What a way to spend my first O'Keeffe family vacation!! We left
Danbury on Thursday in route to NYC to spend 8 days on the famous
Carnival Cruise Liner. As most know from the commercials Carnival Cruisers are family oriented ships that sail all over the globe. Our particular Carnival itinerary had us board the ship in New York City and sail south towards the Caribbean. The ship had scheduled stops in
Puerto Rico,
St. Thomas and
Tortola. This would be my first cruise and trip to any of the
Caribbean Islands and I was grateful the O'Keeffe clan invited me along for the ride. The Carnival Cruise Liner blew away all my expectations as Tina and I took advantage of the endless activities the BIG boat offered. By day we partook in 10 plus pools, endless sun, a putt-putt golf course, a full-gym (the treadmills overlooked the massive Atlantic Ocean) and most importantly the never-ending food options. After each full day of umbrella drinks and fun-in-the-sun with the O'Keeffe family everyone retreated back to the rooms for a chance to change out of our swim-suits, shower and have a pre-game family drink before hitting the
Carnival nightlife...yes that's right...Cruise Nightlife! Each night started with an unmatched 5-course dinner, then off to the nightly show consisting a comedian, band / singer,
cirque du Soleil type performance in the huge theater room. From the always tremendous performance Tina and I would head out for some late-night drinks and/or to my personal favorite the fully equipped
Carnival Casino. Regardless of the activity the time spent on the ship was amazingly memorable and we took full advantage of everything the BIG BOAT had to offer.
 |
| GREAT PICTURE OPPORTUNITY IN THE CARNIVAL THEATER (ME, TINA, MISSY, RJ) |
The time spent on the boat was, as stated, a phenomenal time, however it was only half the fun of the Carnival Cruise experience. The other half was consumed by the amazing three islands we got to explore for a day each. The first island was Puerto Rico where we (not really me personally though) docked the enormous ship in the harbor of
San Juan. We spent the day exploring the capital city and trying to take in as much culture as we could. (And by culture I mean we went to
Senior Frogs and took lots of pictures near cool landmarks - pic below). San Juan was a great time and RJ, Missy, Tina and I ended our time there by partaking in a standard Puerto Rican night by listening to some local live music, eating and drinking in one of the many outdoor port bars.
The next island stop was to St. Thomas. Instead of heading to the one of the many beautiful beaches we headed downtown to partake in some discount
shopping. Tina made-out with some semi-small diamond earrings and a dress with a little local flavor while I got my hands on some
Caribbean Rum. After spending a little money we decided to get a little more adventurous as we decided that couples
Parasailing would be a good relationship building activity. It was Tina's first time and a memorable one for all involved as we got dunked in the ocean before they reeled us back on to the speed boat. The last big activity of the day consisted of a vertical tram ride that took the family to
Paradise Point, overlooking the beautiful St. Thomas port. (picture right). The last stop was
the small British Virgin Island of Tortola. Tina and I decided we would explore one of the secluded beaches on the far side of the island, so we took a no doors 20 person bongo bus with a driver named Estabon. It was out a doubt the scariest drive we had ever experienced....more nerve-racking then a
NYC or Mexican cab ride and even worse then your Elementary School bus driver then drove 68mph in a 25mph and smelled like mustard. When we finally got to the beach we were blown away..white sand, clear blue water, coconut drinks and about 30, million dollar
yachts anchored in the small bay. After hours in the sun and some
snorkeling we were disappointed to head back to the ship and leave the mini-paradise behind (as well as get back on the bongo bus). This wrapped up our 3-island tour, which couldn't have been better, and now we were back to the ship to live it up as we headed north to NYC.
The last two days of the Carnival Cruise were spent on the ship as we headed to the
NYC Piers. The O'Keeffe family and I made the most of our last couple days as we celebrated the
4th of July in style with a great dinner, some dancing and a solid firework show to conclude the evening. The pools, dinning facilities, the Carnival Theater and the Casino saw their fare-share of myself, Tina and the rest of the family over the last two days. There was no doubt that we took advantage of every minute on the vacation and had an absolute amazing time. I need to thank Mr. O'Keeffe and the whole family for inviting me along, I had a tremendous time on my first cruise and loved every minute of it. I Can't Wait For My Next O'Keeffe Family Vacation!!!
