• Travel & Vacation: Disney’s Fantasia Gardens Miniature Golf (Orlando, FL)

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    Fun times playing miniature golf!

    While in Orlando the girls and I got tickets to play miniature golf.  The golf course was across the street from our resort so it was a short walk.  We went to Disney’s Fantasia Gardens Miniature Golf.  It was a lot of fun playing together even though we lost 3 balls.  We quickly realized that we would not be playing any professional miniature golf soon with our crazy scores, but was a great time.

    It was a warm day, but they had several courses with shooting water that seem to help cool it off.  After playing 18 rounds of miniature golf we headed back to the hotel for lunch in the room then out to the pools to have some more fun.  Thankful for some time with the kids.

    Brina was the only one that didn’t loose a ball.   I lost mine on the first hole in the bushes.  Karlie managed to lose 2 balls throughout our adventures.  The workers let us get more balls at the counter.  The girls both got “hole in ones”, but I never got one (2 shots was my lowest par).

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    Hole 1 – each hole had a storybook with information and cute sayings on it.

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    It was bright and sunny that day!

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    Brina ready for her next hit.

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    This hole was in a cave.  It was cool.  Both girls got a hole in one on this one.

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    So close….  They were concerned a few times about me accidentally hitting their balls further away from the hole (a couple of times it was a valid concern).

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    The greenery around the course was beautiful!

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    Found a spot in the shade to rest for a minute.

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    They had some cute decorations.  This elephant sprayed water when you shot the ball through the middle of the base.

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     Lining up for a good shot.  This was harder than you think.

  • Vacation: “Cruise Adventure” on Royal Caribbean’s Serenade of the Seas

    Royal Caribbean's Serenade of the Seas Cruise Ship (the back of the boat)

    As I reflect back over the cruise vacation we took on Royal Caribbean, Serenade of the Seas, I am thankful for the opportunity to experience a fun and relaxing trip full of new memories.  Over the last several weeks I have been sharing tidbits about our time exploring the various Caribbean Islands, however, today I want to focus a little more about the actual ship we spent our evenings on together.  We gave some facts regarding the ship in an earlier post but I want to share a little more about what we did on the cruise in this post.

    The seventh day of our cruise was the only full day we were at sea.  Every other day of the trip we were visiting an island in the Caribbean.  Ever day was packed full of a variety of activities.  There were a lot of fun things to do on the ship, here are just a few:

    • Breakfast – you could chose to have it delivered to your room, eat at the Windjammer (buffet) or eat a sit down meal at Reflections.  We did a mix of the Windjammer and Reflections throughout the week depending on the activities for the day.
    • Every day evening after dinner we would have a new schedule of the next day’s events, information and activities so we could plan out our day on the boat or if we were going onto an island.
    • Morning Activities where available throughout the morning and at various locations on the ship (here is a sample of some activities)
    1. Brain Teasers & Trivia
    2. Sabbath Service
    3. Early Morning Stretch
    4. Abdominal Conditioning
    5. Indoor Cycling
    6. Adult Mini Golf Tournament
    7. Yoga
    8. Walk for Wishes
    9. Napkin Folding
    10. Movie in the Cinema
    11. Acupuncture Seminar
    12. View from the Top
    13. Royal Bingo
    14. 3 Minute Makeup Seminar
    15. Secrets to a Flatter Stomach Seminar
    16. Cake Decorating
    17. Interview with Olympic Gymnast Lance Ringland
    18. Swimming
    19. Rock Climbing Wall
    20. Shopping
    21. And More….
    • Afternoon Activities (here is a sampling)
    1. Music (Hot Spice – Calypso Sounds)
    2. Backstage Tour of the Theater
    3. Towel Folding Demonstration
    4. Ice Carving
    5. Movie in the Cinema
    6. Slot Tournament
    7. Men’s Belly Flop Contest
    8. Informal Bridge
    9. Learn to Swing
    10. 3-on-3 Basketball
    11. Name that Movie Tune
    12. Blackjack Tournament
    13. Scrapbooking Workshop
    14. Detox for Health & Weight Loss Seminar
    15. Pool Volleyball Crew vs Guests
    16. Belly Dance Class
    17. Gotta Dance Class
    18. Royal Poker Tournament
    19. Wine Tasting
    20. Adult Volleyball Tournament
    21. Core Conditioning Pilates
    22. Learn to Salsa
    23. Royal Bingo
    24. Adult Speed Climbing Competition
    25. And More…
    • They had a variety of Evening Activities to keep everyone entertained as well
    1. Farewell Movie Night
    2. Showtime
    3. Star Bridge Dance
    4. Mambo Caliente
    5. Royal Poker Tournament
    6. Jazz Cabaret
    7. Paradise Lotto Draw
    8. Adult Karaoke
    9. On Board Shopping Deals
    10. And Much MORE

    Our days were busy both on and off the ship.  There was always something to do.  We had fun, met a lot of wonderful people and created new memories.  We look forward to having the opportunity to cruise again in the future.  It was great not having to cook or clean the whole week!  On a side note, they had food available when you wanted it pretty much 24 hours a day!  It was nice because you could eat when it fit into your schedule!

    Here is a quick introduction of a few key crew members aboard the ship.  The Captain of our cruise ship was Captain Michel Claveau who started his career as a diver. Marc Walker was our Cruise Director from Weymouth, England started out in the entertainment industry as a DJ (22 years ago) then went on to juggle, unicyclist, then onto TV and Radio.  Marc has been with the Royal Caribbean family since the late 1990’s and has served on 20 of Royal Caribbean’s 22 ships.  Sanjay Dumar was our Hotel Director from Mumbai, India.  Marco Marzocchi was our Chief Engineer from Genova, Italy.  Cristiana Maruntelu was our Loyalty & Cruise Sales Manager from Romania.  Alistair Burnett was our Food & Beverage Manager from the United Kingdom.  Noel was our waiter and Janet our head waitress.  They did a fabulous job serving, singing, and creating a pleasant atmosphere during dinner every night we were on the ship.  I will add that the meals were amazing!  We met a lot of other wonderful people aboard the ship.  The staff was from all over the world and we enjoyed getting to know several of them during our stay on the ship.

    We spent some time in the late afternoon on the last day packing.  We were sad to pack but excited to continue our trip home and see the girls.  Jake and I walked around the ship on the last night snapping a few more pictures and video clips to show the girls.  They always have a lot of questions about the BIG boat!  If we could Jake and I would have just keep on cruising!  It was a wonderful experience again traveling with Royal Caribbean.  We will be sharing a few pictures on board the ship in a post later this week!

    A Vacation To Remember series is a reflection on our recent trip and ways we relaxed.  Life is short and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to build memories with family and explore of of the most amazing places during our time away.  Go with a good attitude and looking for fun and it will be an awesome trip jammed packed with positive memories.  It is refreshing having some time away from the regular routine.  Make it a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet new people and learn.  You just might see or try something new that takes your breath away!