, his body is in a tomb six feet above the ground because he lived his life "flying high" all the time so it was only fitting to keep him above ground. Awesome.
After seeing all that we needed to see up there, it was back to the cab for our long and crazy ride back down the mountain. Where we climbed Dunn's Falls!!! This was unreal and I recommend it to everyone.

To wrap it all up, We spent the last day on the ship and it was back to Miami where we had one more day to soak in our short lived free time before it was back to reality.

It's nice to be home and I actually did miss our tiny apartment!

P.S. Sorry for the Picture Overload!!!