Disclaimer: This will be long because it’s hard to sum it all up in one blog post. I apologize in advance, but hope that you still enjoy it! Please leave comments.
As some of you may have heard the OKC Sims’ went on a cruise a few weeks ago. We sailed on the Carnival Conquest for 7 days stopping in Jamaica, Grand Cayman Islands, and Cozumel. We were joined on this fabulous trip by quite a few of our friends from church, which made the vacation even more exciting.
Here she is...the Carnival Conquest. To give you an idea of what our cruise ship was like, let me give you a few specs:
Total Staterooms - 1,487
Private Balcony Staterooms - 556
Decks - 13
Passenger capacity - 2,974
Total crew - 1,150
Ship size - Large
Tonnage - 110,000
Ship length - 953 feet
Our first two days on board were at sea. There were many things for us to do, especially since Carnival is known as the “fun ship” cruise liner. During the day we had mini-golf, volleyball, basketball, shuffleboard, ping-pong, swimming, hot tub, water slide, and sun bathing at our leisure. There were also scheduled activities going on during the two days such as: bingo, trivia games, team contests (which I’ll explain later), and much more. One of our favorite contests, at least to watch on the recap video (according to Jessica and I, and our best friends Jen and Stephanie) would have to be the hairy man competition. It was all thanks to the cute guy who entered and had absolutely no hair on his body, except for the one that his girlfriend drew on his chest with a ballpoint pen. During the evenings there were also many things to do: lose or win money at the casino, dance the night away in the dance club, listen to various bands playing throughout the ship, go to the evening production/show, and our favorite activity—karaoke. We were in there every night.
volleyball on the Lido deck
Danny (Jessica’s boyfriend) and Shawn singing Bohemian Rhapsody at karaoke
One of the major activities throughout the week is team competition. Carnival splits up the guests into three teams: red, white, and the best team, which was our team…blue (even though we lost, but who cares we were winning all week). During the week whenever contests and games were played the goal was to win points for your team and cheer for those on your team. The team at the end of the cruise with the most points would be the winners. The prize: simply the glory of a victorious win…and nothing else. Really there wasn’t much of a point to this “team” thing. We kept saying it felt like we were a part of a cult because you found yourself booing other teams and people that you had never met before and will probably never see again. But, I guess it was all good fun because it gave more excitement to each day.
The massive team cheering competition/dance party. The parents, Donny & Cami, were into it!
At every stop there were options to go on excursions that were approved by Carnival cruise lines. They are basically a way to have fun without having to really plan anything and know that you’re safe with an approved tourist company out in another country. These excursions ranged from a leisurely time at the beach—city tours—water rafting.
The first port stop was Jamaica. Jessica and I went on the horseback-riding excursion with Jessica’s boyfriend Danny and our friend Shawn. It was so fantastic!! And in case you wanted to know my horse’s name was Crystal Light and Jessica’s was Stardust. Our parents went on a shopping tour in the city and had a great time w/ the other people in our group. I hear they had a fantastic tour guide and made a few great purchases.
Jessica & I riding through Jamaica…well at least part of it.
Our second stop was at the Grand Cayman Islands. Here we all decided to have our own beach & shopping day and not go on an excursion. We went to the Seven Mile beach around the Marriot area and spent a few hours playing and laying in the sun. A few people rented snorkel gear and went out to see what sea life they could find. I don’t think there was much out there since the reefs were quite far away. After the beach we went back into town and did some shopping.
Beautiful beach…
Our last stop was Cozumel, Mexico. The excursion here was Passion Island. Most of you have actually seen this island and you probably didn’t know it. It’s pretty famous
thanks to the Corona commercials. Yes…that’s right we were at the “Corona Beach” as we liked to call it. This was a great day of relaxing on the beach and enjoying company. It was a great final stop for our trip. Corona beach…ahhh…so wonderful!
One last day at sea ended our trip. It was still filled with the same activities that we had throughout the trip. We were all pretty exhausted from the week, so we didn’t do much except laze around. The evening, however, was very exciting. It was the final show for our trip, which just happened to be the “Carnival Legends” show. The show featured 10 guests (passengers) impersonating artists who have influenced music (James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Elton John, Madonna, Britney Spears, Ricky Martin, Gloria Estefan, Garth Brooks, Elvis Presley, and Frank Sinatra). They auditioned during the karaoke activities and were chosen by fellow guests. The reason for mentioning this show and not others is the fact that our very own, Jessica Sims, was chosen to be Britney Spears. She rocked the karaoke audition and had the guests screaming for more. I must say that I’m proud to be her sister!
Were you aware that Britney Spears was in our family??
After a long 7 days we were all glad to be back on land. It was a bittersweet moment for us all. We are now back to reality—work and school. It was a great vacation full of memories that we will never forget. Oh and let me just say that as soon as we stepped off the ship we were all asking when the next one will be.
Family Vacation!
Wish you could’ve been there!
(want to see more go to http://greenville.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2074168&id=44005633 and http://greenville.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2074220&id=44005633 to check out more photos from Cruise 2008)
