Have you ever set out to cross something off your bucket list? Well, I do and recently, I did. I finally took a Disney cruise. Not my first cruise, my first DISNEY cruise!! Needless to say, I was very excited.
The entire journey turned out to be one “first” after another, starting with Thanksgiving day in New Orleans.
I’ve been to NOLA, but my husband never has. Since we were flying out of NOLA for our cruise, we decided to tack on an extra day in the Big Easy. That “extra day” was in fact Thanksgiving Day. We did all of the typical tourist stuff, Bourbon Street in the French Quarter, Jackson Square, Pat O’Brien’s for hurricanes.
The only thing we didn’t get around to were beignets. (I’ve had them before, hubby has not.) That’s what next times are for right? Our day ended with a great meal at the amazing Roosevelt Hotel (formerly the Fairmont), which has become famous for their Christmas light display.
Next we flew to Ft. Lauderdale – another first. We’ve both been to numerous cities in Florida, but never Ft. Lauderdale. Through a strange and unexplainable series of miscommunications, we ended up in Ft. Lauderdale 2 days before we were set to sail out of Miami. Say what? I know, how in the heck did that happen? We checked and double checked. We were supposed to arrive the day before the cruise, not 2 days before. Weird.
I must add here that this “bonus” day of vacation resulted in us having our “first” experience with Uber. We will definitely use this service again – at least in Florida. Not sure how great it is elsewhere, but every time we called we had prompt, affordable service.
Anyway, we made the best of our Ft. Lauderdale stop-over by incorporating another “first” into our trip – an air boat ride in the Everglades! Not what I was expecting, but fun nonetheless.
After finally setting sail aboard the Disney Magic, which thankfully we didn’t screw that part up, we spent 2 days at sea before landing ashore in Tortola – another “first.” Whilst in the British Virgin Islands, (where the currency is US by the way) we toured the island by land and sea. A fun day getting to frolick in the Caribbean.
The next day we were in St. Thomas – not a first. However, this day was my “first” attempt at snorkeling. It’s not as easy as it looks. In fact, it was kind of difficult. I have a huge phobia of having my head under the water. I don’t like having fears, so I purposely scheduled a snorkeling adventure to face my monster head-on. I practiced breathing through the tube from my dry boat, before making my first attempt. Yup, I panicked. I made my second attempt only moments later because – I was determined not to be afraid.
Awkward rubber things on my feet, rigid plastic device stuffed into my mouth (did I mention I have a super sensitive gag reflex), putting my entire face in the water (OMG!) and taking that leap of faith that I do not need to hold my breath while under water (“I’m going to drown”), resulted in exactly 2 seconds of snorkeling. I can hold my breath about 20 times longer than that for heaven’s sake. Pathetic.
The third and fourth attempts got me a whole foot and half away from the boat. Frustrated, and exhausted, I got back in the boat and watched everyone else floating around looking at cool things beneath the water. (Yes, the song Under the Sea from the Little Mermaid was playing in my mind.)
I nixed the flippers and tried again. (“I will do this”), this time actually making a little progress – 2 feet away from the boat. Finally, our super sweet tour guide, got in the water with me and held my hand (like a very small child – embarrassing). He kept encouraging me to go a little farther and finally I did this awkward dog paddle/swim thing for almost a minute before taking my head out of the water. I SNORKLED!!!
Because I’m stubborn no quitter, I tried snorkeling again at our next port, this time from the beach. Much better experience (because I could stand up), but still not able to coordinate the mask, breathing device and flippers at the same time. Oh well, like the beignets, there’s always next time – and there will be a next time!
Yeah, that’s about how far out I went (yes, I’m standing – shut up). I saw lots of – white sand. I saw more fish just standing in the water and looking down. Oh well, I SNORKLED damn it!!! (This activity looks so fun – why can’t I do it?)
But enough about that. This vacation was also the “first” time I’ve ever seen a rainbow at sea. How cool is that?
And, it’s the “first” time I took a cruise and didn’t buy a single photo taken by a cruise photographer. Score!
All in all, a great trip and I am so ready to go again, snorkeling and all.
Do you have any phobias? Do you like to face your fears? What tips to you have for overcoming fears? Ever been on a Disney cruise?
Word of the Day: Quadrature
Fun fact about me: I like to think I am brave. (Thus the snorkeling attempts.)
Original post by Jansen Schmidt, December 2016. Original photos by P. Rickrode.
jansenschmidt 
Ah, sounds like such a great trip *jealous burn*! Snorkeling is hard (and I’m not saying that just to make you feel better). Getting the breathing rhythm down takes some work, especially while fighting off that panicky feeling. Next time, I’m sure you’ll conquer. I fear heights, yet I love the thrill of being high…as long as I feel secure in some way. The Grand Canyon (on the side with no railing) made my palms sweat even while I was several yards away from the edge, and some crazy guy was sitting on the edge, dangling his feet! My palms are sweating just thinking about it…
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Aw, thanks for the encouragement. I am determined to get it all figured out one of these days. It was much easier from shore because I kept telling myself that I wasn’t going to drown because I could just stand up whenever I felt like I needed to. My husband held my hands and floated me out a little deeper but I was never really very comfortable.
And, I used to be afraid of heights, but I LOVE to ski. I could barely ride the lifts I was shaking so bad. But, because it’s the only way to properly ski the fun slopes, I kept riding the lifts over and over until I could get on and off with getting sweaty or feeling like I was going to fall. Then I rode the big lift all the way to the top of the mountain. That was huge for me.
Conquering fears makes you feel like the king of the world, but it’s hard work at first. It’s so mental. I know I’ll eventually get over the water thing (hopefully).
Have a great week my friend. I hope you’re all ready for Christmas.
Patricia
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Sounds like a wonderful trip! Glad you were able to brave the snorkeling–it is fun! I don’t like heights, but when I went to Chichen Itza, I made myself climb the big pyramid, because I knew I’d be mad at myself if I didn’t. So worth it, especially since they don’t allow people on it now. And bonus, it made it into one of my books!
Good luck with the snorkeling next time!
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It was a lot of fun Jennette. We were skeptical at first, but everything was better than expected.
I had the same fear when we went to the Mayan ruins in Cancun (I can’t remember the name). I climbed about halfway up then had to sit down. I didn’t make to the top. My husband (who also has a fear of heights) climbed all the way. He stayed for about 30 seconds and promptly returned to ground level. Like you, he said he would have regretted it if he hadn’t have done it.
I’m hoping that some day one of my fictional characters gets a chance to try snorkeling. I’ll have some great descriptions for that experience!
As always, thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful week.
Patricia
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How cool – I tried snorkeling this year. It was fun but I didn’t groove the salty water. I snorkelled while my son scuba dived and my wife and daughter snuba – hybrid of snorkel and scuba using an air hose to stay submerged. Never been on a cruise but would love to be out in the middle of the ocean at night. Firsts are great, seconds are fabulous.
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“Firsts are great, seconds are fabulous.” I love this (especially since my current husband is my second and he’s pretty awesome!). I can’t wait to try snorkeling again. At least now I know what to expect and can ease some of the angst right off the bat.
I’m pretty sure I could never snuba or scuba. I know my limitations.
Thanks for visiting and have a fantastic week!
Patricia
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After everything, it sounds like you and hubby had a very nice trip. I hear ya on the snorkeling Patricia. I didn’t have a great experience with that one either. Hubby and I spent a week on a clipper ship in the Caribbean. First you should know that American Airlines lost hubby’s luggage. He ended up buying a pair of swimming trunks from the gift shop so he could at least pass as a normal passenger by day. But at night there was a required dress code. And since it had gotten around to most everyone, including the Captain, about my hubby’s dilemma, we were invited to dine at the Captain’s table. Well this required a dinner jacket. It wasn’t bad enough that a friend who was traveling with us came by every morning to deliver a fresh pair of underwear. Now he was at the mercy of strangers to volunteer other articles of clothing. And someone actually offered the use of an extra dinner jacket he had brought. Mind you, each day the captain monitored the whereabouts of the lost luggage which was always on the island from the previous day. But we were never happier than when we arrived at Tortola. Lovely island really. The best part for us is hubby was finally able to shop. But…the store had just closed. They already had closed all their registers down. So we begged for them, after telling them our hard luck story, to please let us in. That my hubby was desperate for clothes! They finally agreed with one condition. Cash only. Ha! Unfortunately we were unprepared. We had not brought that much cash. So my girlfriend tells them “no problem, let them in and I’ll go get cash from my husband”, you know, the guy who was making the early morning underwear runs, who was at the bar nursing a drink. Hubby and I run in and quickly grab a bunch of clothes to try on. While he’s in the stall, my girlfriend and I are throwing clothes and accessories over the closure while we’re being reminded that they need to lock up the store. All said and done, hubby finally had clothes he so desperately needed, even though it ended up costing a ludicrous amount of money. (He still wears a couple of shirts bought that day, they were of beautiful quality.) Moral of the story? Thank God it wasn’t my luggage that was lost. Hubby’s wasn’t delivered to us until the day we left for home! 😎
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Oh good grief. I’d have gone to dinner in the swim trunks. It sounds like a very memorable vacation. Thanks for sharing.
Have a lovely week, Karen.
Patrica
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