Cruise to the Bahamas! Part 1: Carnival Destiny

I know a few of you have been anxious for me to post pictures from my trip, so now I'm finally getting around to blogging about it. =)

For my graduation gift, my parents took me on a Carnival cruise to the Bahamas! My little sister and grandma also came along, and I'm glad they did because it made the trip that much better. For 9 days, I got to enjoy the sun (well, except for one day it rained the entire time...) and the beauty of the Caribbeans! My favorite part of the entire trip was getting off the ship and relaxing on the amazing beaches. I have never seen water so blue before! And it was warm! The sand reminded me of powdered sugar--it was SO soft. Except for trying not to worry about getting more burned than I already was, it was nice to relax on a lounge chair and not think about my cares back at home (aka job hunting). It truly was paradise!

Because I have so many pictures I want to share, I'm going to post them in parts so it won't take me as long. This first post will be of pictures from the cruise ship. We spent the first full day at sea and enjoyed the amenities of the ship. Unfortunately, my family and I were a little disappointed by a few things, such as the pool situation and some of the food, but overall, it was still a fun experience. Like I've said before, I think pictures can say more than I can, so I'll let them do most of the explaining...

This is the first time we saw our cruise ship, Carnival Destiny! I couldn't believe how huge it was!

I was getting so excited as we unloaded our luggage from the rental car!

Still unloading...

These two pictures are of us getting onto the cruise ship! It was a weird feeling knowing I wouldn't be on solid land again for a few days...

The Lido Deck, where all the main action occurred! As you can see, they had plenty of chairs for lounging in. The slide was pretty neat, although it was freezing waiting in line in the wind for a turn...

The big screen above the Lido deck, where we watched movies at night, like Avatar and Julie and Julia...so fun!

Another shot of the Lido deck from the other side.

This was one of the first things we saw when we boarded the ship: glass elevators! They reminded me of Willy Wonka...

This is the adult pool, one out of three total pools on board. They were all disappointing because they were more like kiddie pools than swimming pools. I pretty much got in just to cool off because there wasn't enough room to swim.

This place was especially crazy when everyone started drinking and the live Jamaican musicians started playing. One thing my family and I quickly found out about Carnival cruises is they're known as party cruises: a lot of people take them to drink and party! I think my family was the only people that didn't buy any alcohol.

Exploring...

Our neighboring cruise ship, which we ran into again a few other times during the week.

Goodbye, Miami!

The beautiful bay

Aren't these mansions unbelievable??? It looks like there's an open lot, if you happen to have a few billion dollars and are interested...

A tiki boat/restaurant we saw as we set sail.

Cheesy smile!

The beautiful, but crowded Miami beach

Sisters!

The auditorium/theater. We watched quite a few shows here, including singing and dancing, comedians, and a game of balderdash, which was hilarious!

A rose our waitress, Charlemagne, made for us out of a cloth napkin. Every night we had dinner in the Galaxy Dining Hall at 6pm, and we always had the same hilarious waitress!

What I was looking forward to the most...

Shrimp!!!

Chocolate Melting Cake! This was so good, but so rich!

Strawberry soup. I didn't know this even existed and decided to give it a try. It was amazing!

More shrimp...

Real lobster!!!

Beef and mashed potatoes

Salmon!

Yes, I was a little obsessed with taking pictures of our food. It always looked beautiful...even if it didn't always taste the best (and sometimes, I'm sad to admit, it didn't. We decided that because there were so many people on the ship, they were more concerned with quantity and timing than quality. Oh well.)

Another cheesy smile!

Relaxing...this is what I always pictured when I imagined what a cruise would be like.

Kimberly looking at the ocean

The family enjoying the ocean breeze. It was so hot!

Grandma Morgan enjoying herself

This is me and Grandma dressed up for dinner. On the second day, we had a formal dining experience. Some people even wore tuxes and prom dresses!

And my hair was long enough to twist! I was pretty excited.

The waiters/waitresses dancing for us in the Galaxy Dining Hall.

Our crazy waitress showing us a few moves...

Charlemagne was always making jokes. Here she is giving Grandma "a raise."

And here she is giving Kimberly a birthday kiss! haha

We also had dinner with the Parker family every night. They are from Dallas, Texas, and were fun to get to know.

We celebrated Kimberly's birthday on the cruise. As a surprise, the staff decorated our bedroom while we were gone.

Towel monkey!!!

Each night, we discovered a new towel animal on our bed. Here are a few of them having a tea party...

Carnival Destiny even had a miniature golf course!

Here I am putting my hole-in-one shot!!!

The sunsets were gorgeous!

And I loved watching the ocean.

One day, we actually saw a few dolphins jumping near our ship!

Me and Kimberly

The family

Grandma Morgan. I think she really enjoyed herself on the cruise, despite being one of the only older women on board!

Don't I look like I'm contemplating life in this picture?

Overall, the cruise experience was a good one, even though if I ever take another cruise again, it probably won't be Carnival (too much people and too much alcohol!) It was amazing being able to eat whenever I wanted, sit and read my book, and sunbathe without worrying about anything else!

Stay tuned for more pictures of the different islands and Florida, coming soon!