NYC Cruise {the cruise part}

I took way more pictures in NYC than I did the rest of the trip.  Another nice part of being on a ship in the ocean, means no phone or internet access.  Which means, most of the time my phone just sat in our room.  I wish I had taken more pictures of the things on the ship, but oh well, next time. 

Days 1 and 2 were at sea.  I know some people don't like the sea days but I love them. I love knowing that there is nothing to do other than explore the ship (which is a lot to do) and just relax.  Normally I'd be by the pool laying out, but it was freezing outside.

With all of the chaos and sickness before we left, Dave didn't get the haircut he planned to get before we left.  So we bit the cost and he got one on the boat.  $35, not terrible, but not his usual $10-15.

Our first stop, Day 3, was Port Canaveral, Florida.  The downside to leaving from NYC is that you don't have time to get too far south.  But I guess when you live in Kansas, any beach is better than being landlocked on all sides with flatland for miles. We opted out of the swamp-land alligator tours, and the Kennedy Space Center and decided it would be a good beach day.  We were saving our excursion money for something else!  But it ended up being pretty windy.  After a little bit of shopping, we found The Sand Bar that we had heard awesome things about, and took our time eating some amazing fish tacos and fresh peel-and-eat shrimp.  Just about the time we were finishing up, I spotted  a super sweet gal I went to high school and played basketball with.  She's in a different Premier family and it's always so fun to see each other at Premier events.  A few years ago we promoted to a new level of leadership and walked across the stage together at National Rally. She's awesome and it's been fun re-connecting a little bit!  She and her hubby were dropped off at the Wichita airport at the same time we were.  We were on different flights to NYC but we knew we'd see them on the boat. So it was super fun to see them walk into The Sand Bar and join us.  So our lunch continued for another hour or so. Those unexpected visits are always the best.

We never made it to the beach that day, other than just walking on it a bit.  So we missed some sun, but we also missed getting stung by the sand the whole time because of the wind. I did happen to get in a picture that made it LOOK like I had been at the beach all day.

 So the reason we opted out of some excursions was to get a couples massage at the spa on the boat. Total splurge, but so worth it to me.  Dave isn't a huge fan of massages, he likes them but doesn't see why I love them so much.  But he was up for doing it with me, as opposed to sending me to the spa alone.  So day 4 started with relaxation.

 And then an announcement from the captain that we wouldn't be stopping at Norwegian's private island that day due to rough seas.  There isn't a port and the only way to get people to the island is by small boats back and forth.  With rough seas, there's no safe way to do that.  But the bright side was that we would head on to Nassau and get in there for the whole evening instead of the next morning.  We had been to this private island before so we weren't too bummed.  We were excited for more time in Nassau.

We got off and ate a local seafood dinner and then visited the Atlantis.  It was free to see the aquarium at night, so total score!

On the taxi ride back to the port, our backpack (carrying our passports) got left in a taxi.  We noticed within a few minutes, but the taxi was already gone.  Soooooo.....
We did what we could for an hour or so that night to try to find the taxi, and decided to continue our search the next day.  We knew we could get back on the boat with just our boat card, but needed to make sure we could get back into the US.

I guess we have a history of losing important things on vacations.  Remember my $700 Visa gift card we lost at Disney World?

It was one of those tough decisions...do we just forget the passports and enjoy the day or try to find them?  We felt like we needed to attempt to find them.  In case they had been turned in or taken to the Embassy.  So the morning of day 5 consisted of a visit with the taxi booth, another trip back to the Atlantis, a visit to the police station, and then a trip to the US Embassy.  We got confirmation there that we would be fine getting back to the US.  So we ended the search and found a beach.

There is something wrong when you notice the lifeguard wearing sweats and a stocking cap.
 The wind was pretty awful.  We laid on the beach for an hour or so, and then had enough.

 We got back to the boat an hour or 2 before we needed to be.  We had really seen plenty of Nassau on our passport search.

This was the view of all the ships in port at Nassau.  Ours is the one on the far right.  I had no idea our ship was that big.

This was our view of Nassau as the boat left.

 Our room was off the very back of the boat, instead of one of the sides.  It was a fun new perspective.

Not sure what on earth happened to the coloring of this one.  Bummer too, because it was probably the only non-selfy picture the entire trip.

And Dave didn't even have to miss much March Madness.

 Ok, so one last thing.  I found some pictures online (and I'm sure there are rules on that, but I HAD to show you a few more things that I wasn't able to get pictures of).

 First, these are the slides I mentioned in the last post that dropped you straight down - so fun!

And one of our other favorite parts of the ship was the ropes course on the top deck.  AMAZING!

But wait, that's not all!  There was a plank!  It was the most terrifying thing ever - but soooo fun!  Dave and I both did it.  They just don't let you take your phones up there so we don't have proof.

It was craaaaazy!

 

And that's a wrap.  I noticed we had a bunch of pictures all posed the same way.  I guess there aren't too many ways to take "usies".  But it was a fun look back at our trip together.  Such a fun week with my love.

 
The last 2 days were back at sea.  One day it was warm enough to still lay out on the sun deck, while Dave took the behind-the-scenes tour of the boat.  Then on the last day it was rainy and cold all day.  The p.e.r.f.e.c.t day to sleep in, eat a late breakfast, go back for a late morning nap, eat lunch, then an afternoon nap, then dinner.  There is nothing more relaxing than doing NOTHING when you know there is nothing on earth else you can be doing.
It was a perfect ending before we were back to reality.

We are so thankful for these trips that we've been able to take because of Premier.  With life and kids, and busyness, and money...trips like these would not really happen.  It is such a treat to earn these trips for free and just pay to get there and for extras.  Premier is so generous, and we are so thankful for these memories and experiences that we've been given.  And always so humbled and thankful for those who support my business.  I just started my 11th year!

NYC Cruise {the NYC part}

I think I mentioned awhile back that I earned another free vacation from Premier.  I really love my job, all the time.  But man, these trips are such an awesome perk and reason to love it even more!

Everyone always asks what I have to do to get them. These trips are just for leadership.  I've been in leadership with Premier for about 7 years now, maybe?  I really can't remember.  So every year we are eligible to go on the leadership trip.  It's based on points/sales, and we always have a period of about 6 months to earn our points.  You have to earn a certain amount of points to even be able to buy on for the trip.  Then I can increase my points and earn my trip cheaper and cheaper, eventually free, and at the maximum point status it's always free for me and Dave!  Except Disney...last year Disney was a trip they allowed us to earn free for the kids too.

And honestly, during the 6 months that we are given to qualify, typically I only have to bump up my usual activity just a little bit to end up getting both of our trips for free.  I have helped support my family in a huge way with my income from Premier for 6 years now.  Before then, it was just fun money.  So I definitely do more than the usual jeweler.  But it sure makes earning a trip much easier! I'm not saying it's easy...I have to push myself past what I usually do, and Dave and I always decide together if it's a trip worth me working extra for or not.  It's pretty awesome that I can earn a vacation from the work (plus a little more) that I'd typically be doing anyway.  In just 3 trips, we have been places that we would have never gone if we'd been paying and planning on our own.  In the end, I have to give so much thanks to all of my amazing hostesses, for supporting me and my business.  We definitely wouldn't be on these trips if it weren't for them!

Of the 7 years I've been eligible for the trips, this is our 3rd trip.  Most of the other trips I was either hugely pregnant or had a newborn.  We took our first cruise (of our lives) with Premier in 2010, and we absolutely loved it.  We had the most beautiful stops. Then we took the big kids to Disney World last year and now this cruise.  They tend to do cruises every other year, with a "land" trip in between.

This cruise had a little different spin...we sailed out of New York City, instead of the typical Miami.

The 24 hours leading up to getting on the flight to NYC will go in the record books as some of the most stressful hours of my life so far. Or possibly one of my biggest pity parties of all time.  Either way...not a good day.  Maybe it was God's way of helping us enjoy our time away even more.  Dave got the stomach flu and my mom (who was scheduled to be there in time for us to leave, and was watching the kids for the first 4.5 days of the 8 that we'd be gone) called and said she wouldn't make it because she was sick too.  More than once that day, through tears (or maybe some possible yelling), both of us wondered if we should just not go.

The hours I had spent getting every last detail of who needed to be where and when, and who was the emergency call numbers which days, and who was picking up and dropping off where and when, all had to be re-done. Dave had taken the day off before we left so we could finish the million things we needed to do...instead he was in the bathroom and bed all day.  With 3 kiddos at home with me all day, I started those million things at 9pm the night before we left.  I still didn't know whether Dave would be okay to get on a flight the next day day or not, but I kept going in hopes he was.  I was up until 4am finishing every last detail and packing myself and all the kids (who would now be away from the house for all 8 days).

The next morning all was good! We made it.  But to be honest, it took me a good 2-3 days to fully relax and breathe.

Off to New York City.

We opted not to spend extra days in NYC, even though we really really wanted to.  And obviously that turned out to be a good thing with all that happened before we left.

So we got into the city around dinner time Saturday night, and we were determined to make the most of the one night and next morning we had, to see as much of the city as we could.

I had been to NYC twice before, and I fell in love instantly.  This was Dave's first time, and he loved it as much as I did.

We checked into our hotel, threw our stuff down, and headed out.

Our hotel was walking distance to Times Square so we headed there first.  Times Square at night is a must.

We really didn't make it all that late, considering the day before, I was exhausted beyond belief.

So we got up the next morning and headed out.  We weren't sure what all we could fit in, but we jumped the subway and headed for the Financial District to the 9/11 Memorial, with the goal that we'd just keep moving and try to squeeze in everything we could until we had to be back to check out of the hotel and get to the pier.

 

The new World Trade Center building was amazing. Such an incredible symbol of resiliency.

Getting off the subway and being at the tip of Manhattan was surreal. The last time I was in New York I stood at the top of the Empire State Building and took a picture of the World Trade Center towers through the foggy sky.  I still have that picture in a box somewhere.  

Just being in that place made my heart feel so heavy.  Standing where those towers crumbled and buried so many people alive, and walking the same streets that were filled with debris and millions of office papers and complete destruction was eery.  In fact, even when we weren't down there, but we could see the skyline in the distance, I wondered what it would have been like for all those people, all over the area to sit and watch out their windows as those two giant towers burned and collapsed.

The memorial was beautiful.  2 large square holes in the ground to represent to the two towers.

We left the Financial District and rode the subway to Canal Street.  We knew this was a good street to to get a good taste of the city as we walked as far as we had time for. 

We walked through Chinatown, Little Italy, and saw parts of SoHo.

Pizza in Little Italy.

We made it back to our room at 11:45 for a 12:00 checkout. And then took a taxi to the pier.

Quite a different site than leaving from Miami.

Premier is so good to us.  Every jeweler on the trip got a balcony room. It was huge and so nice!

We sailed on the Norwegian Breakaway, a boat that isn't even a year old, and one of Norwegian's largest ships. It held about 5000 people I think.  4000 guests, 1000 crew.  About 1500 of the 4000 were with Premier.

We took a picture of the slides and kids area first thing and texted it to the kids and promised we'd do the slides for them. Aren't we nice?  You can't see the blue and red slides very well, but at the top, you stand there and the floor drops out from under you and drops you straight down and then twists you all around.  It was really awesome...on the 4th day when it was finally warm enough to get wet.

 

 The cold weather is definitely the big difference (in March anyway) in leaving from NYC as opposed to our previous cruises from Miami.  Normally we have our swim suits on under our clothes, or in our bags and head straight to lay out in the sun.  Instead, we boarded in coats and boots, and it didn't get warm until the end of the 3rd day at sea. Right as we got past the southern part of South Carolina, the air finally got warm.  Even for this winter lover, it was SUCH a treat to feel that warm air after such a long winter (that was still going on back home).

Despite the cold weather, it sure was an amazing view leaving, sailing right alongside Manhattan and out into the Atlantic.

A view of the very tip of Manhattan (Financial District) and the new World Trade Center building.

I had left my coat in our room, but we still went out on the deck to watch the boat sail past the city, Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.  It was freezing!

Manhattan is on the left, Jersey on the right. The Atlantic straight ahead.

Dave talked me out of taking my good camera, which was probably a good thing.  And my phone doesn't take the best pictures when I try to zoom.  But here she is...Lady Liberty.  This was our first time to see her.

We got really good at taking selfies.

 

 Our first 2.5 days were at sea.  And like I said, the air wasn't warm until the night of the 3rd day.  So the first time we were really outside was when we stopped at Port Canaveral, Florida.  I wouldn't say we were bored though, you're pretty much on a floating resort. There was so much to do. And even when we weren't doing something, the beauty of not having anything to do and just having a break from life was wonderful.

More to come.