South American Cruise

You may have heard that we recently returned from a trip of a lifetime...a South American cruise...around Cape Horn!!! It was wonderful - we had so much fun! We experienced so many wonderful things and we will never forget the amazing time we had!

I've been working hard to compile a video from all the footage I had and create a nice summary of our trip. I finally finished the video...and it's 15 minutes long! I know...that's long, but we were gone for TWO weeks. So, I decided it was ok. If I wanted it to accurately portray our vacation, I couldn't trim away anymore! I guess if you think it's too long - just stop watching. Or, don't start! :)

However, because the video is so long, the file was too big to upload! I had to upload it at a lower resolution just to make it work. Therefore, the video quality isn't the greatest, but you can still get an idea for what our trip was like. (If you're ever at our house, you can watch the higher resolution with us!)

We had a lot of fun and hope you enjoy the video:

South American Cruise from Kara Hurt on Vimeo.

March 6 - A Day In My Life

We've been back from vacation for over a week, but our internet has been very unreliable so it has been difficult to update the blog. I'm working on it and hope to get a couple new posts up in the coming days.

If you didn't know, we went on a CRUISE for two weeks at the end of February! It was SO much fun. I could spend hours talking about it, but I'll try not to. Here is a brief glimpse into our life on a cruise..enjoy!

I know, it wasn't that early, but when you're on vacation, it seems early! Our room was so dark, which made me want to keep sleeping!

But, when I finally got up and opened the curtains, this was the view from our cabin. (Yes, we had a veranda - they upgraded us for free and we loved it!) Welcome to lovely Punta Arenas, Chile.

All ready to go...headed to breakfast to start our big day!

Breakfast buffet in the Oceanview Cafe. So many choices - this was just one of the many buffet lines!

I ended up with french toast, sausage, potatoes, and a donut (yes, I know I eat a lot of carbs!). It was all so tasty. It's true when people say you gain weight on cruises...so much good food to eat!

Waiting in the Celebrity Theater for our tour group. They issue everyone a sticker according to the tour you are on. Then, you wait patiently for your sticker number to be called.

We were with the "Pink 14" tour group...going to see PENGUINS!!! They did warn us that this was the end of the penguin mating season so we might not see very many. But, at our first stop, we saw quite a few so I was hopeful!

On the tour bus for the hour-long drive to Otway Sound - where there are penguins...hopefully!

We made it! It was so windy...I can't even describe how windy it was! We were wearing every warm layer we had! Now, let's go find some penguins!

We started the long walk out to where the penguins nest. The long...windy...cold...walk!

There were tons of people, all hoping to see penguins. Everyone was anxious to get to the lookout point. Everyone gathered up ahead must mean something good, right?

And when we finally made it...this is what we saw. Where have all the penguins gone??? Actually, they've all gone up to warmer waters near Brazil by now. But, there were a few (10) brave penguins left for us to stare at.

You can tell they think it's windy too...all huddled together!

We saw one more penguin away from the beach, near some nesting sites. Can you see him? He's the black and white speck about half an inch above the tip of my finger! During the height of mating season, the beach and all the nesting area is covered with penguins...too bad we missed that!

Like I said, there were a LOT of people there to see the penguins. There were easily 40 times as many people as there were penguins!

Time check! On the bus headed back to town.

In Punta Arenas, overlooking the downtown area - with our cruise ship in the distance.

Statue of Ferdinand Magellan in the main square.

Buying souvenirs. We were still really cold...recovering from all the wind!

Because the cruise ship was anchored, we had to take tenders to get back and forth from shore. (The port isn't deep enough for the big ship). We enjoyed riding in the little tenders (which are also life boats, if needed).

Time for a quick lunch before or next activity. You can't beat the view we had at almost EVERY meal!

One of my favorite activities on every cruise I've been on is Trivia! They had lots of different trivia sessions this time and we enjoyed many of them!

Back to the room to get dressed for dinner...we tried to get a little dressed up most nights.

Our dinner menu...fancy food!

Again, you can't beat the view. We really enjoyed all the food and eating on the cruise!

Molten Chocolate Cake for dessert. One of the best desserts I had during the entire cruise.

After dinner, we went to a beer tasting in one of the lounges. Bill enjoyed tasting beers from around the world.

Then we stopped by to see part of the special swing dancing show. It was fun, but since we aren't dancers we didn't stay long (it was interactive and we were afraid they might try to make us dance).

Finally, back to our room! I love coming back to the room and having the bed turned down and the chocolates on our pillows. And, I love reading the newsletter and schedule for the following day! Another one of my favorite things about cruising!

Hope you enjoyed a little peak at our vacation. We had so much fun! If you've never been on a cruise - you should go!!

5 Reasons to Take a Cruise

We are about to embark on a vacation, so I will be away from my computer for a while. I'll try to update the blog if I get internet access, but I promise some exciting posts when I return. Until then, I will leave you with my list for the month. Since we're about to go on a cruise, I thought I'd share some top reasons why EVERYONE should take a cruise!

Reasons To Take A Cruise
1. Travel - You can visit numerous ports and countries, all while staying in the same room and only unpacking your suitcase once! On a cruise, you wake up in a new location each morning…but you return to the same room and same bed each night. It simplifies the traveling process while allowing you to see the world. You don't have to worry about hotel rooms in each city or how to get from place to place...it's all taken care of when you book a cruise.

2. Food - You can’t go on a cruise and not enjoy the food. They have buffets and fancy food and room service and pizza and more. You can sample food from the menu that you would normally never order (like escargot) and if you don’t like it, you can request another item - without having to pay extra. You can have wonderful service and excellent food in the formal dining room, or enjoy a burger on the pool deck. Or, stay in your room and order milk and cookies each night...it's all delicious!

3. Excursions - Even though it isn’t mandatory to take excursions on a cruise, I think it’s worth it. Whether you take the excursions offered by the cruise company or arrange your own, you get to take tours and enjoy activities in the various ports you visit. You can take a whale-watching cruise or tour ancient ruins. There are often so many choices it can be overwhelming. But, the excursions help you enjoy your destination a little more!

4. Activities - Cruises offer non-stop entertainment. They have Broadway-style shows and pool parties and trivia contests and more. There is always something going on and you are free to choose what you participate in. Or, you can simply sit back and relax and watch others participate. All the activities and shows are included so you don’t have to pay extra to have fun! And, if you’re traveling in a group, you can each have a uniquely fun day enjoying separate activities or excursions and then meet up for dinner.

5. Royal Treatment - You will feel like you are taking an expensive vacation without paying too much. You can be waited on for formal dinners, have your pictures taken by professional photographers, attend the Captain’s cocktail party, relax in the luxurious Spa, and generally be treated like royalty! It’s a great way to have a pampering experience.

I can't wait to enjoy this and many other wonderful things about cruises!!

A Cruise

Last week, Bill and I took a vacation. I know it seems like we've been on vacation a lot lately, but I really needed to get away. And, this vacation helped me cross off another one of my Birthday Goals. In fact, I crossed off Number 1. That's right, we took a cruise. I love cruises and now that we are closer to the Caribbean, I knew it would be easier (and cheaper) to cruise more often. We got a good deal on a last-minute cruise and we got a good price on tickets to Miami. So, taking advantage of 2 work holidays last week, we departed on a 4-day cruise!

We took a Bahamas cruise but our goal this time was to spend less money. The last cruise we took was for our honeymoon and we went all out. We took extravagant (and super exciting) excursions at each stop and we bought a lot of souvenirs. This time, we wanted to take the cruise and save money by enjoying all the free/inclusive items. We decided not to take any excursions, except one...we wanted to go snorkeling. It was the cheapest excursion available and it was basically just the snorkeling equipment and a ride to the beach. We scheduled this trip for the last day of our cruise, when the ship was going to stop at a private island owned by Norwegian Cruise Lines. We planned to spend the day at the beach and relax and snorkel all day long.

Because of that plan, we didn't even get off the ship at the first stop. We arrived in Freeport, Bahamas and we just relaxed on the ship. We slept in, ate a wonderful breakfast, sat by the pool, attended the various events on board, and basically relaxed. It was really nice. At our second stop, Nassau, Bahamas, we ventured off the boat for about one hour to do some shopping. (We just had to buy some souvenirs and gifts for our family and friends!) We walked around the town and made our purchases and then returned to the ship for more free food and fun!!!

The third day, we got up a little earlier (but not too early because we were on vacation) and got ready for our day at the beach. While we were still sleeping, the captain made an announcement that I couldn't really hear because I was sleeping...but I didn't really think anything of it. We were both very excited to spend the day at the beach and swim/snorkel in the beautiful ocean. We got our stuff together and headed for the breakfast buffet - which was delicious. We noticed that there were a lot more people out by the pool (which is odd when they could be at the beach) but we didn't think too much about it. After breakfast, we headed down to get on the tender. Now, if you don't know how this works, I better explain it. Sometimes, a cruise ship parks at the port and you walk right off the boat on to dry land. Other times, if there isn't a port or its not deep enough, the boat anchors offshore and they shuttle you to/from dry land in little boats called "tenders". We were ready for our ride on the tender but we got down to the departure point and all the doors were closed. We were confused and wandered around for a few minutes before going up to the reception desk to ask how to get off the boat.

At that point, it all clicked: the announcement the captain made, the fact that they revised the schedule of events for the day, all the people out by the pool, and the fact that the water seemed to be moving quickly (considering we were anchored, or so we thought). Yup, that's right, we were still moving. Apparently, the announcement the captain made was more important than we thought because what he had to say was that the weather and water was too rough for the tender boats so we weren't going to stop. Nope, we were just going to continue sailing around aimlessly on our way back to Miami the next day. Which meant that everyone had to STAY on the boat. It also meant no snorkeling or relaxing on the beach for us. It also meant that we went all the way to the Bahamas for 3 days and we never once saw or touched the sand and we never went swimming in the crystal clear waters of the Caribbean ocean. I was angry! I was upset that we were going to miss the only experience we really wanted in the Bahamas! I was also upset that they saved the private island until the last day. If we had one more day in port, after the private island day, then we could have paid a little extra to spend the day at the beach to make up for the disappointment.

But, we had fun anyway. I was disappointed and a little upset, but the cruise staff tried really hard to make our time "at sea" fun. We attended all the trivia sessions and even won a few prizes. We ate as much delicious (free) food as we could and then some. We relaxed on deck and in the hot tub. In the end, we had a wonderful cruise. I think we'll have to go back to the Bahamas some day so we can enjoy the sandy beaches, but we certainly enjoyed our vacation. Here are a few pictures as proof!

our ship - the Norwegian Sky

our room - with a cute towel animal
proof that we really visited the Bahamas!

Bill looking cool and having fun on deck

we even attended a demonstration for folding towel animals

just one of the delicious desserts we enjoyed

the sunsets were spectacular

I can now cross off the first item on my list of Birthday Goals (and I will use a Sharpie to cross it off!).