the cruise!

We arrived in Miami after a long day of flying in the evening and after checking into the Mariott (which Scentsy paid for), we went to dinner. Brian wanted us to share a meal so he chose this interesting concoction which was ok, but a little scary. It was a fish and rice dish but there were all sorts of odd fishy things in it, like octopus, white fish, grey fish, shrimp etc... I never quite knew what I was biting into, which worried me! And then those tall things are fried bananas.

The next morning (monday), we had a Scentsy training and then they bused us to the ship. The boarding process is just that, a process! But we finally arrived to our stateroom. We thought we had upgraded and gotten a big ol' room, but really, we were just floor 3, not floor 11 like the uppercrust! But it was fun and cozy.

These are the waiters from a restaurant on the ship called Johnny Rockets. They were singing and dancing, it was cute.

Getting ready to leave Miami

the rockwall

the basketball court

the pool

still waiting to leave

ahh, relaxation as we take off!

who owns those ginormous houses? Also, it was really cool because there was a highway and a lot of cars had their windows rolled down and were honking and waving! A little Bon Voyage from the locals!

Miami Beach

Our first port was in Key West, FL. It was perfect weather and really nice and clean. My friend Kim told me we had to get Key Lime Pie dipped in chocolate on a stick. We stopped at a place called Kermits (a chef that is on the Food Channel owns this place)... it was soooooooooooooooo good! One of my favorite treats while we were on our cruise!

There are always the dudes that are trying to make a buck. Some odd fellow that you could pay to take your picture with him. He was standing on stilts too.

We went to the Ripleys Believe it or Not museum. This is the world tallest man (a wax figure of him)

I took this picture for my sister, Tammi, who loves Madonna. Her underwear from her "Like a Virgin" video.

our ship from afar

our future yacht that we plan to buy! ;)

Naussau, Bahamas. Disgusting, filthy, scary place. I had no idea what I was getting myself into when we stopped here. The main street was just fine, but don't go walking anywhere else alone or you might not make it back to the ship alive. I was scared out of my mind 2 times when we tried to walk around the town. The 2nd time, we were pretty far away from main street, and there was a man walking on the other side of the street, next to us. I was nervous. Then up ahead of us was an old rundown house with 3 more guys on the porch pacing back and forth. The guy on the other side of the street crossed the street and started walking behind us. I felt like we were walking into a trap. I was super scared. Brian didn't understand what the big deal was but I made a uturn and was outta there. He called me "un-adventurous" but after talking to several people, he gets that it is not a place to walk around in. The crime rate is through the roof and I was not about to be another statistic. I marched right back on the ship and that was the end of our time in Naussau.

The beautiful blue ocean was the only thing we saw of our next stop, Cococay. The waters were too rough and we weren't allowed to get off the ship. Instead, they took us back to Miami. So Keywest ended up being the best stop. The water is blue like Carli's eyes. It was beautiful!

our table of friends at dinner every night. These people ended up being our favorite friends on the ship!

All of our waiters singing...

At the dinners, we were allowed to order whatever we wanted (it was included in the price of the cruise) so the last night, our friend Tressa decided to order all of the desserts. It was a funny site!

We got close with our waiters because we sat at the same table every night so we got to know them. Our head waiter brought a funny dessert out for Brian... we had to get a picture of it.

Everyday, the stateroom assistants would leave towel animals on our bed. One day, they put Brian's sunglasses on one of them. It was a fun surprise!

It was a really fun time. There were a lot of shows on the ship and the cruise director, Dave was awesome. I think he kept the cruise rockin' with fun activities. Everyone loved him! There was a Love and Marriage game that was like the newlywed game. It was hands down THE FUNNIEST show we have ever seen. Some of our friends we met at the cruise watched it too and I'll tell you what, it was the talk of the ship the next day. There was a couple that had been married for 4 days on the ship, a couple that had been married for 10 years (they were a Scentsy couple and they were drunk as can be), and then a couple that had been married for 56 years. SO Funny!

We look forward to doing more cruises and we want to take our kids next time!