The Perfect Honeymoon

I don’t even know where to begin. Wait, no, actually I do, with the love of my husband. I love my husband. I fell in love with Dan, married him, and just spent a week on The Scarlet Lady luxury cruise ship (Virgin Voyages) with him. Add in some close friends sailing with us. We had a fantastic honeymoon.

Some highlights:

• The “Scarlet Lady” herself! I have never been on a cruise before, and the ship seemed gigantic to me, but all the others with us, including Dan, said it was smaller than most other cruise ships. I love how easy it was to wander around and be surprised at every turn. Plus, it was pretty everywhere. I never looked at anything and thought, “Well, that was a cheaply done bad decision.” Also, I do get motion sickness, but I consciously didn’t notice any giant rocking back and forth (from the waves :)) except the final night when a massive cold front was coming through with storms. Even then, it was easy not to focus on them. Regardless, Dramamine was my friend Sunday, Monday, and Thursday night.

• Legitimate gourmet/luxurious food and drinks almost every single meal. My Favorite experience was The Test Kitchen, and my favorite food was the steak at The Wake and everything at Gunbae (Korean BBQ). I came in second on the drinking game at Gunbae :). I demand a rematch, Aly!

• Our “Cheeky Corner” Suite. Big, again, luxurious. The TV, no lie, sang as we came into the room. It was like a choir of angels burst out when we walked in, Lol. We had a huge balcony we used to host a little party for our friends. The bed was huge and very comfortable. All the lighting, TV was controlled by a tablet docked on the nightstand. We also had a full bar, vinyl record player with great music we hadn’t heard before. It was a great room to do the things newlyweds do, a lot, repeatedly, in new ways.

  • Yeah I said it.

    

• Getting pulled up on stage at the “No Strings Attached” show to kiss Dan in front of a very boisterous and supportive crowd. There were GREAT shows all the way around. The anti-gravity show, which was a modern spin on Romeo and Juliet, was death-defying and genuinely exceptional. The Scarlet Night Dance party was also a lot of fun. It is where I rocked my new Versace my husband bought me as a gift on the way down from Orlando to Miami.

• The crew! They went so far out of their way we fell in love with their attentiveness and excellence in handling the details. We had high expectations (yo, paid a lot of money), but they easily exceeded. They would magically know our names everywhere we went (rfd tech). One crew member sent us a lovely bottle of wine, and the ship sent a $95 bottle of champagne as congratulations for being on our honeymoon. And because we had “Rockstar” status, we were assigned an assistant. Her name was Coral, and she was terrific. Very helpful and covered all the bases before we even stepped up to the plate.

  

• The other people on the ship: When Dan and I wore our matching muumuus (not kidding) or when we would walk around holding hands, we got a few overly concerned side-eyes. Altogether, I noticed about three people who needed to get a clue and repent for the haughty scorn in their eyes. But, everyone else was playful and fun. The other 99.99% of us enjoyed each other’s company with no judgment. I had fun re-enacting “walk like John Wayne” out of Birdcage (movie) in my muumuu in the galley.

• Speaking of no judgment, Swingers! Everyone in our crew got propositioned at some point, and we loved it. It wasn’t like folks were pressuring or weird, just another dynamic we noticed on the ship.

• Cozumel, Mexico! Terrifyingly fun. We rented a jeep that looked like it was straight out of the M.A.S.H. sitcom. We saw ruins where they used to make child sacrifices. That was creepy but interesting. It was built around 300 AD and is now, apparently, a dinosaur farm. There were BIG don’t fuck with me looking Iguanas everywhere. Then we rode around the island with the parking brake stuck. Lol. I saw what I think was a python road-kill (gigantic snake), and did I mention a lot of grumpy-looking Iguanas. We ended up at a lovely beach situation after driving down a dirt road. Scared the snot out of me until we got to the beach resort(?), and it was like a sudden pop of delights to the senses. GREAT drinks. GREAT food. Full deep tissue massage on the beach, fantastic water, and fun friends. Oh, and my husband was extra cute that day. I know. Hard to believe he could be any more handsome, but SO cute and attentive :). I needed a little help getting back on the boat but lots of fun, laughter, and relaxation.

• Bimini Beach Club! We were in the VIP area, and it was nice and quiet. The ocean water was GORGEOUS. I have never seen water that clear and beautiful in person. But, we kept hearing cheers from the gigantic main pool and great music, so we ditched the VIP area and went over to the pool. At one point, Mr. Way, too hyper-aware (me), abandoned all inhibitions and jumped into the fun. Just jumped around and splashed everyone when the excellent beat would drop. GREAT music and SO much fun. Dan was his extroverted self and had people laughing and cracking up everywhere. It was a genuinely fantastic time.

• The hiccups … yes, a little drama here and there. I don’t know any vacation that doesn’t have moments like that. But, they were few and provided opportunities to work together as couples or even as a team. I put this on my list of highlights because these moments are JUST as important as the fun ones. Authentic intimacy doesn’t occur without these experiences as well.

• MIAMI! The day before the cruise and the day we got off the ship, we spent in Miami. Before the cruise, we had a fantastic time in South Beach at the Versace Mansion for drinks. We met a lot of very interesting plastic surgeons. They were fun, but it being in Miami, they gave me Nip/Tuck vibes. I had the best drink ever there with blueberries, basil, and … magic (I forgot the name). The bartender also sent our crew a round of tequila shots, and we spent the night partying with friends who couldn’t make it on the cruise but wanted to have fun. The day we got back, we went to the world-famous Haulover nude beach and relaxed for a few hours.

And yesterday, after getting home Friday night, we slept in till 10:30 AM and took a 3-hour nap later. We are still recovering, and so glad I had two days off before heading back to work tomorrow.

This was legitimately the best vacation I have ever had with my husband’s love on our honeymoon and good friends. It was perfect. Dan worked so hard for so long to pull this off, and we had the time of our lives with many more cruises, I am sure, on the horizon.

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