Carnival Cruise Wedding

In beginning the plannings of what was going to be a large-expensive small town wedding, I started doing some research into doing a wedding on a cruise.  One of my dream places to visit in life was Atlantis, Paradise Island in the Bahamas so I based my cruise searchings on the Eastern Caribbean, but of course only those that stopped at Atlantis for more than just a few hours.  After doing a fair bit of research it was decided we were going to set sail on the Eastern Caribbean to get hitched on a white sandy beach in St. Thomas.

The cost of arranging this dream come true wedding was much cheaper than the small town wedding we had originally started to plan, and the cruise was not just for the groom and bride, but also our 9 year old son!

Now, because this was by far the most astounding trips I’ve ever been on and I want to be sure you get to hear all about the fabulousness, I am going to blog a day of the trip each day hopefully intriguing you enough to want to know more!

Our cruise wedding turned out to be so easy to plan, little stress and yet it was so beautifully elegant.  We had 23 family and friends grace us with their presence on our special day/week.  We chose the Carnival Freedom, 8 day cruise on the Eastern Caribbean.  A ship with 2,974 passenger capacity with a crew of 1,150.  We were setting sail from Fort Lauderdale, Florida porting in San Juan, a day at sea, our big day in St. Thomas, a day at Antigua, a pit stop in Tortola, another day at sea and our last at sea stop at Nassau and then back to port in Fort Lauderdale.

With everything on ship from theaters to a library, a spa (with the most amazing masseuses ever), a 70’s bar, piano bar, disco club, lounges, casino, sports bar, suishi bar, restaurants, cafes, shops and the list goes on and on with mini golf, waterslide, big outdoor movie screen by some of the pools.  There were  more things to do and see on the ship than what a person could ever take all in within 8 days.

To ensure we would make it to the port on time in case of any flight delays, we decided to fly down to Fort Lauderdale a day early to take a quick tour of Fort Lauderdale/Miami.  The guys toured the Miami Strip while the gals hung around the beach and pool doing a bit of shopping of course.   We stayed at the Ocean Sky Resort which was beach front with an amazing view.

Day 1 - Pulling up to the port is a sight of its own - gigantic cruise ships everywhere!  The hustle and bustle of thousands of people and their luggage registering to get onto the ship was quite a process, very smooth and painless and considering they were trying to get nearly 3,000 people booked in and on board in a matter of 2 hours it was flawless.

Once on board it was overwhelming, no one knew where to begin - the kids wanted to swim so then the decision became which pool and where is it.   We ended up finding a pool on the same floor near our balcony oceanview room, and there was a bar, restaurant and the outdoor big screen there so we ended up spending time there daily and it became our meeting grounds in the morning for breakfast for those who wanted to meet up.

This first day on ship we spent the day touring, getting lost, finding our rooms and just being breathless at how amazing everything was.  We got the kids registered in the Camp Carnival for whenever they wished to join in some of the kid activities.  Spent the evening checking out some of the lounges and comedy shows.  

Surprise Trip

In March of 2006 my husband (at-the-time boyfriend) surprised me on my birthday by whisking me away on a surprise trip to Mexico for 2 weeks.  He had pre-planned the entire trip, everything from arranging time off from my work, a babysitter for my son (grandma’s house of course), the flights and the whole works.

We flew from Saskatoon to Calgary to Cancun.  From Cancun we had an approximate 45 minute bus ride to our resort - Club El Mandarin - upon arrival at sunset it was breathtaking --- beautifully lit up, music playing from one of the disco bars, the fresh ocean breeze and everything was all so exciting.  With everything from 3 restaurants, 3 bars, a long stretch of white sand on a private beach, freshwater pool and jacuzzi’s, beach palapas, tennis courts, beach volleyball, spa, pool tables, disco bars, salon, theatre and more.  This all inclusive resort was rated 4 stars and was definitely a family friendly resort.  The room was clean and spacious with great daily cleaning services. 

I think my favorite moments were catching some rays on the beach while being served free cocktails, although everything was great I enjoyed getting some R&R just as much as I enjoyed all the fantastic adventures we took.

With this being our first ever all inclusive trip, we got overly excited on the first full day there and thought it would be great to go and plan an excursion for almost every day, but after a couple days of having to get up and go go go to catch our excursions we realized this was not the smartest move.  As we didn’t really feel like we were getting much relaxing time in, we cancelled a few excursions and made note that on future trips we would only book excursions a day or two prior to ensure we were getting some fun relaxing time in and just being able to discover all the fabulous things going on within the resort.

One of our first excursions we did was a snorkeling tour, both of us being first timers we started snorkeling along a magnificent reef, which I was a bit concerned being a learner and a lot of the others had snorkeled before, but the guide was very helpful and we were snorkeling in no time.  Getting to see all the beautiful creatures under the sea was remarkable, the beautiful colours and shapes and sizes of all the tropical fish was unbelievable.  We seen a few large string rays and a small shark, which caused me to panic and nearly hyperventilate and choke on water, and no thanks to my husband who left me behind, I did survive.  From the sea we were then transported to a cenote (an underground cave) where there was endless stalagmites and stalactites all pointy and intriguing underground.  We all had to put head lights on and follow in a single line as snorkeling due to the very confined dark space, but the scenery was amazing even though it was pitch black.   From here we then proceeded to a fresh water pond where we did some cliff jumping and snorkeling under water to catch see turtles by learning how to dive while snorkeling and going underwater.

One afternoon we decided to attempt fate and try parasailing, soaring high above the Caribbean taking in the magnificent view of the coast and not only our beautiful resort, but many others along the coast, which several of them were being reconstructed due to Hurricane Wilma which had struck the coast in November 2005 .  In the amazing blue/turquoise water, from roughly 200’ in the air we could see a large sting ray that was the size of the boat that was pulling us.  And looking down at the rugged and worn rope that was holding us to the boat, we were a bit worried that it may break, but it sure didn't and its an experience I would love to relive again.

We met a local who we befriended (and my husband and him still stay in touch) and we spent a day with him as he toured us around Playa del Carmen where we did a lot of shopping down the strips and checked out a great local restaurant with amazing fresh seafood and then spent the evening walking down along the beach hitting up local beach bars, my favorite part was sitting on the wooden swings that swung right up to the bar so you could sip your drink and set it down all the while still swinging.

A day at XCaret, an eco park, where one of my dreams came true - swimming with the dolphins, an experience a person can not even fully describe to another how glorious  and wonderful it is.  XCaret is a definite must see!  With everything from snorkeling, snuba, sea trekking, jaguar island, exhibits, dolphins, underground rivers, a butterfly pavilion and so much more.  A full days is just barely enough time to take in and capture all that XCaret has to offer.  And of course they end the day with a spectacular live performance in a theatre with over 250 performers showing the history of Mexico and its best traditions.

Xel-Ha, is the water park of all water parks.   Taking a train through the jungles to then snorkel and tube down the crystal clear river and stopping along the way to take in some cliff jumping and sight seeing.  A floating bridge at the inlet with an amazing array of schoold of fish below, a must see by snorkeling around it.  From mayan walls, hammock island, Xpa, cenotes, caverns, plant nursery, beaches, a manatee encounter, dolphins and the attractions were endless.

An afternoon spent on a catamaran set sail for Cozumel, where we stopped at Cozumel’s reef and got to jump off the boat and snorkel around the two beautiful reefs getting to see hundreds of tropical fish, the coral formations were a sight of their own and of course other wonderful sea-life.  Back on boat enjoying inclusive drinks, music and some dancing we arrived at Cozumel where we had a few hours to do some shopping and of bartering.

We spent a lot of time down at the beach and just enjoying the 2 weeks of beautifully sunny weather we lucked out having.  I would highly recommend this resort and all of these adventures to all, the resort especially for family friendliness! Four stars in my book!

Intro

Over the years I’ve done a fair bit of traveling, mainly staying in Western Canada, but did stray a tad bit farther a few times and I can’t to tell you a little bit about each of my endeavors.  Make sure you check back weekly to hear about places you will want to travel after hearing about some of the remarkable places I have been whether it be the Riveria Mia in Mexico, Dallas, Texas, an Eastern Caribbean Cruise and an Alaskan Cruise even just to Calgary, Alberta or even Kelowna, B.C. - all the places I will blog about will be  of wonderful memories I have and wish to share them with you so you can hopefully create unforgettable memories as well.