Our Carnival Cruise Vacation

Hi friends. I hope everyone is having a great day.

You may have noticed that it’s been quite here on the blog recently. I could come up with a dramatic explanation like ‘I decided not to return from our cruise and stay Aruba to live the island life’ but we both know that would be stretching the truth. To be honest, after seeing the beauty of Aruba and experiencing the amazing shopping, I really did give some thought to moving to Aruba but then reality hit and I begrudgingly returned to Atlanta. Great memories and an awful cold are the only things I brought back from our cruise.

It seems that whenever I travel and my body gets a chance to decompress, I catch a cold. Luckily my sore throat didn’t hit until the second to last day of the cruise so I was able to enjoy everything the cruise had to offer.

{warning…this is a photo heavy post that might have you booking a cruise at the end}

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We traveled with Carnival Cruise Lines on their beautiful ship the Conquest. Our 8-day cruise left from Fort Lauderdale and the ports of travel were Grand Turks, Bonaire, LaRomana Dominican Republic and Aruba. We also had several days at sea which gave us the perfect opportunity to enjoy the ship and really relax.

If you’ve never taken a cruise before, I have to tell you that it is a great way to vacation. This is our 7th cruise and it was decidedly our best one yet. Here are a few things you can expect on a cruise and some of the sights and sounds we experienced on our vacation.

♦ Cruising On Carnival Cruise Lines ♦

More food than you can imagine. A big part of cruising is the food and dining experience. In addition to enjoying formal dining each evening, there are tons of casual food options like Guy’s Burger Joint for burgers and fries, BlueLaguana Cantina for Mexican food, Steakhouse Restaurant for steaks and seafood and a barista style coffee bar serving a variety of coffee and beverage drinks. Oh, and if that isn’t enough, how about 24 hour pizza, ice cream and soft-serve yogurt. #youwillgainweightonacruise

Lots of lounging (or public sleeping in our case). If relaxing is what you want to do, a Carnival Cruise will let you do that in spades. We always find a spot off to one side of the boat, pull up a lounge chair to soak in the sun. I lugged a stack of magazines with me and didn’t get through a single one. #donotdistrub

Lots of activities. All of the Carnival Cruise ships we’ve been on have had an abundance of activities you can enjoy. The Conquest had a casino, comedy club, outdoor basketball and ping-pong, a dance club, 2 swimming pools, outdoor movie screen and several shops on board. And boy was it fun watching adults embrace their inner child and enjoy the water slide. #wepassedontheslide

Meeting great people. Our dining table assignment grouped us with 4 other couples and they turned out to be some of the funnest people we’ve ever met. We got along great and actually ended up hanging out together a good portion of the cruise. We had such a great time together that we’re already talking about cruising together again next year. #freindsforlife

Our cruise tribe: John, me, my hubby, Jack, Dorothy, Eleanor, Roberto, Eileen, Marie and Sal

Fun towel art. Every Carnival staff person is skilled at creating these amazing towel animals which you’d find all around the ship and in your stateroom. And if you’re inclined, you can even take a class in ‘towel art’.

Tropical beach settings. If its white sand and clear blue water you looking for, it will be delivered right to your door. In Grand Turks the beach was just steps away from the ship and the water was crystal blue. #don’tforgetthesunscreen #HOTisanunderstatment

And if you want to explore the islands you can do that too. In Grand Turks we visited the lighthouse, saw the donkeys that roam free and petted some horses.

We also popped into Margaritaville which was bustling with activity and impromptu dance sessions.

Anyone for a game of chess?

LaRomana was more rural than the other islands we visited but was still beautiful and lush.

A Michael Jackson super fan gave the crowd a show in the Dominican Republic.

As for my favorite ports of call, Aruba won by a landslide (and it didn’t have anything to do with the fact that the Louis Vuitton store was in walking distance from the ship). Aruba is an upscale island with great restaurants/bars, beautiful beach areas and amazing shopping. Every designer brand you can think of has a store on the island and there was a large Zara store and several Starbuck locations.

**the panoramic photo above was taken my Marie who was the photo ninja in the group

We took a trolley ride through the city and I loved looking at the architecture and colors of the buildings. They looked like they had been snatched from a Bavarian village.

Amazing Sunsets. Just when you think you’ve seen all the beauty that you can stand, you’ll be greeted by beautiful sunsets every evening of your cruise. There’s nothing like warm weather, great people and watching the sun go down over the ocean to put a smile on your face.