Favorite Photos of San Juan

Morning All! I started a new thread on Cruise Critic called, "Post Your Favorite San Juan Photos." If you have any photos of the island of Puerto Rico or Old San Juan, please share on the thread. If not, take a look and see how beautiful San Juan is :)

The thread is here. Enjoy!

Insane Deal at the Viceroy Miami

Check it out, today only: 50% off regular rates, no deposit required! I found this deal since we're thinking of staying one night in Miami before our cruise this fall. Sure enough, I was able to book a King room for half the regular rate. Very happy with this deal! 

Book here; the Featured Offer is on the right side of the homepage. If you're even considering staying in Miami this year, I would snag this right away just in case. You can always cancel later.

Allure Advice

Good Morning All! I'm planning a cruise on Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas this year with my husband and another couple. We're doing the Western route, which goes to Labadee, Cozumel (spending the day with our driver Alberto, then at Mr. Sancho's), and Falmouth Jamaica.

For those of you who have sailed the Allure, what is your one best piece of advice, or best insider tip?

If you have any tips on Labadee, Royal's private island, that would be awesome too. Thanks everyone!

Happy Cruising,

Chrystal

Losing Weight While on a Cruise? It's Possible!

..who knew?! 

So when I was packing for my cruise, I tried to limit my luggage to one carry on suitcase. With all the things I needed for the vacation, it took me about a week to decide whether I was going to include my workout clothes and sneakers. I go through this pattern whenever I cruise: I pack the workout gear, then use it for maybe one night in the hotel, and then for like 20 minutes in the ship's gym the whole time we're cruising. Why I think that will cancel out my unabashedly gluttonous eating when cruising, I have no idea. 

So why was I kidding myself? I decided to be honest with myself and not pack the gear. I would deal with the results when I got back home. 

Imagine my surprise when, at the end of the cruise, Rae and Crystal looked at me from the side and said, "Girl, you lost some weight!" I was shocked, but I did notice that my jeans were practically falling off on the way back home. I just wasn't expecting there to be a VISIBLE difference. When I got back home, I realized that I DID lose a couple pounds!

How did I do it? Well....if you read my latest review, you'll see that we spent almost every night dancing! We had to have spent at least two hours each night shimmying on the dance floor. In heels!

So if you're like me and don't want to pack a bunch of workout gear that you're not going to use (let's be honest), free yourself and leave it at home! Just be sure to take a couple nights on your trip, grab your honey (or get a circle of your friends), and get your groove on! It can do more for your body than you think :)

Photo credit: http://www.freeismylife.com

Happy sailing,

Chrystal

Our Fabulous Liberty Cruise: Photo Review Part 6 (Departure, Fort Lauderdale)

The last morning of a cruise is hardly ever fun. We weer a little melancholy as we finished packing. Because we had such late flights, we decided to leave our stateroom around 9:45-10:00. As we headed toward the Platinum theatre for the next wave of departures, we came across a worker who asked if we were trying to leave the ship. We said yes, and she said, "Just take the elevator down to deck 1 to depart." We quickly found an elevator and were off the ship (sadly) in less than 10 minutes.

Our Fabulous Liberty Cruise: Photo Review Part 5 (Cruise Day 4- At Sea)

We were so sad to wake up and realize that this was our last full day on the ship!

Our Fabulous Liberty Cruise: Photo Review Part 4 (Cruise Day 3- Cozumel)

Honestly....I could not have asked for a more perfect day than we had in Cozumel.

I was pretty worried about this port stop because we only had one port of call for the entire cruise. We really wanted to see the island, have a bright, sunny day, and be able to enjoy a white-sand beach and sparkling blue water. I wasn't asking for much, right?

Our Fabulous Liberty Cruise: Photo Review Part 3 (Cruise Day 2- At Sea)

So we woke up the following morning at around 10:30 AM. Because we were in an inside, I thought it was about 8:00 and was surprised when I looked at my phone (on airplane mode, no roaming charges) to see that it was so late!

Our Fabulous Liberty Cruise: Photo Review Part 2 (Cruise Day 1-Boarding)

I'll start each day of this cruise review with the Cruise Compass. We didn't get this until we boarded the first day, but wanted to keep each day uniform.

Also, when on an RCI ship, check out the floor of the elevator. You'll see the day of the week. This helps me keep track of my photos.

Our Fabulous Liberty Cruise: Photo Review Part 1 (Fort Lauderdale)

Hello all! Now that I’ve had some time to rest and recuperate from our vacation, I’m so excited to share our trip with you here on my blog. We sailed the Liberty of the Seas on March 8th out of Fort Lauderdale. This particular sailing had two sea days, with a stop at Cozumel in the middle.

We spent one night pre-cruise, and then spent the day of disembarkation in town until about 6 PM, since we had late night flights. Every second was fabulous- we barely slept so I have lots of details and photos to post.

This trip was to celebrate our 30th birthdays. We’ve been friends for several years and have been through a lot together. Originally, we wanted to go to Barbados, however the cost of flights shot up quickly. I figured it would be awesome to cruise on a Freedom-class ship, and we all agreed that cruising would be an incredible value. None of us had ever been to Cozumel, so we quickly booked our cruise and flights and anxiously awaited our turn to sail. Two of us have birthdays in April, and one had her birthday in January, so we kind of met in the middle

The cast:

Chrystal (me): I LOVE cruising. My friends call me the “momma hen,” the voice of reason, the one they come to for a listening ear. I love travel and want to just live well and enjoy every second of life. I try to see the beauty in everything. I arranged the entire trip and wanted the girls to have a relaxing and fun time.

Rae: I am blessed to have three best friends, but she’s the closest friend I have. I believe it’s because our lives have paralleled in so many ways. We were in each other’s weddings (one month apart!), live around the corner from one another, our husbands are close friends, and I’m their son’s godmother. She’s bright, funny, and very stylish. One of the sweetest people I’ve ever known. And she has an incredible singing voice!

Crystal (yes, two Crystals on one trip- note that I have an “h” in my name): Strong, generous, hilarious, fun, soulful, just a beautiful person to know. I met her a few years ago and we quickly became friends. You’ll see she has a larger than life personality and becomes the life of the party wherever she goes. She’s a mother figure to a lot of people. One second she’s whooping it up, then next she’s giving you incredibly wise and insightful advice. Love her!

So, for those of you who are familiar with my reviews, this will take me a while to get through. I like to chronicle our trip by the hour, with lots of photos. I actually purchased my first Canon camera before the cruise, since I wanted to take great pictures. I have the compasses as well.

Feel free to ask questions, I love helping to plan travel whenever I can. Hopefully this will help those of you preparing to cruise, and if you don’t have one booked yet, may this serve as a virtual vacation! 

Just Back from my Cruise!

Hello All! I'm back from my cruise on Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas, out of Fort Lauderdale. We had an unbelievably wonderful time. The trip was for myself and two of my friends, to celebrate our birthdays. The weather in the Caribbean was picture-perfect, and the ship was beautiful. It's going to take me a few days to write my chronicle of our trip. I have about 1,300 pictures to sort through as well. Come back soon to check out the review. I can't wait to share my trip with you!

Happy travels,
Chrystal