Spring Cruise, Part One

Last Christmas, Mom surprised the boys with a once-in-a-lifetime gift.  She was taking them, me, and my nieces on a CRUISE to the Caribbean!

And not just any cruise--but a week on the world's largest cruise ship:  Royal Carribean's THE ALLURE OF THE SEAS.

The boys have been soooo excited. (And me, too!) And to make it even better, my Aunt Louise decided to join us and to bring her two grandsons, Mikey and Corey. And a few weeks ago, the time came to GO!

We made the trip to Florida, spent the night, then headed over to the cruise terminal.  We met up with everyone and boarded the ship.  Wow---what a HUGE ship.  And soooo beautiful!

This was a solarium near the front of the ship, at the very top.  A wonderful place for sunbathing and watching the sights go by.  Just out of sight of this picture is a large hot-tub that hangs out over the edge of the ship. On the other edge of the photo is a resteraunt that featured health-conscious breakfasts by day, and Brazillian-style steak dinners at night.

One of four swimming pools on board:  One was just for small kids, one just for adults, and two others to choose from as well.  Lots and lots of lounge chairs nearby, as well as a bar (free water!) and a free frozen yogurt stand.  Also nearby was the Flowrider (very popular), miniature golf (with fish-food eco-friendly golf balls in case they get knocked into the water), and a Zipline.

The lobby was amazing!  All indoors, so rainy days could be spent here, shopping the many shops, hanging out at Starbuck's, or enjoying two of the free cafes on board.  See the red area Benny is standing in front of?  That was a water fountain show--that is, until a bar lowered itself from the deck above and came to rest there.  The bar went up and down all day long, with customers aboard.  Very neat!

Gorgeous elevators which were made of glass, of course!

This area was called "Boardwalk" and it's the area our room overlooked.  It was the most happenin' place on board--complete with a carousel, a free hot-dog place, ice cream, Johnny Rockets diner, Rita's Cantina, a few shops, and the ever-popular Rock Climbing Wall and Aqua Theater.  The Aqua Theater had a fantastic diving show that played several nights, and we were able to watch it from our balcony.

One of our favorite shops on board: The Cupcake Cupboard.  Fancy cupcakes in the most creative flavors!

It was a fantastic ship and we had a fantastic time.  I have over 300 pictures from the cruise!! To keep the blog from being over-run, I'll divide our week up into a few posts. But even then, I'd just be scratching the surface.  Stay tuned!