Our Anniversary Trip - Cruise Planning

So let's finally talk about our anniversary. Normally our anniversary is a quiet, but fun day in October. Recently though, something always seems to be going on in October. For the last couple of years, due to school, pregnancies, or work, we've been celebrating our special day in August. I know, isn't that funny?

Some ladies might wonder how well that goes over considering the day of goes by with just a few happy wishes and a kiss or two. Well, considering the last several years we've been to the Ashland Shakespeare Festival in OR state, Boulder Beach at Silverwood theme park in WA state, and most recently a 10 day getaway to the Caribbean, what do you think? I'm happy that our day is so special my husband makes plans months in advance to make sure we both get a chance to really enjoy each other and strengthen our marriage. How many ladies can say that?

This year was a new challenge. Chris is the vacation planner in our family. He plans the hotels or stop overs, the events to go see and do, and the amt of money it might take to do what we want. Then he asks me to fill in some of the details like mileage, mapping, phone numbers, etc. This time Chris couldn't do the planning, work was just too much for him. So, he asked me to do it. To be honest, I was really nervous. I mean, it's our 10th anniversary. The big 1-0! That's huge if it gets messed up because I forgot something, then I seriously fail! So, he gave me some minor direction to get started and I did the rest. Guess what? I DID GREAT!

I started at our base travel agency because after going online I realized how many cruises and ships there are out there. So I spoke to a very nice lady (Laurie) at the travel office who took down my requirements and helped me find a couple cruise lines I could choose from.

We booked the "Freedom Class" ship from Carnival cruise lines, the Ocean suite on Empress deck.

I chose a nicer room with a balcony since it was our first cruise and such a special occasion. We discovered how nice when we printed off our luggage tags and found VIP on them. That wonderful little upgrade that I would've done anyway allowed us on and off the ship first and also let us skip a very long line to check in. It was totally worth it and made Chris give me one of those "you're awesome" looks. I appreciated that.

We chose to drive down to our port in Ft. Lauderdale, FL for two reasons: one, driving there saved us a bit, and two, we'd never been to Florida. So I also made sure we had a place to park and a shuttle to and from the parking location and ship with maps of course. We chose to stay after the cruise in Ft. Lauderdale so I also made sure we had a close hotel and a beach.

The cruise itself was only 8 days long. We wanted a 10 day because of the special anniversary, but apparently local cruises don't go that long. Only overseas and Alaska cruises go for more than a week. Anyway, we took a couple days in Florida to come down from all the fun of the cruise. That way we were actually rested when we came home.

We had some wonderful friends who offered to watch our kids for the entirety of the vacation. I was floored and gave them several opportunities to correct what I thought for sure was an error in judgement. I am not saying my kids are difficult or in anyway hard to watch, but there are four who are very young and energetic. These friends had three of their own and they stayed in our home for the whole time. That's hard on kids, but it was a good experience overall. I was grateful and relieved at the same time. I knew that my kids would be safe, especially after getting a medical release for them, and I knew that my friends were really my friends because that's only something you do for someone you really care about.

Well, with the money spent (we had saved a good portion of a tax return and saved for about a year), a babysitter found, hotels and parking booked, all that was left was for us to pack (I hate that part), say goodbye to my little ones, and drive the 10 hours to the port in Florida.