10 Year Wedding Anniversary ~ Easter Caribbean Cruise

Ever since we got married I have wanted to go to the Caribbean with Tyler.  I wanted to see the crystal blue water and beautiful beaches - that is my ideal vacation spot.  So we decided that for our 10 year anniversary we would do it!  Of course 10 years ago we didn't know how many kids we'd have, where we'd be in our lives, etc.  But I am happy to say that with the help of my parents (they watched the kiddos) we were able to go!  And it was the most amazing, fabulous, perfect vacation I have ever been on.  It was so wonderful to get away without the kids and be together.  Everything from the cruise line to the land excursions was perfect!  There was absolutely nothing we would have changed.

We arrived in Fort Lauderdale, FL the day before we could board the ship, so we went to the beach, ate at Bubba Gump, and walked around town.

We are getting ready to board our ship.  We were on Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Seas.  It is one of the biggest cruise ships in the world.  And it was truly amazing!  The best part was that even though there were thousands of people on the ship it never once felt crowded.  There was always more than enough of everything.

Our ship...

Our room...

1 of the 6 pools on the ship...

They had a level on the ship called the Boardwalk and it had all these fun little shops.

This was the cupcake shop and everyday they served different gourmet cupcakes.

One of the floors they had a Central Park.  It felt like you were outside actually walking thru a park.  There were definitely times where we had to remind ourselves that we were on a boat vs. land.  This was our favorite place to eat breakfast at a little cafe.

Nassau, Bahamas...

Our first stop was at the Bahamas.  I am glad that it was Sunday because there isn't much to do in the Bahamas.  So we took a tour of the island and then went to church with another family from our ship.  I always love going to church in other places of the world because it's so neat to feel the same spirit and see that no matter where you are the gospel is true.  The people were so kind and welcoming.  And it was neat to see what a beautiful chapel they have. 

St. Thomas, Virgin Islands...

Our next stop was in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands.  Here we walked around town for a couple of hours and then went kayaking and snorkeling.  It was so beautiful and water was amazing!

 Tyler was helping cool me off. :-)

St. Maarten...

Our last stop was St. Maarten.  This was my favorite island out of all of them.  The water was just crystal blue.  The locals were so nice.  We would definitely like to come back and stay just on this island.

I guess someone in town shares our love for Honda trail bikes. :-)

Since the island is half owned by the Dutch, Tyler wondered if they sold Stroopwafels.  So we ran to the local grocery store and found some!  This was to honor my dad who served his mission in the Netherlands.

After touring the town we got on a catamaran and did some more snorkeling, swimming, and hanging out at the beach.

We made some good friends on the catamaran and we were all jumping off the boat together.

Fun aboard the ship...

There was so much to do aboard the ship so the days we had at sea were so fun!  

We went zip lining...

Rock climbing...

Fine dining...

These are the Changs.  They are the other couple that we shared out table with every night in the dining room.  It was so great to get to know them!  They were so kind!

Our server Kenny

Me and my grapes

Ice skating show. Yep, our cruise ship had its own ice skating rink!  Crazy!

Flowrider...

They had 2 flow riders.  One for surfing and one for boogie boarding.  We only tried the surfing.

Live Concerts...

We saw Jerome Bell who was a semifinalist from American Idol Season 10.

Then I was able to get a picture with Jerome and other performers from the show Hairspray.

They were just walking down our hallway to our room.

Night shot from the Aqua Theater looking up.  The thing in the middle is a big carousel.

One of the shows at the aqua theater.  They had professional gymnasts and divers.  It was incredible what they were doing on a boat!

The divers (below) were diving into this 10 ft. deep pool (above)

Tyler couldn't handle as much sun as I could so one day I made him a little hut.

Who's arm is who's?

We got to see the Broadway "Hairspray".  We were very impressed by the acting, singing, and props!  We decided there wasn't anything they couldn't do on this ship.