Hi guys! So I had a poll on my Instagram story of which post y'all wanted this week and a majority of you guys chose my cruise story so here it is.I hope y'all enjoy.
Day 1
We'll start with the day after I became engaged (maybe one day I'll do a proposal story) So that morning I was so excited yet nervous so needless to say I didn't sleep much that night yet my new fiance who at the time was working the night shift, was out cold. I decided to be sweet and let him sleep in so I sat and looked out our window. The view from our room overlooked the port and y'all watching the cruise ships pull in was something magical. Yeah, that may seem dramatic but I don't care because I swear it was.
Well after he woke up, we ate breakfast, and I repacked, I realized that I had no idea what I was going to wear. Now your outfit that you wear to board the boat is actually important because not only is this the picture that follows you around for your entire cruise but you also take really cute pictures. I had planned on getting us couple shirts before we left but between midterms and work, I didn't have the time. So while I was in the bathroom getting ready, my fiance says "hey babe what are you wearing today?" I come out of the bathroom to see him holding a pink shirt for me and him in a black shirt that says "Together Since 2013". If I don't mention it enough in this post, I swear I have the SWEETEST fiance.
So after rushing down to the lobby to catch our van ride to the port, getting to the port and dropping off our luggage and praying that I see it again, we were finally getting ready to board. As we finally made it through the obstacles and maze-like rope lines we were finally in line to take our picture. After getting our picture taken we were finally allowed to board the boat.
Y'all that boat was GORGEOUS! If you are debating on which Carnival boat to choose, I 100% recommend the Carnival Magic. Our rooms weren't going to be ready for a little bit so my cruise loving fiance took me on the grand tour. So we went everywhere with our carry on's. I swear my favorite part of the tour was how the elevators were all being used so they could load our luggage into our rooms so my sweet fiance volunteered (and yes he did volunteer because I would've totally carried my luggage even though it would've been a struggle) up all the flights of stairs. We explored the entire back half of the boat and by the time we made it back to the 7th deck our room was ready.
Our room was the cutest little thing ya ever did see. I am very thankful we had a balcony (that thing saved my seasick self so many nights) We stayed in the room until we had our safety drill. After that wonderful ear piercing time, it was FINALLY time for dinner. Y'all I was starving at this point and I am shocked I didn't pass out. So I have to backtrack but leading up to the cruise I was working out and eating the healthiest I ever have. This also meant cutting out a majority of carbs. So when our amazing waiter out that assorted break basket in front of me, you already know it was game on. For my appetizer, I had the strawberry soup. You guys, if you're like me and you like your ice cream melted then this dish is for you. For my main course I had a chicken dish and for the most important dish, dessert. I had a slice of strawberry cake. Everything was A-MAZ-ING!
Now to further my point of how amazing and sweet my fiance is, our dining hall was located down the hallway which past the photography station. Every time we would pass the station I would see these precious photos of couples all over the boat. I pointed out a few to my fiance and he said would you want to do that? "Well of course, but-" I swear I didn't even finish my sentence and we had an appointment for our first ever engagement picture session tomorrow before dinner. As excited as I was for our pictures, I was also kinda bummed because I can kinda do my makeup but my hair, ha! He said let's go up to the hair salon (y'all I didn't even know they had such thing on a boat) and see what they say. So after finally finding the salon, did I mention it was in the very front of the boat and not the back of the boat where we were looking, I was able to talk to a person. While I was talking to someone and getting hair advice, my fiance booked a time for me 30 minutes before our pictures to get my hair done. I know, he is seriously the best.
That night my fiance wanted to go to the casino to play craps. Y'all I watched him play that game for 7 days straight and I still couldn't tell you how to play. But anyways, he was doing really good which meant we'd be there for a while so I decided to walk around and find the cheapest machines I could find. After I walked around I came back to the table and decided to just watch him instead and admire my ring in the casino lighting which made my ring look more sparkly than it already looks. And then, tragedy struck! After closely admiring my not even one-day-old ring, I noticed that one of the diamonds was missing. At this point, my stomach had dropped and I could feel the tears building up but I FORBID to cry at that casino. I debated this for maybe 5 seconds. I said babe, uh my diamond is missing. Now keep in mind this dude was in the middle of an intense game and I could tell because he was sipping on jack and coke so I wasn't trying to interrupt but I knew I had to. He calmly took my hand to see the ring, looked down at the table to see if the diamond was by any chance on the table and told me to go put the ring back in the box and put it in the safe. Okay, at the time I thought he was beyond ticked at me but I can safely assure you that he was not mad at me at all. But you know me being all dramatic and all I ran back to my room and had the most dramatic Disney princess in distress meltdown I have ever had. I mean I like fell to the bed and everything. I tried so hard to call my mom but ya know being out in the middle of the freakin' ocean (come on Riley, what were you thinking?) I had no signal.
After a while, I seemed to have cried off all my mascara so I decided to be brave and head back to the casino to. Now I don't know about y'all but when someone asks me are you okay after I had already been crying I start crying all over again. So what do y'all think happens when my fiance asked if I was okay? To prevent the potential embarrassment that I could've caused by the second round of tears, I grabbed his jack and coke out of his hands and literally started to chug it down to fight back the tears. Now I need you guys to know I am not a girl who likes drinks hard drinks like that but it that moment that's all I could do. Now what makes this better is the whole time while I am chugging his drink and was saying in the sweetest way possible "babe, I am not mad. It's not your fault. I got it fully insured. When we get home we'll go get it fixed." Now being the emotional wreck that I already was, my sad tears have now turned to happy tears, I guess yet I was still chugging his jack and coke. All while still in the casino I should add.
Later that night, we were both starving. Unfortunately, at midnight, there is no open restaurants or buffets. However, we discovered the best thing to cure the emotional wreck that I was, a 24-hour pizza bar. So that's what I did. I ate my sorrows away in white pizza and we sat at the bar where I drank strawberry daiquiris. And that my friends are how I ended the first day of the cruise.
Day 2
Did I mention that night I lowkey cried myself to sleep? Lol, maybe being tired and drinking alcohol was not my best bet. Anyways, I once again woke up early and now very bloated from last night's find so I decided to go run. I left a note for my fiance on my side of the bed and I threw myself together and I decided to go find the outdoor track. Y'all, I ran 2 miles that morning. I should also add that tonight was our first formal night and our engagement pictures. Also, the dress I was choosing to wear was a little tighter in the stomach area and I am the type of girl who can look at a carb and bloat. So that run did me very well. I was also able to talk to my mom about everything that had happened last night so I just felt better all around.
Once I got back to the room to my still sleeping beauty, I decided to wake him up. It was 10 a.m after all. We looked around the room for the diamond and then we figured we should go look around the casino for it. Well with no luck and looking like fools for swishing the carpet back and forth for hopes it will magically appear we decided to go get breakfast.
After breakfast, we decided to go look around at the boat's stores. Y'all everything on the boat is free of tax, including the wide variety of brand name makeup and the wide variety of Victoria Secret lotions and perfumes. After I picked up a few goodies to help with doing my makeup for later, I decided I should go get some sun before our pictures. My fiance who could care less with laying still on a chair and baking in the sun decided to go to the casino. I used this opportunity to go to the adult only deck on the boat to go tan in the fancy chairs. For those of you who don't know, I don't look my age. I can sometimes pass for 16. I'm not even being dramatic, I'm being series. Although I never got ID'ed, I got some really strange looks and I never did get asked if I wanted a drinky drink from the waiters who were walking around but it's fine, whatever, I'm not petty about it.
After I ran back to the room to change it was time for my hair appointment. I did go ahead and do my makeup before because I knew I was leaving myself less than 30 minutes to get ready and let's are honest, 30 minutes is not enough time for good makeup. Before I left for my appointment I went to the casino and dropped off my Apple Watch with my fiance so he had the time. I told him to head back to the room at least 45 minutes before our pictures so he could get ready that way we wouldn't be late.
My hair appointment was so magical. The salon reminded me of a place that only celebrities can go to and I felt like the guy that did my hair straight up curled my hair in less than 30 minutes. And they were good curls too! Unfortunately, though I was already running late and at this point, I had maybe 15 minutes to get back to the room, change into my dress and heels and get to the photo place. There was no time to catch an elevator so I took my flip flops off and like Cinderella at the stroke of midnight, I ran down almost 6 flights stairs. Once I got back to the room I swear I threw my dress on and then we went down another 2 flights of stairs to getting to our picture place.
The photographers on the boat are amazing! They are so sweet, so funny and I should add so talented. During our pictures, we went all around the boat, including the outside where the wind was whipping due to us being at sea. My once beautiful tight curls were now windblown curls and the heat was not messing around the day. Bless my fiance's heart in his fancy blue suit. After our session, we asked our photographer if he could take one of two preview pictures on my phone and he did and you guys they turned out amazing as you can see.
After pictures, it was finally time for dinner and thank goodness it was because we haven't eaten since breakfast. Formal night dinners are amazing! Everyone looks so fancy, the tables look fancy, heck even the food is fancy. The best part is when the waiters perform their dance. It reminds me of the polar express hot chocolate scene. For my appetizer I had a spinach salad, for dinner, I had the salmon (also amazing, btw) and for dessert, I had a slice of espresso cake with a side of fruit (because I have to keep things healthy). Oh and of course I had a glass of sparkling rose, you know to match the fanciness.
After dinner, we went back to the room to change into something comfier and we headed back to the casino. My fiance suggested I should try a new drink other than wine. I decided to try the chocolatetini.
I got through half of it and then I started experiencing horrible cramps. I couldn't figure it out. I actually couldn't even finish the drink because of the cramps. We eventually went to the hot tub that night in hopes that maybe the warm water would help ease the cramps. We decided to call it an early night because the next day we had our first excursion at Grand Cayman.
Day 3
Do y'all remember those horrible cramps I had from the following night? Well, I decided to look up how a chocolatetini is made because I was good up until that point. You guys, a chocolotetini is made with a CREAM BASE LIQUOR! What can't this girl have? CREAM! So after feeling some relief that I wasn't lowkey dying it was ready to get ready for our first excursion. This then brought another new round of nerves. After looking out the balcony and seeing that we were anchored out in the water and that we would have to take a smaller boat to the dock, my stomach was not happy. I hate small boats, especially small boats in the middle of the ocean. I easily get seasick. Luckily I had my sea band and a very supportive fiance who kept constantly reminding me that boat we were going one was not as small as it seemed and I was not going to get sick.
I loved the process of how you got to board the small boat. They called everyone by their deck number and you literally had maybe 5 minutes to get to deck zero and find a seat on the boat that, I'll admit wasn't as small as I thought. During the waiting process, I was munching on dry special k cereal and drinking diet sprite to settle the nerves in my stomach. Once we got on the boat I sat very still because you know sitting very still on a boat will keep you from getting seasick according to myself. Once we on the boat, across the water and finally on land, I felt amazingly better.
Grand Cayman is a beautiful island. We didn't book any activities because of how short our time was on the island so we just shopped, which was perfect for me. We went into almost every store and we even found a Harley Davidson. As we were walking around the island I couldn't help but admire how clear the water was. I am used to water at Myrtle Beach or better known as Dirty Myrtle so y'all could only imagine how in aw I was of the clear water. After going to all the stores we were both getting hungry so we decided to board the small boat to get on our boat. I will admit that the small boat was not as bad as I imagined and I must admit I actually kinda enjoyed it.
Once we got back on our boat we noticed a good amount of people walking around with fishbowls filled with bright colorful drinks. After further investigation, we found out the Red Frog Pub was having a happy hour and all of their fishbowl punches were half off. So, of course, we had to go get one. We took it to the lobby and sat and sipped away on our fishbowl.
Well after about 30 minutes and who knows how many sips later, I felt done! I could've fallen asleep right there and possibly could've puked. I decided to head back to the room and drug up on Pepto Bismol and take a nap. Well, little did I know that alcohol has the power to make me insanely sleepy and extremely nauseous so ya know, that's good to know.
I honestly don't remember much of that night because of how sick I felt. What I do remember though was how amazing I felt after my shower and the fact the I was able to pull it together and decide to start drafting some wedding plans. My fiance was playing in the casino so I decided to order a NON-alcoholic beverage and go outside in a chair and explore Pinterest. Eventually I needed a refill on my cranberry a sprite concoction and I knew my fiance would start looking for me soon so I went back inside to find him. We then decided to head back to the room because tomorrow was our second excursion in Honduras. When we got back to the room we discovered an invitation from the casino that invited us to a VIP dinner at the all exclusive Italian restaurant aboard the boat. This meant that tomorrow was going to be an amazingly better day.
Stay tuned for part 2 friends!
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