Just Cruisin'

Cruising. My family don't know it yet, but we are going on a cruise. As soon as I get my hands on Dads credit card!

We are aboard the Carnival Liberty, an impressive, gorgeous, huge ship with 12 floors above sea level.

Cruising the Bahamas over 8 days to Half Moon Cay, St Thomas, San Juan and Grand Turk it's luxurious and I'm so happy we decided to book it.

I've cruised the Greek Islands and I do not remember it being like this. This is amazing. It's just a gigantic floating party!

I think there are approx 3,000 guests on the ship and 2,000 staff. There are 20 activities to do at any time of the day, from pool parties, to team challenges, to dance shows, comedy shows to information sessions. That's just the planned activities. There are pools and spas all over the deck, basketball courts, tennis courts, shopping, day spa, gym, casino, about 20 bars and restaurants.

Yesterday we visited Half Moon Cay. The island is actually owned by the Carnival group and only has a handful of inhabitants.

The water is sparkling clear turquoise as you pull in to the marina, with white sand and lush tropical vegetation. It looks like a post card.

We went straight on a snorkelling trip - I love fishys and there aren't many places I would rather be than snorkelling or diving in tropical waters.

We stopped at a spot only 20 mins boat ride from the island with 3 reefs to visit and an hour to snorkel. The temperatures are in the thirties everyday and the water was refreshing but still very warm.

The reefs were nice and the fish were cool, lots of blue an yellow ones and a few parrot fish but I must be spoilt as I have seen better. Perhaps my expectations were too high...

Having eaten too much from the island BBQ we headed to the beach to tan and swim. It's so hot you dot last long lying out before the pull to run in the crystal clear waters becomes too strong.

Feeling a little burnt we headed to the bar for an afternoon tropical cocktail.. Two cocktails later, a Florida Keys creation and a Watermelon cooler we both felt half cut. And it turned out we weren't just a little burnt, we resembled lobsters!

The cruise entertainment team has activities on the beach front all day, the highlight for me being the men's hairy chest competition. 10 hairy men start with a little boogie, make their way 'sexily' down the steps to the first of three judges. The first, a single 20-something, judges their dancing. The next, a 40-something Mother, feels their chest and back hair. The last judge, a 60-something Grandma, has to spank them! Meanwhile all hilariously commentated by the Carnival Team. May have been the cocktails, but I nearly fell over I was laughing so hard!

Luckily we found a deserted double hammock under the trees in the beach so spent a few hours snoozing and swimming before going back to the ship for some more snoozing!

I have not slept this much in a long, long time. I'm not sure if it's New York catching up on me, the 'jet lag' /time difference or the rocking motion of the boat but I can't stop napping.

They say the main activity of cruising is eating.. no wonder I like it so much!

Breakfast is a buffet, lunch is a smorgasbord and dinner is a three course formal event. And it's all delicious!!

Speaking of which I'm going to find some strawberries...