Caribbean Cruisin' & Barbados!

We made it to the ship, Royal Caribbean's Adventure of the Seas, by 3 pm on Easter Sunday and after what seemed like an eternity waiting in line after line to actually walk onto the ship we got to our room around 4:30. It felt great to finally be in our new home away from home and know that we could actually unpack our things and get comfie.

We decided at the last minute while booking to go ahead and upgrade to a balcony stateroom and we were so glad we did. It was so nice to wake up in the mornings and just pull back the curtain to a beautiful view of whatever island we were visiting that day. I could wake up to views like that any day. It is just breathtaking at times.

After we dropped off our things we had planned to go exploring the ship but decided it was time for Trey to check with the doctor on board to look at his leg. I had been telling him he needed a tetanus shot since I was positive he hadn't had one since he was a kid and you need one every 10 years. I knew he had scraped his leg bad on a metal step but you know Trey. It just wasn't going to happen. However, by the time we got on the ship he was really worried about the color of the skin around his cut and it was starting to look infected. Turns out- it was. And what do you know, Dr. made him get a tetanus shot!

The doctor also gave him some medicine to take for the infection and the next day was our one day on the cruise where we were at sea. We laid out by the pool all day and Trey got fried on his back. I just couldn't understand how though. I had put so much sunscreen on him. He's not usually that sensitive to the sun and then it hit me- the medicine! We decided he should stop taking it since we'd be in the sun the rest of the week but sadly the damage was done on Trey's back. He had to get sunscreen with SPF 30 and lather it on the rest of the trip. :( Needless to say, this trip was just not starting out good for Trey. He handled it like a champ though.

After exploring a little after breakfast we picked the most perfect spot to lay out on the deck because the ship's calypso band came out and started playing and we had a good view of the band and all the people dancing to the music. They were so good and it was so relaxing to lay out while listening to tunes like Bob Marley songs and our new favorite- She's Royal by Tarrus Riley. We heard that song so many times throughout the week on different islands and loved it. It's the perfect song for the islands.

We had so much fun exploring the ship on our at sea day and couldn't believe how much there was to do on board. It was truly overwhelming and a little bizarre at times. It definitely took us a few days to get used to the cruise mentality. It's just a whole different breed of people and things to do than the land trips we were used to. Not bad- just different.

That night was the first formal night on the ship and I love any excuse to get all dressed up. I had finally convinced Trey to bring his suit before we left Atlanta and I'm glad he did. People get really dressed up! It was nice to get a couple of good pictures and we had fun after dinner dancing the night away in one of the cruise's bars to Latin music and its nightclub. I love dancing so I had been really looking forward to our nights out on the ship. Trey was a trooper too and danced with me every night (except for one I think)... though some nights took a little more coaxing than others.

On day 3 we woke up in Bridgetown, Barbados- our first port of call! I had been looking forward to Barbados for months and was so excited for the Catamaran sail we had booked. Too bad the weather was overcast and rainy throughout the day but it didn't stop us from having an amazing time on the boat and snorkeling with the sea turtles.

It was the best excursion we did all week, I think in part because the crew on board were so much fun. They made sure all of us were having a good time by never letting us run out of rum punch and kept the reggae and calypso music jamming in the background all day. It was kinda funny how every time the boat would stop and they'd make an announcement about how long we would have in the water, etc. the captain would always end with "and the bar remains open." ha We took advantage, as most people did. It was a fun day despite the torrential downpour that was waiting for us on the way back to port. I would love to go back to Barbados one day though. I could tell it definitely had more to offer.

Snorkeling with Sea Turtles

Trey and I with the Captain

That night Trey and I hit up the casino on board to try out our luck. We had played the 1 cent slots in Puerto Rico at the hotel there and had fun for almost an hour on about 5 dollars a person so we thought we could do that same on board. Turns out, we didn't have any luck. We had blown through about 30 in 5 minutes and then lost the thrill for playing. We called it a night (after a brief stop for a few dances in the nightclub of course ;) and went to bed to rest up for our next port of call the next day, St. Kitts!

Casino Time

Next post... St. Kitts!