HOW TRAVELING HAS STRENGTHENED OUR MARRIAGE

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We’ve been married for almost 3 years now, and can 100% agree with all of the saps out there that every year it gets better. But you know what has impacted our marriage most of all? Travel!

Over the past 3 years we’ve gone on 4 cruises, 8 road trips, and we've explored 13 different countries together. Every trip has challenged, inspired, and strengthened our marriage! We whole-heartedly recommend all newlyweds (or not!) to travel… it’s done amazing things for our marriage! 

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Here’s why:

1. YOU’RE TOGETHER. A LOT.

Travel forces you to get vulnerable, fast. There's nothing quite like sitting side-by-side on a 14-hour international flight and then landing in a foreign country, jet lagged, smelly, and hangry. (Come to think of it - that must be where the term hangry comes from!) We've learned each other's travel quirks, and they surprisingly speak truth into our daily life as well. Alli doesn't do well with crowded, uncontrolled places. Bobby needs to always have a snack nearby. And for both of us naps are ALWAYS a good idea. While traveling together isn't always a walk in the park (although we do like those), we learn more about each other with each trip we take. We've come to appreciate our differences, and never go to sleep upset. Because who wants to travel with a cranky pants?

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2. YOU’RE FORCED TO COMPROMISE

There's no getting around it. Traveling forces you and your partner to meet in the middle. Whether it's deciding where you're going to eat for dinner, where you're going to stay, or if you should walk or take a taxi... it's all about compromise. We've had some of our biggest arguments over silly differences of opinion, and it only takes about two hours for us to realize it's just not worth the fight. Even if it means walking up ten flights of stairs instead of taking the elevator.

3. SH*! HAPPENS!

Things go wrong when you travel. It's bound to happen. You might miss your flight or lose your wallet. You might even eat bad sashimi and spend a good 24 hours on your hotel's bathroom floor! (Happened to us.) Regardless, these chaotic situations have become some of our favorite memories! We've learned to accept, grow, and laugh about the sometimes painful travel experiences. 

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4. THERE'S ROMANCE IN VULNERABILITY

There's something so beautiful about being so vulnerable. Traveling has bonded us in such a way, that we've come to truly accept each other for who we are. We've seen the good, the bad, and the really ugly - but we love that. With that love and acceptance comes a freedom that is liberating. It makes candlelit dinners in Tuscany, long walks in a Parisian market, or zip-lining through the Panamanian rainforest THAT much more romantic.

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The past three years have been a whirlwind, filled with countless memories we'll never forget. Through all of our travels we've learned that it doesn't matter what our geographic location is, as long as we're together. So get out there and explore the world with your partner... and invest in a good pair of earplugs while you're at it. Just in case. ;)

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A Day in Nassau

During our recent three-day cruise aboard the Carnival Victory, we had one amazing stop on the island of Nassau, in the Bahamas. One thing we loved about this port was the fact that our ship was docked there ALL NIGHT. Meaning, we could have partied in town all night! (We didn't - but we could have!) Being there for as long as we were gave us the freedom to roam around the island at our leisure, not worried or stressed about getting back to the ship in time for departure. 

Nassau is known for its iconic resorts and waterparks, so obviously we had to check those out. ;) We booked our excursion through Carnival, and they made the whole process so quick and easy. Within 20 minutes, we were off the ship and on the bus heading for the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island! We had a blast. 

We enjoyed their aquarium and waterpark, where Bobby was like a little child. He kept asking, "Can I go on one more?" Ha! It was hard to leave the waterpark, but the beach was calling our name. Pristine blue waters and beautiful white sand… we are realizing that one day on Paradise Island is not enough time here. That just means we have to come back!

Whatever port we are at, we always save time to explore the town. We like to experience the culture, meet new friends, do some shopping and try out the "local cuisine". 

We spent the better part of our afternoon roaming the colorful streets of Nassau and snapping photos in front of the many pink buildings. Did you know that the government buildings in Nassau are all painted pink? They are colonial-style buildings in a beautiful shade of pink, after their state bird, the flamingo. All of the buildings are so bright and colorful - even the police station was painted a bright sea green. 

We peeked into a couple of the most magical looking restaurants in town, and got directions from a local policeman (who looked extra spiffy in his uniform)! He kindly directed us to the Straw Market, a traditional open-air market, where local vendors sell everything from handwoven crafts and carvings to colorful t-shirts and bags. It was quite the sight, and definitely the place to go if you want to barter. 

Don't miss this spot when you're in Nassau, it's a local experience you won't forget. While we didn't end up purchasing anything, we were definitely tempted!

After the Straw Market, we found a spot to cool down and have a drink before heading back to the Carnival Victory. As much as we love exploring every port, there's always an excitement at the end of the day to come back to our ship. It truly does become our "home away from home". We're sure that those of you who have cruised before know the feeling!

Nassau is a beautiful port with locals as vibrant as their colorful buildings and bright blue sea. Thank you Carnival for putting together such a magical excursion! We can't wait to return and explore more of the island!

This post was created for Away We Go with Carnival, the destination for getting in the getaway state of mind. Head on over.

Sea Day Sea-ssentails

In between days at port, you often get to experience a sea day. This is a day of traveling to your next stop where you get to do anything and everything aboard the ship. Some enjoy sleeping in, laying out in the sun all day, and then getting to bed early. Others love spending the day in the casino, trying to strike it rich. We, like many others, like to do a little bit of everything. If you want a taste of a variety of Carnival amenities and experiences, take a minute to read about our Sea Day Sea-ssentials. 

Towel Animals!

On sea days you will encounter a zoo of Carnival’s famous towel animals. While you may become used to seeing one in your room each evening, on a sea day (if you get up early enough), you will find an incredible assortment of animals all over the Lido deck. And you can even visit the towel animal theater, where the towel animals come to life and put on a show!

Morning Brunch

On sea days, we brunch. Sea day brunch in the dining room offers your standard omelets, eggs and toast, and blueberry pancakes. But there are also crazy options, like French toast coated with cereal, mac n’ cheese, steak-n-eggs, and banana cream pie. We love the menu of sea day brunch because it really makes you feel like you are on vacation. When else would you have blueberry pancakes, mac n’ cheese, and a double chocolate brownie at brunch. Cruise life is the best life. 

Fun in the Sun

After morning brunch, we like to go get our tan on. Swap the coffee for a mimosa, put on some sunscreen, and soak up the sun. Feel free to snooze, read a book (Alli), or work on your Rubik’s cube solving speed (Bobby). 

Hairy Chest Contest

Exactly what it sounds like. A contest for showing off your chest hair and performing hilarious challenges to music. The best part is that the hairiest man may not always win… like Bobby. He won for the second time in a row on this cruise. Ha!

Martini Tasting

After the hairy chest contest, and a nice little nap, we head to the Alchemy Bar for some martini tasting. The bartenders make amazing cocktails and like to have fun with it! You can order a flight of 4 martinis, and then blind taste to try and figure out which one is which. It’s 5 o’clock somewhere! 

Art Auction

Art Auctions aren't something we normally spend our time doing, but why not peruse art and possibly bid on some? We love walking around and seeing the diverse art hanging on the walls of the Carnival Victory. 

Vroom!

Playlist productions are the live performances aboard the ships that have incredible dancing, lighting, and special effects. There are normally two showings on your sea-days, so depending on what else you have going on, make sure you get to one of them. Our favorite show so far was on this recent trip aboard the Carnival Victory, called Vroom! 

Piano Bar

This is not just a sea day activity for us. Almost every night aboard a Carnival cruise, we will end our night at the piano bar. Not only do the ships always have super talented pianists, but it is one of the most fun places to make friends. The same people normally go to piano bar. People that want to have a good time, meet other people, and are outgoing enough to sing songs at the top of their lungs. No matter what kind of day it has been, it is always a great idea to end it singing classic piano tunes with your new best friends!

There are endless opportunities for fun on a Carnival sea-day. You can be adventurous, mellow, or anything in between. We just rattled off a bunch of activities that you will find us doing on our sea-days, how do you spend yours?

This post was created for Away We Go with Carnival, the destination for getting in the getaway state of mind. Head on over.

TREAT YOURSELF! (AND DON’T FEEL GUILTY)

One of the most frequently asked questions we get is “with all of that travel and fancy food, how do you stay in shape?!”  And our secret is… Instagram filters!! No, but seriously. It’s a challenge!  (Especially when you’re foodies like us!) We recently vacationed at the Paradisus Los Cabos, where endless decadent food and drinks were at our disposal. It was all too good and too tempting to pass up!! Here are some of our tricks for indulging, and not even feeling sorry about it!

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START THE DAY RIGHT

We started every morning at the Paradisus with a dip in the pool - which is easy when you have a swim up suite!! We’d make a game out of who could swim the most laps, who could come up with the most creative routines, who could kick the fastest… You get the picture. After a half and hour we had blood circulating, metabolism spiked, and we were ready to “dive” into breakfast! (get it?!)

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EAT YOUR VEGGIES FIRST

Maybe it’s because we’re California kids, or maybe we’re just super trendy… but we LOVE green juice. At the Paradisus they make a fresh squeezed green juice that’s out of this world! We’d start every breakfast with it, and we found that it would quickly fill us up! We’d still order our usual waffles and eggs benedict… but we made sure we got our greens in first. We’re all about balance. ;)

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SAY YES TO ACTIVITIES!

While we are big fans of “getting our tan on”, there’s only so much sitting still that we can do! The Paradisus activity staff had numerous activities throughout the day to keep busy bodies like us occupied. From yoga, to pool aerobics and mixology classes by the beach… there was always something to do! Staying on the move kept our appetites peaked - and we weren’t mad about it!

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END THE DAY WITH A SUNSET BEACH WALK

One of the final ways we trick ourselves into exercising is taking a romantic walk to watch the sunset. At the Paradisus we had the entire beach to ourselves… so we usually ended up walking a little longer and further than normal. It was peaceful, refreshing, and sparked amazing conversations. Our sunset walks were some of our favorite memories while in Cabo - and by the time we made it back to the resort we were more than ready to eat dinner!

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LET GO AND ENJOY

Ok. So there you have some of our “tricks” for having your cake while you’re on vacation, and eating it too. But our biggest tip for you is to just let go!!! Enjoy where you are, and don’t worry about anything else. At the Paradisus Los Cabos the food and drinks were SO good, our motto quickly became “YOLO” (You Only Live Once)! Vacation is meant to be enjoyed… so enjoy it!!! As we like to say, “Our diet starts tomorrow.” ;)

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How to get the most out of a weekend cruise (3 WAYS)

Sometimes people have it in their mind that cruises are long…normally over a week. But you know what? There are weekend cruises out there, and even they can satisfy all your cruising desires. You can book them last-minute, you can pack light, and you can feel refreshed from your 9-5 grind during a quick 3 or 4-day escape.

In 3-4 days, you'll have plenty of time to make new friends (including the cruise staff) and make lasting memories. We’re going to share a little bit from our recent weekend cruise aboard the Carnival Victory. We left out of Miami on Friday afternoon, spent a day in Nassau, had a fun day at sea, and were back in Miami early Monday morning. 

We believe that in order to get everything you want out of your weekend cruise, there are three things that you should probably consider…  

#1 CREATE ROUTINE

Having some routine to your cruise will make you feel like you are at home. When we get on board, the first thing we do is unpack. Take all of our belongings out, pack them away throughout our cabin, and make our stateroom feel cozy. Next, we take a lap around the ship, briefly exploring everything it has to offer. Finally, we head to the main lounge area (on the Carnival Victory this is the Seven Seas Lounge) and have a drink while looking over the schedule of events for the coming days. It's essential to have an idea of what is going on, especially during a short cruise.

On Carnival cruises, here are the things we do every single day…

- Lounge – Even on a port day, we like to catch some rays
- Nap – Every day, we find time to nap
- Pizza Pirate (IMPORTANT - see below)
- Dine in our dining room – We love sitting at the same table and getting to know the people around us and our wait staff
- Chocolate Melting Cake (see below)
- Comedy Club – Laughing is the best
- Piano Bar – A great way to close the day is singing songs with your new best friends.

#2 PLAN ON YOUR DIET STARTING MONDAY (when you get back)

You are on a short cruise. The purpose is to relax, refresh, and see the world. So please don’t be on a diet while you are cruising. This is your time to eat adventurously, and eat whatever you want, whenever you want. If you are nervous about how much you may eat without any self-control over the 3-4 day trip, then commit to your diet starting Monday (assuming that’s when you get back to reality). 

Since you are going to indulge in whatever you feel like, here are some of our favorites. 

First, take advantage of room service. With Carnival, they have a continental breakfast that you can have via room service each day. Fruit, cereal, bread, coffee, and juices. If you need some eggs, bacon, or something more hearty, head up a few floors to the Lido deck and grab something from the buffet.

Next, love Pizza Pirate as much as we do (they have both regular and gluten-free crust). We probably ate 1 pizza each per day. Ha! And on our sea day, Bobby ate 2 pizzas in one sitting! These amazing thin-crust pizzas are whipped up right in front of your eyes and can be customized to your liking. Pizza Pirate is seriously one of our FAVORITE parts about Carnival Cruises. Even if the secret gets out on how amazing it is, you’ll never wait more than 15 minutes from the time you get in line, to when you sink your teeth into a delicious slice of pepperoni.

Finally, get everything you want at dinner (including dessert). Carnival’s American Table-themed restaurants serve up amazing cuisine with a standing menu, and a menu that changes based on the port you have been in that day. If you can’t decide between a Fried Chicken B.L.T. from the current port-of-call or one of their nightly Steakhouse Selections, get both! The portions are relatively small, and most people could probably eat an appetizer, a salad, and a main dish. Bobby normally gets an appetizer, the item from the “rare-finds” menu (escargot, cured salmon, etc.), and 2 main dishes. Even if you don’t have room, you must order dessert. We ALWAYS get a Chocolate Melting Cake, and usually 1 (or 2) other desserts. Hehe. Remember, diet starts Monday. 

#3 DO THINGS YOU MAY NOT DO AT HOME

Cruising is a great opportunity to try new things. Food, activities, and excursions that are probably different from your norm. We like to look through the schedule of events and pick at least one thing each day that we wouldn’t normally do. On this cruise, it was Karaoke (we would probably do this normally), an art auction, the Hairy Chest Contest (for Bobby – he won!), and ballroom dance lessons. If you’re worried about looking silly when you’re in front of everyone, realize you will probably never see any of these people again. So go for it!

We are confident that weekend cruises can be for everyone! Enjoy one soon and let us know how it was!

This post was created for Away We Go with Carnival, the destination for getting in the getaway state of mind. Head on over.