I initially was conviced that if we were paying for a cruise we needed to go on one that would bring us to as many islands as humanly possible before the week ended. Since we were both strapped for cash we decided that taking a cruise with one single destination during hurricane season would be our best bet. I was so pleasantly surprised at how happy I was that we only went one place. I've travelled before, but this was the first time I felt the need for a "relaxing" vacation. Most of my trips have been within the confines of Europe and they all involved a lot to jam pack tours, sight seeing, and carrying your luggage all over a country from trains to planes to boats. When we went to Bermuda I got to board the boat, unpack, and LEAVE IT all in one place for the whole week and return to my own room every night! It was bliss, let me tell you.
Okay people I have to be honest, I really wondered how fun it was going to be going on a vacation just Brent and I by ourselves. I wondered if we would get bored with each other, feel like we didn't have people to hang out with, or would wish that we had more things to do on the boat. I was mistaken because we had an absolute blast! Who knows if anyone else thinks either of us are entertaining but we sure think we are.
Our cruise was all set to embark on a Sunday but Brent and I headed down to NYC on Friday to spend the weekend with our good friends Alex and Steve. They had recently moved into a new apartment in Washington Heights and we got to get a taste of their neighborhood over the weekend and meet up with a few old friends from high school and a friend of Brent's from Buffalo. We went to the Museum of Natural History, which I hadn't been to before and am uneasy about going again since I was severely disturbed by all the "stuffed" animals that it had on display. Yuck. The weekend went by all too quickly and before we could unpack our bags, we had them packed again and were headed to the dock yard!
I was nervous to cruise, the month prior HBO decided it was a great time to have Titanic playing everyday for my benefit I'm pretty sure. Which is also why I think it was no coincidence that after I finally got comfortable with the idea that I was going to travel on a big hunk of floating metal it was time for the emergency safety drill. During said drill, we met up in the dining room where we waiting for instruction and where I used the rest room. What song did they have playing in that bathroom? Oh yeah, My Heart Will Go On, by Celine Dion. So not funny. Brent thought it was hysterical, however. Apart from that the first two days on the boat were amazing! We went to shows in the theater, there were jugglers, plays, discos at night, a sports bar with the best buttered popcorn I've ever had, and a pretty fun barbeque/pool/hot tub, pool deck to boot. I was actually having a relaxing vacation and felt extremely well rested with all my Vitamin D I was soaking up.
On the first day before we even took off we ran into Angela, a friend of our from high school and her fiance. She had gotten engaged the night before and we hadn't seen her in years so it was crazy that we ran into them. We met up with her and Nick one night for dinner before we docked and went to some of the games on the ship and then had a late drink and heard their engagement story, so fun! This world really is the smallest, I tell you.
The first day that we got to Bermuda just so happened to be our "anniversary". Okay, okay we're not married so it's not a "real" anniversary but it did mark us exclusively dating each other and making each other laugh for the past five years, so it felt pretty special to us. We got off the boat early and took a ferry to the town on St. Johns were we found a cute book shop. We also found, (okay I dragged us to), the little archway that gives you good luck if you walk under it and kiss! I totally found this through extensive research about Bermuda that I did before the trip...Not from seeing on on Emily's season of the bachelorette I swear! Okay, I just lied, I totally saw it on her season and yes I did channel her by wearing my best Maxi dress that day. Hey, a girls gotta live and ABC totally nails it on romantic destinations every time. We then had a quick snack in a quaint little restaurant where the ketchup was expired and exploded all over my dress and in my face. My eyes burned so bad I spent the next twenty minutes streaming tears at the table but they gave my club soda to clean up and a free basket of fries so I call that a win.
We headed back to Hamilton for the rest of the day where we walked around, found a cute Irish bar Alex and Steve had told us they found on their honey moon, and window shopped. We headed back to the ship pretty early because it was rainy and windy and we wanted to eat in the formal dining hall again. Eduardo, our awesome waiter for the trip was extremely accommodating, as they all are. Two of the ship directors stopped at many tables to check in and see how everyone's trips were going. they asked if we were celebrating anything special, and when we said that it was our anniversary they gave us some complimentary champagne.
The second day we spent the whole day at Horseshoe bay where we climbs these cliffs that overlooked the beach. I was admittedly against the whole idea of climbing directly into immediate danger but then I caught a glimpse of a 70 year old woman climbing back down the rocks that Brent was about to mount so I changed my mind and sucked it up. It was unreal, and probably my favorite part of the trip. We took a glass bottom boat tour that night which allowed us to see a coral reef lit up and a shipwreck! So cool.
The last day on the island we went early to the Crystals Caves, which I highly recommend. They were awesome and the tour was actually about an hour so you really felt like you got your moneys worth. We didn't have a ton of time to we headed back to the dockyard after that where we got a few souvenirs and our boat broke loose from the dock. WHAT?! Oh yeah, our boat's ropes were snapped from the wind and our ship broke loose and hit the Royal Caribbean behind us. Yeah, imagine being Brent and having to deal with me in that situation. He's a good man I tell you. After a long delay and a lot of free drinks thanks to Norwegian we were off back to New York. That night we ate in one of the restaurants you had to pay for to celebrate our anniversary, with steak! It was delicious, but being new to this whole lactose intolerant thing, I forgot and ate the most delicious lobster bisque of my life. We went to one show on the ship before I got hit by sea sickness and dairy sickness and retired to our room for the night where I feel asleep early. I woke up in the middle of the night feeling awful I ruined Brent's night but then quickly felt better when he came back into our room extremely happy having just partied the night away with Cruise Director Kyle. He makes great friends everywhere he goes, that one. So that was a relief that his night was not ruined on account of me.
The last day we layed out all day and then had one final delicious dinner compliments of Eduardo's service before the closing show, me buying an expensive watch I didn't need, and going to our room for the night one last time. Wah, I'm so glad I went on the cruise because I will most definitely go again.
