A little late but finally here

Well, I'm finally getting around to the promised post-vacation posting...Sorry for the delay, things have been a little busy and a little bizarre this week and I've only worked up the energy to write this today.  First off, the obligitory "I am so great" dance!  I did it!  My goal was to continue my weight loss during the cruise, and I did it.  My weigh in showed a loss of 4lbs over the week I was cruising.

I have to say, all joking aside, I am really proud of this.  I really believe this is an accomplishment, and something to hold onto as a motivator when things get tough (as they definitely will...).  I made some really good choices when faced with the endless, and I do mean endless, barrage of food available on board and I maintained a solid workout schedule, including taking the opportunity to forgo the treadmill in favour of actually getting to do my run (uhhh...I mean walk...) outside.

I also took on a bit of a challenge by signing up for an excursion in St Thomas they listed as "strenuous activity required a good fitness level", a 7 km hike over a large ridge to get to a beautiful and isolated beach on the island of St John.

Just getting ready to start, and even then we had to walk 1/2 a kilometre to get to the trailhead.  Gorgeous walk though, plenty of plants, animals and butterflies to see, almost took the sting out of the 400 meter vertical we were also doing in order to crest the ridge!!

The picture below is what you get if you are willing to hike 4km over a ridge with the knowledge that you will have to hike the same distance back (unless you have a driver waiting at the other side of the beach, a 3km hike uphill to bring you back to the harbour).

Ah, beautiful white sand beaches and crystal clear waters with rays and tropical fish, even the occasional dolphin, though we didn't see one.  Truly a paradise, and just inconvenient enough to keep most people away from it, leaving it largely unspoiled by the crowds many of the beaches in the Caribbean are plagued by.

Our vacation definitely started on a good note.  We had decided that as there was only a $30 difference between hiring a private car from a limo service to drive us from our hotel to Port Canaveral versus using the RC shuttle we might as well go in comfort and at our own schedule.  Well, surprise, surprise, we certainly got the comfort part right!  Here's the "car" that showed up in the morning to drive us to the ship...Big shoutout to the Happy Limo Co.  Thanks for a good start!

Our landing on day 2 at Coco Cay in the Bahamas unfortunately fell victim to the vagaries of February weather, but we sailed out early, allowing us to arrive in St Thomas 6 hours ahead of schedule.  This absolutely falls into the category of a good trade. 

D and I took a cab from the harbour to Magen's Bay, ranked in the top ten most beautiful beaches in the world by National Geographic.  However, I still think the beach we visited on St John later that day was better, though that may purely be due to the huge crowds at Magen's Bay as opposed to having Honeymoon Beach essentially to ourselves.

St Maarten on day 3 was really cool too, we sailed and snorkelled in the morning, and then took a cab over to the French side (St Martin) for lunch and to explore the open air bazaar in the centre of Margiot.  Back to the dutch side in time to wander the streets of Phillipsburg before returning to the Freedom of the Seas for a couple of sailing days.

D got a nice wrap here, but I don't have a pic...

Sailing days were great for working out, and I got to put a big bite into my reading list.  For anyone who's interested, my reading list for this trip:

Julie and Julia (still working on it)

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (absolutely loved it!!)

Still Alice (excellent, but definitely NOT vacation material!)

The Bishop's Man (kind of having a rough time with this one, but I'll keep plodding)

When we docked, we had an entire day to ourselves prior to flying out, so we packed a rental car with our bags and headed off to Epcot.  Wow, Epcot's grown up in the 15-20 years since I was last there!  Had a great time, Soarin' may be one of the coolest things ever!  Anyway, we're likely taking a long weekend trip back to Orlando in a month or so to do the Magic Kingdom and the Harry Potter theme at Universal. 

This is inside the Mexico pavilion, terrible ride (thanks Laural...), good food!

Awesome trip, can't wait for our next one!!