Cruising the carribean....on royal carribean's freedom of the seas

Today we are off on a carribean cruise with royal carribean. We have been waiting for this cruise since we booked it last year! We were nearing the end of our travels and were very much looking forward to this week of luxuary. We got shuttles to the cruise port of port canaveral and as we approached it there were 3 ships docked in....ours, a carnival one and a disney cruise ship. The disney ship was huge and look amazing, we defo needed to go on that! And it had a great water slide on it! We handed our luggage over to the guys at the port and then began the check in process which was quite a lengthy process! But eventually we were on board this lovely ship. 

By the time we got on our room was ready and we went and dropped our bags in and then went off to the windjammer for a buffet lunch! There was so much to choose from! We had a lovely lunch and then went back to our cabin to await our luggage and plan our evening. We had the emergency drill at 4pm where we are shown where we go in a emergency and all about the life jackets etc. we then went up on deck to see the ship leave dock! Carnival went first, then us and disney last. 

On the way out of port there were a few fishing boats coming back, one with a lady holding her catch of the day! We waved to all of them! We saw many sting rays, we saw a whole family very close to the ship! We saw fish and loads of birds flying into the water to catch the smaller fish! And then we were very lucky to see a mum and baby dolphin! We couldnt believe our luck ! It was so cute! I thought it was a big fish at first and then they came out of the water! We were pleased with all our sitings leaving port. Just as we left the port into the big blue ocean we passed a beach and in the shallow part of the  water we saw a manatay! We could not believe our eyes! We were so lucky to have spotted all of these wonderful creatures what a great sailaway.

There was a welcome aboad show at 7pm so we got ready and went to that, it was just a short show giving us a taster of what to expect with the ships entertainment it was great :) we then decided to go for dinner, we had picked my time dining so just went along to our restaurant galileos. It was a lovely dining room. We sat and looked at the menu....so many things to choose from! And all sounded lovely, i had a aubergine and spinach tart to start and luke had a seafood cocktail, and then i had vegatable wraps and luke had steak! It was all lovely. And for pudding i had orange sorbet and luke had BBB creme brulee, it was a baileys, bannana and creme brulee pudding! Which he said was lovely! After dinner we decided to go back to our cabin we felt quite tired and wanted to have a early one.

The next day we had a lay in, got up at around 9.30 and went for breaky in the windjammer stopping on route to get 2 tickets for the ice show on day 4 as todays tickets had sold out! When we got to the buffet there was so much to choose from! The site of it all was making me feel a bit sick! The amount of food people put on there plates really is ridiculous! Also there is this dish that americans seem to have for breaky called "biscuits & gravy" it look vile! And there gravy is white and really not nice! I fail to see how this is a breakfast food! I just had half a breakfast muffin with a spoonful of scrambled egg and a yogurt! Luke had a full english! We then found a lovely spot on top deck facing the sea to relax in.

We went for lunch a few hours later and it was then i realised i had got burnt :( quite badly burnt :( i had put sun screen on but only about 1.5 hours after getting there and i had clearly forgotten how bad the sun, sea and wind in combination can burn you! I dont think i have been on one carribean cruise that i havnt got burnt on! I was so annoyed! Luke had got a bit burnt to. So when we had eaten our lunch we decided not to go back to sunbathing but to go to the hot tubs that hang over the edge of the ship :) it was really nice but so bloody hot! We then went back to our cabin to have a shower and aftersun ourselves! We had a little rest before we dressed up for our formal night :)

There was a show on tonight and a speech with the captain at 7pm and we got there just in time to grab some champagne and grab a seat :) the captains toast was good but the show really wasnt :( we watched most of it but left before the end because it was awful! There was just no meaning, story or point to the show it was all over the place, not the cruise standards i am used to! Or that luke is! We decided to head for dinner at galileos we were quite hungry but once there we had to wait 20minites for our table so we wondered the royal promanade having our pics taken with the photographers! It was great i cant wait to see them.

We then went to galileos for dinner and we had two great waiters "ARUN" our main waiter and "DENNIS" the assistant waiter, they were great and chatted to us a lot. For dinner this evening we had a chicken salad with walnuts, i didnt have the chicken! And for main luke had steak and i had vegatable stir fry and potato grattin it was so srummy and we had strawberry cheesecake for pudding :) we loved eating out at this great restaurant as at home we wouldnt get the chance to eat at such a nice formal restaurant very often ! We decided to have a walk on the top deck after this let our food go down, and then decided on a swim and a relax in the hot tub it was the perect end to a great day on board freedom.

Today we docked in to labadee in haiti, we got up early to see the ship dock, and then went for breakfast. It was a hot day already and the temp today would reach in the 90's with the humidity being high. This part of haiti royal carribean owned so everything was very westernized. The up side of this part being owned by the ships company was the fact we got sunloungers free and a buffet lunch! We hadnt booked a excursion as we practically walked straight onto a beach! We was going to do the dragons breath flight line which was the longest zip line over water in the world, it was $99 each tho, and we just didnt want to spend that much on it and i dont think it was really worth that much, we were pleased with our decision and when we saw the zip line we realised it would of defo been a waste of money, i mean it was high and looked fast but was over so quickly and we had experienced so much of the world and done some amazing things that this infact didn't look so exciting now!

 

When we got off the ship there were two things that stood out to us....the heat and humidity and the lovely clear blue colour of the sea. We couldnt wait to get in that sea and do some snorkelling. Due to us both getting burnt yesterday we found sun loungers in the shade, the staff offered to put the chair somewhere for us for a tip!! But we only needed to lift them off the pile and place them down! Why would we tip someone to do that!?the first beach we sat at was very rocky and the water wasnt as clear as it was when we got off the ship which was odd! Bit then We found a lovely beach that was nicer and the waters were clearer and when you swam out a bit you could see the ship..

We decided to go for a snorkel, we had already bought a snorkel from walmart before we came on the cruise, which was good as the snorkels here were $50 each! You couldnt snorkel out very far as it was roped off! But we just went under the rope! Luke had got some bread rolls and he began to feed the fish! And loads of lovely tropicals came out the coral! I got the water proof camera (which i mentioned in fiji had broke!) well it now seemed to turn on and off when it felt like it! So i thought i would take it out and give it a go it was already broke and we were already planning on getting another one so why not!? We both had a snorkel and fed the fish and then luke stood on some of the coral to just sort of hand feed them and when i tried to join him i grabbed on to some coral for support without thinking and unfortunately as coral is live it stung me and left some of itself in me :( it didnt sting at first and then i realised that there were actual pieces of coral in my wrist and hand and i could not get them out. I began to swim back, luke closely behind me and now it was begining to really sting me :( and it was getting red and angry we quickly dumped our stuff and then went to the first aid, they werent to worried and said it wasnt poisonous but it will sting, they sprayed my hand with vinegar and told me to soak it in vinegar & hot water twice a day and that the coral would eventually disintagrate! If i didnt do that or if i tryed to pick them out it would get infected. I couldnt believe it! Typical me! Very accident prone! I couldnt believe how much this was stinging i hoped it would go away soon. We went to get buffet lunch and then headed back to the ship to relax by the pool. 

We found a couple of sunloungers by the adult pool in a shaded area and just relaxed there with a ice cream and ended up falling asleep for a couple of hours! We had to drag ourselves up to have showers otherwise we would have stayed there all evening! After showering we were going to do some ice skating! Luke had never been before so i was super excited for him! We put our skates on, our knee and elbow pads and helmets and off we went, after luke had a wobbly start he was really good at it and was soon flying round the ice rink! We had a great time ice skating and will defo be going when we get home..

We saw a show that night called "the vegas tenor" it was a group of three guys who had there own show in vegas and who sang together! And they were really good. We then went to our restaurant for dinner and we had requested the same waiters and same table as we loved the service we had the night before and tonight didnt disappoint the waiters were just great and chatted away to us! Tonight we had a spinach and cheese dip with tortilas for starter and luke had lamb with parsnip mash and i had a spinich pasta and they cooked me a potato gratin! It was great they were so accommodating with my vegatarian needs :) for pud luke had a warm chocolate cake and i had a praline finger :) the whole dinner was so scrummy.

We was tired after this so went back to our room to relax and ended up staying there and not going out again! Believe it or not a cruise is tiring! Which i think is mostly down to the amount of food you consume! We started to go through our video footage to edit it and do some of the blog, i also needed to soak my hand and wrist. We dock into jamaica tomoz and couldnt wait.

So the next morning was a disaster! We thought we would have a lay in so didnt set our alarms but woke up at 9am, had a drink, brushed pur teeth etc and decided we didnt want to get up yet we would have a late breaky and then go off the ship to explore the shops and get back early afternoon for a swim. Well apparently the time went forward an hour! And we had no idea this happened so we competely missed breaky and the plan just went out of the window! I called reception who told me the time hadnt gone forward an hour! Which was odd as my phone was saying one hour behind what the time actually was! It was so annoying and just disorientated our day! 

So we went for a early lunch and then out to take some pics of the port and where we were! The port in falmouth jamaica was gated off from the public so was "safe" and we werent going to venture outside the gates as we had read many disturbing reviews about it and it just wasnt safe. We got off the ship and at the port were many many shops all over priced for us tourists! So we didnt buy a lot just a few cheapy bits that we wanted. And while we was out our bag that luke was carrying got opened! It was only the front pocket which had nothing in it but it just goes to show that it wasnt as safe as we thought! Although we didnt leave the port luke was dissapointed at how westernised it was, he likes to see a country as it is not how its been westernised for us ! However it was our choice not to leave port so we cant complain! When we go on holiday we like to get a feel for the country and see there culture and unfortunately we didnt get this. We was going to do a excursion here to the dunns river falls but we looked at it over and over again and it just didn't look to special to us, the problem is we have been to so many places and seen some really wonderful things that spending nearly £100 to see a waterfall and climb up it wasnt really something we looked for anymore we would not rule it out in the future but on this trip it just didnt appeal to us, we did however book ourselves on a excursion in mexico which we were looking froward to :)

We got back on the ship grabbed some pizza from sorrentos and cookies from the cafe and found a shady spot on top deck to relax in. We had a dip in the hot tub and listen to some reggae :) 

We hadnt booked to have dinner in the main dining room tonight as we were booked to see the ice show at 9, so we decided to have a buffet dinner in windjammers :) it was really tasty and relaxing. We then had a lovely wonder around top deck in the lovely breezy air before going down to see the ice show. We got there only a few minutes before it started as we were looking at all the sale stalls! But we got really good seats :) the ice show wasnt really lukes thing but i thought it was really good, much better then the theatre show we had seen. We was pretty tired after this but wanted to see the game show "love and marriage" so stayed up for that and it was really funny! Especialy the older couple who had been married 58 years! They were so cute. There was also a dancing under the stars party on deck which we went up to be nosey at ! But wasnt really our thing so we went back to our room with the intention of going to bed but ended up staying up until gone 2am! Freddie kruger came on the tv and i had never seen one of his films! So we stayed up and watched that!

The next morning we was so tired ! We aimed to get up at 8am but could not drag ourselves out of bed ! So we got up at 8.40! And went up for breaky :) today we were going to grand cayman, you couldnt get off the ship until 10am anyway so there was no rush. We hadnt booked a excursion here so was just going to get off and explore on our own. We decided to not take our swimmers as we didnt know what we were going to do and didnt get to the land until around 11.30 and the last tender was coming back at 3.15 so it wasnt really a lot of time. 

The first thing we noticed about grand cayman was when we were being tendered over to the mainland....it was the turquoise blue sea! It was so so beautiful probly one of the most beautiful colours we had seen the sea ! And it was so clear...on the way over we saw some tropical fish and also some huge fish ! We were begining to wonder if we should have bought our snorkels! We got to the port and got off to explore......we walked to this small platform so we could look into the water and to our amazment we looked in and saw a family of huge tarpon! They were litrally at our feet and we just couldnt believe the size of them right there in front of us ! We wanted to snorkel but realised that this wouldnt be possible ....number one as we hadnt bought our stuff! And also because there was local tour boats coming in and out of that area and it wasnt safe so we continued on and walked further up the road we stopped at various points to look at the fish. At one point we stopped on some rocks and we saw two huge lizards walking around on the rocks they looked like bearded dragons! And one had a stripey red and black tail.....

....it was quite a sight! We was going to walk further but it was so humid we were both sweating so bad! There was actual drips of sweat on our heads! So we walked back and had a browse in the shops, luke found a lovely xmas ornamant he wanted so we got that and then headed back to the ship, it was over cast and started spitting but so bloody humid! We didnt book a excursion here because they were all water based and very over priced, we enjoyed a little stroll around and have many tips for next time we come, you can easily get a taxi to the beach and snorkel yourself we didnt know that before we went but feel happy thats what we would do next time. 

We got back on the ship and had some lunch and then went on deck to swim and sun bathe, we originally sat in the sun but soon realised it was to bloody hot! so we found a very secluded spot in thr shade on top deck looking back at grand cayman :) we was here when the ship left, it left a little late as the last tender came back at 15.45 instead of 15.15! I found myself thinking theres always one! The people that were late were very lucky as the ship normally doesnt wait for you! After we left me and luke fell asleep ! And then decided that we would go back to the room....chill and go through our video camera before getting ready for dinner :) what a great day.

It was formal night tonight so me and luke dressed up as much as we could with the clothes we had! And then went to see a show it was "ralph harris"! In the main atrium theatre! And us being us (well me being me!) thought it was ralph harris the artist! we did laugh at ourselfs (well luke laughed at me!) as obviously it wasnt him it was a commedian! Who was bloody funny! We walked through the royal promanade after this and headed for dinner, we had reserved a table in galileos and had our fave waiters again :) they were so accomodating and everynight the head chef would come and show me the menus for the following day so i could order what i wanted and they offered me other things as a substitute :) today we had a mushroom pastry for starter and i had 3 cheese tortolini and luke had beef steak we also had vegatable stir fry. We could not eat it all! As when we came back from swimming/sleeping! We had gotton a snack a small sandwich from the promanade cafe and now we were realising that we simply could not eat that much food ! And we were full! We went for a walk after this on top deck for some fresh air and to help our food go down! Luke then watched the NBA finals....miami heat vs san antonio spurs, and i soaked my hand in my white vinagar concoction for my coral ridden hand and wrist! There was one piece of coral that would not disintagrate and everytime i knocked it or accidently lent on it, it would bloody hurt like it was releasing more poison, i couldnt wait for it to heal. We wanted an early one but as i am writing this it is 23.00! Tomorrow we are going to cozumel in mexico and we had booked an excursion here to the myan ruins so we were very excited about that :) we had also been invited to our second event for crown and anchor society members only ...a seminar about future cruises and destinations, news ships etc, so we were wanting to go to that :) another day ahead we couldnt wait for the adventure.

Today we are off to cozumel in mexico we woke up nice and early ....07.30 and headed to the buffet for breaky, we didnt have to meet for our tour until 9.40 but we had been invited to another crown and anchor seminar at 9am so wanted to go to that, we were in the middle of trying to decide what cruise to take next ! Luke loved cruising so i was so pleased that he really wants to book more! Top of the list is europe....venice, pisa, florence etc etc and this seminar spoke about european cruises so we wanted to go! It was good and very informative. We then went down to studio B to meet for our tour. The ship hasnt docked yet so it was a lot of waiting around infact it was very unorganised and i found it the worst time ever getting off the ship for a excursion ! There were hundreds of people and after waiting for 50minutes we were then led down the staff staircase which was quite steep and then taken off the ship! The rationale was that we were priority to get off first as we all had excursions, however when we got off the rest of the ship was aswell! And had i not been so hot and bothered i would of taken a pic! The crowds on the port were ridiulous! The line we were once in was now a mass of people! And no one knew where to go! There was no one with those boards they hold up to tell you where to go! It was not what we expected! However we eventually got on the coach and then were off to the myan ruins. These ruins were smaller then the ones you picture in your head when you think of mexico, but where very nice none the less, we had been warned that there would be mosquitos and i had read on reviews there was loads so we took our insect repellent but nothing could prepare us for the amount of mozzies we would encounter! We got there and we had the usual "lets take you picture so we can sell it to you later!" And the little shops wanting you to buy stuff, we were quite use to this now so it didnt really bother us, the people that hadnt bought insect repellent ....which was everyone but us then had to buy insect repellent there and spent god knows what buying some really cheap and nasty insect repellent! That we just think attracted them! And then we began our tour....our guide was really good, but we failed to hear anything he was telling us due to the amount of mosquitos! This was the most mozzies we had seen in the whole of our travels, one girl in particular had sprayed herself 3 times and was getting eaten alive litrally, at one point she had about 6 mozzies on each foot and ankle! You could litrally see 5-10 mozzies on each person it was horrible, we sprayed ourselves silly with our really good repellent so we didnt get bitten...luckily....but they did follow luke and we kept having to keep moving and shoo them away it was a joke! However we got some good pics....

We noticed as we got back onto the bus that the entry price was £2 ! So we had paid around £24 each just for the coach which really irratated us! However had we not done the tour we would of forever been thinking what if! We started the scenic journey around this small island, and once we got to the coast line it was beautiful the sea was so blue, but it was rough this side of the island, the side we docked it was calm as the main land was very close and protected the island but the other side had no protection so was quite rough, it was still so beautiful tho....

After this we started heading back to ship and me and luke fell asleep! And when we arrived back to port we felt so dissorientated from napping and it was so hot ...we had a little browse in shops but just went back to ship to have some lunch, luke had a headache and we were both sweating like crazy.

We were pleased we had done a excursion but annoyed at the same time at how much they over charge you when you get to these ports it is so easy to do tours yourself, we could have just rented a moped and done it ourselves for cheaper but the bottom line is we didnt know but we will for next time, its all experience and we enjoyed the ruins despite the mozzies, so all in all a good day :) after lunch we went back to our cabin, luke watched a game in the world cup and i wrote the blog and went through some pics. 

Luke had a headache during the day and it got much worse as the afternoon went on, i think it was a combination of the heat and breathing in the mosquito repellent! It was defo the worse headache i have ever seen luke have, it could have been a migraine, so i spent the rest of the evening looking after my poor lukee. I left him to sleep for a bit whilst i went to see the evening show, i got him water and hot drinks and massaged his head, we cancelled our reservation for dinner and much later we went up to the buffet, he started to feel better by the late evening, and we just chilled out and watched a film.

The next day was our last day and it was spent at sea, we had a lovely lay in and didnt leave the cabin until 12! We walked through the royal promanade and there was a "fest" going on! Demonstrations by the staff of how to fold the table cloth, making animals out of big fruits etc etc and there was lots of different foods :) we went up to windjammer for a early lunch and then chilled up on deck, it was super windy! Just trying to get the towel on the sun lounger was very difficult but we eventually did it! We relaxed here for a couple of hours then moved down to the adult pool where they had comfy chairs and it was less windy! I went to get us a drink in windjammers as they did some really nice juices and whilst here i witnessed some serious platefuls of food that people were shoverling down there gullets! Seriously the amount of food people eat on these cruises is ridiculous! I went back with our drinks and stopped at sprinkles to get a ice cream :) 

Tonight was our last night and we were sad we loved cruising and all the luxuary :) next year we will defo be going on another one :) we are just trying to plan which one and where! We had our last dinner in the dining room and said our sad goodbyes to our waiters :( they really were amazing :) we then went to deck 13 to play some crazy golf! It was pretty hard with the wind ! But I won by one point! We then went back to our room to finish packing, we had decided to carry our own luggage off the ship to make things easier and quicker and also seeing the way they treat your luggage when we arrived was awful so we was keen not to have that experience repeated!

 

We slept well and got up the next day at 7.30 i had woken up with quite a awful headache but there was sod all i could do about it as we had to get up and leave! We had a quick breaky and then started to get off the ship, a process that took longer then it should of! But before we knew it we were on our shuttle back to orlando :) the headache just got worse as the journey went on i just couldnt wait to Get to our hotel.

We had such a amazing time on this cruise and just loved the luxuary! We had forgotten what that felt like! We love royal Carribean and will defo be cruising With them again :) the food was amazing, the cookies and cakes scrummy and all the staff were great, what a great week for us during our travels and a good choice to go on a cruise near the ending of our travels it was very needed. What a great week :))

Heres a few pics of some of the lovely food we ate....

A great love for our nephew & niece :)

So as all of you will already know our nephew & niece are a extremely important part of our lives and we have missed them terribly throughout the duration of this trip. Although we have had constant contact with them whilst we have been away there have been difficult moments where we have missed them a lot. And lately over the past sort of six weeks chester has been saying he misses me! Which is a surprise to me! as they both adore luke and especially millie....she only wants to talk to him! It is nice that they have a great relationship with him but i need some auntie love! And recently its me they have been missing although i think millie is still on the fence!! 

Anyway up until this point i have been trying not to think about how long until we get to see them (and everyone else!!) as it has been quite far away but now we are nearing the end of our travels we are very very excited to see them (and everyone else!) and simply cannot wait.

Some recent facetimes have made us miss them them even more! Recently on facetime chester asked me how long until i get home? (As he has asked me many timesbefore!) Which always melts my heart :) as he is missing me, And will it be before his birthday!? And his little face is always in his little frown that i just love and he looks genuinly concern as to when we are getting home, and millie well she just chats away to luke and sings him little songs! However she did recently tell my sister that she missed me! Another recent facetime chester wanted to show me  a trick on the trampoline so he took the ipad outside and rested on the table so i could see him and then proceded to show me his tricks! I loved it, and then sam had to take the ipad inside and chester said "no dont i want her outside with me" when he says stuff like that it really makes me sad that i am not there with them watching them do what they want me to watch them do :( me and luke always take a interest in everything they do and love to watch them make up games and do tricks and thats why they always want us there to watch them! We love it and love that they want us to see them do things.

I have mentioned several times how much we miss them but seeing chester and millie wanting us to come home is a heart break moment! Being an auntie is my fave job in the world and a lot of fun and luke absolutely loves being an uncle. Its really important to us that we continue to have a great relationship with them throughout ours and their lives, as a child i remember having a great relationship and many great memories (as does my sister i suspect!) with my aunties and uncles especially my uncle rodders, auntie chris and auntie alison (auntie no!) and uncle gary and as a result we are now still really close even tho i am 26 ! They are a huge part of my life and i really couldnt imagine my life without them and i feel very lucky to have such great aunties and uncles that i am close to, so it is very important for us to remain close to chester and millie, so we continue to have a great relationship with them as they grow up. If they are as close to us as i am with my au ties and uncles we have done a good job :) 

Chester and millie are my world and anything they ask me for they get :) i feel happy and sad that they miss us! Sad as we cant be there with them but happy that they love us enough to miss us, for a five and two and half year old to have a feeling of missing someone must mean we have created many happy and fun memories that they remember with us :) its now getting closer to the day we get to see them again and we simply cannot wait! I think it will be a emotional one! One things for sure i dont think i will ever Be leaving them (or anyone else!) for this long again! People that dont have a great relationship with there family wont understand but others will see how important building these sort of relationships is with your nieces and nephews. People may think i am over the top with them etc etc but i dont care we love them very much and i love telling the world all about them....very proud auntie and uncle right here.

I am looking forward to the day at i can pass on all my knowledge and memories of travelling to them and share our stories with them :) chester already asks questions about where we are and millie just enjoys getting our postcards at the moment as she doesnt fully understand we are travelling and the concept of it, so when we walk through her front door when we return i think she is gunna be shocked! She has spent months talking to us on facetime and all of a sudden we will be there in person! 

This post was really just a post on the refelction of how i am feeling at the moment about our nephew and niece. We are just so glad we have been able to have constant contact with them and send them little parcels in the post from all over the world :) we are excited to be apart of their busy lifes when we return and will see them as much as possible. But for now its a countdown to that surprise return for them! 

Walt Disney World....take 1 !

Arriving in orlando was very exciting. :) although i felt calmer then i usually do when i get to orlando! We collected our luggage & Then headed out to catch our shuttle....super shuttle....a great company we have used loads of times whilst travelling. Unfortunately for us tho the driver dropped off everyone else before dropping us off so the journey was longer then we wanted it to be! We arrived at our hotel...."fairfield inn at marriott village" and it was lovely and our room was great, had a huge bed, nice size tv, and a bath! We went and got a pizza from the 7/11 and chilled in the room. We were so tired and just wanted to sleep.

We had breaky included with our room price so went down to breaky that first morning and there was muffins, toast, cereal, biscuits and gravy!? And scrambled egg which had some serious salt in it so that made it taste foul! But the rest of breaky was great. We decided to walk down to the crossroads near the entrance to where the disney area was and many restaurants. I knew it wasnt far from the hotel as i had looked it up previously but asked the staff how far it was anyway! And they said it was 2-3 miles! I couldnt believe how wrong they were! And was glad we researched it ourselves! It is a ten minute walk if that! We went to dennys as first port of call! Obviously! And then went to get some snacks to have in the park later from the super market.

There was a shuttle going from our hotel to magic kingdom transport center but it was limited service so we did what we did last time we was here and walked to the best western and got there free bus everywhere, they were really frequent and more convineant. And it worked betterf or us that way.

We had decided our first park would be the magic kingdom! We first went to the booth to get our annual passes! We had preivously decided that these would be better value for us as all in all we would be here for more then two weeks and we would use the discounts and perks you get with the annual pass. I was super excited....seeing the monorail, the micky and minnie that were cut from a bush just by the monrail and just the general merryment of disney! 

We got the monorail over to the entrance and were shocked at how un busy it was, i mean it was still busier then we liked! But not to bad, it was a overcast day but hot! Just walking into the magic kingdom and seeing mainstreet was such a happy moment for me....and luke was also starting to love it.

We wasnt in anykind of rush and had arranged a Few fast passes but would just do things as we saw them. Last time we came the fast pass system was different...you just put your ticket in a machine and got a fast pass time to come back....now you had to book it online ! It was a thought that daunted me at first but its a really easy system to get into, you just need to plan where you are going to be and when. We had got fast passes for space mountain, buzz lightyear and mickeys philar magic show. When we first got into the park we just wondered down main street and looked in a few shops and took some pics etc, it was so nice being here and not rushing! We first went to the new fantasyland as this was new and we hadnt been there yet, it was relatively busy and most of the rides here had a long wait, especially the newly opened seven dwarfs mine train! That had just opened yesterday! And the que was over 2 hours long! We needed to get a fast pass for this! We went on goofys little rollercoaster! And had a good time wondering around in this land. We did a few other things....haunted mansion, jamboree show which i had never seen before and the tiki room show which i had also never seen before! We did space mountain, buzz, people mover, carosel of progress and a few other things before we went to find a good spot for the electrical light parade, we loved this parade it was so pretty. After this we felt quite tired so decided to head back before the crowds started ! 

We had a great first day at disney and we was really looking forward to going to all the other parks and Exploring more of disney. 

We woke up and got ready for my fave park....animal kingdom :) we wanted to get there relatively early, we had got our fast passes online previously so were ready, we got our hotel bus to magic and then the disney bus from polynesian resort to animal kingdom :) i was so Excited when we arrived i had missed it so much. We just took it slow strolling around looking at the animals at the start of the park. It was a hot humid day but cloudy which we were pleased for. As we walked passed the animals we immediately saw the circle of life tree :) this tree was so beautiful and we never got bored of seeing it :) 

We headed over to dino land! I love dinosaurs ! So i was excited! We went onto the dino spin ride first which was closed last time me and luke came a couple of years ago! And it was slower then i remebered ! But still good. We then headed over to the ride dinosaur! Whilst on route we spotted donald duck! And off course had to stop for a pic!

We had a fast pass for the dinosaur ride so walked straight on! This ride was a little scary. It was a dinosaur rescue mission set back in time of the dinosaur era it wasnt particularly fast but it had a few points where dinosaurs come out of no where and scare you! I just couldnt stop laughing the whole time and screaming! It was so funny! Defo one of my fave rides! We wondered over to expedition everest to see what the que time was....it wasnt to bad 25 minutes so we qued up for that we had a fast pass for later but if we could get on it now and later even better! We loved that ride it is the fastest ride there and just generally pretty epic! We had a wonder around after this and went to see the monkeys they were swinging in the trees :) we also wanted to see the parade. We wondered right over to africa land and had a sit down with some frozen lemonade! We sat for around 30 minutes and then realised we were sitting on the parade route! So we had a great front seat view! And i didnt realise until now that the mickeys jammin jungle parade was going to be the last one ever :( i was so sad :( it was a nice parade and animal kingdom only had one parade, it was a sad time watching it go past us for the last time, and some of the staff actually in the parade were crying :(  i was sad but so pleased we got to see it one last time. We had a fast pass for the nemo show which we were going to walk over to we hadnt seen the show last time as it was just so busy but today we had fast passes so we wouldnt miss it.

The nemo show was quite good, luke really enjoyed it i thought it was ok, right at the beginning when nemos mum is eaten by a shark most of the kids in the theatre broke into a sob! It was quite heart breaking! But after that they recovered and all was well again! After this we decided to head back....not before one more go on dinosaur tho! 

We decided to take the similar route we took to animal kingdom back to the hotel again, disney bus to polynesian and then downtown hotel bus to best western and then walk back from there. However as we got back to magic and boarded the bus we realised it was taking longer then usual and then we ended up back at animal kingdom! The bus obviously did a magic and animal pick up and we didnt realise! So we had just done a lovely hour long round trip! We was so tired today so napped on the bus. But what a great day at animal kingdom.

Today it rained! All bloody day.....hard! Normally in florida you get the afternoon down pour especially in june and then it stops but this rain was so bloody heavy, going out in it would get us soaked! So we stayed in sorted some stuff out and spoke to family, a short facetime with my mum and dad turned into 1.5 hours as usual! And obviously we spoke to my boos, and my little chester wanted to show me a trick on his trampoline so sat me outside on the table while he went on the trampolone and when my sister had to take the ipad inside he said "no he wanted me outside to watch him" made me sad i wasnt there but i love that he Wants me to see all these things he does and I love watching them. My sister had given us a recommendation for dinner it was a place called "sweet tomato" it was a buffet style restaurant mostly serving vegatarian food! And a lot of salad :) we decided we would eat there and when the rain died down we set off, it was only down The road at the cross roads, as it was a sunday it was quite busy, it wasnt formal very laidback and there was so much to choose from! So much scrummy salad and jacket potatoes! Which i loved! And pizza, soups, loads of desserts! It was so scrummy and of course we stuffed our faces until we couldnt move! It was only $10! Bargain. So all in all a lazy day but we were all revitalized for another day at disney tomorrow!

Today we were off to hollywood studios but i still call it MGM as thats what it was called when i was a child! Out of all the parks this one was my least fave! I still enjoyed it but not as much as the others and i dont know why?! This is also lukes least fave however we both love Aerosmith ride and the art of animation part. We started the day at the areosmith ride and we then went to art of animation where we learnt to draw olaf from frozen and Mickey mouse :) we then met mickey and minnie :) and spent some time looking at all the art that was in the shops we loved this part :)

Next we went to pixar street stopping at walt disneys "one mans dream" i loved this and never got bored of seeing it it was all about walts childhood and a lot of his early work and then there was a short film with actual footage and chat with walt. We really wanted to ride toy story mania but the que was almost two hours so we would wait until next time and get a fast pass. However i did meet green army man :) it was getting really hot and busy so we went and saw the little mermaid show which we had fast passes for i loved this show :) i just love little mermaid she is my fave ....after winnie the pooh of course :) we then went back to aerosmith ride as we had a fast pass and spent a bit of time just browsing the shops :) we managed also to get two seats at the beauty and the beast show at the last minute :) it was a great show. We hadnt done as much as we wanted but still done quite a lot, we Called it a day and on the way back stopped at sweet tomato for another feast! And this time we had our lunchbox with us as we had been taking pack lunch with us to the parks and it was not busy at all at the restaurant, so we filled ot up with salad and also took some pizza! That would feed us tomorrow! What a good day!

Today we were going to epcot :) epcot to me is a little odd! Theres a lot of interactive things to do and some of it i just think is odd and a waste of time! Epcot is all about the future. Its very interesting but odd at the same time, however the world showcase is pretty epic! But today we would just do epcot itself. We was going to do spaceship earth but the que was an hour so we moved on! Everytime i come here i wonder why they changed the ride to spaceship earth, it used to be a ride that took you into the human body! And it was like you was exploring the human body going from organ to organ and it told you what did what! It was so fun and interesting but now it's about time and how things have changed and how they continue to change! I want them to bring back the human body thing it was better! We went over to soarin ....the ride.... as we had fast passes and to be honest we are not overlly keen on it, its just one of those rides you only have to ride a few times. We then went over to the nemo ride and crushes turtle talk! Which we loved ! We of course were the only ones there with no children! As we are big kids at heart! Nemo is just so cool! After this we couldnt really decide what to do so we walked over to the uk part of the world show case so I could meet alice in wonderland :) 

We wanted to get out of the park for a while so took a walk over to the boardwalk, there was a Entrance to the boardwalk through epcot, we hadnt walked round the boardwalk last time so we took a lovely stroll around it today. We went into the bakery which of course was full of gorgeous cakes. We then had a lovely walk all the way around to the yaht and beach club hotel where we took some great pics on the beach they have there.

We then went back to epcot ready to go back to the hotel, epcot had been good and it had been nice to stroll around the boardwalk we would defo come back here after our cruise! 

Today we went to our hotel pool for a couple of hours to soak up some sun before leaving in the late afternoon to head to the magic kingdom, we had realised this was the best time to go for us, we hada few fast passes and a few things we wanted to see and do. We were in no rush today, it was quite busy with some ride ques going upto 1.5 hours with the exception of the seven dwarfs mine train which was well over 2 hours! We had fast passes for little mermaid, winnie the pooh and space mountain! Our plan was to stay until close tonight. We had already seen the electrical light parade so utilised this less busier time to ride some rides, we did however want to see the wishes night time spectacular show which was on at 10pm, we picked a good spot on one of the bridges between tomorrow land and the castle and we had a great view of the the castle and it was great when the light created a Different pattern on it for different themes and songs etc but unfortunately we stood in the wrong place for the fireworks and for hearing the characters speak! So we will do this again when we return from our cruise. After this we rode big thunder mountain and a few of the smaller rides that were now empty including prince charmings carousel! Well i rode that! I was such a big kid! And then at 23.30 we decided to call it a night, another great time in magic kingdom and we couldnt wait to return there after the cruise.

Today we had a very stressful morning! We had planed to book our shuttle to port canaveral for our cruise, we had found a company with a good price $60 each return and we were happy. We were going to go to epcot world showcase today so rang the company just before our bus to book it, it was then that they dropped the bomb.....because we werent going from the airport to the port they would have to add on an extra $160 just to pick us up from our hotel! We couldnt believe it, and after 2 hours of phoning around and getting other quotes we decided we would have to book with this company and then book sepearte shuttles to and from the airport! What a joke, it was so stressful and it shouldnt have been this hard to book a shuttle to get somewhere that is very well travelled! We eventually got to epcot after having to get a taco bell for lunch and the bus from best western, we had also missed our fast pass times by ten minutes we couldnt rebook them earlier as our phones wouldnt connect to the internet! What a morning!

Anyway we had arrived and after going on space ship earth and going to see the ellen show/slow ride which by the way has been there for years and i have never been on! I loved finding firsts! That i hadnt done before! After this we decided to start exploring the world show case starting with mexico! We hadnt really had a good look around last time we were here as it was just so hot! So we wanted to have a good look this time, we started in mexico, then onto norway where they had a small exhibit on what inspired the setting for the film frozen and in my eyes and my sisters they should have had anna and elsa here for character greets aswell as magic kingdom to take some of the pressure off! However they havnt! But thats our views! Next we went onto china and last time we went into the exhibit to see the terracotta army and this time we skipped all that and went into the huge shop! They had some lovely bits in there and very reasonably priced aswell. We wanted (well i !) wanted to see all of the characters here but we didnt actually see any as we were taking our time so much they were gone by the time we got to the countrys they were in so that was going onto the list for next time! We walked through germany, italy, america and japan all had some great shops and great architecture we then went to morroco and france, we decided to go back after this i had a bit of a stress headache from earlier and we wanted to have a early night. We really enjoyed our stroll around the world showcase and enjoyed being able to just do it at a slow pace and take it all in, we would return here after our cruise. 

Today we decided on the animal kingdom we had got our fast passes a few days before for everest, the safari and lion king show :) it was a hot day 35 degrees! And humid! We set off early catching our hotel bus to magic and then walked to the polynesian to get a disney bus to animal! And as we walked we noticed the monorail was down! And there was hundreds of people inline for the ferry! So glad we hadnt decided to go there today! We arrived at animal kingdom at a resonable time and decided to first go to the bugs life show :) unfortunately there was a screaming child next to us the entire show with a dad that found it appropriate to speak at a stupidly loud voice to try to calm the child down the entire show! It shocked me that they didnt leave or the staff didnt suggest they go outside as it disturbed everyone the entire time and its not fair to everyone else, everybody wants to see the show and quite frankly i find it very selfish of the parents to keep a screaming child in a show when clearly they aren't enjoying it and they are disrupting it for everyone else! 

 ....one of the carvings on the circle of life tree.

After this i was on the hunt for pocahontis! I hadnt met her yet! Well i cannot remember meeting her in all the times i have been to disney so was pretty excited! And after this we decided to head for expedition everest! One of our fave rides! And to our horror the fast pass que was out the building & around the corner! However we just joined and eventually got on! And loved every second of it!

We were pretty hot and bothered by now so decided to sit down on the grass in the shade and eat our  lunch and get some frozen lemonade! We also had a sneaky facetime with my mum and dad :) i litrally cannot wait to see them and the rest of the the family ! After our hour break! We headed over to the kilamanjaro safari! Stopping on route to meet king louie and baloo! 

The safari was great as always! And we saw loads of animals, we loved this safari it was very much something we are interested in and love to do....

To be honest after this we were still pretty hot and bothered so found a cool spot to have a Ice cold drink while we waited to go to see the lion king show! And as luck would have it i have been looking for  a particular musical cup for my boo for a gift for a while, its a sort of replica of the circle of life tree and ha Some carvings on and then you can play music on the handle! It's pretty cool ! And as i was heading over to get some icey water there was four of them just sitting there ! i couldn't believe it! i snapped it up and the fruity drink we had with it was pretty nice as well!

We headed to the lion king show which is one of my most fave disney shows. Its just beautiful :) and we thoroughly enjoyed it :) we decided after this it was time to leave! We headed back to our hotel via taco bell! And just chilled and sorted some of our shuttles etc for the remainding of the trip! A good day. All in all! 

The next day was our last full day before the cruise and we had booked a shuttle to take us to a small outlet that was close to a walmart! We didnt want to pay for a taxi there so just took the free shuttle and walked the rest of the way it was only up the road! We were looking for a few things that we had seen in another walmart and i was lookin for a few things for boo and poppins. 

The walmart was huge and we started one end and made our way to the other! However although we got a few good bargains there wasnt the stuff that we wanted in this one! Luke was quite dissapointed and i was pissed right off as there was a Few things i was counting on being in there! We also wanted to buy a suitcase as packing was really getting out of hand! We were going to buy a cheap case and then use my main bag as handluggage! But we didnt get a Case in the end we completely forgot!

We walked back to the outlet and just had a look in a few of the shops before getting collected at 16.30! We bougt a few bits but nothing exciting.... actually luke got himself a fishing coat for $15! Which was a really good bargain! So he was pleased.

We got back to the hotel and whilst driving back we realised there was a Doller tree within walking distance of the hotel! For everyone at home this is basically a 99p store! We walked upto that and then got a pizza from the 7/11 time was getting on and we needed to pack and do a few other things in preparation for our cruise in the morning!

The packing was a absolute nightmare :( and very stressful, it was clear we needed another case, we hadnt bought alot but what you have to remmerber is we do not have 2 cases we have one and then my backpack on wheels which is small, if we had another case things would be alot easier instead we had jam packed every single bag we had to capacity ! It took longer then i wanted and it was a stressful task and even more stressful knowing we would have to pack all over again at the end of the cruise! We....well me especially was completely over packing and unpacking i could not wait to get home and unpack for good! Living out of a bag for ten months has taken its toll.....I AM OVER IT! 

We went to bed really late.....half past midnight and knew we would be tired the next day but were so excited to go on this cruise. 

The next day we got up had breaky, squeezed the last few bits in the suitcase and went to wait for our  shuttle, we had to get a shuttle to the airport then a shuttle to the ship from the airport! It all went smoothly and before we knew it we were checking in for our cruise :) we had been looking forward to this luxuary for almost a year and it was finally here :) we couldnt wait to start our carribean adventure together.

I just read this post back to myself and realise after most paragraphs i have wrote "we will come back here after the cruise"! I guess we will be busy after the cruise!

Our adventures in the big apple !

We were so excited to arrive in the big apple! It would be the end of our g adventures tour which of course we were excited about and we were both so excited to explore this amazing city together! I had been once already but soooo wanted to experience it all with my lukee. Our first night was spent in a ymca just 10 blocks from times square it was a Great location and within easy walking distance of everything. The guide "dil dil!" Had booked everyone into tiny twin rooms with bunk beds! Even tho he knew there was two couples on the tour ! We had to pay extra for a double room which really annoyed us as when we booked the tour we paid for a double room! We went up to our room and just chilled for a bit before going to times square! 

When we set off for times square it was a nice temp and a little cloudy, half way there the heavens opened and it rained...hard! We stopped at grand central station i lived it here it was such a grand a beautiful place. We were nearly there so continued on....running most of the way! We hadnt bought our water proofs out with us so were getting quite wet! And when we arrived to times square it was such a night mare, it was so packed as it was memorial day weekend and as it was raining everyone had there brollies up we had to play a ducking and diving game to avoid getting our eyes poked out! We went in to toys r us as i was looking for a few things for my chester and it was so busy! I was so dissapointed for luke for his first impressions of times squares and new york, it was dark, raining and very busy, not like the first time i experienced it and it was lovely and sunny! We went to the disney store & hersheys & a few other places but eventually went back to our accomodation got a pizza and just chilled, we couldnt wait to leave tomorrow and go to the accomodation that we had booked ourselves it would mean we would finally be away from the group and the tour and never have to deal with any of them again! 

The next day we met jasmin in the lobby and we shared a taxi to our hotels we paid $6! Bargain! We were so excited to be on our own again! We were staying at a hostel called "equity point" which used to be hotel 41, it was right on times square litrally! And we had booked a double room with ensuite! We just stored our luggage for now as we couldnt check in until 2pm and then went off to explore this great city!

We hadnt quite decided where we would go today so just took a wonder, it was a nice day :) we first went to M & M world !

 I was trying to find my dad these particular flavour m & m's....birthday cake! But couldnt find them, however we did meet blue m & m! Next we went to centuary 21 a huge cheap designer department store just to see if we can find some cheap bargains! We was in there a good couple of hours! And it was so nice not being in a rush and just being able to browse! I just got a bra, i was been wearing the same selection of bras for ten months and they were looking very sorry for themselves! Time for a new one! And luke got some socks and pants! Nothing exciting just a few things we needed! We then spent some times just walking in and out of the streets that just had the typical town houses you see in new york! it was quiet and very pretty :) it was then time for lunch and we decided we would get a picnic style lunch to eat in central park, i really wanted to explore central park as hadnt been able to before and it was such a nice day for it :) we found this great cafe/salad deli got a few snacks and set off for the park, it was quite busy as it was memorial Weekend but what a nice atmosphere :) we found a lovely spot and just relaxed for an hour. We then decided just to wonder in the park and see where we ended up! It was a great walk and we saw some beautiful views of the city....

Eventually we found ourselves out of the park and back in the city where we spent some time just browsing in the shops....and taking pics of the skyline. I was so pleased luke was enjoying himself and getting to experience this great city at its best :) 

We headed back to our hotel it was around 5pm by now and we had arranged to meet jasmin for a farewell dinner, we were so tired but really wanted to chat and say bye to jasmin now that we had finally finished the tour! We quickly showered amd then met jasmin...we hadnt decided on a place for dinner so just wondered through a very busy times square! And found a lovely bistro type restaurant opposite m and m world. We all had burgers and they were lovely ! The only thing that wasnt lovely was the $11 compulsary tip they added on at the end! It was quite sad saying goodbye to jasmin :( we had really enjoyed her company while we were on the tour, she said we could visit her in germany! Which we really wanted to do :) so you never no! Maybe on another adventure!

The next day we had tickets for lady liberty :) i was so so excited ! We woke up early and got on a early metro down to battery park, i didnt really have the chance to properly look and take in everything like i wanted to last time so was looking forward to spending more to exploring today, i was also very excited as we had tickets up to lady libertys crown! Something i never thought we would be able to do! Luke was excited to go up to the crown and also to see lady liberty herself! It was a lovely sunny cloud free day we were very lucky :) 

When we got there we went straight to the crown entry point, we had to go through security and look our bags away in a locker we had to pay for which really irritated us! Our first stop was the museum which was really interesting, we then had the oppourtunity to go to the pedastal, which was quite narrow and if i am honest a bit of a nightmare with the amount of people that were there! But still a good experience, we then were directed to the stairs that took us to the crown! We had already walked from the bottom to the pedastal as the lift que was huge! And now we had to walk up to the crown! I think i underestimated how small the inside of statue of liberty was! And these stairs that take us to the crown were only around a foot wide! And it was a tiny spiral staircase and it was bloody steep ! As we started walking up the stairs i was begining to worry about how i was going to get down! As many of you know stairs and me do not mix and my ankles simply cannot take anymore trauma! Plus i hate small spaces and was sweating due to anxiety ! So it was quite a journey! And when we finally got to the top we were over welmed by how small this place was! You litrally got to the crown werent really able to move alot and there was around 2.5 meters of room to walk from the stairs that take you up to the stairs that took you down! It was unbelievably small! But we took a few pics and then started the slow journey down! I walked backwards as it was so steep it was making me feel funny walking down facing the stairs! Plus it was safer for me to go down backwards! 

When we got out we were on a viewing point on the pedastal which gave us some great views of lady liberty! 

We had a audio tour included in our ticket so got them and started to walk around, it was nice and very informative, we spent around 3 hours with lady liberty and then went over to ellis island. Another place i didnt really get to explore much here last time so it was great being here with luke so we could explore together. It was so interesting. We decided after a while we needed to get back to the mainland and see the other things we wanted to see.

The first place we headed to was the wall street bull! We had a pic with that....

We then headed over to the 9/11 memorial site, you didnt need a ticket for this now it was a open public park it was really busy which was a shame as its a lovely memorial and nice to just sit and think about why its there etc but it was so busy you didn't really feel you could do that. But i was glad we had visited together. Next was centuary 21! Now this is a bigger and better one then the other one, but we knew our budget was tight so knew we wouldnt be buying a lot. We was in there for 3 hours! I got two more bras and socks and luke got a pair of swim shorts as his were knackered! And two tshirts, as most of his tshirts had holes in! We were very good i think and just got a few bits for a good price! We were by this time pretty knackared and wanted to go back! We asked a local about the nearest metro and he walked with us to the metro as he was getting it aswell! Which was nice of him! He chatted to luke about english football! We got back and i cant even remember what we had for dinner! I think we just got something from walgreens and then crashed out! What a tiring but great day :)

The next day we decided we would go to the arc monument, iron building, empire state building and macys! We got the metro down to the arc, which was near NYU and was like a much smaller version of the arc in paris! And there was a fountain there also which made for nice pics!

We then walked towards the the flat iron building which was really nice to see up close :) and it was also something luke really wanted to see.

It was then onto the empire state building :) it wasnt overly busy but a but busier then we would like! We enjoyed reading all the info about the building of the building if the empire state building! And then went out to the viewing platform! The que was long to get from 82nd to 86th floor so the staff allowed some to walk it to save time! So we walked it! Again we were really lucky to have a sunny day :) as rain was predicted! The views were stunning and again we got some great pics :)

It was lunch time after this and we had found a great place that sold salad and hot food buffet, you just fill up a container of what you want and pay per lb! It was great :) and very scrummy! We then took ourselves to macys! Not for anything inparticular just to browse! Luke just got a designer jumper for $10! We didnt buy anything else! We was feeling quite tired so headed back, we showered and then went out for a wander in the evening. We went to forever 21 which is a huge cheap clothes shop mostly for woman but has some guys stuff in to! Most of my clothes didnt fit anymore and a few tops had holes in and were stretched and faded from wearing them loads of times! So for $40 i got 4 tops, 4 skirts and 2 trousers! So so cheap! And i threw away my other clothes so didnt gain anymore extra weight for the case! And barely spent any money! Perfect! That evening we just got pizza which was $5 from the 7/11! So so cheap and it was nice! And started the packing! we were feeling tired from all our antics in new york :) 

The next day we had a rest in the morning and spoke to family over skype & facetime and then decided we would just go out in the afternoon/evening and look in some shops and just have a wonder! We headed over to the rockafeller center to have a browse and then onto a few other places before just heading back to finish the packing. We were leaving for florida tomorrow and were excited for this next part :) 

We had such a great time in new york exploring together, luke thought times square was pretty busy....however we were there memorial day and fleet week! And he thought the landmarks...lady liberty was smaller then the tv makes it look but overall he loved new york city! Probly not as much as i love it but enough to visit again! Another adventure to plan! He loved the shopping just as much as me! He got some pretty unbelievable bargains! And agrees its defo worth returning even if just for a shopping trip! So i am Super pleased! As new york is my absolute fave city! Love love love it! I just hope we can return within the next few years! 

We are so excited to now be going down to florida! Down to my fave place on earth....disneyworld! And a place where we can finally feel like we are on holiday! 

Concluding our cross country america tour....

This tour was the tour we were most looking forward to and also was the most expensive of our travels! We love the states and american life and were excited to explore the different parts of america we hadnt seen and experience, & the difference in culture across this diverse country. 

We had booked this tour with the rest of the other tours back in 2012 with g adventures it was just over 3 weeks long mostly camping with 5 hotel stays. We were doing the tour in may so thought it would be sunny in the day and colder at night, we had a pair of thick trousers each and a jumper we thought this would be enough! We were wrong! 

I think everyone will be aware by now we were dissapointed with the tour. Many things contributed to our disappointment, mainly being the guide! the group also contributed to our disappointment and the locations we camped. The tour itself and the places we visited were great, we had picked this tour due to the amount of places we would see in such a short space of time and we saw a lot. That unfortunately was the only good thing :( we enjoyed seeing these places and everytime we arrived somewhere new we would do things on our own without the group or with our friend jasmin which is why we enjoyed them so much! But unfortunately the locations we camped were uneven and rocky & we were always a long way from town so more often then not we had to rely on the guide for information and lifts, the group were so young and clueless (not all....but most!) this isnt g adventures fault however we felt the guide could have made some situations better had he had more experience and this would have made the trip better on some level! The guide himself.....i could quite litrally write an essay on everything he did or didnt do as a guide. He was just awful and i hate saying that as i feel guilty for him! (Thats just my nature!) But the bottom line is we paid alot for the tour and he is getting paid to do a job he isnt doing! Just so you get the picture....He gave us no info on the places we went to, the food he was suppose to prepare and we would "assist" cooking was shocking, he didnt once cook and the meals he bought for us to cook were diabolical! He drunk everynight until early hours and then drove us all day to the next location, we visited roswell (famous for ufo sitings!) and we got taken to the zoo!...the list really does go on....needless to say i am on the case for a refund! I believe its our right to get some kind of a refund as a lot of the things that were suppose to be included were not! i also feel the tour was misold and the guide wasnt yet experienced enough to do the job he was getting paid to do! When we return i will sit down with my mum and we will write this letter together and believe me it will be long and i WILL get the outcome i want! Its not just about a refund its also about making things better for future groups that will have the same problems. Watch this space!

The other thing that made the tour less enjoyable was the snow! No one is at fault here as you cannot help the weather! But it was minus degrees and the tents provided were not suitable for that temp we feel a different form of accomodation should have been used on those awful nights even if it was one room we all share it would have been better and warmer, i have asthma and spent the best part of 2 weeks having a cough due to the temp and i feel that the guide should have been thinking about other forms of accomodation for the health of the group if not for anything else! Even if it was just for a couple of nights! Sleeping in the snow was no fun and having ice inside of your tent was even worse :( its a shame it snowed as i really quite enjoyed the camping experience :) having camped alot as a Child with guides and brownies i was quite looking forward to it! 

Overall, we enjoyed the sights and different places we visited, but unfortuately will not be recommending the tour to others or g adventures. We really feel quite angry about the whole experience and spent most of the latter part of the tour wishing the days away and counting them down :( and it was actually quite sad :( we still feel angry about it now but feel a bit of relief that its all over and we just want to concentrate on enjoying the last part of our tour and not think about it again until we get home! One good thing about this tour is that we made a good friend "jasmin" she really helped to keep us sane on this tour! And we had a lot of laughs with her! Maybe one day we will jet off to germany to visit her :) its defo on the list :))

The capital city....Washington DC

Since my last blog post we have been to Nashville and Appalachia but we did sod all there as we have been arriving past dinner time most days and it seems the group cannot get the concept of leaving at a Certain time, they must hear a different time to us! And as a result we leave late everyday, two inparticular decide its best to ask everyone if they can put some toast on for others rather then putting down there own tent so they are always the last and latest where ever we go! It was really getting on our nerves! So most of the group went out on the nights we were in the above places drinking, including one night where some of them including the guide got back at 5.30am! And he had to drive us all at 9am and that was one of the longest drives! We was fuming how bloody stupid and irresponsible can you get! 

On the way to washington we stopped at a national park called "shenandoah" we had a picnic here and made a few picture stops. It was here we saw a wild black bear! It was very exciting ! It wasnt to far away from us so i got some really good video footage! And when everyone went back to the van me and luke stayed for a few more minutes and it pounced to get a bird! It was so lovely seeing a wild bear, we was very happy.

We were now on the way to our last camping destination....washington DC! We could not wait :) the journey getting here was really really loooong ! Well it felt long but was only about 5 hours, but being in the bus was really getting to us, and having to listen to the same country music for 5 days was  making me want to burst my own eardrums ! Not only that, about an hour from the camp ground we were stuck in traffic and the little girls sitting at the front decided to put on some really appaling music up really load and sing and dance to it! After being stuck in this van for the best part of 3 weeks i can assure you it had passed the point of being able to ignore it and look away! It really was like being on a school trip and we were the adults! We had well and truly had enough. Just picutre this.....struck in grid lock traffice having already been on the bus for hours, listening to a indian version of the pussycat dolls song "jai ho" on loud! With all the girls dancing and shouting! I feel i neednt say anymore!

We arrived after what seemed like an eternity in traffic! And we just immediately put our tent up and retreated there! I also went for a wonder to reception to get some info on the buses to the city and maps etc, dylon hadn't given us any info yet and we wanted to plan our day, luckily we went up there and looked as we had to get a metro card which is like a oyster card, the buses take cash but its cheaper with a metro card but the trains only accept these cards and the place we were staying were selling them for $10, $2 for the card and then $8 credit ! It was the best deal as buying them at the station was more expensive ! So me, luke and jasmin got ours ! We did not want to rely on dylon for nothing. It was the groups last dinner together....like we really gave a shit about that ! and yet again the group that was cooking had let the 18 year old decide what to cook, and so we had a traditional german meal which was pasta with tiny pieces of ham with egg in it! And she added tiny pieces of peppers for the vegatarians! Yes that its.....plain pasta, no sauce, no salad, a tiny bowel full of dry pasta! How can it be we have paid for most of our meals and get a Tiny bowel of pasta....dry! If he insists in letting the groups do the shopping he should at least check theres enough food for everyone and have some input to make sure its a adequate meal! Its hard to cook for 13 people let alone ensure you have enough food! Basically it was shit! After dinner and before we went out at 20.30 dylon  decided to take this chance to give us some info for the next day.....he said he would leave at 9am to take people to the arlington cemetary and then drop them at the mall and then arrange a group dinner but he didnt know a time or place yet so if you werent going to go with him you basically wouldnt be going to dinner! He also gave a Bit of info on the public tranport but no where near enough info for you to feel confident to go on your own! I am so glad we went up to reception to get some info as they were so helpful, and also the reception shuts at 8pm so anyone that wanted a metro card for the next day would be fucked! So so useless! However we knew the group would play follow the leader and go with "dil dil!" As they called him!

 ....putting up the tent for the last time.

 Dylon was taking the group to the lincoln memorial that evening as it looks different at night, we didnt really want to go, but we wanted to see it in the dark, we didnt leave until 8.30 and it took 30 minutes to get there! And when we arrived it was absolutely heaving with tours, school trips etc you just couldnt move! Definately what we needed after our "lovely" drive! You just couldnt get a good picture and i wasquickly loosing my temper we had a little wonder but just wanted to go back to camp go to bed and have a day on our own. When we eventually left and got back it was 23.00 and we just went to bed, i had a pretty shit sleep i think i was just mega stress and angry about the days happenings.

Me, luke and jasmin were up and out at 7.30am! Everyone was still sound asleep! We got the 7.36 bus and were very excited about our day without the group and van! It was about an hours journey door to door and our first stop would be the pentagon memorial site. When we got off the train we had to walk half way around the pentagon to get to the memorial, and you were not allowed to take pics anywhere on the pentagon site it was very strict! Luke thought the pentagon was smaller then he imagined, it was quite large in scale but not so tall it also wasnt as guraded as we thought it would be, we didnt see inside tho which i assume is much more guarded, we walked around to the pentagon memorial for 911, we were allowed to take pics here so we took a few.....

Visiting a place like this memorial is quite emotional, it really makes you think about those poor families that have lost there loved ones, there was a few children lost ....3 years of age.... so so sad that they never got a chance at life :( it was really nice what the pentagon had done, its hard to explain but there was a wall and about one meter apart from each other were different years and in a line from them were all the people that had died that were born in that year and each person had a little water feature, its so hard to explain. But a beautiful memorial.

Our next stop would be the arlington cemetary to see the resting place of JF Kennedy and family. When we arrived here it was just starting to get busy with tours, schools etc, so we took a relatively fast walk to the resting place and took some pics but we couldnt really stand and appreciate what we were looking at as there were to many people, but it was nice seeing it, as we walked back down we took a moment to just take in all the fallen soldiers that were buried here, there were hundreds if not thousands and there was even a older couple sitting by a grave obviously mourning what i can only assume was there child. It was very sad and really puts in perspective what the army does for us, and that freedom hasnt always been free....soldiers then and now fought a hard battle for us to be free and we should appreciate it, i just looked on and thought of all the familys of these poor people that are now in mourning for a loved one. Travelling USA had made me understand more of why americans are so patriotic.

As we walked out of the cemetary we passed the group just entering, it was almost 10am! It made us glad did not wait for the group and get a lift with dil dil! As they obviously hadnt left at 9am and they were only just entering the cemetary we had done that and the pentagon and were now going onto the next thing! We decided to walk back to the Lincoln memorial as we wanted to see it in the day. We walked across the bridge and it was right in front of us, is was so beautiful in the day and less crowded, still busy but not so bad ! The washington monument looked great aswell....

We from here decided we would walk to the martin lutha king jr memorial, then to the world war two memorial. Martin lutha king memorial was really nice and had lots of nice words there, there was a school band going to play there at some point as it was going to be memorial day on sunday, so it was a weekend of celebrations, which would explain the crowds! We next went to the world war two memorial where there was also some beautiful words and lovely features.

We were really close to the washington monument so we just went and took a couple of pics but didnt go right up to it, as we got a glimpse of the white house from here and wanted to go and see that, i have got to say it looked pretty small from where we were standing! We went along to the visiter center first and got a couple of leaflets and had a look around, we then went as close as we could to it and we just could not believe how small it was, the movies made this place look huge, it was so small i hope in the pics you see how small it is.....

Having seen quite a lot already and walked pretty far we were ready to eat lunch, so we had a wonder into the town and tried to find somewhere, we wanted a dennys ! But there wasnt one in the city! So we found this other place called..."ollies trolley" it was a old fashioned burger place with really old artifacts in the seating area like a old coke machine, candy floss machine, old rocking horse, old pram and some other bits, we thought it looked nice! Luke ordered a chilli, cheese burger which he said was ok, i ordered large fries to share and a salad which sounded great, but what they seved me was a plate of lettuce with mushrooms! I couldnt believe it and i took it back and they thought i was saying no mushrooms so he proceded to take the mushrooms off with his hands! And then i explained it was missing most of what was advertised.....tomato, onion, carrot, croutons, cucumber! He just started to dump stuff on it! Including the mushrooms he had just taken off! I told them i didnt want it and got a refund! Dissapointed :( oh well we walked on past the old post office and FBI building and towards the national archives.

I really wanted to see the declaration of independence at the national archives, mostly because the film national treasure! We didnt have time to look around everywhere so just went to where the declaration was, we werent allowed to take pics or video either which was a shame, it was Very interesting to read the things around the declaration, we also saw the constitution and bill of rights. Just a shame we couldnt stay there longer, but there was so much to see and do we had to move onto the next thing.

It was 2pm already and we wanted to see some of the museums and jasmin wanted to go to the capitol building, so we split up at this point, as things shut at 5-5.30pm and we were running out of time. Me and luke first went to the air and space museum, which was really interesting, we probly looked at half the stuff in there, we was in there just over an hour so we did pretty well! We read some really interesting stuff on the wright brothers who together basically discovered the art of aviation, we read lots of stuff on the different space missions and the very last thing we saw was a video and read some info on the guy that done the highest freefall in history ! It was quite something to watch.

Next we went onto the national history museum, and i was excited as i thought i would walk in and see a t rex right in the middle of the atrium like in the film "night in the museum!" But when we walked in "rexie" wasnt there! But we were greeted by a elephant! Which i didnt mind! I love natural history museums our planet and all that live there fascinate me so we spent about an hour in here and saw as much as we could. It was around 17.15 when we left and we were so tired, we just wanted to get something quick to eat and get back to camp to rest our aching feet. We went to the ronald regan building food court and were joined by about 300 high school students on their school trips having dinner! Which was nice and just what we wanted! We wanted to get a subway but there was about 50 kids queing! So i got a jacket potato which was gorgeous with cheese, mushrooms and sour cream and luke had a turkey and cranberry sandwich and then we decided to head back.

When we arrived back jasmin was there she got back about 30 minutes before us and the van was there but dylon wasnt, so we assumed he had got public transport so he could drink, another act of a good guide! We just showered, chatted to jasmin and went to bed, we just wanted this last night camping to be over! It was a bit windy tonight so i had to have my hot water bottle! We heard the group come back and they were still up at 1am as i woke up thinking it was morning because i could hear them! We werent leaving until 9am the next day, we just wanted to get up and get to new york! We knew we wouldnt leave at that time, all we knew was we had to get up pack up and make breaky we had been told nothing else! Lets see what happens in the morning!!

We got up early like we normally do and to my horror most of the group were up! I didnt know why this had occurred but just got on with what we were doing! We were made aware that dylon had to check all the tents before they went down so luke swept it and then we put it down after dylons approval! And then made lunch and breakfast. Everyone started to clean everything, like the contaner lids for the boxes the food was stored in, all the utensils just everything, we had no idea what was going on! It hadnt really occurred to us we would have to get everything out of the boxes to re clean it all! We werent made aware of this plan! As usual the group had obviously been told without us there! We helped a bit but we mostly lost all patience and just wanted to leave and get to new york! we set off gone 10am! (An absolute joke!) bring on new york!!

We absolutely loved washington DC city, it had a really nice vibe about it and there was so much to do We loved exploring the city and really want to return to explore more. We feel very lucky to have visited the capital of the united stated of america!