Eastside: Everglades and South Beach

Eastside: Suprise

When we got back to our cabin each night there was a gift on our beds.

(I cant get the photos to rotate and upload properly)

Deuce

In July I completed my first 5k (jogging the whole thing). While on the ship we had the opportunity to compete in the first 5k in the middle of the ocean. I was excited to compete and do another. I jogged the entire thing in 80% humidity and some heat, take that Deck 7!

Eastside: Atlantis

When we awoke this morning we found ourselves in beautiful Nassau/Paradise Island.

Our day started with a harbor tour.

Once the boat docked we grabbed a taxi which took us over to Atlantis, an awesome resort with everything you could ever imagine. I found us a wheelchair for the day and off we strolled through the amazing shops (think Vegas) and into the casino where my mom won $133 within minutes. I walked away with a bonus $20 and we called it quits while we were ahead. Then it was off to the underground aquarium.

The coolest thing at the resort! It is a water slide that ends in a shark tank! So AWESOME!

There is a Michael Jackson suite (top right photo the center connector) which costs $25,000 a night and you have to stay a minimum of a week, insane!  Cheapest room at the resort runs over $300 a night. The resort is full of beaches, pools, water slides, shops and a casino. You can swim with dolphins, snorkel, explore the aquarium.  For more info on Atlantis click here. We had a great day wandering around enjoying the island.



Eastside: Workout!

 Everyone on the cruise was allotted 1 workout session with Jill.  It was definitely the highlight of my trip. I managed to find my way into a couple more. I was able to snatch a spot in the front row during 2 workouts, Jill said that if you couldn't do something due to injury or ability then to just keep moving. During the workout she busted into an advanced Yoga move I decided it was time to dance for the DJ. I busted out The Carlton. Jillian saw me and gave me a nod/laugh "Ha! Nice" along with a thumbs up.

Most of you know that I am an avid BL watcher and have tried to get on the show a few times so being able to be worked out by Jill was awesome. By the end I of course was not sure if I would ever walk up-right again. Each workout was supposed to be 60 min. however one of the nights she didn't have anywhere else to be directly after the workout so she was not limited to that time and as some goofballs complained about one of the exercises well, lets just say the TV Jill came out. It was over 90min straight with no break!

At the end of the workouts she had everyone lay back, palms up, eyes closed. Then she just talked to us, inspirational jargon mostly. It was quite moving though. To just be in that moment, the weather perfect, just having completed an intense workout, hearing exactly the things you needed to. Difficult to describe but quite amazing!

Eastside : Island Time

Leaving the boat and heading to Island Paradise

Our first stop in the Bahamas was Great Stirrup Cay, a small private island.

View of the ship from the shore

Relaxin after workin and before playin

My view from the hammock

There was a giant slide, beach volleyball, parasailing, wave runners and other activities, unlimited BBQ and drinks along with some great musical entertainment.

It was a first for me to ride these out in the open water. The views were quite amazing.

Some more firsts : holding a starfish, conch and sea cucumber

Missy Higgins

Kickin it with the homie

A crazy storm blew in during the mid-afternoon so we decided to head back to the ship.

View of the Great Stirrup Cay from the boat

Eastside : Wellness

This amazing cruise I got to take in celebration of my 30th year of life was a Wellness Cruise. Which means a lot of the "regular" cruise things were changed up a bit. To begin with Jill's entourage was on board. The ship still had food available 24 hours a day but the choices were for the most part healthier and all of the nutritional info was on the menu so that you could make informed decisions as to what you were eating when.

Dr. Van Herle - Did health screenings and seminars on a variety of topics

Paige Padgett - Jill's personal hair/make-up artist, she did seminars on beauty products and makeovers.

A slew of trainers (Steve Lee, Heidi Rhoades, Marco Borges, Jeanette Jenkins, Basheerah Ahmad) who did all kinds of group workouts (yoga, spin, synergy, boot camps, kickboxing, water) and seminars.

Three families that were on Jill's new show "Losing It" did a Q & A

Jo Ann McKarus (aka Jill's mom) - A therapist gave seminars on mental wellness.

Deck wars which included basketball tournaments, push-up contests, dance contest, belly flop contest, men's wet t-shirt contest, cannonball contest, a sweat station (prove you worked out and earn points for your team), and laps for tokens (earn a token for each lap you complete on deck 7).

Devin Alexander was on board to give cooking demonstrations.

Of course in addition to all of this awesomeness Jill also had two comedians aboard, DJs ( Frankie Needles and Jenna Brown), some musical talent (Michael Tolcher, Missy Higgins and Yacht Rock Revue).  

Eastside : On the Sea

Every night there was a different theme on the cruise, I am not into going over the top for these sorts of things but I did want to participate.

80's night

Team Color night

Halloween



Eastside Day 6

October 21st

All Aboard!

View of Miami from the ship.

Quick get together for a group shot.

Jill & me