Vacation 2015

Hello everyone!

I know, I've been back for a while, but I've been working on this post the whole time, I swear!

This is my vacation 2015 Vacation Recap!

We left the island on Jan 21 on the first ferry. Nothing like getting up nice and early for the start of your vacation! We had a ton to do in Saint John, including ordering our kitchen (woot woot!).

We got up bright and early on the 22nd (4:30 AM) to get our 6 AM flight. It was my first time flying since July (read: since the plane crash) and I was kind of terrified. I did okay though and only teared up a little. We had a small layover in Montreal and then it was off to New Jersey. We landed there at 10:30 AM. We had booked a shuttle to our hotel in Manhattan and I have to say, it was probably the most terrifying shuttle I've ever been in. That's saying something too, since I've been in shuttles in Mexico, Jamaica, St. Kitts, St Maarten, St Thomas, and NOTHING will ever compare to that. The man was angry and drove like a psycho and screamed at a woman and took her luggage hostage (by slamming it back into the car) until she went and got cash to pay him with (what shuttle doesn't take visa nowadays?!).

Central Park!

We arrived safely (somehow) at the Washing Jefferson Hotel in Manhattan. I have to say, that city is amazing. I could NEVER live there in a million years, but I would LOVE to go back one day and see the rest of the sites! We drove by Trump Towers on the way, and that was rather awesome. We briefly saw the Empire State Building (though didn't know what we were looking at).

After we unloaded at our bags and checked in, we started walking down Broadway. So amazing!! We went into every store that we wanted to. The Hershey store, the M&M store, the 3 story Toys R Us with a ferris wheel inside, the 3 story Victoria Secret! There are some amazing things in New York!

Drool!

We had a late lunch at Planet Hollywood (I know, we should have done something more New Yorky) but we were starving and there it was. We went back to our hotel room for a bit, changed into sneakers (should have done that in the first place), and headed back out. We walked up to Central Park and around there for a while. It was pretty cool, but would have obviously looked better in the summer.

In the evening we went to see Wicked on Broadway. It was absolutely amazing!! It's been on my bucket list ever since I read the book. I have to say, I liked the story of the musical better than the book. It was absolutely worth waiting for and I'd recommend it anyone!

So pumped at 1 AM!

I didn't sleep well that night. It's never quiet in the city. I suppose that's normal. Haha! I like to be able to hear the ocean from my bed!

In the morning we got a nice town car from our hotel to the airport. It was SO nice compared to the shuttle. We boarded the cruise ship just before lunch. We wandered around, trying to get to know the place. It was too cold to go lay out but the Solarium was nice, and warm! Before we even departed New Jersey, we were told that there was a storm coming up the coast and we would have to change our route, and sail around it. So, we would miss Puerto Rico. I was kind of bummed out about that, because we were going to go kayaking in a Bioluminescent bay (another thing on my bucket list!). They gave us free wifi to make up for it, which was nice.

We learned pretty quickly that the Royal IQ app didn't work very well. We tried all day to make dinner reservations and it didn't work. They apparently booked us automatically for the first night at Silk. It was the Asian inspired restaurant, and it was yummy. I love Asian food, so obviously a favourite of mine.

The big table in Silk.

I have to say, this cruise ship (the Quantum of the Seas) has a new feature called Dynamic Dining. We both think it's for the birds. You have to reserve your dining basically when you book your cruise (which we did in April and had no idea). We had to take all the crappy meal times and were turned away several times (from the American icon grill) because it was full (though we were willing to wait to see if someone didn't show up, they still sent us away). One night they told us to come back at 8:30 and we did and they were still full so they gave us a voucher to eat at Jaimie Oliver's Italian. That was yummy. It's one of the specialty restaurants you have to pay for normally, so bonus!

Once we finally got in to the American Icon it wasn't even that awesome. I had Thanksgiving dinner and it was good but not good enough to wait 4 days for. 

We ate at the Grand twice which was nice. You had to dress up to go to the Grand. The food was yummy. It was like the normal restaurant on most Royal Caribbean ships. 

Chic was probably the least popular of the restaurants. It was good though so I don't know why. We are there a few times because it was the only place we could get in to. 

My favourite piece of artwork on the ship.

We ate at the restaurant in the solarium a couple times called Devinly Decidence. It was total crap. Nothing to choose from and it was all apparently 'diet' food. So, yeah. Both times we left and went to the Windjammer because we were hungry for actual food. Even the salads there were weird.

Bumper Cars!

There was a ton to do on the ship. Lots of trivia. Even more ping pong. Sky diving, bumper cars, pools, hot tubs, arcade games, rock climbing, surfing, boogie boarding, and lots more. We tried as much as we wanted to, and skipped what we didn't. Our trivia team came in second in progressive trivia! Woot woot!

Sky diving! So fun! 

As for ports of call, we missed Puerto Rico due to the storm, so our first port of call was St Thomas. We both like St Thomas a lot. It's absolutely beautiful. We went to Magen's bay and lounged on the beach. It's one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen. Casey took his phone for a swim there though. So not cool. Haha.

Absolute Paradise. 

St Kitts was fun too. We did our hike up the volcano there. I was really nervous but it went well. I was sure I was going to quit about 75% of the way but I made it.

All that for 15 seconds to pose for a photo!

Watch out for the people with monkeys on St Kitts! They want money for taking your picture with your own phone. Lame. 

Monkey Man took terrible photos too...

St Maarten was beautiful again as well. We went to the airport beach but it was super crowded and rough enough to splash waves up over us when we weren't trying to get wet at all. We watched a couple planes land and then we walked over to Mullet Bay Beach. Which was absolutely amazingly beautiful. It was really rough water though so swimming wasn't really optional but we played in the waves a bit and layed out and read for a while before going back to the ship and shops. 

Mullet Bay Beach

St Maarten from the North Star

The trip home was rough again but not nearly as bad. Our flights got cancelled a bunch and after spending the night in Toronto and Saint John, we got home Wednesday morning at 11:30 when we were supposed to get home Monday night. It was a long couple of days!

I pretty much just want to leave this crazy Snowpocolypse we've been in for 3 weeks and go back to Magens bay and live there. I'll even sleep on the beach. Won't someone take me in their suitcase??