My first "college" spring break! After completing 3 service trips for previous breaks, my friends and I decided to "go out with a bang" (even though I have an extra year). We sailed on the Carnival Conquest on a Western Caribbean cruise enjoying lots of fun and sun!
We left after my class finished on Saturday (yes, apparently having class on Saturday of Spring Break is legal) and after driving through the whole night we made it to the beach in time to see the sunrise. Our car even made a stop a Cracker Barrel. Which is a big deal for me considering my parents always refused to stop at this "road trip must." Getting on the ship itself was a long process and running on little to no sleep made it exponentially more painful. But we rewarded ourselves with a bucket of beer before setting sail! |
DAY 1: | After heading down Duval street and doing some window shopping we reached the southernmost point in the United States, marked by an oversized buoy. We even got fresh coconuts to go and visited the home of Ernest Hemingway. After we enjoyed frozen drinks: Pain in The Ass and Miami Vice, from the Flying Monkey! Overall a great day followed by formal dinner and two comedy shows! |
Day at Sea: St Patrick's DayThe morning was perfect, getting up to workout and then watching the sunrise over the horizon. Can't think of anything more magical than watching the sun pop up over as far as the eye! We spent pretty much all day laying out and soaking up the rays. Later that night, we got dinner and attended the St Patty's day party in addition to a musical on the ship! "We are the clovers, bum bum bum, green has never looked so good! So good! So good!" |
Day 3: Grand Caymans | Grand Caymans is known for "Stingray City" and the hundreds of stingrays that live there. The stingrays are so valuable that they value each ray at $500,000. We went on Acquarius Sea Tours, and absolutely LOVED it! Captain Mario and First Mate Dwayne (the stingray whisperer) were funny and energetic. I was super happy that we were not on a cattle boat when we went out as I felt that we had gotten personalized attention and had a more enjoyable time on a less crowded boat! Below are some photos of our snorkeling time and our encounter with Stubby and Kisses! |
Day 4: Cozumel & Coba | As a group of college girls, spending $100 to go see the last Mayan Ruins that you can climb might seem a bit funny while the rest of the ship is at all you can drink inclusive beaches, but it was one of the best decisions we made. Tour guide Juan was extremely knowledgeable and loved to tell us about the history of his people. Coba is not the highest pyramid, but it is the last one you can climb, and archeologists are estimating that the ruins will be shut down within the next couple years. The other cool thing we got to see was the infamous date on the Mayan calendar that said the world was going to end! | |