Aloha, Norwegian Getaway...
Aloha everyone, I am back from an amazing and relaxing week cursing the eastern Caribbean on the Norwegian Getaway. I have to start off by saying cruises have never been my thing. We took a week cruise 17 years ago for our honeymoon. It was a great trip and so relaxing but since then we have never done another cruise. We have always decided to plan a road trip or fly to our favorite destinations versus taking a cruise. For us it was more getting stir crazy that few days you are at sea and not on an island. I am not a gambler and not a fan of buffet style eating so for me it was not my ideal vacation but this trip was a gift, a well needed get away to get some rest and take some me time. I had a great time and met some great new friends while on this cruise.
We left last week on Saturday and spent Saturday through Monday at sea. It was great to just relax, lay out pool side, read, journal and take notes for things I want to blog about coming up over the next month or two. I have a lot of content I want to cover and lots of great life style and fashion or home decor stuff I would love to share. Also I have a bunch of great clothing, jewelry, accessories and home or holiday stuff I have been sent from a lot of designers and shops that I can't wait to be able to share with everyone. I also had some decisions to make about my career and our living situation that have come up recently along with some other personal stuff that has been happening I wanted to think about and really make up my mind about how I wanted to handle them. This cruise was great for that I had lots of time to just relax, think, make decisions, plan things and really get organized. I am super excited about some fun stuff I have put together to share over the next few weeks and I can't wait to see what everyone thinks. Also I will be working a lot on my photos and writing. I really hope to be able to share all these things with all of you. Sometimes it is hard when you are working a lot and taking care of your family, life and self, but I really wrote a lot and laid out in my journal my upcoming posts along with what I want to feature or share. Make sure to keep an eye out because this week I have set some time aside a few nights or afternoons to be able to sit down and get those posts together. Now let's talk cruise.
After a few days at sea enjoying the lovely ocean views, sunrises and sunsets, meeting so many friendly and awesome new people, taking in shows, taking part in workshops, spending some quality time with my mom and aunt, missing my hubby and girls, relaxing, spa time and then of course the island excursions that started on Tuesday, our first stop was in St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands.
The Norwegian Getaway was amazing, this cruise ship had it all, from amazing dining, great entertainment, a huge spa, lots of outdoor deck space for relaxing and taking in the amazing views, art, jewelry, gorgeous decor, bars, lounges, and more. It was over all an amazing trip and I give Norwegian cruise lines a A+ for the over all experience. Way better than I remember the cruising experience 17 years ago on Carnival.
Some photos from my first day leaving and onboard the ship at the port of Miami before we disembarked on our week adventure:
When deciding what to wear I went with this colorful ombré maxi dress that is semi see through from the mid thigh down but has a yellow under dress, so you don't see more than needed. I layered a lace kimono over it and of course added lots of pretty accessories. I went with my Lacey Ryan gold tone feather lariat, I got both the dress and necklace from Maurices.com. The lace kimono is from Pacsun awhile back and got that on clearance.
I love Alex and Ani, my mom got me my first Alex and Ani bracelet last year. She got me a silver Buddha charm bracelet and as soon as I saw it I was addicted to these great bracelets that are perfection for layering or stacking. I added a PuraVida string bracelet in the same color tones as my dress to add a little pop of color to my gold tone Alex and Ani wrist candy. For sure love having charmed arms and loving the charmed life. My mom also got me the heart and beaded gold tone wrap, then my husband got me the love and feather wrap for my anniversary.
It was strange to leave my hubby and daughters for a week, I am so use to always traveling as a husband and wife or family but it was fun. I was home sick a few nights but who wouldn't be. Over all I returned home happy, relaxed and ready to be with them again. I really think overall it was a healthy experience for me because I never really take time to do a lot of things for myself. I am always taking care of my girls or making sure my hubby is happy that sometimes I forget myself, luckily my husband is amazing and always taking care of me, surprising me with date nights, events or gifts , and pushing me to do more for myself. I also am blessed to have two daughters who always want mommy to be happy and always tell me such amazing compliments. Getting to spending time with them always cheers me up when I get down and out or if I am stressed from work or life. I will say my next trip will be with the family for sure but I won't hesitate in the future to take another trip or short getaway like this. I truly feel like a new and refreshed person since returning.
Once we got through an easy boarding and customs check in I was in line for my key card with a drink in hand ready to start my week of relaxing.
Above is the adults pool, and then they have a kids pool, water slides, and a rope course on the upper decks with a walk the plank style ending. I didn't do the walk the plank rope course because I have a fear of heights but I did lay out by the pool and enjoyed watching everyone try out the rope course and scary walk the plank.
Not the best photo but a view of the water slides from the deck right below looking from the adult pool area. If you are looking for a relaxing trip or getaway I would recommend a cruise, I personally think 4-5 nights is good versus 7-8 but I tend to get bored easily and I like to sight see or do stuff on land versus the ship. I did get a massage in the spa and have to say it was an awesome 90 minutes. It was so relaxing I fell asleep lol.
Below are some of my cruising ootd shots, I didn't take as many as I would have liked to because I was spending time relaxing and really enjoying my getaway. Hope everyone had a great week and will be working on updating the blog along with catching up on some posts I have planned. Have a great weekend xoxo ❤️✌️
Loved the more laid back approach to cruising now, back when I took my cruise for my honeymoon you had to dress up for shows and dinners but now you can dress in beach attire or how ever you feel comfortable. They did have a dress up night which was a lot of fun for everyone on board and a great chance to break out your nice clothes for a night, I really enjoyed wearing my summer attire again.
It was so amazing to take in the sunrise and sunset from the balcony in our suite or the upper decks daily. I got a lot of amazing photos and it was truly breathtaking. It is really amazing to be out on the open water with no land in sight for miles or days, a little scary in the late evening but we had a full moon this week and luckily the moon kept the waters lit nicely most of the evenings.
I remembered from our first cruise the cute towel animals we would have returning to our room every evening after dinner or taking in shows. I really did find them to be cute and we got a few good laughs from the awesome Mark who took care of us while we were on board the Getaway for this trip. He was really fun and we enjoyed his entertaining notes and surprises.
A little arm candy from my cruise, my prior post has all of my bracelets and arm stack photos so won't bore you with all of them again.
Took this photo on our balcony in the morning. It was awesome having a balcony even though on this ship they aren't that big, I can't imagine not having a balcony I would probably become claustrophobic without it.
Got a lot of laughs from fellow cruisers on the trip, they really did enjoy some of my graphic tees and tanks. I stuck with some of my favorites and this one was a hit for those who took the time to read it then caught the meaning lol.
Not the greatest photo had an issue getting great shots when it was the evening because there was not a lot of natural or good lighting. I wanted to mostly show this sweater I picked up before I left on eBay for a great price. It is from Free People and have two colors, has a crochet back and love the baggy fit. They retailed for well over $75 and paid $18 for this one then found a cream and light pinkish tone for $24. Love eBay.
I was excited to visit the Ice bar on board the ship. Everything from the bar, the chairs, the tables, the walls and even the glass you get your drink in are all made of ice. They provide you with a parka and gloves to wear while you're in the bar along with two drink cards, all for $20. It really was cool and wish that it wasn't so dark inside to get better photos to share with everyone.
This photo didn't come out to bad just to give you an idea of what it was like inside. It is small and they only allow a few people in at a time. We were in the bar with four other people so a total of seven of us at one time. It was hard to stay in there longer than 30 minutes and I won't lie I had to remove my gloves to take the photos with my phone, my hand was frozen even after putting my gloves back on lol. It really was a lot of fun and really cool to check out. The drinks were interesting also. I tried two different ones and one had an ice wine that was very sweet, I didn't care for it because it was really almost bitter but the second one I had tasted a lot like a lemon drop. Overall I would recommend if you have not been to an ice bar to try it out it was a lot of fun.
More fun towel animals.
On board the catamaran in Tortola. We did a land and sea excursion, and the sea part came with complimentary rum punch cocktails.
My ootd for our island excursion in Tortola was a light weight romper from Maurices.com. It was very hot and humid on the islands but similar to the weather here in Florida so I was prepared.
Lounging on the ship between islands in my Music on World off tee by Forever Friday formerly known as Stop waiting for Friday.
I forgot until half way through my post I did a post when I got back with my bracelets and arm candy, I removed most of them but did leave a couple of my favorites. You can see all of them in the previous post.
A view from the top of the mountain on St. Thomas Island in the USVI.
My favorite stop was this gorgeous beach on Tortola Island in BVI.
A towel crab left for us one evening on one of the beds in our room.
My Pam & Gela tank which started several conversations and got a few comments or high fives walking around that evening on the ship. It's funny how a graphic tee or tank can strike up conversations and catch attention of others.
Love this O'Neill feather tank, with my Maurices crochet back, short sleeve cardigan and some Buckle distressed shorts. Got to wear my new Lacey Ryan silver triple layer necklace a few times on the cruise and really love it.
This was a cute little towel animal left under my blanket when they turned down the bed while out at one of the late night comedy shows we attended. We got to see all the shows and most of the entertainment on the ship, we really did enjoy them all. The comedy shows we attended were for the 18+ crowd and usually later in the evening, I must say it was hilarious and very entertaining.
All the cruise ships in port while in Nassau.
I had an all around amazing time and wish I could share more but do not want to make the post to long, had to really condense my photos. Hope you enjoy the few shots I was able to share. If you're considering taking a cruise or if you haven't been on one I highly recommend it. If you get stir crazy I would suggest taking a 3-5 night cruise to start or one with more days on land and less at sea, I have to say that Norwegian did have a lot of great activities and shows to keep us busy between island stops. We did a few of the classes from health, fitness to creative classes like towel animals, cake and cupcake making from the Cake Boss then they also had some fun parties for all ages. All in all it was fabulous for me and I really got to relax which was my main reason for going. Hope you enjoyed and Ty again for passing by xoxo ✌️❤️
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