Cruise the Caribbean with the Click blogger retreat.
Back in January, I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the Click Retreat hosted by Today’s Mama, a blogger retreat focusing on photography and blogging in general. This is my second time attending the Click Retreat, the first one I attended was in the Outer Banks of North Carolina (which was amazing!), and this time it was a 7 day cruise through the Caribbean!
This was my second cruise, you can read my top 10 cruise tips here for a first time cruiser. I cannot talk highly enough about this cruise, the amazing cruise ship: Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas and the ports we stopped at.
If you’ve never been on a cruise, and you’re wanting to go, the Oasis of the Seas is amazing! It’s one of the biggest cruise ships in the world, and I was so impressed by the wonderful people who run it.
This ship is HUGE! It moves 6,000 people weekly through the Caribbean. It amazes me how much needs to be stocked and cleaned in such a short amount of time each Saturday when they dock to get ready for all the new passengers. If you’re curious like I was about how they do all of this with such a quick turn around, here’s an interesting article on the NY Times all about Royal Carribean’s Oasis of the Sea.
From two flow riders (virtual surfing experiences) to rock walls and a zip line…just to name a few, there is so much to do on your days at sea.
I was thrilled to room with my long time blogging buddy and friend Marie of Make and Takes. We had such a fun time together, I just love her.
Here’s the view from the inside/back of the boat. This is where a big diving water show took place at night, and a peek at our room window.
One of my favorite things about blogging conferences and blogging retreats, is the chance to meet and get to know blog friends in person. I was surrounded by some of the nicest there are. In this picture from left to right: Amy – Marie – Stacy – Becky – myself
There were three stops on this Royal Caribbean Cruise: The Bahamas, St. Thomas and St. Maarten. First stop: The Bahamas. We spent all of our time at the Amazing Atlantis Hotel and water park.
There was so much to see at the Bahamas. I loved the worn out old ropes on this weathered tug boat.
A bunch of us all went on the big water slide called the “Leap of Faith”. The slide is super steep and then it goes through a shark tank. EEeeek!! I still can’t believe I did this!
I almost didn’t go down it! It was one of those times when you psych yourself out before you go. I’m so glad I just did it. It was so fast and fun and not scary at all when your eyes are closed the whole time. I actually didn’t even see the sharks when I went down it, because my eyes were closed. (haha!)
The rest of the day we enjoyed the water park and giant lazy river/rapids. It was a blast!
Our second stop was on the island of St. Thomas. Look at this fun group of bloggers! I loved spending time with all of these cute gals!
In St. Thomas they took us to an overlook of Maegan’s Bay. It was so scenic!
In this picture: Marie – Becky – myself – Carina
I love this picture…we were joking around with Rachel of Today’s Mama. Everyone was hounding her for beach time and she had had it when I snapped this pic. She runs the #clickretreat, and they do such a great job.
Ahhh…Beach Time in Maegan’s Bay with Meredith and Angie.
I loved walking the top of the ship. When you look out and see nothing but ocean, it makes you feel so small.
Plus there is always so much going on at the top of the ship. Like people riding on flow riders…in the middle of the ocean. NoBiggie! 🙂
One of the best reasons to go on a cruise is for the food. The food on the Oasis was amazing! This was our dessert tray at the mexican restaurant, churros with two kinds of chocolate to dip and flan. Everything was delicious.
Our last stop was on the island of St. Maarten. We had the perfect beach day in St. Maarten. It was so relaxing. I was amazed at the color of the ocean water and the white sand beaches. Look how beautiful that natural ocean ombre’ is.
The Oasis of the Seas has so many neat design elements all over the ship. I loved these beautiful lanterns at the entrance of our dining room where we ate every night.
My roomie Marie and I goofing around in our room.
If you ever have the opportunity to go on a cruise, take it! It’s such a fun way to travel…and if you are a blogger interested in the Click Retreat, you’ll have to watch for their next trip destination.
A BIG thank you to all the Click Retreat sponsors: Royal Caribbean, SouthWest Airlines, and Del Sol to name a few. And a major big thank you to everyone at the Click Retreat and Today’s Mama for organizing such a fun trip.
