Well, we are back to the land of ice and extreme dryness (I swear I miss the humidity the most!) and while it is good to be home (not.. haha), there are certain moments that keep going over and over in my mind.. I guess one would call these "favourites".. and since I was so inspired by
this post recently, I thought I would recap my top 17 moments. Random number, I know. Chalk it up to me being random. :) So here we go!
First off, I just want to say how a-mazing our cruise was. I sorta-kinda knew what to expect (mom and dad have been on two cruises before this one), but still.... that first moment when you walk onto the ship... it's kinda takes your breath away... I think that level 7 is the "main level" on most ships and so that is the level we embarked onto... You are greeted by the grand atrium (you can look clear up to level 13), the Guest Services desk, a cappuccino bar (hello!) and Caribbean-style music.. if that doesn't get you in the holiday mood, then I don't know what does! :) Even if I had to spend my whole holiday on that ship and never got off at any port-of-calls or saw any beaches or anything, I'm pretty sure I would have had a fantastic time sailing the deep blue sea on the Norwegian Dawn with my beautiful family. So, just to get that little blurb out of the way. Oh and PS - our ship was 10 years old. It recently had a huge makeover, but it was, by far, not the fanciest or newest one out there. That is hard for my little mind to comprehend, considering I thought our ship was pretty sweet. :)
OK! Top 17 Moments! Let's go!
(In no particular order)
{Swimming at Trafalgar Falls (6 miles outside of Roseau, Dominica) and soaking in the (hot!) mineral pools after}
I think this appropriate to be at the number one spot because when I think back to our cruise, this is always the first thing that comes to mind. The hike to get there, the rainforest, the warmth of the mineral pools, the humidity, the roar of the falls, being with my family.... it was all amazing and I want to go back to so bad. If you EVER happen to be in Dominica for whatever reason, go here. I promise you won't be disappointed. It's a national park, too.
{Sitting on every possible beach we could find with this girl. (This one was at Dominican Republic). Her name is Deena. And I love her. Oh and we're sharing fresh coconut water. Refreshing to the max.}
Ahhh, the beach. We couldn't get enough. The sand, the waves, the water... we would just lay on our towels, soaking it all in. Then Deena would turn over and say, "wanna share earphones and listen to music?" And I would say yes. And then we would sing Beyonce and do the one-arm-in-the-air dance. And then people would stare at us. So we kept doing it. Obviously.
{Getting reacquainted with this hilarious couple. It is scary how much Tyler and Dallas are alike. NEVER a dull moment. Even when we were doing nothing.}
{Getting reacquainted with this awesome couple. It is scary how much Tyler and Shaun are alike. NEVER a dull moment. Even when we were doing nothing.}
Are you sensing a pattern here? :) I miss these girls incredibly. They were basically my sisters growing up. Maybe one day we will live all together in the same city.
{Realizing that driving scooters in Barbados is very scary. But realizing I want to overcome the fear and learn how to drive one. So this means I want a Vespa to bomb around on this summer.}
Yes, I drove a scooter. For the first time. In the Barbados. On the left side of the road. In a country where EVERYONE uses their horn. Which not stressful at all. Plus I was the lucky one that had the scooter that kept stalling at every red light. If you want to understand the meaning of stress, just stall your scooter at a red light, on the main street of a busy Barbados town and then have every single vehicle behind you blare their horns at once. Ahhhhh. But! I want to overcome this fear! And learn how to drive a scooter! (In Canada, on the right side of the road and where people don't use their horns every 3.5 seconds). THEN maybe I could conquer Barbados. :)
{Watching one of the ship activities called "Dancing with the Stars". Basically, there are 8 crew members and they chose a partner from a hat (you submit your name beforehand) and there is a "competition" to see who is the best couple at dancing all kinds of dances. I laughed so hard I cried.}
Just to make this clear, I did not participate; I observed. :) A lovely older fellow named Sam was chosen to be a contestant. Him and his wife were sitting beside us. So me and Deena chose to cheer him on the whole competition. Guess what? Sam won. It was awesome. Sam had classic old-person dance moves, but it made him so endearing. I hope Sam and his wife are doing well, wherever they are. He won a pretty sweet trophy.
{Getting to hang out with my littlest (big) brother.}
When you're growing up, hanging out and spending time with your siblings comes pretty naturally. Heck, you live in the same house. No wonder! But now we're in adulthood. And hanging out doesn't come so naturally. It was so so so special to hang out with Bryon everyday for 12 days. Now Gabe, it's our turn. :)
{Jet-skiing on the Caribbean Sea. No words necessary. This was my view.}
{Coming back "home" every evening to our ship. Room cleaned. Towel creature awaiting us. And a yummy supper ahead of us.}
I loved all our island stops so much.. But some of my favourite moments were coming back to our ship, knowing we had a fun evening ahead of us! We would usually be full of sand from the beach or hair all tangled from the wind (which I secretly loved). But then we would come into our clean little room and have a shower. I'd lay out our outfits for the evening. Tyler would spray on cologne. I would put on lip gloss. And away we would go for dinner. No cooking in the evenings is the best. THE BEST. Oh ya. And see Tyler carrying my beach bag? He did that pretty much everywhere. Best Husband Award for Carrying A Beach Bag. Yes, that's a category. :)
{The most stunning rainbow ever.}
This was as we left Dominica. And wow. Talk about a spectacular rainbow. I actually got a little video of it. I'll either post it here on my Facebook page. I know, it's not the same as real life, but it gives you a little idea of just how vivid it was. Best sail-away view of the cruise, for sure. :)
{Spin class. With a view of the sea.}
I signed up for a spin class. It was so much fun. I think spinning is one of my favourite cardio classes and to have this amazing view of the ocean... well, it makes the agony in your legs seems less.... agonizing. :) Oh ya, and the other cool fitness-y part of the ship? It had an outdoor running track that circled the whole ship on the top deck. I don't know if it was the ocean-view, the wind or what... but I could run! Like 5 laps, no trouble. This does not happen to me. I don't run 5 laps "no trouble". Ya, let's chalk it up to the ocean-view and sea breeze.
{Moments like these}
Laughing and acting very foolish. I wish I would have captured more of these. I love this picture with all my heart.
{The whole reason for the cruise}
My dear dear grandparents were celebrating their 65th wedding anniversary. It was why we were all together. I love them so much. This might be their last big holiday, I don't know. Either way, I count myself lucky to have been there for this one. :) Happy Anniversary, Gramps and Gram. Love you so much!
{Seeing Aunty Bonnie.}
I have a very special bond with this aunt. She helped me through some pretty rough patches in my life. I love her so much. I want to see her more. :)
{Listening to this singing duo every evening in the Grand Atrium}.
It's not the best pic, but behind that tree by the piano is a couple that sang from 8-11pm every night. They were SO good! They sang everything from The Eagles to Norah Jones to Elton John. Just easy listening music. And they were so humble and gracious. I just loved them.
{Our last supper on the ship with these gorgeous gals}.
We had so much fun this night. Last night. Recapping the holiday. Being sad about disembarking the next day. But mostly laughing our heads off.
{Enjoying every single one of these moments with this guy}
Just being together in moments that are outside of the ordinary. Discovering the islands together. Shopping and bartering with the locals. Going to the ice cream bar.. rocky road for him, sherbert for me. He was even a sport and came along and watch the country line dancing lessons with me. That was hoot-and-a-half. :) Basically, he is the best and I'm glad I got to savour all these moments together with him. :)
So! There you have it! Obviously, there are many many many more moments that I will cherish forever, but these are just a few that stand out to me. I'll doing more recaps as well, but I just wanted to get this one post up. It's almost been a week since I've been home and no blog post! What is the matter with me?! haha..
What was your favourite holiday? We have the travelling bug, so let me know your ideas! :)
Until next time!
xo ~ Tyler & Jessica
