Cruise pictures!

I just got back from a ten day long cruise a week ago aboard Royal Caribbeans Explorer of the Seas. The ship was beautiful. The ports were amazing - we went to Saint Maarten, Saint Thomas/John, San Juan, and Labadee. I managed to sort out 35 pictures I wanted to show you guys out of 331, and I still think 35 is too much! I do hope you enjoy though. I sure did! It's been SO hard getting back to classes and going to work.

Anyway, here's a little bit of the ship:
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Yes, I climbed it :o
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St. Maarten was very nice, but it was my least favorite port. I think it was just because we did a boring bus tour and saw the whole Island. Bus tours just aren't my thing. That was my mom's idea. I am more of the hiking, swimming, or snorkeling type person.
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There were chickens everywhere, I think it had something to do with cockfighting being legal there.
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This is the US Virgin Islands, St. Thomas is where our ship docked, St. John is where we went though, we took a boat tour and stopped on the Island doing whatever we wanted for 3 hours. This was my absolute favorite port. I plan on moving here eventually. I don't know when, but it WILL happen. It was gorgeous and there is alot to do, not to mention it's purely paradise.
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This cool guy was walking across the street, he posed for awhile!
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Indian Head Rock..I don't see the Indian head though.
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My future place of work...hopefully;)
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This guy was by the restrooms on St. John, he was also posing.
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a cute little beach..
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Raphaela the pug, she was in the jewelry shop we went into on St. John. She is "head of security" according the sales women, she was so sweet. Cute kitty resting on a cafe chair. And that's a brown pelican resting on a ship. I was the only freak extremely excited over all these animals.

Now for San Juan. I've got to say, my dad is the coolest. He does everything with me that no one else will do. He didn't really want to go to the El Yunque Rainforest with me, but I said I was going alone if he didn't either way. He did go, and he loved it, just like I knew he would. He's a bird nerd like me, he loves seeing wildlife, he loves all that..but anyway this place was GORGEOUS. We went on a tour bus from the port all the way to the rainforest. It was definitely the best part of my trip -
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Behind me is 500 acres of unexplored land...which I thought was the coolest thing. Completely undisturbed and filled with mystery.
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Baby lizard! He was so cute!

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The waterfall - I forgot what it was called..maybe el Mina or something.
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Geez I am so annoying! Sorry I swear this is the last picture post!
This was Labadee, Haiti. It was beautiful and very undeveloped, so much wildlife! It was leased by Royal Caribbean so the beaches were filled with everyone from the ships. We went on a boat tour first and then we went to the beach, which was cool. My sister fell off a hammock. :P Of course, that was the best part of my day.
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Fishermen.
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This is a ship that hit a reef. The Coast Guard was chasing some drug dealers..looks like they got 'em.
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This was Amiga Island. This was cool because it's not owned by anyone and everyones allowed to go on it. The locals always clean it up.
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This was Paradise cove.
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This is a pic I took underwater just to show you how rocky (dead corally I guess you'd say) it was. The swimming wasn't to fun because of that. I couldn't rent snorkel equipment either so I couldn't really go see the fish :( They had a zipline over the water and everything. But it was alot of money to do that lol, but I did enjoy the island.

Overall it was great, obviously! I loved being with my family, including my uncle who is lucky to be out of the hospital after being there for 2 months. He almost wasn't able to come on the cruise. I wish I could have brought Mikey and went right back. My parents are already talking about going to the Virgin Islands next year. :P I did so many interesting things: Hiked through the rainforest, drank out of a coconut, saw so much wildlife, swam in haiti, legally drank and I'm 19 ;) I've always fit in so well with the Island lifestyle, I want to go back so bad:p

Thanks for looking and I hope you guys enjoyed!

Wow, thanks for sharing! So many cool pictures, and of course, you are a Pet Talk person, so we got to see the "head of security" pug, the kitty and all the cool lizards! That one you go to hold is so tiny! How neat!

Your pictures are amazing. I love seeing all that beautiful scenery. I'm like you in that I feel I could
live there for months at a time.:) I also loved San Juan & walking through the rain forest. Last time I
visited was eons ago on my honeymoon.;)

I love all of the pictures. I can't help it, my favorite is the baby lizard. I can sort of feel your excitement over it! hehe
I'm glad you had a good time!

Out of curiosity, did you take any pictures of the rooms on the ship? How big are they?
I'm really wanting to take a cruise for my 40th birthday this coming June, but get a wee bit claustrophobic... so don't know if it's a wise thing.

(I would have to wait and take it after September, but it would be to celebrate my 40th birthday)

Beautiful pictures Alyssa! Glad you had a good time and thanks for sharing!:)

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This cloud looks (in shape) like a tropical fish - can't think of the name tho. Did you notice that too?

You got some really lovely shots. What a beautiful area to live in. Can't blame you for wanting to go back! :)

ETA - "yellow tang" is the fish I'm thinking of.

Lovely scenery- makes me wish I could live there, what a beautiful place. Looks warmer than here right now, and so green instead of being surrounded by white. Great pictures, thanks for sharing. And POM -I did notice the cloud- does look like a tropical fish, amazing to say the least...

Thank you so much for sharing these wonderful, beautiful pictures. I've never been on a cruise or visited any of the Islands so this was wonderful to see.

Great pictures, though I'm a little jealous! Looks like a blast!

Alyssa, it looks like you had a blast! I'm totally jealous :p I seriously would love to do something like that. The last cruise I went on for a day, however, I got soo sea sick. But it was a much smaller ship, too.

It's all beautiful, but that rainforest looks SO neat! I would LOVE to go hiking there.

What great pictures! The scenery is beautiful. I've never been on a cruise, it looks like a blast!

Thanks for all the comments guys!

Pom, I actually didn't notice the cloud. Nice observation, and it was the perfect place for it to form over for sure! :D

Crystal, I'm sorry I didn't take any pictures of the room. But you can most likely see pictures of the ships cabins online. My parents had a balcony cabin, which was quite big for the both of them. My sister and I had an inside room with a view of the Promenade, which was like a little mall with shops and all. It wasn't very big but it was good for the two of us. Honestly, you barely spend any time in the rooms, so I wouldn't worry too much about being clausterphobic.

I don't really know if I'm going to live on the Virgin Islands, but I'll be going back for annual vacations when I'm older, that's for sure.

Danielle, let's go! I'm ready to go on another one but can't find anyone to go with LOL.

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Originally Posted by Alysser

Thanks for all the comments guys!

Pom, I actually didn't notice the cloud. Nice observation, and it was the perfect place for it to form over for sure! :D

Crystal, I'm sorry I didn't take any pictures of the room. But you can most likely see pictures of the ships cabins online. My parents had a balcony cabin, which was quite big for the both of them. My sister and I had an inside room with a view of the Promenade, which was like a little mall with shops and all. It wasn't very big but it was good for the two of us. Honestly, you barely spend any time in the rooms, so I wouldn't worry too much about being clausterphobic.

I don't really know if I'm going to live on the Virgin Islands, but I'll be going back for annual vacations when I'm older, that's for sure.

Danielle, let's go! I'm ready to go on another one but can't find anyone to go with LOL.

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Hey, if your paying, I'll pack my bags now!! :P

What great pictures, and what a fabulous vacation you had! Thank you.

Looks like fun why didn't you take mom????