Our visit to Istanbul seemed even shorter due to when we arrived: our plane landed at 4:00pm, we got to the Shangri-La around 6:00pm, and by the time we showered and ate, it was already dark outside. Derik and I make a point not to wander the streets of anywhere we aren’t familiar with until after we talk to the locals a bit about safe/unsafe areas, so instead of venturing out our first night in Istanbul, we decided to turn in early. Plans were made to spend a full day exploring Istanbul before we began our cruise through the Mediterranean and Aegean seas the day after. Although we visited Istanbul at a somewhat insecure time (when the mass migration from Syria and surrounding countries began), it was everything I had hoped for ... Read More
One day in Mykonos, Greece
Last year, Derik and I went on the most amazing Mediterranean cruise with Princess Cruises for our anniversary. I haven’t had much time to write about it, let alone go through pictures, and decided today was the day! Mykonos, Greece was our first port destination of the cruise that left out of Istanbul, and it didn’t disappoint. I mean, how could it?! I’ve always wanted to visit the island of white and blue, and with only 7 hours allowed to explore, we crammed in as much as we possibly could! Mykonos was exactly everything I had dreamed about and more. The white-washed walls, the pretty streets, flowering trees, colorful doors, delicious food, and stunning sights. Our short venture around the island wasn’t nearly long enough, and ... Read More
Exploring Kenai Fjords National Park with Major Marine Tours
First of all, I can’t believe it’s been since May that I’ve blogged. I didn’t mean to take such a long break — I was trying to soak up every last minute I had in Alaska before leaving. I’ll be posting all about our adventures hopefully for the rest of this month and next, so we can move on to other things and new destinations! I’m super excited to share with you today about our time touring the gorgeous Kenai Fjords National Park with Major Marine Tours! I had a really good friend from Germany come visit me the last few weeks of June, and we wanted to take a cruise to see both the glaciers AND wildlife, and couldn’t quite decide what tour to choose. This is where Major Marine comes in, they had such a variety of cruise tours on their ... Read More
Cruising Milford Sound
New Zealand is by far the most beautiful country I have ever visited. It’s a place that Derik and I both fell head over heels in love with, and a place that sends a ping of sadness through my heart when I think about how far away it is from us now. During our time in New Zealand, cruising Milford Sound was at the very top of my bucket list. Strangely, I spent an entire year wishing to visit, and it didn’t happen until our last two weeks there. We went on an amazing comprehensive New Zealand tour with Haka Tours, and I knew the opportunity to book a cruise with Jucy to Milford Sound would be in the runnings of 'things to do while on tour.' It was either that or spend a day in Queenstown (which is equally as amazing for first-timers), and ... Read More
Maré, New Caledonia
We went to plenty of amazing places on our Christmas cruise through the South Pacific, but by far my favorite port was Maré, New Caledonia. Talk about actual paradise on earth, Maré is a little slice of heaven. It's underdeveloped, underpopulated, and just …perfect. I genuinely hope it can stay exactly the way it is for years to come. I'm pretty darn sure cruise tourism is one of it's only source of outside income, because businesses on the island were slim to none. Derik and I had spent the entire cruise avoiding shore excursions (seriously they're way too overpriced…or at least for our budget), but we had heard through the grapevine that buying the bus ticket via the shore excursions desk was the only way to get to the popular ... Read More
Beachcomber Island, Fiji
Fiji has always been top of my South Pacific bucket list. I don't know about you, but I grew up thinking Fiji was basically tropical paradise, and you've really 'made it' if you get the chance to visit. Although the second part of that sentence isn't exactly true, I was super stoked when Fiji appeared twice on our cruise itinerary back in December. WHOOP!!! Port Denarau, Fiji was actually the second stop on our trip, but it was the one I was most excited for. We decided not to book a shore excursion (hey people, we aren't made of money over here), and opted for the 'let's risk it and see what the port has to offer us' approach. Let me just say, out of all the ports-of-call we went to, we probably regretted this decision the most. You ... Read More
Cruising Sydney Harbor
The Opera House in Sydney Harbor is one of the most recognizable landmarks in Australia. It's not a surprising, I mean, just look at how gorgeous it is!!! Our Christmas cruise with Carnival Spirit began it's voyage in Sydney, directly across from the Opera House. We couldn't have asked for a better way to start our vacation, than to watch the sun set over one of the most picturesque locations in the world (stretching here? Nah). As the ship headed out to sea, we sat out on the balcony and listened to the live music being played at the 'adults only' bar, watched the seagulls playing in the slight breeze, and waved to the group of climbers (no doubt from BridgeClimb) as they summited the top of the Sydney Harbor Bridge. It was kind of ... Read More
So You’re Going on Your First Cruise…
We just returned from our very first cruise (EVER) a couple weeks ago. Cruising Carnival Spirit was such a wonderful time of relaxing (not having to worry about visas, immigration, hotels, food, or things to do), it was just what we needed as we begin our 3rd year of living abroad. Before we left, I spent a couple weeks scrolling through online articles, trying to figure out exactly what I needed to know as a first time cruiser. Sadly all I found was a bunch of people that I'd like to label 'chronic cruisers' leaving comments for first timers that really didn't help at all. I think after 20 or so cruises you tend to forget the first time you hopped on a ship, and exactly what your fears and apprehensions were. If you're just about to ... Read More