VH1 Best Cruise Ever – Day 4

This was our last full day on the ship, so we had to make it count. It was the first day that we actually slept in, but it turned out to be a good thing since we stayed up until about 4 AM. Once we got up, we grabbed lunch and then met up with Jessica, Amanda, Chad and Amy on the Lido Deck for some drinks. SafetySuit was setting up for an acoustic set on the Lido Deck stage and we were headed that way to get a good spot near the stage when Geof spotted Brad Arnold from 3 Doors Down walking the same way and grabbed a pic. The funny thing is that Geof though I was way behind him, but it turns out that I hopped in the pic right on cue. Geof didn’t realize I was in it until he looked through his camera. That was good for a few laughs.


Cockatil of the day!


My sidler pic with Geof and Brad Arnold from 3 Doors Down

SafetySuit took the stage around 1:30 PM and about halfway into their set, it started to pour down rain. This actually made things more exciting on a hot afternoon. I was soaked and didn’t let that stop us from having fun for one second, we even made our way right up front when some others took cover. Towards the end of the set, Doug (lead singer) left the stage and went to jump in the pool. It made for some good photos. After they were done, we caught up with our friends Liz and Josh and then went to say “Hi” to the SafetySuit guys and get some pics.


SafetySuit taking the stage...you can see the dark clouds coming in


My girls Amanda and Jessica


Found this pic from someone else. I'm right up front with my hands in the air


Here comes the rain


Doug taking the plunge


Nice


Us with Dave


Me with Chico


Us with Doug

The cruise crew (Geof, me, Amanda, Jessica, Amy and Chad) went to get a late afternoon snack and then Geof, Jessica and I went up to top deck to tackle the giant waterslide. It was awesome and much faster than I expected it to be. Geof and Jes begged me to go down because they didn’t it once without me and I finally went up. I wanted to do it 100 times after that. Will from Parachute even came up and was right behind me to head down the slide. We had a blast!


Ready to tackle the slide!

After the slide, Geof and I hopped in the pool with Steve and Cathy to catch some of the 3 Doors Down acoustic set. It was a good way to get a good seat and refreshing at the same time. We were getting tired and a little chilly, so we headed inside to change and then Geof wanted sushi. We met up with Amanda and Jessica again and later grabbed dinner in the Mardi Gras dining room. It was so much fun laughing with those ladies. They’re awesome!

After dinner, it was time to get ready for the last two big concerts and we headed to The Paris Lounge to meet-up with Amy and Chad. They held our place again and we were so thankful for that. We ended up in just about the same spot as we were the night before and had an awesome view of the Carolina Liar show. When Chad started “Show Me What I’m Looking For”, Jason Wade from Lifehouse came out and sang along with him. It was a great moment. After Carolina Liar left the stage, Lifehouse came on to do their set and they sounded amazing live in the bigger venue on the ship.


Carolina Liar with Jason from Lifehouse


Jason Wade

After the show, we headed back to our room to freshen up and then met up with our cruise crew. We went into the disco for a little while (don’t know why they still call it a disco) and then took the party outside the disco and hung on the Promenade Deck being silly, dancing and singing songs. We ended the night on the Lido Deck with one last ice cream cone before headed off to our cabin for the last night on the ship.


Geof with the guitar player from Shinedown and Nic Cowan


The Cruise Crew!

This was a trip that I will never forget. Thank you to all of the great people we met on this vacation (Chad, Amy, Jessica, Amanda, Steve, Cathy, Josh and Liz). We made lots of memories and it would not have been the same without you! Thank you also to my readers for hanging in there for all of these recaps.

P.S. I will announce the winner of the flat iron giveaway on Monday night. I’m still getting all of the entries together.

VH1 Best Cruise Ever - Day 3

We docked on Grand Cayman very early in the morning and grabbed a quick breakfast on the Lido Deck before dashing off to the Paris Lounge to meet with our tour group and take a tender to the port. Our group was about 15 people and we all hoped in a van and headed out on the island. The first stop was 7 mile beach, where we learned it’s really just over 5 miles long. Next up was the Old Homestead Pink-and-White Caymanian cottage that was built in 1912. We learned about how they got water in the early days on the island and also how they like to bring sand up from the beach to ensure their yards are covered for Christmas. After this stop, we saw the Governor’s Mansion where Queen Elizabeth stays when she comes to visit each summer. It was beautiful and has a private beach out back, since it’s right on the water. After that, we went to the Tortuga Rum Factory and got to sample different flavored rums and rum cakes.


Our ship - The Carnival Inspiration

Old Homestead

Next stop was Hell. This is a total tourist trap that I’ve been to before, but still fun. It is basically one giant rock formation with a gift shop and post office to send postcards postmarked from Hell. After this, we headed to the Turtle Farm. They have sea turtles ranging from a few pounds to others that are over 500 pounds. Some of the larger turtles are between 25 to over 40 years old. It was so much fun learning more about their conservation efforts and getting to hold and interact with actual sea turtles.

Hell

Geof where he belongs (just kidding)

Pretty conch shells

Geof at Tortuga Rum Factory

Geof likes turtles

They were so cute!

The highlight of our excursion was taking a boat ride out to the sandbar known as Stingray City. Geof and I were some of the first people in the water and immediately began holding and touching the stingrays. We even gave them a little kiss. They’re completely harmless unless you’re jumping around and acting like a lunatic in the water. At one point Geof was feeding them and the scent from the squid must have been all around because I was surrounded. That was the only part that freaked me out and may or may not have screamed. We got really lucky though because there was bad weather on and off all day on the island and the rain managed to subside for the entire time we were at Stingray City. On the boat ride back, one of the tour operators dove down and brought up a Starfish for us to hold and later we saw a dolphin showing off in the ocean. We had a blast there and then finally returned to the ship late in the afternoon.

Stingray City

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I'm surrounded by them


Geof thinks he's tough in this pic

Stingrays

We met up with Amy, Chad, Jessica and Amanda and grabbed a quick lunch together on the Lido Deck. After that we took a dip in the pool and then got in the hot tub. There was an interesting incident with a drunk guy out by the hot tub. He tried to steal all of our towels and then was dancing around in his boxers and most of us saw it all…gross. We had enough at that point and headed off to the Lifehouse show. Because of the weather, they moved the show inside to the Atrium and it was perfect. The sound was great and they played for about 45 minutes. They played one of my favorite songs entitled “Everything”.

Back on the ship with Grand Cayman in the Background

Lunch with friends


Lifehouse


This pic cracks me up because here we are and Steve took this from above. Stalker pic...LOL!

After Lifehouse, we got cleaned up and Geof and I went to get some Sushi on the Promenade Deck. We ran into Jason from Lifehouse again and this time Geof got a pic. Just like the day before, he was as nice as could be.

Geof and Jason Wade

We headed back to the cabin to sneak in a quick nap and then got ready for the SafetySuit and Shinedown show in the Paris Lounge. We met up with Amy and Chad who were awesome for holding a spot in line for us. When the doors opened we made it pretty close to the front. The show started around 9 and SafetySuit rocked the house for about an hour. Their set was top notch and the guys put on quite a show. Once they were finished Shinedown came on and rocked for about an hour and half covering all of their hits and then some. They even did their cover of “Simple Man” by Lynyrd Skynyrd. The lead singer, Brent Smith’s voice was incredible. That was a concert that I won’t soon forget.

SafetySuit

Amy and Chad rockin' out!

Shinedown

We headed up to the Candlelight Lounge and ran into Amanda and Jessica and then Geof and I met up with Steve and Cathy for some late night pizza on the Lido Deck. Overall, it was a jam-packed and fun-filled day!

VH1 Best Cruise Ever – Day 2

We started the morning off right with ordering room service to our cabin and then got ready for the day. We strolled around the ship and bumped into the lead singer, Chad from Carolina Liar (we saw him and the rest of the band a ton). He was super nice and we got a photo with him. We ended up going into the Candlelight Lounge for the VH1 Top 20 Countdown Panel. Jim Shearer and some of the producers were there doing a Q&A and giving a background on the show. It turns out that Jersey Shore was originally pitched to VH1 by the name of “Guido” and they passed for fear of losing sponsors. The original pilot was shot a few years back, which I never would have known.


Strolling the Promenade Deck


Best Cruise Ever!


Me and Chad from Carolina Liar

Later we headed over to the Paris Lounge for a Q&A session with 3 Doors Down. Fans got to ask the band questions, which ended up being very fun and informative. After that, we headed up to the Lido deck to watch the Cannonball Contest out by the pool that Shinedown was hosting. A big guy from Wisconsin won and then the band did a giant cannonball into the pool once it was over with the winner.


Q&A with 3 Doors Down


Cannonball Contest with the winner and members of Shinedown

We stayed out on the deck and saw 7daybinge with Cathy and Steve. After sun and a ton of music, we took a walk around the ship. We were up on the Promenade Deck and saw they had sushi. Jason Wade from Lifehouse (lead singer) was getting some too and we got to chat with him for a minute and I got a pic. He was really friendly, which made me happy, since I’ve been a fan forever. We headed back outside and caught the acoustic set from Carolina Liar and then we bumped into Jon (the lead singer) for 7daybinge. He was great too.


Us at the 7daybinge show


Me with Jason from Lifehouse


Carolina Liar acoustic set on the Lido Deck


Geof with Jon from 7daybinge

We headed back to the cabin, got ready for dinner and met up with Steve and Cathy. It was the night they were serving lobster tail and it was not very good at all. Dinner was a nice time though and we had some laughs. Afterwards, we went back up to the Promenade Deck and listened to Nic Cowan sing for awhile. We saw Amy and Chad there too and then Geof, me, Steve and Cathy headed up to the Lido Deck for the Shinedown show. We parked ourselves right by the pool and set up chairs. It was so relaxing and nice to sit under the stars out to sea listening to good music. I love Shinedown’s new single “The Crow & The Butterfly”.


Cathy, Steve, Geof, me after dinner in the Carnivale Dining Room


View from our chairs at the Shinedown show


Shinedown

After Shinedown, we headed back to the Candlelight Lounge and hung out for a bit with Jes and Amanda and then went to the Lido for a late night snack. Throughout the day, we also got to chat with Dave and Tate from SafetySuit and that is always nice. You never feel like you’re talking to guys in a band when you see them. They’re just down-to-earth and that is something you don’t see very often.

Sadly, we ended up not getting dressed for 80’s night. I’ll save my costume for Halloween or something like that. I would say about 20% of the cruisers dressed up. These were pretty cool.



Next up is our day in Grand Cayman and then our last day on the ship. I hope I’m not boring you to death. I wanted to recap this like I do with every trip, so that I can look back on it and remember the good times.