Half Moon Cay (said "KEY")

Half Moon Cay, is a little privately owned island in the Bahamas. It is owned by Holland America Line, a subsidary of Carnival Cruise Line. They anchored the ship out in the ocean and then we took this little hummer out to island. The wind was really blowing on this day, so the ocean was tossing these little boats all over the place. It was fun to sit comfortably in my little seat and watch other people get on the little boat and try to walk to a seat. :-)

I don't have a picture of Brent and I in front of the sign. When we got off the ship there were a million photographers and people and it was crazy, so we just rushed past all this business. Then on the way back to the ship, I forgot. Michelle and Robert didn't, so you get to see them by the sign. :-)
This is what the island looks like from out on the ocean. Even now, looking at the pictures, the color of the water is so unreal!! I love it!
Because of the wind, many of the excursions were canceled. Any of the water sports, the parasailing, and even our snorkel excursion. We were supposed to take a boat out into the ocean, and then snorkel out there. The water was too crazy to go out too far from shore. Luckily we had also signed up for a bicycle tour of the island. This one started at 9 am, and I am so glad that Brent chose this one. Not only cuz it didn't cancel, but because I got to ride this super cute Purple Schwinn bike! :-)

The tour took us all over the island (which is thankfully rather flat). They would take us to different areas, and let us get off and take pictures and share some fun facts about the island. The girl who was our tour guide told us that she and others that do excursions on the island actually live on a near by island and they commute in every day.
We rode around to a place that was like a bay. That is where they do a lot of their excursions out of. The water was kind of yucky over there... I'm guessing from the boat pollution? The little dots out there in the water are Michelle and Roberts Kayaking Excursion group.
This is what they looked like up close. Their excursion got canceled in the middle of it too. They had a difficult group of people who weren't listening to the instructor, and they were fighting some wild water, so they called it quits on them too. Robert, however picked himself up a really good sunburn.
Brent took this pic of my backside while we were riding (thanks hun) But it shows what a beautiful and unique experience this was!
The bay type spot that we went to on our tour was also home of the "Air Port" Basically a place where a small airplane could land on the water in the case of an emergency.
The sign says "Half Moon Cay Airport: Passport n Shoes not required"
Nicely framed picture of the ocean and our ship. :-) (good job Michelle)

Our day that we spent at sea, AKA "Fun Day at Sea", was Sunday, and so we missed Church. So while we were at Half Moon Cay, Michelle spotted this here "Bahamian Church"
So we went to church...
Perhaps it would have been a better story had we sat together, or even if we sat in different spots. :-)
Robert bore his testimony,
And Brent didn't go to church, he was sunning on the beach! :-)
Actually, I wish I had a picture of Brent on the Beach at about 3pm. He was hiding under towels, his poor fare skin was cooked and he knew it. I eventually took him back to the ship cuz I felt sorry for how hot he was.
He did take a swim... he was the first of the four of us to dawn his snorkel gear and go out looking for some life with in the boundaries that were set for swimmers. The water was too crazy to go beyond the boundaries.
Most of the fish that were in this shallow area were the same color as the sand or clear, so it was very difficult to spot them. Brent was good at finding them tho. Eventually, all of us were out there, but Michelle and I didn't last very long. The water was quite cool, and I could only stand it for so long. Brrrrr. I think that I would have lasted longer had there been more to look at.

Carnival does a bar-b-que for all the cruisers right there on the island. So nice to not have to buy food, or go back to the ship for it. They had pavilions and tables set up in the middle of some trees, kind of secluded from the rest of the island.
They served JERK CHICKEN on the island..... YUMMMM!!! I love Jerk Chicken. Slurrrp. I went back for seconds!
A little shot of me and my sweety right before he had to go into his shelter from the sun.

Again, Breathtaking!!

Brent bought me a Pina Colada to drink on the beach. Yummy! They sure melt fast out there in the sun! Michelle and Robert got their drinks in this here fancy cup holders. Too cute.
We headed back to the ship around 3 and showered up and got ready for dinner.
Our funny waiter Santi skipped out on the entertainment from the night before, and we had teased him for that. He more than made up for it tonight, as he danced to "Low Low Low" LOL!!!
He was really boogieing down!!
We then went to some entertainment on the ship. We went to "Liar's Club" which was essentially "Balderdash". We got to listen to 3 of the employees come up with funny definitions of silly words and pick which one was telling the truth. The one that I remember is Whisterpoop, which means a slight smack up side the head. LOL He told us that it comes from the phrase "I wis ta poop you in the head." It was really funny.
We watched others do the "thriller dance" and then we played "60 Second Challenge". Michelle and I played the scavenger hunt game, where we had 60 seconds to collect a variety of items, one of which was a $100 bill, and someone actually gave me one! Course he was right there when it was over, but I thought that was pretty cool! I should have won, but "Island Girl" as she liked to be called, gave the prize to a man that we named "Jokes" on day one. Apparently the item that said 12 left shoes, actually counted each shoe individually! If I'd have known that i would have definitely gotten those! So we did not win, :-( Boo hoo.
Then Brent and Robert played a game where they were on a team of 5 men who had to strap a sand pail with a ball attached to it, to their waist. Then with hands on head, they were to swing their hips to gain momentum and land that ball on a string, up in the pail. It is VERY funny to watch. They WON! They both did such a good job, naturals I tell ya!
And they got the all coveted "Piece of Ship on a Stick!!!" This silly grin on Brents face, needs an explanation, for you will see it several times from this time forth. There was a guy dressed in Pirate garb, going around the dining room taking photos with everyone. He moved swiftly from one person to the next, making the exact same face on every person. It was hilarious to look at all the pictures printed together because he looked like a cardboard cut out, it was that consistent! So we made fun of this face for the whole rest of the trip.
Here they are, proudly posing with their major awards!!

If I remember correctly, we went and played cards after this, and had a great time!

It was a fabulous day!!

Couples Cruise "Fun Day at Sea"

Ahhh, wake up to this.... it's so beautiful!!

We started out this morning with a nice breakfast in the formal dining room. I LOVE their French Toast. They make it with a nice thick slice of raisin bread. YUMMM.

Brents favorite thing to do on the ship: watch the water.

He says it's like watching a fire. Mesmerizing.... Very calming.

Robert and Michelle taught us how to play speed solitaire.... yeah, I suck at that game. WAY too many things to think about. As you can see from the photo, Brent is waiting for me to find the moves that I need to make in order for him to move. (trying to be patient)
Had to have a picture by the Leprechauns gold. :-) On this cruise it was a lot more evident to me how much drinking and gambling has to do with cruising. Don't get me wrong, we had a great time on the cruise with out doing these things, but there were a few mentions of room tabs being up over $700, and that number kind of shocked me. They're really loosing money when the mormon cruise. LOL
This is me, talking to the activities guys about having Brent enter the "Hairy Chest" contest. Brent did not want to enter... but cummon, when you've got it, flaunt it. His excuse was that he has red hair, and it's not as easy to see. We have no pictures of the contest because we were strictly forbidden to take any! He was ultra humiliated, but he did get a medallion for it.. :-) It turns out that it's not all about the hair, but rather about how much of a fool you're willing to make of yourself. Dancing, and letting the "judges" touch your hair and smell you. Weird stuff. It was fun in hindsight. LOL Poor Brent, but he got over it... eventually I was out of the dog house for pushing him on stage. I'm just glad that he wasn't eliminated for being the stinkiest one.
Another favorite activity on the boat.... Tea Time. At 3:00 in the piano bar. It is such a peaceful time. The pianist plays lovely tunes whist you sip on your tea and eat deserts and look out the window at the passing ocean.
Brent and Robert enjoying their "wee bit of tea."
As I said.... very relaxing. The only unfortunate part is that the piano bar is also one of the few indoor smoking places. Very few people are there to smoke during the day, and the room is ventilated rather well, so it wasn't too bad. Also one of the few places that the "spring breakers" didn't go to.
We spent some time up on the "adult deck". Again trying to escape the "spring breakers".
Got to do the classic toes off the end of a ship shot. :-)

This little guy was found bobbing around the ship during our "day at sea". Never saw him again after we dropped anchor near Half Moon Cay. I know that birds can fly really far, for really long, but he just looked too widdle to be out in the middle of the ocean. :-( I think he got in in FL, and got all caught up in the spring break fun, and forgot to get off.
Had to take a picture of Michelles muscles. She got those from doing water aerobics you know!! :-)
The comedian on the first night talked about stupid questions that cruisers ask, and one of the questions he gets is "Is that another ship?" He said "No, it's a giant mirror in the ocean." LOL So I had to post this picture of the mirror in the ocean. :-)

Sunday night was our "Formal Night" So we got all dressed up for a lovely dinner.

Lobster Tail for Brent and Michelle, Prime Rib for Robert and myself. Yummmm
Luckily, our server Santi, had a "short cut.... you know short cut?" That made it so that Michelle could get 3 Lobster tails and 9 jumbo shrimp. It never ceases to amaze me when this girl puts back all that food. She can't weigh 100 lbs soaking wet, but she can burry all that food w/o batting an eye!

Brent had 2 lobster tails and 6 jumbo shrimp. All of which was chased down by some delicious "warm Chocolate melting cake"!! YUMMM. Those things are amazingly delicious!
We jetted out after dinner to catch the sun set. Sunsets on the ocean are so breathtaking, yet so quick. You gotta be fast to catch it.
I had fun w/ my point and shoot, trying to trick it into exposing properly. I was quite proud of the fact that I had the sunset properly exposed, and Robert and Michelle too. :-)
Michelle kindly took a lovely sunset picture of us too. :-)
More fun with playing with the exposures on the point and shoot. this time no flash, exposing for the sunset and leaving michelle and robert as shadows in the foreground.... I love photography, even with a little point and shoot.
And we came back to our state room that night to this cute little guy, I love his little bunny bummy. It was a nice "Fun Day at Sea."

I'll Start from today, and try to catch up....... Couples Cruise Day 1

After getting Grandma settled at the house, we headed out on a 10 hour drive for Jacksonville, Florida. Brent had headed out to the Florida area a few days earlier to try to go to "sun and fun". (Sun and Fun is a air show type thing for pilots.... he really had a good time, once he got there. He flew down with our neighbor Chris, and they had a heck of a time getting there, and then when they got there, there had been a tornado, and so he only got to go for one day. :-( )

Anyway.... So with Robert driving and Michelle and I Snoozin'... we headed to meet up w/ Brent in Jacksonville.

I don't know how my kids can stay awake in the car for so long... I can't hardly keep my eyes open when I am in the car. Unless I get woken up by Michelle's camera.... then I just wait for her to sleep and take a picture of her too. :-)

We stayed the night at at Holiday Inn Express, so we all woke up totally refreshed! :-) We went to dinner at Carabas for dinner... it was delicious! We tried to go to the mall to get a cardigan for me, cuz although it would be in the 80's on out trip, the air-conditioning was sure to be turned up inside. We ended up having to head to the mall in the morning before the ship took off from port.

After a lengthy wait in line........
Where we had to drag our Dew along with us, we got onto the ship.
I don't think the ship had left port before we were upstairs eating a "Turkey on a Country Roll" and of course a piece of Chocolate cake. The Cakes on this cruise were SOOO much better than the cakes on our last cruise. Last one they were really dry.
When we did finally set sail, we had to head down the river that fed us out into the ocean. I was surprised to see dolphins (if only for a very quick second) off the side of the ship.
There was a lot of rocking going on, and one really needed to be careful of the steps. :-) We had some pretty good chuckles reminding one and other to "watch your step."
Our first day was spent exploring the ship, showing Brent how to get around and where everything is. Robert was sure to find every bathroom. We were amazed at how many kids were on the boat, and found out that night at the "welcome aboard show" that nearly 1/3 of the guests on board were under 18! NEVER cruising during spring break again. While it seems so very appealing as a parent to go on a cruise with your family, because they "take care" of your kids, but as a childless cruiser... those kids were NOT being watched. Anyone over the age of 10 was free to roam the ship, in gangs. As I watched these kids I was increasingly concerned about them. Who is to stop some drunken 25 year old from grabbing your 12 year old and pulling her into a room? Who is stopping two 15 year olds from using a state room? It just seems like a very unsafe environment for a preteen/teen. Kind of an upsetting realization for me, who was totally planning on talking the kids on a cruise. :-( Maybe Disney isn't quite so loose with the wandering teens.

Anyway, the evening was spent going to Dinner, where we met our funny waiter, and filled our bellies, and going to the show. It was a lovely day.