30th April 2011 Arrival Back in Miami

Well a sad day today when our cruise ended. What an awesome time we had and will definately be doing another!! We arrived back in port about 6.30am and Tim was awake for the arrival which he said was great to watch and then we packed up our suitcases and off to our last breakfast at the Garden Cafe - so much food you just dont know what to choose. Then off the boat and to our hotel the Holiday Inn at Miami Beach.
This is the view from our hotel room which is pretty nice and we went for a walk this afternoon along the boardwalk. Tim and I went for a drink and the kids had pizza delivered to room which they said was the best pizza they had ever had. We then had dinner at the hotel restaurant which was nice and then off to a pub that Tim visited last time he was here to see if he could catch up with the barman he met last August but he had moved on.

29th April 2011 Nassau

Today we arrived in Nassau at around lunchtime so we spent the morning on the deck and Emily got up at 4.30 am to watch the Royal Wedding and we managed to catch some of before we got off to do our tour. We were doing the Seahorse Catamaran and snorkeling tour today and they took us for a 40 min Catamaran ride and then we stopped and did some snorkeling at this reef which was great. Heaps of fish and so much colour both on the fish and on the reef. We had an hour there then it was a 40 min ride back with free rum for all and then some shopping at the markets. Nassau was a really beautiful island and looks like lots of richies live here. We left there at 7pm for our journey back to Miami. We went and had something to eat as soon as we got back on the boat as we were starving then we did a bit of shopping - Tim got a nice new watch and we went to the H20 Bar and had some more cocktails for our last night at sea. Matthew spent his last night in the Recess room and caught up with his friends and then back to the room and watched a great sky show of lightning and thunder.

28th April 2011 Day at Sea

Another little creation that was made after the cabin was turned down for the night. Every day they would make up your bedroom and the the bunk bed would be put back in the ceiling then every night they would put it down again - pretty cool - our man was called Frank.

We were all dressed up to go out on an evening out to the Moderno restaurant which was Brazilian - great food and they just kept coming. The meat would come out on skewers and they would give you a piece and then the next type would come out and you had green and red card and when you had had enough you put the red card up and green for more - great for the men who like their meat.

The gym that I went to every morning - 42 treadmills and they view to die for - almost made running easy!




Well it was another day at sea which was just beautiful. Set ourselves up at the sundeck and Matthew went to the kids "recess" room - never saw him once he discovered that! - had several cocktails and Tim and I went down the big slide with the funnel - fun! Tonight we went to the Moderno restaurant which was one of the paid restaurants - $20 per person (cheap) - and the food was to die for. You really needed to go there on an empty stomach to really take advantadge of the yummy food. It started with chicken and ended with Fillet steak which was the best steak I have tasted. Matthew and Emily just helped themselves to dinner at the Garden Cafe which was a smorgasbord and the food was so good. Kids were in heaven.

27th2011 April St Thomas

The view from where the boat docked in St Thomas.

Emily on Magens Beach - we stopped here on our tour for 2 hours which was nice - we had a bit of rain but still hot. These birds where dive bombing for fish and it didnt matter where you were swimming.

Nice little launch in Magens bay - these yaghts where every where.

Emily and I with our new friend!

View of St Thomas from lookout.

Our tour bus - that was an experience
half an hour to count 23 people 3 times before we even took off and then our tour guide proceeded to tell us information but didnt speak English.

View of St Thomas as we arrived - a little overcast but still really hot. Today we had our first tour and it was a discovery tour of the island and some time at the beach and then Blackbeards museum then off shopping. It is a beautiful island and the beach was really calm and warm. The tour took up most of the day so not much time for shopping as we did not want to be late today as we were in big trouble yesterday - whoops!! We left St Thomas at 4.30 and we now had a day and a half at sea which we love before arriving at Nassau. Tonight we went to see Legends in Concert which we had Janet Jackson, Neil Diamond and Aretha Franklin and it was really well done. They all sounded so much like the originals and the band they had were great. This was held in the Epic Theatre which is where the Blue Man Group played. After this we went to the casino and had a few drinks there. We went to the Taste restaurant for dinner tonight and the meal was really good.

26th April 2011 Sint Maarten

Our ship from afar!

Matthew and I at the Sunset Bar near where the planes land.

One of the many planes landing over the beach right next to the Sunset bar - amazing!

Matthew swimming the glass sided pool.

The view from Steve's place! Hard to take!

Today we arrived at Sint Maarten and what an awesome sight watching us come into the island. Steve (my friend from school who has lived there 18 years) met us on the jetty at the end of gang plank and took us for a journey around the island. He took us and showed us where he lives which has to die for views and then we went all the way round the island stopping to have a drink and take in the sights. We stopped at a marina and had a couple of drinks at a restaurant with a pool that you could see them swimming in with a see through glass sided wall. We then went to Sunset bar where the airport is and the planes land right next door to the bar. Then it was off to Chesterfields to meet Sammy - Steve's fiance and that was great. We had to be back at the boat by 5.30 and we got there at 5.40 and we got in trouble for being late - Steve's fault

25th April 2011 Another Day at Sea

The casino which was huge -took most of the 6th floor.

Glaming it up!!

Another day at sea and still discovering what is on the boat. We went back to the sundeck and got our spot for the day and did some serious sunbaking. We had an announcement over the PA from the captain saying that the toilets had been fixed and that they discovered why they were blocked and they found 3 t-shirts had been put down the toilets - what the? Who would do that? Unbelievable!!! Matthew discovered the kids "recess" area so we didn't see him for most of the day and that night we went to the Cirque of Dreams which was in the Spiegel tent and you went in and it was set up like a tent and we were seated up as part of the circus. We had a beautiful 3 course meal while they performed amazing acts right in front of us - awesome!!

24thApril 2011 First Day at Sea onNorwegian Epic

Every night when our room was turned down we came in to a new little creation.

M


Matthew coming down the slide.

We took a photo of ourselves heading up to the top floor where all the richies stay.





The view from the top of the boat.

Well we had our first full day at sea today and the ship had a little bit of rock n rolling and my tummy was a little seedy but kept on going - just gotta get used to it! We had breakfast at the Taste restaurant which was very nice then it was back to the pool deck to get some rays. Matthew discovered the "Recess Room" which is where all the kids go and didn't see him for several hours. It is amazing that there are so many people on the boat but you can always manage to get a seat by the pool or a table at one of the restaurants. Tonight we went to the Blue Man Group show which was fantastic and then it was off to Fat Cats the Jazz and Blues bar. Unfortunately I cant load any photos up at the moment as the internet is so slow and it just wont load the photos up - will add them when we get to shore.

23rd April 2011 Norwegian Epic Cruise

The view from our balcony on the way out from Miami!!

Our guide to make sure we make it out safe!

Our room set up- awesome!

Well the day had finally arrived and we were off on our 7 day cruise around the Caribbean. What a huge ship and it is like a floating city on board. The rooms are very nice and when we first got into the room we couldn't figure out where the kids where going to sleep but a bed hangs from the ceiling so you have a bunk bed type set up - very clever!! We did a lot of exploring today and Matthew spent some time going down all the water slides.We had dinner in one of the included restaurants and it was very nice - heaps of choice of food and lots of it - dangerous!!!