My Epic Cruise Vacation to The Bahamas

Our Family in the Dining Room

I returned to my humble home late Saturday evening from an epic nearly eight day vacation.  My family and I had so much fun but as you all probably know after that much time away, there really is no place like home. We cruised on the Carnival Fantasy for 5 days to The Bahamas out of Charleston, SC and even though we originally planned to drive about half way on Saturday, stay the night somewhere and then continue home on Sunday, the allure of our own beds led us to drive 14 hours all on Saturday.  And it was worth every single minute.

I started vacation not having weighed in in a week.  For the 4 or so days previous I was in nearly full-on Vacation Eating mode.  I had already planned in my head that I wouldn't be tracking, I'd allow myself to eat and drink as I wanted and enjoy every moment of my vacation.  And I started a little early.

I'm sure you're all wondering what the damage of unlimited free food and desserts, many cocktails and a new affinity for Bud Light Lime did to me.  For the two weeks prior to my return home, I gained 6.2 pounds.  SIX POINT TWO.  And I will be honest with you.  I'm not mad about a single ounce.

Espresso Cake

We ate things like this on a regular basis (that's Espresso Cake by the way.  What a wonderful couple of things to combine together).  We had dessert after lunch AND dinner.  We had three courses at dinner every night, and free cocktail night two out of the 5 (free is dangerous for me as it's my favorite price).  Buffets, customizable dinners, it was all fabulous.

While eating it all I did have periods of "what the hell am I doing?  I'm never going to be able to get back into weight loss mode.  And by the end of the trip, my clothes were a bit more snug.  But I knew, even in the face of indulgence, that I hadn't gained back the 30ish pounds I'd already lost.  One week of indulgence is not going to break my will to succeed.  To be honest, it was a nice break, but only a break I'm willing to take in the face of a vacation.  I can't imagine myself being the person now who says, "I need some healthy living time off.  I'm going to pig the hell out for a week."

Nassau, Bahamas

I did not get the run in that I anticipated while on the ship.   The morning I did get up at 6 am to do it was the morning we docked in Nassau, Bahamas.  I was greeted with this sight and couldn't tear my eyes away.  Also at the time I was going for my run, we were literally turning around in the port to back in to our docking station.  Jogging around the track at that time made me a little sea sick.  But I had a wonderful brisk walk with some great music on the jogging track instead and I count that as a win.  Plus we walked the length of the ship eleventy billion times every day.

I can't begin to say enough about the cruise.  It was our second cruise and it was much more manageable this time around because our youngest daughter is 3 now and last time she was 14 months.  MUCH easier and NO DIAPERS (or accidents or anything like that the entire time!).  We were busy every single day from 7am to midnight or so when we went to bed each day.  By the end of the trip, the kids were exhausted but well behaved the entire time.

Me & the girls at Freeport, Bahamas

While in Freeport, we went to the beach.  My husband and I thought, "we'll only wade in a little ways, we have the pool to swim in on the boat."  Once we got there, however, we couldn't resist going in further and our girls LOVED it. 

Here is photographic evidence of my ability to cross off an item on my bucket list (see "My Bucket List" tab above) - Wear a two piece bathing suit in public.  Yes, it was a tankini (thank you to the freaking genius who invented these) and not a string bikini or anything but I DID IT.  Self conscious?  Yes, a little.  But I did it and felt great!

The picture's not a great one, but this is me on FBN.

It was a wonderful trip, and wouldn't change it for anything.  But a word about Free Booze Night - just because it's free doesn't mean you need to drink 13 drinks in an hour.  They were half-sized drinks (most of them anyway), but in an hour?  Completely stupid.  I didn't get sick or anything, but dinner that night was a bit of a blur.  At least we didn't have to drive anywhere, and we could still take care of our kids. But, lesson learned.  Twice. 

I wouldn't change any part of this trip.  But now it's time to get back on the wagon and reach my goals.  I started yesterday with getting back to eating within my Weight Watchers points and it felt incredible.  Tomorrow I resume my 5k training program.  Being in control is a wonderful thing.  I hope you've all had a wonderful week!

Goodbye, vacation indulgence!