Our Vacation in a Nutshell!

When Alex decided to pursue a career in medicine, I knew that during medical school and residency, all of his extra time would be dedicated to school. I decided to make a deal with him that when he got accepted to medical school, we would go on a cruise together. When we heard the news from University of Washington, I immediately started searching for a great deal and something fun we would both enjoy! Thanks to frequent flyer miles we were able to both fly for free to Ft. Lauderdale. We decided to book a 5 day cruise that would visit Key West and Cozumel Mexico. Because we were flying with miles, we had an extra day in Ft. Lauderdale as well.

Jennie and Derek generously offered to watch Ellie for the week, and for that we were so gratefully. I don’t think we could have left her with someone else or in a place she was unfamiliar with. Besides being unusually quiet, she seemed to do okay while we were away. We missed her like crazy, we even brought a picture to put up in our room. Okay, enough of the background, on to the vacation!

Day 1: After a red eye flight and hardly any sleep, we boarded the Vision of the Seas (Royal Caribbean) without any troubles. We grabbed some lunch and took a much needed nap. After a delicious dinner in their awesome dining room we decided to retire early and catch up on some sleep before Key West the next day. Little did we know our room was under the main dance floor that was hosting a 70’s dance party. Instead of sleeping, we ordered room service for late night snacks and then listened to classics like the YMCA until after midnight.

Day 2: In Key West we rented beach cruisers and rode around the island of Key West. We visited a beautiful botanical garden, rode on the pier and saw a big sting ray! We visited the most southern point of the United States, it’s closer to Cuba than to Miami. Our next stop was a state park called Ft. Zachary Taylor. Besides the beautiful beach, there is a civil war fort. It was so neat to go through the fort and see the cannons and the amazing structure of the fort itself. Back on the ship that night was formal night and we saw a great comedy/music act that evening.

Day 3: This was our first sea day. It was so wonderful just to soak up some sun, enjoy the pool, and relax! We ate delicious food and saw a show that evening that combined a bunch of favorite Broadway musicals. We also watched a funny love and marriage show.

Day 4: I can’t tell you how beautiful the water is in Cozumel. We took a little risk and booked an excursion from a private company. It was a great deal and we figured it was worth trying it out to save that much money. We also had plenty of time to get back to the ship when the excursion was done. Our excursion included off beach snorkeling, fajita style lunch (yum!), open jeep tour around the coast of the island, and visit to Punta Sur Eco Park. We also thought that we would be taking a tour of the smaller ruins on the island called San Gervasio, but because of some scheduling issues (that we were unaware of until that day) we were going on a tequila tour. The snorkeling was a blast, we saw a sting ray, star fish, many other fish, lobsters and beautiful corals and sand! The Eco Park was pretty neat too. There was a gorgeous light house we climbed up (all 130 steps!). The view at the top was breath taking! There were tons of lizards and some small ruins we were able to see. There were also salt water crocodiles! Driving around the island in the jeep with the wind blowing our hair and the sun on our skin was amazing! The island was so beautiful! Needless to say, we would have skipped out on the tequila tour and seen more ruins, but it was out of our control. Back on the ship we loved a juggling act! It was amazing and the performer was very funny too!

Day 5: Another sea day and last day on the ship. Again we took advantage of getting some warm sun. I also signed up to take a sushi class. I know the basics of making sushi, but it was really fun to see some new recipes and styles of rolling/cutting/plating. Alex and I really enjoyed the delicious sushi lunch that was included with the class. That evening we enjoyed our last meal in the dining room and the goodbye show. There was an aerial acrobatics show that was spectacular and also the flag presentation. Each crew member was announced by country. It is amazing to see all the countries working on the cruise ship.

 

Day 6: We got off the ship and checked into our hotel that was nearby. Another needed nap later and we were off to the beach for the day. The beach was gorgeous. It has nice sand and fun waves that we played in most of the afternoon. It was an adventure getting there and back on the public bus system but we made it. That night we had dinner at TGI Fridays and saw the new Spiderman Movie. That night we went to sleep ready to be back home with Ellie, but so grateful for our fabulous vacation!

It seems that our trip went by so quickly, but we think about it all the time! We had such a great time just being together, enjoying conversation, and seeing a beautiful part of the world we had never been to before!