wil and kris (and gracie and ava)

day 4… port #1
Well, we have been waiting and waiting to finally see some land and today, it happened.
After my few too many drinks last night, i took it upon myself to sleep an extra hour or so. Kristen was writing her post for last night when i rolled out of bed and into the shower. I got ready, then she got ready and we were kicked out of our room so ‘Dean’ (our room attendant) could turn down our room. We headed up to the buffet for some ‘brunch’ and had our share of pancakes, waffles, hash browns, sausage, bacon, pasta, french fries, and pork chops. While we were eating our food a very small rock island (about the size of a house) floated on by. … well, actually, we floated by, but it seemed so strange to see such a small secluded island in the middle of the caribbean.

After lunch we headed back to our room to relax before porting at St. Thomas at 1pm. Glancing out at our veranda we noticed a couple more small islands and sure enough…

LAND HO! It was St. Thomas (which made perfect sense since we were scheduled to dock within 30 minutes). We got excited looking at all the resorts, hotels and small houses along the beach and up on the hills. We took several pictures of them and the approaching island to document our first port as a married couple. (yes, cheesy, i know.)

We stepped out into the blistering hot sun and felt a nice breeze that mitigated (that word is for you, cj) it’s blaze. We were just a 5 minute taxi ride from downtown where all the shopping and dining happened. One of the funniest things was how many taxis there were. As soon as we stepped off of the taxi, there were more taxis there asking us if they could take us to the beach, on a tour of the island or back to our ship. I laughed and said, “we just got here, why does everyone want to get us away so badly!?”

We walked up and down the streets looking into shops and checking out the scenery. Since this was our first stop in the caribbean, it was a nice sight to see the tropical plants and animals, and feel the humid, tropical air. The buildings downtown were very old and had a sort of english theme to them (which makes sense because the island used to be owned by great britain.

Once we were finished looking (and not buying) we grabbed a taxi (more like a really fast and dangerous trolley) and headed over to the Mariott (a resort on the island) for some beach time. The ride over was insane. We passed cars and other taxis, no joke, with mere centimeters to spare, the speed limit was 10 mph, and our driver held at an even 50! Luckily we made it safe and kris and i were able to enjoy some nice sun, sand and warm saltwater.

After a while, we went back to the ship to shower off and dress for dinner. Dinner wasn’t too impressive. There just weren’t too many options that kris and i could really get into. i had some veal pasta dish and kris had some fish (snapper).

the fun really began once dinner was over. we had some time to spare (about an hour and fifteen minutes) and instead of doing what most newlyweds would, kris and i headed to the casino. i had been wanting to try my luck at the poker table and decided that tonight was the night. We went down and there was another guy waiting for the table to open (there needs to be at least two players). I sat down and bought $100 dollars in chips (don’t worry mom). In no time at all, the table filled up and i was playing the cards against seven other players, yikes! I kept my cool and played how i always have and after about 45 minutes of up and down i left. But the best part is that i walked away from that table with two hundred thirty-four dollars!!! It was nerve wracking at times with my stack fluctuating so much, but i was getting some good cards and playing those guys pretty well. Kris was so proud of me she kissed me in front of all of them! She was excited that i made up for a lot of the drinks we’ve had on board so far. here’s a shot of me with my winnings!

So now we are back in the room and about to head to the top deck to say farewell to St. Thomas. After our pool-side party, we will go back down to the ‘Palace’ to watch the newlywed game show. (no we’re not participating… even though i know we’d win). After our show we’ll come back to the room for ‘bedtime’ …
So, goodnight to you all. Tomorrow we will stop at St. Maarten for another day filled with shopping and beaches! Look for a post on Kristen’s webpage tomorrow night!

-simple

day three…

our second day at sea and third day on the cruise started with a bang! well, sort of…after putting out our room service breakfast order late last night, we seemed to have forgotten we ordered it at all…we slept through the first set of knocks until a half an hour later they were calling our phone and knocking on our door…just to give us our breakfast!

so, we had a bit of a late start…but no worries- we had a full day of nothing planned ahead! we got ready and headed to the elevators, with no destination in mind…somehow, we ended up at the very front of the boat (think titanic). although we didn’t pretend to be the king, we did almost fly off the boat. the wind was so fierce i almost felt like i was flying if i leaned forward enough.

after walking around the ship here and there we landed at the “schooner bar,” a nautical theme bar where a trivia challenge was about to begin. we grabbed our paper and pencil and got our minds going for the upcoming challenge. 20 questions later, we found ourselves with only 3 right. too embarrassed to announce our score, we then realized we were one point higher from winning a prize for the lowest score! man, we can’t even win on being a loser!

as our stomachs began to rumble we walked to the cafe and had some lunch. soon after we walked to the pool in hopes of catching the “men’s bellyflop competition.” i must say, we saw some pretty painful slaps on the water, and some very red bellys. it was so nice on the pool deck we decided we wanted to come back and lay out for a couple hours. the sun was hot, the reggae music was upbeat, and the lounge chairs were comfy! a couple soft serve cones later we went to our next stop: bingo.

no, we didn’t win again. why do we keep trying? actually, we didn’t go with plans to play- just to find out if you could buy a smaller package than what we were “forced” to buy the first time. alas, there was a kids pack, and the guy also gave us another one free since we did trivia with him! so we sat and played, of course, not winning. then, after a quick power nap, we had another wonderful meal, although they did fumble with our wine again. wil made his attempt to use every piece of silverware on the table, and i tried the same. (it’s our goal by the end of the trip) even though he may claim to have used every piece, licking it and putting it on the plate doesn’t count in my book!

after dinner we went up to the very top deck overlooking all the ocean and rest of the ship to “dizzy’s lounge.” my favorite lounge so far…a swanky, jazzy night lounge with a stage that has piano keys along the edge. we sipped some drinks and made our way down to the show, but after being completely bored by the comedian we left early to sit in “the crown and kettle,” a quaint pub.

exhausted, we didn’t stay in the pub for long and made it back to our room, only to find a platter of cheese and a bottle of wine waiting for us! (no secret admirer, we just spaced it and forgot we ordered it ourselves) we were happy to see it, but due to our drinks at the bar and a full dinner, we weren’t even hungry for it! thanks to a mini fridge and the hundreds of cups in the bathroom, we saved it for a later night.

wil was slipping fast (not me, crazy!) so after checking our email, he crawled into bed, almost forgetting to change his clothes! and i was soon after, thus explaining why this post is coming to you the next morning. today we will be stopping at st. thomas at one, so look to wil’s site for his post later!

p.s. we found an email letting us know our wedding photos are online to see! once we get back in the states, we will be sure to email ya’ll with info on how to look them up and possibly order them for yourselves.