Monday, January 27, 2014

Royal Caribbean's Enchantment of the Seas: A Bahamas Bachelorette!

I love my friends. I love to travel. I love LOVE. Of course bachelorette parties are pretty much my favorite things in the world. I've done some pretty awesome ones - Asheville, NC; Destin, FL; Las Vegas, NV! And now, the Bahamas!
 
One of my besties from college is getting married at the end of March, and after tossing around a whole slew of ideas, we landed on a Royal Caribbean 4 day, 3 night Bahamas cruise from Port Canaveral.
 

 
 
We left ATL really early on Friday morning and drove down to Florida. It was a long ride, but we worked the majority of the way with a few episodes of Scandal mixed in. We got on the boat, and immediately sought food. As with all cruises, this would be the first of many, many meals...
 
While everyone else got settled in and started on the cocktails, Mandy & I hopped up to the gym to get our FitBit steps in. #addicted
 
The boat departed and all the sudden the treadmill became much, much trickier. Only Olivia Pope could keep me quasi-balanced for the last 10 minutes of my run. It was hard! With that out of the way, we let the official festivities begin! We met a couple of the girls at the arboreum bar, and they had made post-cocktail plans to meet everyone else for the free liquor tasting. Let me just pause and say I love cruises, always have and always will, and one of the biggest reasons I love cruising is for the number of free activities of all types, available to everyone on board! Sure, you can spend plenty of money, but there's so much to see and do that doesn't cost a dime!
 
Anyway - after that, it was a typical night on a cruise. Shower, drinks, dinner, show! Another huge perk of cruising, there is a routine, and it's pretty much the same no matter the line, the duration, anything.
 
 
Friday night's show was a 70's montage, and so much fun! We stood around watching for about an hour, and at that point some of the girls called it a night.
 
The bride, her sister, Mandy & I decided to venture to the "Silent Party" at the lounge on the top level of the ship. We were so skeptical, but it turned out to be my favorite thing we did all weekend! As soon as you walked in you had to grab a set of headphones and put them on because it was the only way to hear the music. I cannot reiterate enough how much we loved the Silent Party.
 
 
Please note our friend, lovingly referred to as Stranger Danger, but more importantly the awesome headphones we are all wearing. The party raged until nearly 3am. We danced, we sang, we made new friends, but most importantly we celebrated the bride-to-be!
 
 

The next morning, Mandy & I slept in before making our way to the restaurant for breakfast. For some reason this meal took forever, but we got out of there quickly and Amanda & I beelined for the Crown & Anchor Society reception. It's a reception for frequent cruisers that the captain hosts with complimentary cocktails and appetizers and light snacks. To be honest, I think the timing was pretty poor for the reception, as they usually take place before dinner, but I won't complain about 4 mimosas at 11am :)

 
Our first stop was Nassau, where we had all been before. We docked around noon, but we waited until about 1:30 to debark and explore. We pretty much hopped off the boat, stopped at a liqor store, and wandered to the nearest beach to soak up some sun. A couple of us were brave enough to test out the massage hut... best decision ever!
 
 
 
We moseyed back towards the boat pretty early - we had a lingerie shower to throw! A couple of the bridesmaids brought a bunch of really fun accessories to make it special, plus the Bride wanted to do a white elephant gift exchange as well. Laughter and tears and everything in between ensued. I am so, so happy for my sweet friend, and wish her a lifetime of happiness and love <3 nbsp="" p="">
 



 
More of the same on Saturday night, but the evening culminated in a gorgeous Chilean man telling Amanda that he loved me and he would marry me tomorrow. Well, you don't say? I'm in! I came home as single as I left, but it was fun while it lasted. Sadly, I got no pictures with my Latin lover, but he called me "mami" and "mi amor" and danced like a maniac.

Sunday was a beautiful day in Cococay, Bahamas (Royal Caribbean's privately owned island) but the group decided to hang out on the boat. We had to tender to get to the island (take another small boat from the ship) and it just seemed like more work than it was worth.

 
We said goodbye to the Bahamas and headed back to Port Canaveral, and then onwards to ATL. It was such a fun weekend, and I can only hope that the bride had as much fun as I did. Cheers to her and her husband-to-be.
 
Only 2 more months 'til I do! #mrsdub

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