Thursday, December 15, 2011

Disneyland in California

So for the first time we went to Disneyland in California. Boy what a difference! The place feels so much smaller than 'the world'. I think that has to do with the fact the castle there is so small! Its Sleeping Beauty castle and its puny compared to Cinderella's in Florida! The set up is almost the same, they even have similar rides! I wanted to visit Disney during Christmas so we figured we would you know kill two birds and visit my brother in San Diego at the same time. San Diego was great, perfect weather and I miss it! I hate the cold weather of the north east but what can I do?

We went right after thanksgiving and missed 'peek' time which worked out great. The parks were not that full but I guess average. We were able to go on most rides without waiting more then 20 minutes. My goal was to see the parade.

The parade started at ' Its a small world' and ended at main street. The people there were really snobby and were 'holding' empty spaces for 'their coming' friends or family. It really kills me when people do that, its so not right!

In any event, no matter how many people deep the crowd was other people figured it was ok to just walk thru you like you were not standing there at all.

The parade was great as I thought it would be and I loved it. Maybe the one in Disney World would have been better since they have a 'seperate' event for the holidays which limit the amount of people at the parks.

California Adventure Park was good... we LOVED the Aladdin show - the genie was so hilarious we could not stop laughing! You gotta see that show. We had lunch with the princesses which was EXPENSIVE! All the other girls had dressed up like little princesses and well I totally flaked on dressing up my little girl but she didnt notice. We also forgot the autograph book! Talk about duh moment.

While the food was FANTASTIC the price was outrageous! And it was Off peak! It was $35 per person and my child was $25 I think. Now my husband and brother had a drink but the total bill for 5 people, including one child, with tax, gratuity and 10% discount for DVC - $240. The plus was we were seated right were the princesses came in. So it was announced who was coming in and she would walk in right to our table first! No it was Ariels Grotto so we saw her first, then out came Belle, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty (Aurora) and Snow White. The told us there are 5 princesses that vary but you always have Ariel so the other four could be any princess.

We got to see Phineas and Ferbs dance party. My little one got to dance with the fireside girls it was so fun. We got a free photo with pluto because of our Disney cards. We stayed to see World of Color which had technical difficulties and was delayed about 20 minutes. I think it was the first time I had ever seen technical difficulties at Disney.

There was also a lot of construction going on, apparently they are building Radiator Springs from Cars. Thats what I heard, I would love to see what that looks like.

I would so go again, but my heart is really in Disney World.

Friday, November 25, 2011

Traveling on Thanksgiving Day.

We were/are one of those crazy people that decided to travel on a holiday. Amazingly enough it was actually cheaper to travel on the actual holiday then the day before!

We had a flight at 10AM from White Plains NY connecting into Dulles in VA to Las Angels, CA.

I had never had a flight out of this airport before but it was an experience. The airport was small to say the least. We left to give ourselves 2 hours like you would normally but we got thru security to quickly, we were sitting at the gate which was a few feet from security! So now we had to sit for 2 hours waiting for the flight! lol.. we know better in the future.

The plane we took was so small its had propellers! You could feel the vibrations on your feet, it was the scariest flight I ever took. Now Im ok with flying, I just dont like take off, landing or turbulence. And this plane was rough for all of those parts! LOL.

The connection plane was a bit normal and besides a little turbulence we arrive early in LAX at 2:30 in the afternoon where we were picked up and drove down to San Diego. We didnt connect to San Diego because the flight prices were a little high.

The time difference was a little rough on us, waking up at 6:30 on the east coast and traveling to the west coast, we were so tired we went to be at 9pm PST! lol.

The air is drier here and the weather is nicer then in NY this time of year. Keep posted as I will post places we visit during our stay of course.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

San Diego CA

OK Ive been quiet lately. Have not been anywhere since August where we spent a few days in the blistering heat of Florida!

For Thanksgiving we planned San Diego, CA. How did that happen?

Well the spouses job was supposed to be 'closed' for that week. They were supposed to conserve money by closing. This was planned early in the summer and they placed a bunch of silly rules just in case. One of them was basically your out of luck if they decide to open and you planned a trip and it was not your 'vacation' week. They also put a little saying - they can choose to be open for clean up or something like that.

When the spouse mentioned this to me I said lets to to visit my brother in San Diego! Honestly I am tired of having to trek to the families in laws during the holidays. Lets be honest - we are a family of 5 and have the youngest kids. My nephews in the area are both over 19 so they are not kids anymore. When I first got together with the in laws the holidays were celebrated at their home every year. It didnt bother me since the whole family was in the same area. Its been 10 years, both parents have passed away, the kids are older and no one 'has money' so no one gets gifts anymore except the kids. Who has the kids? Me! So every holiday we have to take the normally 1 hour ride that becomes 3 hours during the holiday to spend it with the family.

So we planned San Diego to get away and not have to deal with the family gatherings. We are flying out on Thanksgiving day! Call me crazy it was the best price for flights and flying into Las Angeles were my brother will pick us up and drive back to San Diego. We are staying a week with him and he is cooking for us! We are in trouble. lol.

We planned 2 days in Disneyland, and its our first time so it should be fun.

I cant wait to get outta here!

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Driving from New York to Florida

So many people think driving from NY to FL for vacation is crazy.

Well Im here to tell you yes it is!

Ive done this trip so many times over the years I still cant get used to it. When we first started doing the trek I often took those No Doze pills which would make me shake. Most people are not effected by the pills cause they drink coffee or soda. I dont drink coffee and soda is rare. I stopped taking the pills because they would cause me to become really sick.

We often leave on Friday and drive overnight since the kids are really crazy for the drive, at least over night they would sleep. Going overnight is tough too unless you already work the night shift and happen to be up. I cant do it, I have a hard time staying up past midnight!

Well this time around we split it up between two days. We left early on Friday around 10AM and stopped driving at 9PM - there was so much traffic on the way down we barely made it into North Carolina. We found a hotel and stayed for the night. On Saturday AM we left around 9ish and continued the drive, we didnt arrive into Orlando until almost 830PM. There was a lot of rain and congestion it was crazy.

During the week we didnt drive much but we did so much that we were beat! By the time we had to leave the following Saturday we didnt think we would make it back in one night. We really didnt want to spend the money for a hotel.

We left around 9AM which we had never done before. We were making such good time we decided to go straight without stopping. We were tired and the drive seemed to take longer, but 19 hours later we arrived home at 4:30AM! No we were not speeding, the speed limits in many states is 70 and people still drive by you like your sitting still! We even stopped for Dinner and made a quick stop at exit 97 in North Carolina to visit JR stores!

If possible split the trip between days and people. Try to drive in a car that has cruise control.

Did we save money by driving? Yes,.. flights would have cost us about $1000 for 4 people. Driving cost us under $300. Do I need to do the math?

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Disney Water Parks Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon

OK I have no images because we didnt bring a camera but the water parks are great!

We just spent 3 days straight in water. Two days at Typhoon Lagoon and one at Blizzard Beach. The best thing about staying on property is the ability to use the Extra Magic Hours! We were able to get to the water parks at 8AM, an hour prior to opening up to the public. I didnt think it was enough time but we were able to ride everything without a wait! The only thing that was rough was the stairs to the ride itself. It was a killer! I cant tell you how many 'floors' we climbed but my legs were killing me.

If anything a water park reminds you of is how out of shape you are. lol.

Best things at Typhoon Lagoon: Wave Pool - Insanely tall waves that can knock you down! Lazy River of course, Crush n Gusher. Funnel Cake! Worst: Wave Pool - cause they have insanely tall waves that can knock you down! Having to carry your tubes up a ton of stairs to get down the rides. Short family raft ride, Sand.

Best things at Blizzard Beach: LONG family raft ride, Lazy River, 'older' kid area. Worst: Hiking it up the stairs to get on the rides, some rides you had to carry your own tube up the stairs, wave pool was really unnatural waves and felt strange - we didnt like it.

Having to deal with rude people didnt help: We had some little girl go down a slide within seconds behind my child and knocked right into her. I 'ran' to get to my child and the other child because they knocked into each other. The girl just looked at me and her father said she can swim fine, no apology at all! My little girl was crying, it was horrible. On another ride my sister ran up ahead of me and grabbed the family raft and some people came in between us. When I finally got to the top these people were in front and I said excuse me three times when he finally turned around and said 'WHAT'! I said I need to get by and he says go over there, pointing to another rope, Im like dude its closed whats your problem? My sister is right there! He finally let me by but not without making stupid comments. I know there are line jumpers but I was not jumping lines.

Besides those experiences Disney Water Parks were pretty amazing.


Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Busch Gardens Tampa Florida



So we took a drive to Tampa to visit Busch Gardens - I had not been there in something like 10 years and the only things I remember at the animal areas. They had animal topiaries and animals of course. This Rhino came pretty close to us and it was a bit scary. We picked a hot day to go, not only that there were a whole lotta international school trips there. Looked like there were from Brazil, Italy, Venezuela.. I walked up to the guy standing at
SheiKra to ask about a child swap and all these kids came running up behind me and I was like OMG!

I think there are more rides for the kids then adults!

I first rode the SheiKra alone. They dont have a lane for 'single riders' instead I had to wait on line with everyone else. Remember those international kids? Well every chance they had they were singing and clapping and oh my it was getting crazy. The wait time was less then an hour. Round and round in the lines then up the stairs. There are three rows each 'car' holding about 8 people. Two cars load up at the same time and one at a time is released. Up and up you go... then it turns around on the track and just when you think your about to drop, it holds you there for a few seconds... then BAM! Lets you go! I was screaming on the way down. Its a 90 degree drop so you cant see the track beneath you. It was quick but a nice ride. When I got back to the ground, I swapped and the other adult I was with got a 'pass' to skip the line and waited about 5 minutes to get on the ride. Child swap was pretty nice.

The second ride I tried was Kumba. It has 7 inversions which was nice smooth ride. It was nothing to exciting for me, more like relaxing. Again I waited on line and since I was a single rider, I kinda skipped those waiting to sit together. They let me go in front of them which was nice. I rode alone. Im not a roller coaster nut but I love a nice ride. We didnt make it to the other 'adult' rides. I got the kids to go on the Sand Serpent and boy was that a mistake for me. I dont like twisty, sharp turns or spin me around rides! This ride did ALL of that... I screamed, I cried and hated every minute of it lol.

We did take the train around the park which was a relaxing ride and a nice view of the animals. I did see a Zebra try to take on the train! Ok more like it tried to cross the track just when the train was passing by. It was pretty interesting.

For meals at the park we purchased the 'All Day Dining Deal.' For two adults and two kids it cost $30 per adult and $15 per child. We ate every chance we got, I think we sat down 3 times. We were able to pick up one entree, one side/desert and a drink. You also had the ability to pick one of the three items instead of getting everything and tossing it. We had to wait on line with everyone else but once we got to the front we could basically pick up just about anything. They gave us a list of the restaurants to eat at and what I did was circle them on the map so we could find them easily. My favorite meal was at the Zambia Smokehouse! It was perfect for dinner, that meal alone was worth the $30 per person fee. Everything else was basically free in my eyes. We picked up Aquafina at a few places and snacks here and there. One note: It does not work everywhere!

Totally worth it!

As the evening rolled along there was this 'party' going around.We stopped and danced around, played with Hoola Hoops... During the 'party' they announced this show called Kinetix starting at 9PM. The park closed at 9PM so we ran back to the front of the park and grabbed one last drink and went to the show. The restaurants close an hour or more before the park does so keep that in mind.

There was live music with current songs, dancers, acrobats, and more! Here is just one video!

Once the show was over the park was closed and we left. The drive back to Orlando was a little over an hour. It was a great experience, I would go again.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

DIsney Jambo House Animal Kingdom Lodge

Well this time around we traveled to Disney we stayed at Jambo house, itsright next door to the Kidani Village. We have a one bedroom Condo.. In the living room there is a pull out couch and a chair, the Condo has just one bathroom. The 'bowl' is in a separate room but its still in the bathroom. Which means someone cant use the 'bowl' if there is someone in the shower. I would have thought that a 1 bedroom suite would have had two bathrooms - as a two bedroom has 3 bathrooms. There is a full kitchen which works great for keep costs down and having meals in the room instead of outside at the parks. And a separate bedroom with a queen bed, which is not a master bedroom. There is a washer and dryer which helps too. The bathroom has a double sink and a jacuzzi tub and its a little difficult to get into because it is pretty high, so one may have to sit on the side and throw your leg over. The bedroom and Living room has their own TVs and access to the outside deck. We have a pool view but you really couldn't tell since there are these rather large trees blocking the view of the pool. There is internet access, Free for DVC members but a fee for everyone else.

We are amazed a how the sliding glass doors keep the sounds out of the rooms! At night they have been having a movie at the pool side and its pretty loud with the doors open but once they are closed its pretty quiet! You cant even hear anyone walking down the halls. I am impressed with that.

The Jambo house itself its rather large. The buildings have 5 floors and a few 'wings', there is a large store at the main level and a lot of activities daily. Parking is a little far of a walk in Jambo house, when we were in Kidani Village the parking was below the building so its just an elevator ride down. This parking area is across the main entrance and down a little ways and no coverage from the sun.




















As DVC members they offer a towel exchange once every 3 days and a clean every 4 days. Without the DVC membership it would cost a lot more.

Of course everything is decked out in Animal Motif. There is even a sign when you leave the property that says... watch out for Poachers. Around certain areas of the building you can see the savannah. Do you need a view of it? Only if you really wanna see the animals daily but otherwise you can walk down the hall and see them.

All in all the Jambo house is rather nice in Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Friday, June 17, 2011

Heading to Disney Again!

Ok what am I thinking?

We just went to Disney in January/February this way for a 8 days and Im going down again in the summer?

Oh boy.

Ok my sister has a timeshare with Disney. She planned a trip with her family and well she had someone ditch her. So she was crying and all and I was like ok fine Ill go with you.

So in July we are heading to Kidani Village in the Animal Kingdom. We will be spending out time in the water parks and possibly heading to Busch Gardens. We are winging it, but I gotta say it will be nice to see how it is in Florida in July.

Monday, June 6, 2011

Virginia Beach


While at an expo we purchased a voucher that gave us 4 days and 3 nights for just $99! $25 bucks a night is decent anywhere. The only thing was that the voucher was not valid from Memorial Day to Labor day. Not a big deal.... oh and we had to give them 2 hours for a timeshare tour.

We left Friday afternoon from NY to Virginia Beach. This was about an 8 hour drive. For some reason it felt longer then our drives to Florida! We managed not to pay tolls on the way down based on the directions we were given. We crossed the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel - we had no idea the toll was $12! But its 17.6 miles long with two tunnels on the way. It was an amazing trip. We found out the toll amount on the return and took the Jersey Turnpike back instead of going thru Philadelphia.

This was our first time in the area. Virginia Beach's boardwalk is about 3 miles long. There are tons of hotels and one timeshare company that owns 4 buildings on the beach. Upon arrival Friday night there was a car show on the street and we couldn't get into the hotel parking lot!

Once we final got in, we walked around to view some of the cars parked on the street. It was LOUD! LOL... we stayed at the Comfort Inn & Suites Oceanfront. We had a one bedroom suite but there was no living room. Instead there were two queen beds in two separate rooms. There was a mini fridge, microwave and coffee maker. You cant beat the FREE breakfast! There was eggs, sausage, pastries, waffles and more! The food was prepared in advance, not made to order but this helped save us money. Having the boardwalk was right outside the backdoor was great!

On Saturday we took the tour of Ocean Beach Club. It was a nice place but its still under construction and well we knew we were not going to pay all that money for a spot on the beach. We already own a timeshare and know the deal with these things. After the tour we received two $30 vouchers for a restaurant on their list. One of the restaurants was Pi-Zzeria. It was next door to the Ocean Beach Club. We had never heard of this restaurant before this trip. There was quick service and great food. We had lunch, I had soup and I practically licked the bowl! We also had a salad with their signature dressing which was amazing. A nice place at a decent price. We went back the next day and had pizza which was also very good. We also ate at this buffet called Yukai. We found this place in those books you can find all over the boardwalk filled with coupons. Considering all the buffets in area this one is a 2 mile drive away from the beach. We are not big seafood eaters but love our chinese food. We took a chance but it was easy to locate. They have the prices clearly posted as you walk inside. It was Sunday and the lunch was 10.95 for each adult, my child is 7 and we paid 3.95. They had the usual selection of Chinese food. Im personally not a sushi eater but they had so much sushi my child and spouse were in heaven. I cant tell you how much they ate only that it was worth the price paid for the buffet. If we ever come to Virginia Beach again, we will visit this place again.

Besides walking the boardwalk there was not much we were interested in doing. We found these cool statues and play areas for the kids on the beach. I got to see Del Sol - one of my favorite stores. But it was not warm enough for a swim on the beach. On Saturday night there was a Tornado warning in the area so we had to stay in! Which was the only excitement we had.

We returned on Monday. In the end it was a nice weekend.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Boston MA 2011

So at the end of March 2011 I headed to Boston for an Expo at the convention center. The drive from NY was a little over 4 hours so we drove up on Saturday and Drove back on Sunday.

Saturday we went up early and visited Salem MA for a little while, since the drive took over 4 hours we got there and everything was closing up. They have early hours during the off season and most stores closed at 5PM! There were only a hand full of stores still open, and with the cold we didnt stay out too long.

We parked next door to the visitors center, in case you didnt know you can get parked discounted if you make a purchase at some of the stores in the mall attached to the parking garage! That was a nice surprise.

We drove down to Boston right after that. The GPS took us all over the place because it didnt understand 'restricted roads' - stupid GPS. Any way, the hotel we were staying at was the Embassy Suites at the Airport. We tried to find a place to eat nearby but couldnt find a thing! The nearest food places were a few miles away in an area that felt unsafe to us. We drove back to the hotel. The hotel only offers valet parking which was expensive. The restaurant only had a limited amount of meals but it worked out.

Embassy suites had a pool, a bar, a business center and breakfast! Couldnt wait to see what that was about. The room could fit 6, there was two double beds and a sofa bed. There was a microwave, fridge and coffee machine so it was a nice set up. They only had ice machines on certain floors which was a pain. In the AM breakfast was FANTASTIC! They had everything I can think of!

We are planning another trip during better weather to Salem!

Friday, March 18, 2011

Disney January 2011


So we went again to Disney! Think one can get sick of the place and honestly I dont think thats possible.

Well we drove down from NY and had to leave a day early because of a pending snow storm! Had we not left early we would have missed out for sure!

We were staying at Kidani Village. Located near the Animal Kingdom, for DVC (Disney Vacation Club members) Im not a member but my brother is and we were meeting him there. We used his points to stay at the resort. Kidani is one of the newer resorts by Disney featuring a Savannah right outside your window, (if this room option is selected). We opted for a regular room since the days were short and chances are we wouldnt be in the room to see the animals. They had these huge windows in the lobby and in other areas were you could view the animals.





My favorite item was the soap with Mickey right on it!

We had a two bedroom villa that could fit 9 people! There was a king in the master, two queens in the second, a pull out couch and pull out chair! Plenty of room for all of us. I personally love villas as it gives you the ability to have meals in your room. Ive never gotten a dinning plan because of this feature. We ate breakfast every day and had dinner almost every night.

Because we were staying on property, a first for me, we used the extra magic hours at night at all the resorts. Now in January it was not crowded at all to me, heading to the parks after 2pm and staying late really worked out for us. I think the longest time we waiting for anything was about 10 minutes.

We never used Disney Transportation since we were able to park for free at the parks. One night leaving Hollywood studios we jumped on the bus just to 'see' how it was. The bus was really nice and new, they kept it dark which was a little strange, but we got back to the resort in just 10 minutes. I thought it was funny that they went to Kidani Village before Jambo house. MY brother says its because Kidani is exclusive for DVC members and they get priority, I dunno how true that is but it was neat.

My brother is in the military so be sure to check out tickets thru them first. We got a pretty good deal.

January seems to have a lot of areas under construction. One of the water parks was closed, many rides were up for refurbishment, and in the magic kingdom they are building a whole new section! It also seams that a lot of restaurants are closed during extra hours, not sure if it was because of Janaury or if it was normal for the extra magic hours. You can actually get the schedules for the magic hours inside the park so you can plan accordingly.

Will we go back? For sure!

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Colorado




March 2010 we took a trip to Colorado to visit my brother in law and family.

We flew into Denver and what we were not aware of is the altitude! Man one can lose their breath instantly.

The views were amazing, the mountains were everywhere!

We visited Boulder, Golden, Pikes Peek, Bear Lake, Coors Factory and more.

The snow was so high in some places it was insane! We stood on a lake that was between mountains and totally frozen over.


The Stanley Hotel! Were the shining was filmed!

We visited the Coors factory, now I dont drink beer but they give you the opportunity to taste beer and give you 3 drinks at the end of the tour! Fresh off the lines.

I was the designated driver of course. Sucked for me, but it was interesting!


We ate at a restaurant called Hamburger Marys. Very interesting and the food was good too....

We saw the cave of the winds, which was cold and windy of course. It was underground, tunnels and caves and water. A little hard to take pictures.



My favorite site, the Garden of the Gods! Check out this picture.

Colorado was a nice place to visit and very scenic, I have a ton of images.

Carnival Valor October 2010 Western Caribbean


Took a cruise on the Carnival Valor 10/10/10! It was my first 7 day cruise, Sunday to Sunday!

Leaving out of Miami heading to the Western Caribbean - Grand Cayman, Isla Roatan, Cozumel and Belize - not in that order.

Leaving port on Sunday we were not sure about the other ports because it was hurricane season. But we would make the most of it. We were traveling with my cousin, who was celebrating her 10 years anniversary which was exciting!

It was a warm day, we flew from Newark NJ on Sunday AM. On our flight there were some people that were a little bit rowdy and one wore a captain hat. We were tired cause of the early flight and because of them there was no relaxing on the plane. Even the people sitting next to me were cruising but they were on another ship. Getting off the plane we headed toward the bus transfer to head to the ship. Man were we frustrated to see these same people on the bus and again boarding the Carnival Valor! Ugh! We later dubbed him 'Captain' lol - he was also seated not to far from our table in the dinning room.

We were kinda early at the pier but it was no biggie. After getting thru the terminal and being allowed on the ship we went straight to eat! The best thing about cruise ships - ALL THE FOOD YOU CAN EAT! Unfortunately everyone else had the same idea we did. But we did get to eat. There was music playing, people eating and drinking. Once we had something in our stomachs we explored the ship. There were so many places to see!

There was a slide, two pools, hot tubs, mini golf, a HUGE TV above the pool, theater, and more.

Day one port Grand Cayman. At this port we had to tender - this means the ship stays away from the shore and you have to take a small boat from the ship to the shore. It was a first for me and a little scary. The waves were really high and caused the ship to sway A LOT! At Grand Cayman we just took a cab to the beach - the locals told us it was the first day of sun in over 10 days! We were lucky. After the beach we walked around the main port, did some shopping and headed back. The waves were so high it took over an hour and a half to get everyone back on the ship. The little boat would sway and hit the ship the banging was loud.

The next port: Well we should have gone to the western Caribbean but there was hurricane Paula hanging out there. Its a good thing we detoured. The new ports were announced as Ocho Rios and Nassau. We didnt plan for them and had no idea what to expect - some people were upset others didnt really care. I didnt care, I was on vacation you know!

We had an extra day out to sea because of the detour and ported to Ocho Rios. What usually happens with the money paid out? Well turns out they did refunded what we prepaid for excursions but port fees were not refunded. The new ports were more then the original ports so the cruisers made out there.

Ocho Rios Jamaica: The port seemed industrial but we decided to do an excursion. Snorkeling and The Dunns River falls. Watch out for people offering you to purchase something its not required and dont feel pressured. The first part was snorkeling. I was afraid as the first time I tried to do this I choked on water and couldnt get it to work. I also wear glasses and was afraid I couldnt see. Well I took a dive! I finally figured it out and I got to see under water! After snorkeling, we got our hair braided! It hurt me. But It looked pretty cool. Then we bused over to Dunns River falls. Man I can believe I hiked up there. It was amazing! Its a must if your in Ocho Rios Jamaica!

Another day out to sea: Decorated towels, Mexican Buffets, Food! We had dinner at the special restaurant on the ship. It was the anniversary gift for my cousin. Amazing!

Next port: Nassau - now we have done this port before on another ship. So again we didnt pick an excursion, instead we took a water taxi from the pier over to Atlantis. Just walking around there has some great sights. Its a beautiful place but costs a lot to get in.

Thats the only disappointment we had with the detour. Hitting a port we had been to before.

In any event, we saw some amazing shows on board - there were two formal nights on the ship.

Upon return to the port in Miami we did an excursion to Port Everglades - saw some Crocodiles and Alligators. Our flights were later in the day so we had sometime to kill.

Well upon arrival to the airport we checked in. The airline had a message about giving up your seat which we asked about, they offered us an earlier flight at no charge. So we took it!

Guess who was on that plane! Yup the Captain and his crew! lol... man no resting on that plane!

So we got back a little earlier and still had a great time, would I do i again? Sure I would! Love cruising.