Christmas Caribbean Cruise Vacation

We've taken a vacation every summer since Brenna's been born... except this past summer.  Our summer was consumed with the move, temporary living, and building the house.  I knew trying to squeeze in a vacation would be a lost cause, so in early May I booked a cruise for our next school break; Christmas.  At the time, I didn't know that we'd be spending Thanksgiving in the Smoky Mountains with the other McAlister's or that Jacob would be in Dubai the week before the cruise was scheduled.  The end of the year was travel laden to say the least, but given the tough year we'd had with the move, Hurricane Harvey, and losing the cats, this turned out to be a nice break for just the three of us.  

We decided not to tell Brenna about the cruise and save it as a Christmas surprise.  I love vacation planning, and this was the biggest secret I've ever had to keep from her.  There were several moments over those 8 months that I almost let the secret slip or just wanted to give it away anyway.  But I stayed strong, and as Christmas approached a small gift wrapped box appeared under the tree.  We told Brenna it was the only Christmas gift she would received from us this year, and while she tried to be a good girl and say she was fine with it, I could see her emotions bubbling up.  She was crazy curious!

On the last day of school, before the winter break, Jacob took off early and we attended Brenna's class Christmas party.  After the party, she came home with us and we sat her down and gave her a choice.  Since she was only getting the one present, she could open it now, to enjoy during the winter break, or she could leave it until Christmas morning and do things the traditional way.  Just as I expected, she jumped at the chance to open the gift.  Her overall reaction was much more subdued than I expected.  Once reality set in, she was thrilled about the vacation, but slightly disappointed that I didn't include her in the vacation planning like I usually do.

Puerto Rico Family Vacation

Earlier this month, we met up with Jacob's family in Puerto Rico for a special family get together.  We spent the majority of our time at a beautiful hacienda that's nestled into the foot hills of the El Yunque Rainforest.  The hacienda is actually a part of a working horse farm and had some amazing views and cozy outdoors area.  Here's a few pictures from around the property and our family get together.

Virgin Islands Vacation Surprise

I'll start by saying we are not very spontaneous.  Especially when it comes to travel.  I love to travel, but I also love to plan travel.  Because we have a special trip planned for later in the fall, we decided to stay close to home this summer.  So, I had absolutely no upcoming travel plans other than maybe a quick weekend trip over to Niagara Falls for late in the summer.  That's why I was stunned one Sunday morning in church when Jacob turned to me in between songs and whispers "Let's get away somewhere for a cruise vacation, but it has to be the last week in June."  I sat beside him through the service certain that I must have misunderstood.  My brain only caught "getaway", "cruise", and "June".  After church, he confirmed what I thought I had heard and told me to go see what I could find!  And then the search was on!

Now, the one time I booked a cruise on short notice was only because I had already combed through all the options, done all the research, and had everything lined out. All I was waiting for was the go ahead from Jacob that his schedule would allow him to go.  This was very different!  Jacob's schedule provided a very definitive time frame to start my search, but still there was lots to consider and only a short time to do it in.  How many days to cruise, where to go, where to leave from, and which ship to take.  I called my travel agent bright and early Monday morning and we got to work.  By Wednesday, we were booked in a beautiful suite on the brand new Norwegian Getaway departing from Miami to the Virgin Islands in T-minus 15 days!  I spent the next day arranging flights, a pre-cruise hotel, transfers, and a cat sitter.  The rest of the week I researched ports, shore excursions, dining options, and entertainment schedules for the ship.  The following Monday, we wrapped up the last day of school and then Brenna and I spent the next three days packing and shopping for last minute supplies.  It was a very exciting two weeks with the anticipation and preparation.  And just like that, it was here!

Jacob worked Friday morning until mid-day.  When he got home we packed up and headed for Detroit to catch a late afternoon flight to Miami.  The flight was uneventful and we got into Miami late that night.  We caught a taxi straight to our hotel and got settled in for the night.

The next morning as the sun came up, we caught our first glimpse of the Norwegian Getaway from our balcony.  After a quick breakfast at the hotel restaurant, we went back to the room to pack up and head to the port. 

Good Morning Miami!  First view of the Getaway!

Bahamas Cruise Vacation

Each year following our vacation, I almost immediately start scouting/planning/anticipating the next one.  Planning a vacation is one of my most favorite things to do.  I love to travel!  There has been one particular vacation that I've had on the horizon for the last several years, a Bahamas cruise.  I've cruised the Bahamas before, as a kid, but its was years ago and long before Atlantis was built.  Since Jacob and I have been married I've always wanted to go back, especially to see Atlantis.  But for one reason or another, that particular trip always lost out to others through the years.

Last year our last-minute whirl-wind cruise to Bermuda was the first time we had ever departed from New York.  After getting back I immediately began scouting itineraries and started to consider the possibility of a Bahamas cruise from New York.  The idea was quickly dismissed after bringing it up to Jacob and he adamantly said he did not want to repeat another weary travel day to New York.  The journey to New York was cumbersome to say the least.  It was probably one of the worst travel days we've experienced as a family.  The day went something like this.  Get up at the crack of dawn, drive to the airport.  Park offsite and wait for a shuttle bus to drive you to the terminal.  Then face the usual joys of check-in and security and wait to board the plane for the nearly 4-hour flight from Houston to New York.  After arriving in New York we had to catch a air train to baggage claim to wait for our luggage, then catch another air train to the transportation hub where we had to wait for our hotel's shuttle bus.  Once the shuttled arrived, we had to wait for it to fill before it departed.  A half hour later the shuttle bus dumped us off at the hotel.  By the time we made it to our room (nearly 10 hours after we started our journey) we were tired, dirty, and not in a "vacation" kinda mood!  The next morning we where up early to pack up again and wait for the car service I had arranged to take of to the cruise terminal.  Just to recap….catch a bus, to catch a plane, to catch a train, to catch a bus, to catch a car, to catch a boat!  Even I had to admit it wasn't something I wanted to do again and despite the best of plans there was no way to improve the journey.  So we scrapped the idea.

Fast-forward six months later and we got the word that a move was in our future, so we put a pin in vacation planning.  Fast forward three more months and we were on our way to Canada……very, very cold Canada!  After only a week in Canada I thought it was necessary to know positively that warmth and sunshine was waiting for me somewhere, so we again began to plan our summer vacation.  And suddenly, guess what the closest cruise port to us was now!  New York!  Bahamas, here we come!  We booked a 7-day cruise to the Bahamas on the Norwegian Gem.

With last years weary journey still on my mind, we made the decision to fly into NY the day of our cruise departure rather than a day early, like we usually do.  This is always a risk, since so many things can go wrong when you think about border crossings, air travel, and NY traffic.  In an effort to try and build in a back-up plan, we booked an early morning flight out of Detroit to NY with the hopes that if we were delayed there were a number of other flight departures that would still get us there in time.  As the vacation approached I decided rather than another early morning wake-up to leave for the airport (which is only about an hour away, not much different than our drive across Houston to get to Bush), we would start the vacation a day early and travel to Detroit to spend the night at the Westin located in the Detroit Metropolitan Airport.  This turned out to be a fantastic idea for a number of reasons.  1.  This eliminated the pressure and rush of early morning travel that first day.  Last years experience told me not to start my vacation off tired and stressed out.  2.  That Friday was July 4th!  While I am enjoying living in Canada, at times I also feel very aware of the fact that I am an immigrant in a foreign land.  Something about the idea of being in the United States for Independence Day made me happy!  3.  The hotel was fantastic, beautiful, and convenient.  This is not our first stay at an airport hotel, but it is the first hotel that was actually inside the airport.  I had my concerns initially, but being a Westin Hotel, it lived up to its name.

When we moved, one perk was the idea that I wouldn't have to worry about hurricanes in Ontario, Canada.  How wrong I was when Hurricane Arthur made an early season appearance the week ahead of vacation, traveling up the east coast and ruining the cruise ahead of ours.  The ship was forced to skip a port and leave the Bahamas a day early in an attempt to out run the storm.  We tracked the storm closely with concerns that it could possibly cause a change in travel plans or at the least some rough seas for departure.  This all made for a tense week, but fortunate for us, he moved quickly up the coast and through northeast Canada before we ever left for Detroit.

So, Jacob took a half day of vacation that Friday and by the time he got home, Brenna and I had everything packed up and ready to go!  It was a quick and easy drive to Detroit without any issues at the border.  After picking up some much desired Popeyes for Brenna we pulled up to the curbside hotel valet who quickly unloaded all our luggage.  The hotel offers a special to Canadian residents that allows valet airport parking for the duration of your travel.  So no worries of parking spaces or shuttle buses!  We walked into the beautiful atrium and Jacob checked us in as Brenna and I admired the fountains and 30 foot bamboo garden.

We had a wonderful time during our short stay at the hotel.  Brenna chatted with the lady at the front desk and she assured Brenna that she a had special room for her.  We were on the top floor and center of the building.  Upon entering the room, I understood what the desk woman had meant.  While the room was nice and clean, the stunning thing was the view.  We had panoramic view of the McNamara Terminal.  I'm not much of a plane enthusiastic, other than the desire the fly verses car travel for anything more than a 3 hour drive, but even I found it very interesting to have a birds eye view of the workings of the airport.  When the closest 757 backed out for departure we were so close that we could see the pilot and co-pilot inside the cockpit.

McAlister Caribbean Vacation 2011

Oh my!  Where to begin?  It was a long and exciting week.  We had a fantastic time and I took alot of pictures (over 1,000 which is a new record even for me!)  But don't worry, I've widdled them down for this post so you don't have to suffer through every grain of sand that Brenna saw during this vacation.

I'll start with an overview, which is more for me than for you because I've come to view this blog as more of a journal of our families memories, than a communication tool for you.  If you don't want to hear about it, just skip to the pictures.

We set sail from Galveston on Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas.  We are no stranger to cruising as this logged my 10th, Jacob's 7th, and even Brenna's 2nd.  But, this was our first cruise with Royal Caribbean.  We sailed in a Grand Suite, which was wonderful and included some great suite perks that come along with their Concierge Club.  I won't go into all the details, but they did a fabulous job of making sure you were comfortable in all aspects of your vacation.  The ship was the largest ship to set sail when it debuted in 1999.  Of course, that's not the case now, but it is the biggest ship we've ever cruised with 3,200 passengers and 1,200 staff.  The ship was beautiful both inside and out.  Much more elegant than other ships we've sailed (with the exception of Holland America's Westerdam).  There were more bars than I can count, in-line skating, putt-putt golf, rock climbing wall, basketball court, a casino, an arcade, an ice skating rink, and four pools, just to name a few things.  And we managed to hit it all over the week!

The Ship - Royal Caribbean's Voyage of the Seas