Honeymooners!

We had such a wonderful honeymoon! :)

Thank you all for helping us have the most amazing adventure. Especially my thoughtful momma, who had a bunch of surprises waiting for us on the ship! When we got to our cabin, there was a large magnet on the door that said, "Just Married" and when we got inside, there was a bottle of champagne and chocolate covered strawberries waiting for us. The room was all decorated too! What a magical start to our trip.

Luke had never been on a cruise before, so it was really cool to see his eyes light up at all the fun stuff and cool places they have on board. We especially loved playing mini golf together. Almost every night, we would go to the top deck and play a round or two of mini golf while the sun was setting on the water.

At Sea, Sushi Class, and Massages!

On our first day at sea, we took a Sushi Class together! I don't mean to brag, but I was born to roll sushi ... Luke was pretty good too haha :)

The sushi was so good that we had to go back for dinner a few nights later; and they remembered us!

We did some adventuring around the ship in our first few days, saw some shows, had delicious meals, and the most amazing massages! A luxury that we may need to start indulging in more often.

First Day Ahore: Beach and Snorkel at Trunk Bay

Our first excursion! A scenic boat ride to St. John's island and then an adventurous bus ride to Trunk Bay where we enjoyed a beautiful secluded beach and reef for snorkeling. The water was perfect and crystal clear! We saw some really cool fish, but learned that the recent hurricanes did some serious damage to their habitat in the past few years.

Luke found this small section of beach hidden away on the far side of the shore where people have collected and stacked up rocks all over. It was such a gorgeous sight! The rocks don't teeter at all either, perfectly balanced.

Kayaking in St. Criox

This was one of my favorite excursions. We went with a small group on a kayak tour to the Christopher Columbus landing site in St. Criox. Being on the water in the early morning with a small group was completely serene.

We found a tiny beach to hang out on and collected some beautiful shells and sea glass. Then on the way back we bonded with another newlywed couple as our bus driver got us lost on a crazy back road adventure tour of the island of St. Croix.

Antigua and Swimming with the Sting Rays

Before our excursion, we had some time to kill, so Luke and I went on a swift, on-foot adventure to find this church we could see off in the distance from the ship deck. The church was very old and under construction, but they allowed tourists to walk around inside. It was so peaceful and the architecture was beautiful.

Now to meet with our Sting Ray Swim Adventure group! This was hands down our #1 favorite excursion. They took us on a bus tour to the other side of the island where there was a huge property on the ocean with exotic birds and iguanas in big cages and a big blue house.

We took a small boat ride to a special feeding area they had setup where a big group of sting rays hang out, awaiting pets and food.

They let us hold and play with them. The rays would swim up to you, give you a little bump or suck on your skin asking to be pet. Sometimes they would jump up on you like an excited puppy!

I was terrified, but it was an exhilarating experience. Luke fed a couple of them with whole squids and we learned that the caretakers have names for all the sting rays!

Highlight:

We found out that Luke's favorite sting ray was named Stephanie :)

St. Kitts - Scenic Railway Adventure

We woke up early to take a 2 hour train ride around the entire island. We saw wild monkeys, goats, pigs, a volcano, black sand beaches, and so much more!

On the train ride, we listened to a local choir sing while we snacked on sugar cane cookies and frozen island drinks!

We sat in the car with the tour guide and learned a lot about the island's history and daily life.

Our Last Island: St. Maarten and Snuba

Snuba!! Snuba was such a crazy experience! If you don't know already, Snuba is a cross between Snorkeling and Scuba Diving. They gave us a breathing apparatus with a hose attached that led up to a small raft on the water. As we followed our tour guide in the water, the raft floated along at the top with 4 tanks of Oxygen.

We went down 25 meters and saw a helicopter and a submarine! When the tour guide took us to see the submarine, a porcupine fish came moseying out of the port hole to say hi.

One day we just might move to the islands, buy a hut on the beach, and teach Snuba to tourists.

The Ride Back to Reality

The last few days of our trip were wonderful. We saw a very funny ventriloquist, played in the pool, and had one on one Air Hockey tournaments. I think I surprised Luke with my hidden Air Hockey talent! ;)

One day, we were hanging out in the hot tub and a corn hole competition was starting. Luke and I decided to sign up and he ended up winning!

He brought

home the gold for

the Buondelmonte's!

On one of our last nights, we enjoyed another wonderful honeymoon surprise from my mom, an exclusive dinner at the Chef's Table and it was by far the best meal we had on the ship!

We were served a 5 course dinner, each paired with a glass of wine and commentary from the chef on how she made the dish. We sat in a beautiful, private dinning room with 4 other couples, who all had just met each other on the trip. This memorably scrumptious evening ended with a large sphere of chocolate being melted to pieces by a hot caramel sauce ...

Need I say more? :)

With lots of love,

Steph and Luke

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