Bahama Cruisin'

Hey Friends and Family!

Tyler and I went on another trip, and this time we hit up the Bahamas! A few months ago, my sister in law, Courtney, called up all the siblings asking if we would want to go on a cruise with her and my brother, Jared. We, of course, were in! We love family time, and we love vacations, so we said yes pretty immediately. It also worked out great, because the timing of the cruise was the weekend after finals week, so I knew that I was going to be needing a vacation! Caleb and Becca were also able to say yes, so we planned it, and last week it happened!

We arrived in Fort Lauderdale, FL late on Thursday night. The next morning, we ran across the street for a couple hours of beach time before we would be meeting up with the siblings. So, the last few times that we have been at the beach, it has been a California beach. Well, let me just refresh everyones memories that Florida beaches are completely different! First off, they are WARM! Its like wading into a luke warm bath. Secondly, they are clear! Tyler and I threw our goggles on and were exploring the ocean. The beach that we were at didn't have any waves, so we got pretty far out and some some ocean wonders. I think a Florida beach trip is on the new annual to-do list.

After cleaning up and meeting with the family, we headed over to the cruise ship. We were cruising with Royal Caribbean on the Majesty of the Seas vessel. This was Courtney and Jared's first time cruising, and it was the second time cruising for the rest of us. However, it was everyone's first time on this cruise line.

Aboard the boat, with the Miami skyline in the background. 

We spent our first night on the boat filling ourselves with all the you can eat meals, watching the family comedy show, and exploring the boat. The next day we arrived at our first port, which is Cococay, Bahamas. It is a private island owned by Royal Caribbean. We took a shuttle boat over to the island. We went snorkeling and just played beach bums all day. It was the best.

While on the island, Jared and Courtney found a more private beach area. Once we met up with them, we had lunch and then they took us their discovered spot. We took a little nature hike in our flip flops and ended up on the perfect beach. The Bahamas are a dream! 

Jared & Courtney

Caleb & Becca

Tyler & Rifka 

That night we hit up dinner and some karaoke. It by far was the funniest, most entertaining karaoke that I have ever watched in my entire life. Just an example story, a gangly tall, older man, wearing high top socks, shorts and a floral shirt, and basically just missing his fanny pack, got up and sang "I'm too Sexy for my shirt" in a demon voice. I'm still mad at myself for not pulling out my phone to record it. It was hilarious and unexpected. 

The next day, we arrived at Nassau, Bahamas. We rented 3 mopeds and drove around the entire island. Truly, it was so much fun! It was amazing to drive around the little roads, and the whole time we felt like we were on the movie, Roman Holiday with Audrey Hepburn. It was so much fun!

We went to Atlantis, which is this large hotel/casino/mall on the island. It is uppity-uppity and it a large tourist attraction.

Afterwards, we found the Straw Market, which is just this huge building filled with little stands where locals sell their crafts and souvenir items. We also drove past all the gorgeous beaches and found a delicious restaurant on the backside of the island. It was the best. I don't think that there could have been a better way to spend our day. We finished it off by stopping at one of the gorgeous beaches and swimming. Both Tyler and Becca found some starfish in the ocean. We also had fun exploring the bottom of the ocean and found a huge lobster. It was the perfect day.        

Jared & Court

We bought some coconut milk.... of course!

That night we hit up dinner again for the last time, and then stayed for 10 minutes of the comedy show and then hit up karaoke again. It was a great trip.

Our dinner waiters (who were the nicest guys!)

The next day we had breakfast and then departed the ship. Caleb and Becca had to head back down to Orlando to meet back up with their kids. It was so fun seeing them again and spending time with them. Jared, Courtney, Tyler and I headed down to south beach just to check out it, drove past the temple, and then we hit up Dolphin Mall, which is probably the biggest mall I've ever been in within in the US. Afterwards we headed to the airport and split up to make it to our flights.

It was such a great trip! Thanks again Jared and Courtney for putting it together and making it happen! It definitely will need to happen again.

As always, thanks so much for reading and keeping up with our busy lives!

With love,