FloridaCruiseGirl1210

Bon Voyage All! Will update at the end! 

So far this ship is VERY similar to the Mariner (yes, same class I know). BF is within 2 drinks of paying for the first day of the DX. This will def be doable... sustainable...who knows?
Since this is a 8-night sailing it seems that they have dropped the discounted price to $65 for the first.
 

Bon Voyage All! Will update at the end! 

We have made it to Fort Lauderdale! This mornings flight was painless except for the fact that my feet were trying to bust out of my shoes the entire flight (note to self: get compression socks). Also minimal if any sleep on the flight...
Off for some breakfast at Joe's Cafe, we will see how it is...
We had a pretty epic sunrise while leaving Orlando...
 

I am on break at work only 3 and a half hours left. I got some solid sleep before work and finished the majority of my packing! Just add toothbrush! 
I got my early bird check in A25. The bf checked in normal A33... lmao
I'm so ready for vacay
 

Bon Voyage All! Will update at the end! 

Bon Voyage All! Will update at the end! 

Hello Everyone, 
I am going to attempt a not-so-live blog. I am Anti-Internet Package so once we embark this will probably run dormant for the 8 days. I booked this 8-night Eastern Caribbean cruise 500+ days ago.
Yes you read that right, 500+ days ago. I booked this cruise before my BF even knew if he liked cruising...brave move I know. I got this for a killer steal since I booked it SO early (less than $500pp). 
More about our trip
Day 1- Port Everglades
Day 2- At Sea
Day 3- Labadee (7am-4pm)
Day 4- San Juan (1pm-10pm)
Day 5- St. Thomas (8am-6pm)
Day 6- St. Maarten ? (7am-4pm)
Day 7- At Sea
Day 8- At Sea
Day 9- Disembarkation ?
This cruise we have three excursions booked, two through the cruise line and one separately. We have the Zipline booked in Labadee for early that morning so we can enjoy our Labadoozies on the beach the rest of the day. In St. Maarten, we are taking a tour with Bernards Tours to see both the Dutch and French side, we are not doing the one with the beach stop. And after we disembark we are planning on doing the Airboat Tour plus drop-off at FLL, which I'm hoping doesn't get cancelled. In San Juan, I think we are going to walk around go to the forts and then Barrachina's (for pina coladas) and then finding Mofungo. In St. Thomas, I have no idea what we are doing, neither of us are big beach people, so any suggestions are greatly appreciated! 
This cruise seems to be pretty packed as when I checked the last time the only room available was the 1-bedroom Owner's Suite. 
Even though we are Orlando, we are making a brave move and flying to FLL on cruise morning... I know, don't yell at me, however I just started a new job as did the BF and neither of us could get an EXTRA day off on top of the cruise... Matter of fact, I work until 3:30am on cruise day... and we need to be in our Uber to the airport (or at the airport) by 4:50am. We live very very close. This is doable. 
Also on this cruise we will be Team DX! So excited, on our last sailing on Mariner of the Seas, I had a total of 1 drink on board because I was afraid, I would hate it and then be out that money. This will be our trip to experiment with new alcohols and drinks. I am also VERY excited about having the specialty coffee items as I don't do Hot Coffee, and the last trip was struggle bus. 
This will be my longest sailing/vacation EVER and will be new ports for all of the locations. 
As for packing, we did a practice pack for the cruise, knowing my schedule would be bonkers leading up to, about two months ago and from there we made a thorough spreadsheet with every single item we packed, in what bag and if we needed anything else (i.e., luggage scale, waterproof pouches, etc.). We also photographed all the items in each bag so we could remember how we packed them... Yes a bit nuts, but so far it has been really handy. We have also rented a DJI Osmo Action for use on the trip. It was about $90 for a full month rental, and we got it so we could both have an action camera on the zipline, we are planning on using head mounts, per suggestions here so we can do hands free. 
Leave any questions, comments or suggestions for what to do in St. Thomas! Very excited to try out this whole, not-so-live blog. You may even get some vlogs from this trip being posted if I can convince the BF to let me post them here ?
7 days to go! 

Bon Voyage All! Will update at the end! 

Bon Voyage All! Will update at the end! 

So far this ship is VERY similar to the Mariner (yes, same class I know). BF is within 2 drinks of paying for the first day of the DX. This will def be doable... sustainable...who knows?
Since this is a 8-night sailing it seems that they have dropped the discounted price to $65 for the first.
 

So far this ship is VERY similar to the Mariner (yes, same class I know). BF is within 2 drinks of paying for the first day of the DX. This will def be doable... sustainable...who knows?
Since this is a 8-night sailing it seems that they have dropped the discounted price to $65 for the first.
 

Food at Joe's Cafe was pretty good and ironically directly next to La Bamba ?
Now in the terminal waiting for them to give us the all clear to board... Terminal 29 is quite different than the new RC terminal we sailed out of last year. 
Oh well...

So far this ship is VERY similar to the Mariner (yes, same class I know). BF is within 2 drinks of paying for the first day of the DX. This will def be doable... sustainable...who knows?
Since this is a 8-night sailing it seems that they have dropped the discounted price to $65 for the first.
 

We have made it to Fort Lauderdale! This mornings flight was painless except for the fact that my feet were trying to bust out of my shoes the entire flight (note to self: get compression socks). Also minimal if any sleep on the flight...
Off for some breakfast at Joe's Cafe, we will see how it is...
We had a pretty epic sunrise while leaving Orlando...
 

I am on break at work only 3 and a half hours left. I got some solid sleep before work and finished the majority of my packing! Just add toothbrush! 
I got my early bird check in A25. The bf checked in normal A33... lmao
I'm so ready for vacay
 

We have made it to Fort Lauderdale! This mornings flight was painless except for the fact that my feet were trying to bust out of my shoes the entire flight (note to self: get compression socks). Also minimal if any sleep on the flight...
Off for some breakfast at Joe's Cafe, we will see how it is...
We had a pretty epic sunrise while leaving Orlando...
 

I am on break at work only 3 and a half hours left. I got some solid sleep before work and finished the majority of my packing! Just add toothbrush! 
I got my early bird check in A25. The bf checked in normal A33... lmao
I'm so ready for vacay
 

We have made it to Fort Lauderdale! This mornings flight was painless except for the fact that my feet were trying to bust out of my shoes the entire flight (note to self: get compression socks). Also minimal if any sleep on the flight...
Off for some breakfast at Joe's Cafe, we will see how it is...
We had a pretty epic sunrise while leaving Orlando...
 

I am on break at work only 3 and a half hours left. I got some solid sleep before work and finished the majority of my packing! Just add toothbrush! 
I got my early bird check in A25. The bf checked in normal A33... lmao
I'm so ready for vacay
 

We have made it to Fort Lauderdale! This mornings flight was painless except for the fact that my feet were trying to bust out of my shoes the entire flight (note to self: get compression socks). Also minimal if any sleep on the flight...
Off for some breakfast at Joe's Cafe, we will see how it is...
We had a pretty epic sunrise while leaving Orlando...
 

I am on break at work only 3 and a half hours left. I got some solid sleep before work and finished the majority of my packing! Just add toothbrush! 
I got my early bird check in A25. The bf checked in normal A33... lmao
I'm so ready for vacay
 

Travel alert done!
Apartment so locked box for mail
no light timers bc apartment!
Fresh perspective ✔ Happy go lucky attitude: Confirmed! 
 

2 days to go until we board... I.e. one "full" night sleep lol
We are nearly completely packed, just finished charging the electronics and some last minute meds and toiletries (I didn't cruise with my electric toothbrush last time and man did I miss it). Here is the waiting game... I purchased Southwest Earlybird Check-in for myself (so i can get on and hold a seat for the BF) so I should get that assignment in the next few hours. I tried to see my chiropractor today but he is out of the office all today which is very odd, so hopefully he will be in tomorrow...
I did put in a last minute RoyalUp bid for an oceanview balcony, but realized after that our cruise was pulled from most websites, so I'm assuming we are fully booked. I'm not too concerned was thinking I might get some last minute magic. 
We realized we forgot to pack pants for this sailing... for ice skating... hopefully they have the BFs skate size....if not, I guess I'll be going solo. 
I was talking to some local Puerto Ricans last night at work and they even recommended Raices for Mofungo so I must be getting solid info from this blog ;)
I'm too the point also in the cruise where I'm eerily on schedule and I'm afraid I'm missing something "MAJOR". 
Let's just hope these next nearly 18 hours of work will go quickly... fingers crossed! 

Travel alert done!
Apartment so locked box for mail
no light timers bc apartment!
Fresh perspective ✔ Happy go lucky attitude: Confirmed!