It’s been just over a year since Sunshine and I made our way down to the Caribbean on our first cruise together. It wasn’t just an amazing time. It wasn’t just an incredible time. It was flat-out one of the most incredible experiences we’ve ever had, both individually and as a couple.
Sunshine had never been out of the country before and I hadn’t been on a “real” vacation with a significant other since…well…ever. The trips I took with my ex-wife were either to Ontario or somewhere that was equally depressing (mind you, we did go to Florida once but we argued the entire time and slept in separate beds…NOT fun).
To say that the two of us have been desperate to go back would be a tremendous understatement. I believe what we have is similar to Pandora Depression Syndrome.
Wait…what??
Yeah, that’s right. It’s a “medical condition” that appeared about a year or so ago when people who had seen Avatar subsequently fell into a deep depression at their inability to access a world in reality as beautiful, entrancing and spiritual as Pandora, the mythical planet depicted in the film (it was also one of the explanations for people watching an average movie with incredible special effects repeatedly in theatres). So while not a completely similar situation, needless to say we’ve been hankering to go back to some absolutely AMAZING locations.
We’ve got Carnival Depression Syndrome.
While not technically diagnosed by anybody, this is what I believe we’ve got. I mean, it’s the only rational explanation. Well…not really rational, but it’s an explanation nonetheless.
We think we MIGHT be able to pull it off this year. And if we do, we definitely want to do another Carnival cruise. Here’s a recap of what we did last year that made it so bloody memorable for us…
This was taken in Miami, Florida on the morning we left on the Carnival Glory. How beautiful is Sunshine in this pic? How lucky am I???
This is the view of Miami from the deck of the Carnival Glory as we were leaving for the Caribbean. To live here would be a dream.
Listen...I've got THREE of these bad-boys and Sunshine has two. I mean, we cleaned up!! Y'see, Carnival gives out a "ship on a stick" for contests and things like that. It's just a fun, cheap souvenir for people to take home.
While taking a taxi tour around Nassau, Bahamas...our driver simply pulled over next to a residential neighbourhood so we could take a photo. Can you imagine living in this part of the world?
Locked up in the Bahamas! I mean, what other time in your life can imagine getting inside a 200 year old jail cell in the heart of the Bahamas just for a photo op?
We got a towel animal every single night when we returned to our cabin. Unless your significant other is going to learn this special skill, you're not going to find it anywhere else.
Imagine sitting on the Lido deck of a beautiful cruise ship on a gorgeous sunny day. You're casually relaxing with a book next to the window and you look out at the harbour next to you. THIS is what you're looking at.
Paradise? Yes...I'd say so! A picture from the top of Paradise Point via the St. Thomas Skyride in the U.S.Virgin Islands.
This is the view from the top of Paradise Point in the U.S. Virgin Islands. That is our cruise ship, the Carnival Glory. How beautiful is this?
We were up early to get some exercise on the ship's walking track as we entered San Juan, Puerto Rico. Someone was kind enough to offer to take our picture as we sailed in. I can't tell you how much I appreciate this picture with the sunrise behind us over Old San Juan. It's not something you'd get a picture of every day. Y'know...unless you LIVED in San Juan.
This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip. It's Sunshine dipping her toes in to the ocean by San Juan, Puerto Rico. We were on a bus tour and only stopped at this beach for a few minutes, but the photo ops were incredible.
Here it was St. Patrick's Day (hence the green shirts) and we were at Castillo San Felipe del Morro in Old San Juan. When you see a big grassy hill and you're not really doing anything else and Sunshine "dares" you to roll down the hill with her, what are you supposed to do? LIVE FOR THE MOMENT!!
It's not every day that you get to walk up and down cobblestone streets. San Juan was absolutely incredible to experience.
Where else can you arrive on a cruise ship to a gorgeous, deserted beach only to find that it's 100% reserved for YOU ONLY?? Carnival owns a section of Grand Turk in the Turks & Caicos islands. We arrived to see hundreds of empty beach chairs and towels. I'm not much of a beach person, but DANG this was cool.
I'm not much of a beach person and my skin makes me not much of a sun person, either...so this was my view on the beach. Y'know, lounging in a chair looking at the crystal clear blue waters and surrounded by palm trees isn't the worst thing in the world to experience. At all.
This is probably my favorite shot from the entire cruise. Gorgeous day, beautiful beach, amazing waters, palm trees off to the side, the Carnival Glory right behind us, and two smiles that have been frozen in time.
It's not every day one gets to not only sing an Elton John song in a karaoke performance, but to actually dress up like him and perform in front of a couple hundred people!
After performing with other "famous artists" in a big production number, we were out in the lobby area taking photos with cruise ship guests. I think Sunshine became even MORE impressed with me knowing random strangers wanted to get their pictures taken with me! A star is born!!
As we entered Miami at the end of our cruise, this was how we felt. And to be honest, it's been the same feeling ever since. WE NEED TO GO BACK!!!
