The Most Awesome Birthday Cruise Ever!

So, I’ve been MIA for the past week and a half. I haven’t really been missing. I’ve been cruising. Yep. Went on a cruise for my birthday and I have to tell you, it was the best cruise ever! I thought of you all every day—not.

But don’t despair. I didn’t forget you all. It’s just that I had so many other things on my mind. I’m sure you can understand.

  

Yep, that's me sitting there in our living room. Since the cruise was a birthday present from my wonderfully romantic hubby, he decided to take it a few steps higher and upgrade us to one of the only two deluxe owner suites onboard. These suites (one on each forward side of the ship) have wall-to-wall windows with 180-degree views spanning from the bedroom throughout the living room.  

 Our dinning room

Yes! I have the best husband in the world. Thank you, honey, in case you read this. Annnnnd, the room came complete with a whirlpool bathtub, free booze, annnnnnnd, are you ready for this? A butler! Our very own butler, (not the Butler as in Gerard, that would have made me wet my pants or something) but Bagus, pronounced Bagoose, 

brought us much appreciated, hors d’oeuvres every afternoon and brownies, which made those ten pounds I lost before the cruise slightly creep back onto my hips.

There were several other awesome perks that came with these rooms. One of which, was the ease of getting on board. We didn’t have to wait in any lines. We were escorted directly on board and taken to the most swanky restaurant for a free lunch, which normally cost extra at this particular restaurant on the ship.  Aside from all the free fancy and not fancy restaurants, unlike most cruise ships, the Norwegian Cruise line has several other restaurants to choose from that require an additional cover charge. Breakfast and lunch were offered to us at this restaurant everyday for free, but most of the time, since we had that awesome view, we ate in our suite with room service that our butler was more than happy to fetch for us, which also contributed to those pounds that snuck back onto my cheeks (both sets). 

So, where did our cruise go?

We started out in New Orleans, cruised to Costa Maya where we went on a very tiring excursion to the ruins and then spent some time on the beach, drinking Corona’s and sunning ourselves. From there we floated down to Belize where we decided to take advantage of the ghost ship (literally) and stayed onboard. It was a wonderfully quiet and peaceful day, sunning by the pool with only a few other passengers who had the same idea. From Belize, we took off to Roatan, Honduras, a surprisingly beautiful place with the most powdery white sand. Need I say more? We did do a little shopping there too but mostly enjoyed the beach. Our last stop on the cruise was to Cozumel. In Cozumel, we went on our own, did some shopping and had lunch. Cozumel is just south of Cancun and aside from the beautiful crystal blue-turquoise water, it is a typical Mexican tourist town with someone wanting you to buy something every few feet. I had to laugh at one point after several guys trying their best to coax us to come check out this or come check out that, when one piped up and said, “Come check out my sister.”

As we cruised our way back up to New Orleans, we were given a tour of the bridge. Our concierge had mentioned to us that no one had the view we had from our suite except the captain and he didn’t lie.  

I do have more pictures and will post them here and facebook as I sort through them. 

We had such an amazing time. The ocean was very kind to us. In fact, I really miss the gentle sway of the boat as it lulled me to sleep every night while I watched the stars that somehow always seemed much closer to earth than normal.

Have you been on a cruise? Tell me about it, I'd love to hear your thoughts.