Today marked the real start of the trip and boy were we on vacation mode. We finally fell asleep at around 11PM last night and neither of us woke up before 9:30 this morning. Even when we did wake up we took it easy for a while and missed the breakfast time frame at the hotel altogether. Fret not though, we walked a couple of blocks a little before 11 and loaded up on Starbucks.

We got back to the Epic not to long after, finished packing, and were on our way. Most of the time we have everything booked ahead of time. But since we are just traveling the two of us we figured most of the transportation could be figured out as we went, and so far that’s worked out nicely. We checked out from our room and headed down to the lobby, asked the valet for a taxi, and found one within a few minutes and were off to the cruise terminal.

It’s been almost a year since our three week Europe Trip, but Jenn and I are back in the traveling mode. Early this year we decided to take a break from Europe and try something new. We ended up booking a seven-day Celebrity Caribbean cruise out of Miami, FL.

The trip started on Thursday March 28th with a direct flight from LAX to Miami leaving at 11:50PM. So before we headed down to LAX we went and used one of our Travelzoo deals at the Hyatt Huntington Beach for a three-course meal. We ended up getting an amazing seat outside on the patio overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Jenn started with the soup of the day, the mushroom bisque, and I had a candy walnut salad. We both went with the filet for our main course and the crème brule for desert. It was an incredible meal and we had the patio to ourselves the whole time.

We are a few weeks removed, but in mid-February Jenn, Jake, Ally and I headed out on a quick weekend getaway to Las Vegas, NV. 

We left on Saturday, February 16th for two nights in a Panoramic Suite at the Vdara right on the Vegas Strip. We left right after Jake got off work (2PM), and he drove us in his new Lexus to our hotel. We did stop along the way at Trader Joes on the way and got wine, beer, and champagne to partake in on the trip. 

During each trip Jenn and I try our best to capture both our days and the places we stay. A few years ago we decided to do room tours of all the places we stay for two reasons. First because it was a great reminder of what the hotels were like. And secondly and more importantly it lets us look back and see if we want to go back. So on our recent Europe Trip we took videos of the three hotels we stayed at during our stay. 

The last stop of any cruise is always met with both a lot of excitement and a lot of dread. I know when both Jenn and I woke up this morning I could see that little piece of sadness start to creep into both of us as we know this is the final stop on the cruise before boarding a plane back to LAX.

Lets not start that sob fest yet though because we still did have our last stop of the cruise today Split, Croatia. We woke up this morning at around 9AM something I know we both would love to keep doing when we get home. Instead of getting room service which we are both a bit burned out on we got Starbucks this morning which hit the spot. We met up with my family at 10:30AM and went down to board the tender to take us to Split, Croatia.

I remember when we booked this cruise over a year ago my only trepidation with the itinerary was the lack of at sea days. I knew looking at the itinerary that after five straight days of stops, today was going to be a much needed day of rest. And that's exactly what it turned out to be.

Jenn took full advantage of our second and final at sea day. We both woke up at around 9:30AM and Jenn made her way down to the Spa with Amy to both get facials at 10:30AM. Judging solely on how relaxed she looked when we met up at around noon I can say that she absolutely loved the spa. I on the other hand laid around in the room and walked around the ship with Jake until noon where the whole family met up to have lunch in the dining room. It was a nice light lunch Jenn had soup and a burger and I had the salad bar with enchiladas.