My Floating Vacation

I love being married to a photographer. It guarantees that every time we go on a vacation we’ll come back with epic photos, which is just awesome. The downside — he has a million photos to edit, plus a month booked full of shoots so getting around to editing said vacation photos just doesn’t always happen in a speedy way.

I’m sure you all have been waiting on pins and needles to see our vacation photos from our April cruise, that the suspense has been killing you, right?

Did you even know that we went on vacation in April?

Back in March when I was at the height on being buried in work I begged J for a vacation. I had a few stipulations: no hiking (like the original idea of going to the Grand Canyon), no spending endless days wandering big cities (like our other ideas of going to Portland or Washington DC), must have a pool or beach available for hours of lounging. J isn’t much for laying around for a straight week (we do live at the beach, after all, and have plenty of Saturdays when we lay on the beach for hours at a time…until J gets board and grabs his surfboard). We also didn’t want to spend a ton of moola seeing as last year we spent a small fortune on our epic vacation in Patagonia so in the end, a cruise seemed like the perfect answer — lounging around for me and daytime adventures for J (and me).

Despite all the bad press they had been getting, we booked an 8-day cruise on Carnival (bad press equals great deals), packed a couple of flashlights and snacks (just in case) and set sail for the Caribbean late April from Miami.

This was my 4th cruise and J’s first, and let me just say, the week was perfect. We relaxed, slept (lots), ate great food like lobster and alligator and all-you-can-eat ice cream, snorkeled, swam, wandered, laughed and just plain enjoyed each other’s company.

Our cruise took us to the Bahamas, St. Thomas, San Juan (Puerto Rico) and Grand Turk. Each place was beautiful and exciting in it’s own right, although I think that San Juan and Grand Turk stand out as favorites to us. Our day in San Juan also happened to be our wedding anniversary and couldn’t have been more perfect. We spent the day exploring the nooks and crannies of Old San Juan with it’s blue cobblestone streets, giant forts and outside cafes. It felt like a piece of Europe in the Caribbean so we were in heaven.

Grand Turk was the complete opposite to San Juan. This tiny island (part of the Turks and Caicos islands) was all turquoise waters and palm trees. We decided on a day of snorkeling and swimming with sting rays. I was extra excited because our little boat included a dog who loved the water as much as I did.

So because I’m sure you’d rather see photos than listen to me talk about it, here’s our splendid little cruise vacation. Because a week on a boat in the Caribbean is just what the doctor ordered.

In Nassau, Bahamas: Jason, drenched from our scooter ride in a downpour. Plus, who does love a horse with a straw hat?!

St. Thomas, USVI: Enjoying a lovely day in Maegan’s Bay, voted one of the world’s most beautiful beaches.

Beautiful Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. Notice the cobblestone streets — the bricks were blue!

A nun + a motorcycle. It’s just fun.

Sunset on the shipYou know you’re on the “Fun Ship” when you dance with your waiter to hip hop songs at dinnertime.

Beautiful Grand Turk

And finally, no vacation is complete without jumping pictures.