Our Cruise Vacation: A to E
by Jenners • 08/15/2012 • Travels • 78 Comments
I’m baaaaack!!!
Hello out there, in Blog World! I hope you’ve all been well while I’ve been out gallivanting around the Caribbean in a rather large boat. We had the most delightful vacation, and I’m going to tell you ALL about it. I’ll do my patented Vacation from A to Z™ post… but I’ve got so many photos to share this time that I’m just going to do a few letters each post. (You’re welcome.) But here is a little teaser of what’s to come…
Accidental Nudity … TWICE!
Girl on Girl Action!
Giant Lizards!
Death-Defying Feats of Bravery!
Gluttony!
I’m sure you’re ready to hear all about it so let’s start out with…
A is for Allure of the Seas—the biggest cruise ship in the world and our home for the past week. Let me tell you, this ship is HUGE and BEAUTIFUL and really FUN. There was tons to do on board, and the design was excellent. If you get a chance to sail on this ship (or her sister ship, Oasis of the Seas), you’re in a for special treat. We’ve been on cruises before but were anxious to try out this new class of megaship and it was extremely impressive. Well done, Royal Caribbean!
This doesn’t really give you a sense of how large she is…but she’s gorgeous!
So big you can’t get her in one shot unless you’re pretty far away
B is for Balloon Artistry. In the Boardwalk Neighborhood of the ship (more on this later), a balloon artist created these amazing balloon animals for the kids during sea days. This lady was incredibly talented and had her own designs. BB got a monkey. (By the way, don’t ever bring it up to him … we left it on the ship and he is still upset about it.)
Sadly, I was left behind on the ship.
C is for Clowns … as in The Jenners Family Clown Act. Although we don’t have an act on the ship (yet), we got a series of family portraits taken during a photo session at one of the on-board photo studios and I think it captures the dynamic of our family quite well. And, as a bonus, you get to see BB’s face for the first time … albeit in all his disguised clown glory!
I think pink becomes me. I’m thinking of making it permanent.
D is for Dolphins… as in swimming with dolphins. It was glorious!!! Best of all, BB didn’t freak out and got to enjoy himself.
Me kissing Abigail the Dolphin. (That was the girl on girl action I promised you!)
After our kiss, Abigail and her friend “drove” me home!
Abigail got a little jealous of Mr. Jenners and stuck her tongue out at him. (Look at that tongue! That is why you only kiss a dolphin with a closed mouth!)
E is for the Eastern Caribbean. We visited three ports of call: Nassau Bahamas; St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands; Phillipsburg, St. Maarten. Having sailed in the Western Caribbean several times, I have to say I think I’m partial to the islands of the Eastern Caribbean more.
Coming into St. Maarten. I love the islands in the Eastern Caribbean because they have all these hills. (Some of which are volcanos!)
Coming up next: F through J. (A little tease for you … F is for Flowrider.)
I have to show my gang these pictures! What a terrific ship! I better start saving my pennies
It will take a lot of pennies but it is worth it!!!
Gorgeous ship! Cute dolphin pics too. I’m going to have to show all these cruise pics to my gang. I better start saving my pennies!
That ship is incredibly big! We were just in Vancouver, staying at the hotel next to where the cruise ships dock and one came in that now seems super tiny.
And I always knew you were a clown.
The “regular” cruise ships do seem tiny compared to these mega ships. We were near a Carnvial cruise ship and it seemed very dinky.
my family has been talking about a Christmas cruise ~ I’m going to have to check into Royal Caribbean’s latest ship ~ looks like so much fun!
Well I would highly recommend it. The Allure of the Seas or the Oasis of the Seas are the big big ones like the one we were on. I bet it is amazing at Christmas. I’d love to do that someday.
What cruise line is this? Is it a Disney cruise? We are looking into cruises and have no idea where/how to start and this looks awesome!
This is Royal Caribbean and the ship is the Allure of the Seas. It is the biggest one in the world. If you want to start with one with all the latest technology and things to do, this is a great place to start.
Wow – what an amazing adventure and fun vacation. That is a huge ship. We’ve cruised several times but not on a ship that size. Did you even feel waves or movement? The swimming with dolphins looked amazing. I’m looking forward to coming back and reading the next installment. Thank you for breaking it into pieces.
I sometimes felt a rocking movement at times … but it was very slight and almost kind of relaxing. At night it felt like you were being rocked to sleep a little.
Thank you so much for sharing hte clown phot shoot with us. It put a big smile on my face
I hung it up in our family room and whenever I see it, it makes me smile.
Oh my gosh, Allure of the Seas looks like an awesome cruise ship!! It looks like you guys had a great family vacation! Great pics
Swimming with the dolphins looks like lots of fun.
It was, by far, one of the best family vacations we’ve ever had.
This looks so fun! (sorry but I read the next part of the alphabet before this part) Love the pics! I did the dolphin thing too once but I didn’t have the good time you did! I was disappointed the dolphin didn’t open up some paranormal channel to communicate with me…
BB was disappointed with the dolphins, actually, I think he thought he was going to swim underwater and talk to them or something!
Love that family picture!!
Me too! The second I saw we could do it, I started bugging Mr. Jenners. Now I have three of them hanging up in the house. They make me smile whenever I see them.
Oh! I am so JEALOUS!!!! My family has always talked about doing another large family cruise thing (last time was a decade ago) and I believe this ship was the one of choice. However, work schedules and various family finances have kept us from actually pulling off a trip on this huge boat. By the way, I LOVE Royal Carribean cruises. They treat their guests the best and there is never a shortage of good food and fun activities
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So glad to hear that you had a great time! Must’ve been hard having to leave and come home where there isn’t a staff coming in daily to clean and fold your linens and make your bed!
We went with my two sisters-in-law and it was great to have someone we knew onboard too. I hope you do get to do another family cruise again some day. IT really is such an ideal way to vacation with a group. And I agree with you on Royal Caribbean — they treat their guests “royally.” It was difficult to transition back to regular life where I have to make all the meals and clean up after myself. And no one makes me towel animals or leaves me chocolate on my pillow.
You family portrait is GREAT, BB is adorable. I’m so glad you swam with the dolphins. I can’t swim, so that would not be girl on girl action I could enjoy.
Oh you so could! They give you a life vest so you can just float in the water. You don’t have to swim to enjoy the dolphins!!!
That is one BIG ship..
Not sure if I like the clowns or dolphins best
Perhaps you’d like dolphins dressed as clowns…
Oh…perfect!
Holy frickin crapola! That ship is huge!!!!!
I love your shots and stories to go along with them but am slightly disappointed there is no tongue action with the dolphin…..
Did you see the size of that tongue!!!!???? I would have gagged!!
Your girl on girl photo, seriously you are the funniest
I haven’t been on a cruise since a teen, over 20 years would love to go.
Fab pictures, I loved your F listing, had to come to see this.
I’m sure cruises nowadays are a lot different than they were 20 years ago. I hope you get to go on another one someday.
I love the clown photo!!! That should be framed and on your mantle if you have one. I also love the photo of the girl-on-girl action lol. too funny. I have always wanted to swim with dolphins. I hope I get the chance one day!
I framed three of the clown photos today. They make me so happy when I see them. And I hope you get to swim with dolphins one day too. They are amazing creatures!
So glad you shared that clown photo!
It is great, isn’t it? We have a series of 7 and I love all of them but this is my favorite one of all.
Looks like you had a fabulous time, great pics! And yes, pink is the new “do”!
I think it suits me in a weird way.
WOW….I’m afraid of cruises (non swimmer here…LOL) but looks like you had a fab time. loved the clown pix.
Oh pish posh. You don’t need to be scared to go on a cruise if you’re a non-swimmer. If you stay on the upper decks, you are like 10 stories above the ocean!!!
Wow, what a ship!! We took a cruise 22 years ago for our honeymoon, it’s time for another one. Not to mention we live 40 minutes from Port Canaveral, huge port. I love A-E…cant’ wait for more!!
I bet it is wildly different than when you went for your honeymoon. I sense a 25-year anniversary cruise in your future!!!
That thing his HUGE! We live near the Port of Tampa and it always amazes me how huge the ships are.
Looks like you all had a blast! We’re going on a cruise next year and I can’t wait. It’s our first time!
I guarantee that you will LOVE it. It is so fun and there is so much to do for any type of person. Can’t wait to hear about your trip!
Yea!!! Glad you had such a great time! So far this looks like an amazing cruise. I have never been on one- yet. I will have to come back later to check out the pics- on my phone I can only see 1/2 of each picture- the words got the right size for the phone screen but pics all hanging off
I hope you get to go on one someday. They are tons of fun and great for families!
Well, you have no excuse for NOT participating in ITalong.
My thoughts exactly!!
Do I seriously look like the type of clown that would have razor sharp teeth and hang out in a sewer to prey on small children? I think not!
I love your vacation posts and it looks like you guys had a great time. I look forward to the rest of the alphabet!
I am slooowwwwly working my way through my Google Reader to get to YOUR vacation posts … I can’t wait to hear about your trip to England!
Wow! Your photos are amazing! The ship is grand and the waters of the eastern Caribbean look very inviting. The clown photo is great and would be fun to have in a frame.
I’m in love with the clown photos. I think they will make me smile every day when I see them.
This is fantastic! I’ve been thinking a lot about our cruise lately and the more I think about it, the more I want to go on another one! It’s just so much fun, and we only got to see so much…I want more!!
I know!!! I’m already telling Mr. Jenners stuff I want to do on the next one!
That ship is huge! I’ve never understood how ships that large manage to stay afloat but I am so glad it did for your sake! I love the pics. At first I thought that was your son swimming with the dolphins. I had no idea your hair was that red.
LOVE LOVE LOVE the clown photo! That is a holiday card pic if I ever saw one.
I don’t think too much about how ships that big stay afloat … or how airplanes fly. It is just magic.
And my hair is more red recently due to a hair dye mishap a few weeks ago. It is starting to get back to “normal” (by which I mean brown with lots of gray).
Fun, fun, fun! I LOVE your little pointed toe as the clown! Cute!
THANK YOU for noticing my little toe point. That was my own little touch and I love it.
How fun!!! I should forward this to my younger daughter….she’s taken up making balloon animals. I’m sure she would be quite impressed with BB’s monkey. If it’s any comfort to him, the monkey would have withered away within a week or so.
Looking forward to the next installment!!
This woman was amazing. Her balloon animals designs were so detailed and complex and yet she whipped them out while talking and not looking. She was sharing a bit about her life as a balloon artist and she has had tons of neat opportunities to do stuff — like design balloon dresses for Fashion Week, go on cruises like this one and only work 12 hours doing her stuff, traveling internationally to build balloon haunted houses. It seemed like a really neat career!!!
I adore the clown pic — the three of you look fabulous! Glad to hear you enjoyed your cruise!
I am in love with that photo. We photograph much better in costumes and wigs I think!
Oh wow, that ship is HUGE! I have only been on one cruise, and it was on one of the smaller ships. It is amazing that you got the chance to swim with the dolphins, and that you got photos! I am hoping to do that with my family really soon, and it’s nice to hear that you have some experience with it. I also love the clown photo. It should be hung on the mantle with pride. It looks like you had an amazing trip, and I can’t wait to see more! Glad to see you back, Jenners! I have missed you!
I’m sure that going from a smaller ship to a big ship like this would be wildly different. It is so fun though and you get to do all kinds of things that you don’t come across in ordinary life. I’m surprised you haven’t done dolphin swimming since you live in FL!
This makes me so happy! That family portrait is priceless (and you SHOULD definitely do the hair in pink) and the shots of you with the dolphins are joyful. Unlike some of your readers, I was very relieved that THAT was the girl-on-girl action. In my old life — working for a living — one of my clients was Royal Caribbean. I cruised at times with them, but I never got onto one of those mega-ships. Too big for my taste but clearly you all had a blast. Can’t wait to see more!
I wonder how many people will stumble across this post due to the phrase “girl on girl action” and be extremely disappointed to find a middle-aged woman kissing a dolphin! HA! That’s what you get, Internet porn seekers! And I was surprised how “uncrowded” the big big ship felt and that you could still form relationships with crew members and such. We just loved our dining room waiter. My son cried when we left.
I love the clown outfits – you guys look great! I’m glad you had such a fun time. I don’t think I could ever be convinced to go on a cruise like that – being out to sea on a ship (even one that large) with so many people in a confined space is not my thing. Swimming with the dolphins looks like an awesome experience!
Amazingly enough, despite having something like 3000+ people on board, we never felt too crowded on the ship. It was surprising. I hope you get to swim with dolphins some day though … it is so neat to be with such amazing animals.
So much fun! I love the clown shot and that you got to swim with dolphins!
Sorry that was Melissa, not Classics Club. I keep forgetting to switch back!
And here I was getting ready to mark you as spam. HAHA! : )
Cool ship! I’ve never gone on a cruise but I’d like to try one in Alaska. Pink is your color
I would love to try a cruise to Alaska too. I’m sure it is a very different but rewarding experience than a “tropical” cruise.
BB is adorable!! Love the pink hair on you- I think you should make it permanent do. Mr J ought to keep the clown shoes – such a fashion statement. Glad you had such a wonderful time. Can’t wait to hear more.
Wouldn’t it be a kick if we dressed like this all the time?
How in the world did you talk Mr. Jenners into putting on a clown suit? I bet swimming with the dolphins was amazing!
“How in the world did you talk Mr. Jenners into putting on a clown suit?” Begging, pleading and the exchange of sexual favors.
That is one gigantic ship! Looks like you had so much fun and I’m completely jealous. One day I’m gonna have to find a dolphin of my own to kiss.
The thing is that no matter how long they give you to hang out with the dolphins, it never feels like enough. It was truly cool to be so close to them though!