Samuel Russell Photography

As most of you probably know, I’ve been away for a couple weeks in Florida and on a cruise in the Caribbean. Lacking internet connectivity I was not able to perform my regular blogging duties. Fear not though, as I have now returned and you can once again enjoy my whit and luscious photography from the comfort of your home (or wherever you may be).

First I’ll give a quick synopsis of our trip. It was my wife and I and my sister-in-law and her husband (Patricia and Cory). We arrived in Orlando and drove to Cocoa Beach to our hotel (Hilton) which was right on the beach. We were pleasantly surprised to find out that there was an air show going on Saturday and Sunday and the main area was just up the street. I had my 70-300mm zoom lens so I got some nice shots. After 2 days here we got on our boat (Freedom of the Seas) for a 7 day cruise.

Here are a couple pics of the interior/main promenade of our boat – in case you were interested.

The first day/night was a bit rough and it was pretty funny watching people stumble and fall around (it’s a big boat but you can feel rough seas!). The next few days were better but because of the currents we couldn’t make our first stop in the Bahamas (boo!). So we pressed on to St. Thomas and St. Maarten.

In St. Thomas we mostly shopped and walked around a bit. It rained a lot first when we got there so we were pretty soaked (but being wet in 28 degree weather isn’t so bad). Apparently these ports are all about gold, jewelry, booze and perfume (at least in the main tourist areas) which I wasn’t really expecting but it was similar at St. Maarten. We left St. Thomas and got to St. Maarten the next morning.

St. Maarten is a nice spot – an island divided into French and Dutch portions. We did an ATV tour which is a whole story unto itself. We were driving in a line of 16 ATV’s on the main roads with minimal safety equipment, a lady crashed and had her ATV flip on top of her (had to be taken away in an ambulance) and we didn’t really get to enjoy the beach we were supposed to be heading to… but it was definitely an interesting adventure.

After those 2 stops we were back to port. On the boat we made use of all the amenities. I was on the flow rider (surfing and boogie boarding), climbed the rock wall, played mini-putt, swam, relaxed in the Jacuzzi, ate lots, skated on an indoor ice rink (in the Caribbean!!!), watched Puss in Boots in 3D, watched 2 shows (picture from the magic show below) …etc. There’s lots to do for sure.

Probably one of the best parts of the cruise was the food! There was always tons of food available and every night (except 2) we at in the fancy, 3-story dining room with big chandeliers everywhere. Pretty swanky place. The other place to get food was the windjammer cafe and it was a buffet-style spot. So many options and desserts – I gained like 6 pounds on the trip (please be kind when you see me, I have body image issues). There’s also a pizzeria, a coffee shop a soft serve machine, an ice cream shop a cupcake shop and other little shops and bars. Really easy to go overboard (in more ways than one, am I right!?!?)

After returning from our cruise we headed back to Orlando to hit the malls and outlet stores. We spent a lot (good deals!), played some more mini-putt (Patricia is a fan), rode in 45mph go-karts, ate at an Olive Garden – everything you could want really… We headed back to the frigid north on Thursday and thus ends my story.

I’m sure I’ll be talking to a lot of people over the next few days about my trip, but this should give people a good overview in case they don’t want to interact with me in person (what’s your deal, man?). Now you’ll know why I’m so tall dark and handsome when you do see me.