I do have something to share though. Last month I had the opportunity to take a week long cruise with my close friends from high school. We shoved out of Miami on a Sunday and cruised through the Eastern Caribbean on the Freedom of the Seas. To date, it and it's sister ship Voyager of the Seas, are the largest cruise ships on the planet. But word has it that will change in a few years.
Now, since I have already written a little account of the trip for some postings on the forums I frequent, I will just cut and paste what I have.
Anyhoo, we shoved out of Miami on a Sunday evening and sailed two days to San Juan, Puerto Rico. We spent a few hours in the port there before heading to St. Thomas and finally finishing it off on St. Maarten. We got back early in the morning on the following Sunday, thus concluding the trip. Here are some of my favorite pictures out of the +500 keepers that I have saved.
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Shoving out of Miami
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Amir jumping for joy to be on the ship and moving
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Out in the middle of the ocean (we sailed on the Atlantic side going to PR) we we probably a mile from this ship when we ended up passing.
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The first sight of land after 2 days of sailing, the following pictures are of our entrance into San Juan.
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We ended up finding a bar at a high class hotel (5 stars) and we sat there and drank for a little while. This is a funky statue on the outside. The other two are from around the hotel.
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We walked by this above water graveyard on our way to the fort.
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The Fort.
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Getting back on the boat to head out.
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We woke up the next day already pulled into harbor at St. Thomas. After breakfast we rented scooters and explored the island.
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Later on at night after we had sailed away from St. Thomas, this is the surfing wave (the name escapes me) at the back of the ship.
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I woke up early the next morning to watch us pull into port at St. Maarten. It was about 5:30am EST when I got to the front of the ship. I was the only one there for a good hour. Out in the distance I could see a rain shower move about along the horizon and we had seabirds floating just off the bow.
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The view down the edge of the ship.
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After we moored (look at me using all these sailing terms) our group split up, some of us renting scooters again and others taking a taxi up to go on a zip line. I promised Alexi I would wait to do the zip line for the first time on our honeymoon so I was back on the scooters (which I would have chosen anyway). We went to the beach which is right at the end of the runway on the Dutch side of the island. If you google St. Maarten you can see that large 747's land there just feet above your head. We were lucky enough to get two largish jets to come in while we were there.
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Next we went to the French side of the island and found this amazing beach tucked away with what seemed like only locals. We stayed there and tried some crazy homemade rum and talked with the bartender for an hour before meeting up with the group at another beach and heading back to the ship.
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After St. Maarten we had another two day cruise back to Miami. The first night back on the boat a few of us decided to pull an all nighter so I documented the not so spectacular sunset on the boat.
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This is the view looking back over all the pools and such at night.
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The 4 story formal dining room with our badass waiter, Milton. He was from Jamaica and was full of awesome stories.
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The Sunrise after staying up all night.
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The group, minus me, who stayed up all night.
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One of the couples asked me to snap a shot of them and I obliged. I think it's a sweet shot.
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During the day another cruise ship sailed along with us through the islands.
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The group on the last night along with Milton and our other waiter (who doesn't seem to pleased with us taking him away from his duties).
Well, that's all I've got for now. I hope you enjoyed the pictures a fraction as much as I enjoyed the trip. Thanks for taking a look!
