Lydia’s 1st Disney Vacation and they have a crane right in front of Cinderella’s Castle!

(see my other ww here. and visit some more ww here.)

I’ve been cruising 3 times.

My first cruise was a 7 day Disney Cruise. Heaven.

My 2nd cruise was a 4day/3night cruise with Disney again. Wonderful.

This Sisterchick Cruise was with Carnival on the Sensation boat. I don’t think it’s really fair to compare Disney with this boat, but…well, there is NO comparison. Disney is an 11. Carnival is a 1.

The Carnival boat was old and out of date. The decor was hideous. The party/host staff was lame. Two nights of the shows were like a 5th grade talent show. One night was a strong PG13. The buffets were just ok.

The good parts of the Carnival cruise was the dinners. I thought the food was great. There was a good selection and everything was tasty. The other good thing was the last show. It was top notch. If it hadn’t been for my Sisterchicks, I would not have been happy.

Cruises are THE best vacation in the world–several exotic locales, fabulous food at every meal, the ocean, live shows, cool entertainment and a swanky moving hotel. But, if you’re deciding between Carnival and uh…anything else…go with anything else!

Staci just blogged the cruise!

The waterslide/aquarium at Atlantis in Nassau, Bahamas.

Yes, those are sharks. Sharks you slide under. Whoa.

(visit more ww here or my other ww here.)

I’m having to combine day 4 & 5 because well, day 5 was basically the sad sad roadtrip home.

But let’s start off with Day 4–our Fun Day at Sea!

That morning Kristen decided to play with our new pet, the towel elephant before we went to breakfast.

After breakfast and a few more spins on the slot machines (did I mention Mandi & Becky both won $250? I’m trying not to be jealous! ), we actually went to the pool and laid out. We turned our chairs around and watched the water as we baked. Literally. I tried to read, tried to listen to my ipod, but the water was more exciting. Finally a little boy was standing next to me and said, “Dad! I think I see something!” His dad came over and said he thought he saw a fish. Well, we hopped up and sure enough, there were fish—actually DOLPHINS! I bet total we saw 8-10 dolphins swimming along beside our ship. They were playing! They would swim, then jump the wake, then trade places. It was one of hte coolest things I’ve ever seen. I didn’t get a good picture of it b/c it was so bright I couldn’t see my screen. But here’s one of them in the corner of this pic:

The dining rooms were open for lunch. Here’s some of our heavenly food:

After burning our skin to a crisp (actually, only Mandy’s skin), we got dolled up again and decided to try out our modeling skills on the deck.

I didn’t get me and Mandi. Mandi because I missed out on her…uhm…frivolity. And me, because well, I’m a little lame in the pretend modeling department. (Beck did get some pics if you have to see them!)

Now, onto the important thing–dinner! Staci & I had salmon. I didn’t love it but, it was a nice presentation!

Kristen had vegetable curry and rice. It looked better in real life. It was awesome!

And our nightly dinner pictures. Notice our smiles are a little tired…

Every night during dinner we would feel this huge vibrating–an engine or something. And every night we would say, “What the heck is that?!” So, I decided to take a picture of what I thought our glasses should look like during the turbulence.

We actually had very smooth sailing. But wouldn’t that be cool? Scary, but cool.

And here we are saying goodbye to our 2 waiters: Made & Matuka…Makukataka. I just can’t remember. He was from Indonesia. I do remember that. And he had a 15 month old daughter who he wouldn’t get to see until November! Oh, my heart was sad for him!

After dinner and a little stop to our cabins to push our suitcases out, we finally made it to a good show–I love the 80’s or something like that. They danced and sang to Footloose, Flashdance, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson and every other song you can think of. It was really really good…and nary a g-string in sight!

And here we are with our last little towel pet–a monkey. Yes, these are our monkey faces!

Good night, Sensation-al boat!

Day 5 we had to get up at the crack of dawn so we could get breakfast, pick up our pictures and get down that gangplank. Little did we know it would take us 3 hours to get out of there. It was one of the worst departure experiences ever. Why do they put every 80 year old meanie in the customs department? UGH.

So, while we were waiting for the blue luggage tags to be called, we took a few great pictures of ourselves!

Tell me you don’t love Staci’s face in that!!

Each one of us are just AWESOME in this picture! Kristen looks like Larry the Cucumber, Mandi is a pig, Becky has this weird gum thing in her mouth and me, Staci & Mandy have got the best Elvis lips ever!

Loverly, girls!

Once we finally got out of the death-trap-hell-hole otherwise known as customs, we loaded up our sisterchick-mobile and headed 9 hours home! We stopped several times for snacks. I guess when your stomach has expanded to pack in 2 entrees at ever meal, it gets a little more hungry.

We also made up some new games on the way home. One person would get their camera and take a picture of say, an angry face. Then pass it around the van and everyone had to take a picture of an angry face. Then we’d pass it around again to see everyone’s faces. I did an elbow round. Here’s a few:

and Becky’s curly elbow:

And just for fun, here’s a few of Staci playing the game by herself!

(Stace, I so hope your students stumble on to this page!)

We finally made it home, hugged each other good-bye and went our separate ways. *sigh*

I loved every second of my sisterchick cruise, but there was nothing better than seeing my little girl again. Here she is enjoying her Bahamaian souviners:

(I’m really creative with these titles, huh?)

This is the day we port in Nassau. I’ve been to Nassau before but it rained and Lydia was sick, so I didn’t see much of it. Just the hairbraiding booth where my mom, sil and niece got braided. Anywhoo, that was a whole ‘nother vacation.

Here’s Mandi & Mandy posing outside of our SENSATIONal boat!

We basically did what girls do best in Nassau–shopped. I got my souvenir the day before, a little silver seahorse charm for my bracelet, so I was just along for the ride and with an eye open for anything for Lydia. But I did look at all the candy. I’m a sucker (ha!) for new candy–all those limited editions that are out now, I buy them every time. So, I found this Bounty. I’m pretty sure we had these when I was a kid. It’s kinda like a Mounds, only milk chocolate.

One of the shops I found, I had to take a picture for my niece, Nora!

We finally found a Starbucks. Yes, we went into a Starbucks while in the Bahamas. Kristen is a current employee and Mandy is a former. So, it’s just something we had to do. Plus we thought the bathrooms might be clean. So, here’s Staci and Becky’s walking stick hanging out in Sbux.

Now it’s time for the highlight of our trip, the adventure of a lifetime…the NOSE PIERCING! Mandy used to have one and Kristen just thinks they are cute, so here’s some before pictures:

We stopped off at The Tattoo King because…well, it was the cleanest of the 2 tattoo parlors we found. Plus, Anna Nicole Smith got her tattoo there. So, you know, everyone wants to be like her. Ahem. The guys there were so nice. I mean really nice. Maybe it was because 6 hot girls just walked in, I don’t know.

The Tattoo King himself was flirting with Staci, one of our 2 single gals. He did a mind reading game that I have to admit was pretty nifty. Then the moment was upon us. They didn’t sit Mandy & Kristen down, more like leaned them up against a table. They didn’t numb their nostrils, or clean them. They just stuck a huge needle in them. OH MY GOODNESS. It was so scary. I think Kristen’s going to blog the awesome video I took, so I’ll just show you a picture. Just know it was much much worse in real life.

And now, the after shots (notice Mandy’s tears & Kristen’s blood!):

And there they are, our 2 happy pierced chickies with our uhm…idol, Anna Nicole Smith.

Really, not much compares after getting your nose pierced in the Bahamas by the Tattoo King. But we did go to the Straw Market and try to buy some knock-off Kate Spades & Coach bags. Then we got a cab to Atlantis. If you haven’t seen Atlantis, it’s worth going. It is so huge, so detailed and I kept wondering, who can pay for this kind of vacation? Here’s one of about 12 buildings to the “hotel”.

And Becky & me standing in front of the koi fish. I think they’re koi fish. Which, in case you didn’t know are the most OVERUSED object in tattoos. I’m an expert now since I got an airbrush tattoo on day 2 of my cruise. And I watch Miami Ink. A lot.

The water at the beach was really wild. There were some guys renting jet skis there. It would have been a crazy ride. They called us every name in the book: gorgeous, pretty mama, scrumptious and some I don’t even want to repeat. They’ve got the schmoozing down!

The beach was really pretty though because of the little bitty rock islands out in the distance. Here I am trying not to get soaked by a wave.

After a quick trip to the straw market again we headed off to the showers to get ready for dinner. Too bad the electricity went out and half of us didn’t get to dry our hair. Oh well. We still looked like scrumptious gorgeous mamas. Here’s our nightly dinner pics:

I got an amazing jerk pork tenderloin but my picture just didn’t come out. Here’s Becky’s short ribs. Yum!

Becky also got a special present from another table’s waiter. He was smitten!

At midnight there was a Mexican Fiesta on the deck. It really turned out lame except for the mango pineapple salsa and the chocolate cake. But I guess drunk people don’t care if the entertainment is bad. So, here we are, the non-drunkards enjoying our Mexican picnic on the deck!

After the frivolity, we headed off to our beds. Have I mentioned before I love sleeping on a boat?!

(something else really funny happened this day but I have to scan something before I tell you about it! It will be worth the wait!)
Day 4: dolphins, food & craziness

Kristen & Mandi wanted to work out the next morning. The gym is in the very front of the boat, so if you’re on a treadmill, you’re overlooking the ocean and the helm (?) of the boat. Gorgeous. But it didn’t tempt me enough to actually get out of my comfy bed. So, Staci (my roomie) and I woke up leisurely and headed off to breakfast. I ate Eggs Benedict. Yum. Sorry, no picture of that.

We rounded up our sunblock, room keys and cash, then headed off to the island of Freeport, Bahamas! Here’s Mandi directing us. She’s our Monica.

Stopping at a port on a cruise is really just stopping off at a giant tourist trap. Freeport was just full of shops loaded with straw purses, Bahamas tshirts and jewelry. Stuff you wouldn’t look at in the US, but inspect carefully while on vacation. The scenery was beautiful though. I love seeing different vegetation and wildlife when I go different places. This tree reminded me of a very large azalea. Beautiful!

We finally made it to the beach just as it started raining. But at least we got a cute picture!

When we got back on the boat, we decided to lay out for awhile. Well, I slathered myself with 36 and put on a hat, so laying out is a little different for me! Then Mandy and I decided to splurge on a fake tattoo! We had seen a tattoo shop in Freeport and were talking about what we would get if we were brave enough. Of course we all talked about getting chickie tattoos! Yeah right. Then we decided we liked the little old school traditional sparrows. And what do you know? The airbrush tattoo lady on our boat had a sparrow.

And here’s the close up

We left the pool and headed off for our rooms because the Formal Night was upon us! We felt like we were at church camp–you know, you play all day, then have to change at night into church clothes. When actually you’re just dressing up to snag a date to the banquet at the end of the week.

It’s just fun to get ready with a bunch of girls. We shared jewelry (mainly Staci’s), modeled for each other, put on each other’s make up and straighted each others clothes. Here’s Mandy & me showing off our tattoos with our formal wear!

After about 200 pictures with the ship photographer’s we headed off to dinner. Our dinner was at 8pm but we weren’t starving because we discovered a sushi bar that opened at 5pm. Lovely mid afternoon snack!

And here’s our nightly dinner pictures…

We all wore black and white this night, except our sunshine Kristen, who wore yellow and white. I guess on formal night they pull out all the food punches and lobster was on the menu! Even our resident vegetarian ate it…so what’s that make you again, Kristen? A ectotarian? A lobstertartian? A shellfisheatingmachine?

After dinner and dessert, the Warm Chocolate Melting Cake (did anyone get a picture of that?!), we headed off for karaoke. (The proper pronunciation is car-ah-oh-kay, according to my aforementioned church camp banquet date, Mitzuaki.)

Staci had been practicing for her karaoke songs. Yes, I said PRACTICING. But she and Becky wanted to do a duet, so here they are looking through the book of a million songs.

And here they are singing, “I got chills! They’re multiplyin’! And I’m looosin’ contro-ol!” Beck didn’t really know all the words but it was still better than the rest of the drunkards that were up before them.

After getting her feet wet with Beck, Staci belted out R-E-S-P-E-C-T!

Oh! I just remembered, while we were listening to the caterwauling plugging our ears waiting for Staci to sing, Kristen and I ran over to the show that was going on in the main auditorium. It was really good with singing and dancing until the dancers came out in their g strings. I mean really! Is that necessary? Or even attractive? What exactly was the point?

After we were sufficiently karaoked out, I kissed our towel piggy (affectionately made by Katuka, our steward) good-night and we were rocked to sleep by the Atlantic Ocean!

Day 3: Nose-piercing, Atlantis and shopping in Nassau!

I have had the same 5 best friends my whole life. I met Staci & Mandi when I was about 3 or 4. Mandy came around within a year probably. Then Kristin in about 3rd grade. Becky in 6th. We’ve been best friends ever since–through moves, marriages, babies and school. Even though we have other best friends, the 6 of us are a tight knit group of sisterchicks.

This year we all turned 30 except Mandi who turns 29. (Which is VERY close to 30, btw.) Two years ago when we dubbed ourselves “sisterchicks” we decided to take a cruise to celebrate our 30th birthdays! We just got back from that cruise yesterday! It was our first time to all spend the night together since our camps and retreats back in middle and high school.

We met at Kristin’s and decorated the van and loaded up the suitcases. Becky let us borrow her mini van. How cool and hip is that?

Staci, our resident, uhm…funny girl made a Sisterchick Road Trip book. Every hour she drew one of our names and we got to pick a game out of our Road Trip book.

We played Bingo, the License Plate Game, a Scavenger Hunt and the very very best, a Tinfoil Sculpture Game. I’m sorry but what 30 year olds do this? It was absolutely hilarious! Our first sculpture was of course of a little chick. Here’s a few of the amazing sculptures.

Staci won the sculpt-a-piece-of-jewelry round and got to wear all of our tinfoil creations.

We stayed the night at a hotel in The Villages. Becky’s il’s live there and they hooked us up with a hotel room. Thanks, again, Bob & Cathy! We looked like a bunch of little sardines in there!

The next morning we only had about 2 hours to Port Canaveral. We started screaming and jumping up and down as soon as we saw our ship, of course. The first thing we had to do was practice drowning and what we’d do if the boat sank. Here we are pretending to listen, but instead pretending to be frightened.

Finally we made it up to the deck to look out at the water. While we were up there we saw a Disney boat. I tried not to be jealous that we weren’t sailing with Mickey & Minnie.

We headed off to our rooms, gussied up and then began the best part of our week: the food! We took a picture of us like this every night. Aren’t we beautiful? It was so fun to sit in this booth together. I’m glad we didn’t have to share it with anyone else. More for their sakes than ours!

Mandi, Staci & Becky

Mandy, me, Kristen

I think I took a picture of our food at every meal. Tonight’s picture is Staci & Becky’s “smoothie”. The title of the dish was Fresh Fruit and Mango Smoothie. They thought it was an actual SMOOTHIE. However, it was Fresh Fruit with a dash of Mango Smoothie as decoration. I’ll never look at a smoothie the same!

Our surprise dessert was a birthday cake! Becky ordered us a birthday cake a few months ago so we’d share it on the cruise! How fun! We didn’t wait for plates. We just dug right in. Thanks, Beckers!

We finished the night off with Bingo. Which I ALMOST won. And a little show by a kinda funny comedian and the really really lame cruise director.

Day 2: Freeport, Bahamas and karaoke, tattoos and more!

Welcome to my new blog!

I love my other blogs and I’ve been on 2 vacations in the last 3 weeks and I kinda hate filling my daily blog up with mountains of pictures and details of “we went here” or “we ate this” or whatever. So, I thought I’d just start a vacation blog. Even if I only post on it a few times a year, what a cool memory to have. It will be my form of a scrapbook! I can be as detailed as I want and share it with everyone! (and if I don’t like it, well, at least I’ll have these next 5 posts!)

So, without further ado, my vacations…