Cruisin'

As this was my first time in Europe, this was also my first time going on a cruise. And let me tell you, if you’ve ever had any hesitations on going on a cruise, I recommend that you do it. Even though we had excursions during the days we were at the different ports, this was really the most relaxing vacation I’ve ever been on. My sister and I shared a stateroom and we were lucky that ours had a window so we could stare out into the sea whenever we felt like it. To me, it was really peaceful to wake up and see that every morning. Our ship was the Jewel of the Seas and what a ship it was. There were several restaurants, pools, clubs, a casino and a Champagne Bar which is where I spent a lot of my time. I was in awe of how big the ship was. For the majority of the time that I was on the ship, I spent it either walking around the ship, napping, eating, drinking in the Champagne Bar or gambling in the casino. That to me was relaxing. I took more naps than I can remember. I think that the rocking of the boat was lulling me to sleep.

We had three formal nights and dang, people really do like to dress up. I felt like I was at prom. All the food we ate was so delicious and the desserts were decadent. Everyone should experience being on a cruise at least once in their lifetime. It was so relaxing that it got to the point that I didn’t know what day it was. Luckily for us the elevator has a plaque which tells you the day it is. They also have different shows/activities throughout the day & night. You could participate in as many as you wanted to or not at all. Even though I went with 13 people, we weren't always together because each of us was doing their own thing. It was only really at dinner time that we all got together. We did have a somewhat of a Titanic type experience on the ship. On our third formal night which was day 9 on the ship, we were in the dining room and we were looking out the window to see the beautiful full moon when all of the sudden the ship shifted to the side and totally freaked us out. Then it moved to the other side and all the dishes started falling and the waiters started running. They weren’t running out of fear but running to catch the dishes. Some people on the top floor of the dining room apparently started running in a slight panic. You could really feel it move and definitely freaked us out. But then the ship settled and all was good. What an experience. Overall, being on a 12 day cruise was fantastic!

My mom, my sister and I enjoying the sun

A view from the bottom up

And now the view from the top down

The outdoor pool and jacuzzi with the two bars

I like how the lights came out on this shot

The Jewel of the Seas

Our ship was on the left and the Disney cruise ship was on the right.

Celine Dion impersonator

Inside of the ship at night

Our stateroom

Just arrived in Tallinn

Our awesome waiters Petking and Laura

A day at sea

The plaque in the elevator that kept us in check

Oh London you rocked!

What can I say about my trip? It was a trip of a lifetime that’s for sure. Even just getting to London was such a neat experience. We were able to fly world business class on KLM and for me that was a new way to travel. The treatment you get is so high class. That’s the way to travel especially on a 9+ hour flight. My vacation in Europe started with a 48 hour stay in London since our ship left from the port in Harwich. This was my first time in Europe & I totally enjoyed it. I got a chance to do a lot while I was there but I still want to go back. We got to London in the early afternoon on Friday and after we checked into our hotel, we spent the rest of the day walking around Oxford Street which is filled with shops and restaurants. First thing I noticed about London… uumm the cars are driven on the other side of the street. That was the most confusing thing while I was there. Luckily for us tourists, there are signs on the streets to tell you which way to look when crossing the street. I never thought I would be confused with such a simple task. My nieces wanted to go to Topshop so we ventured into this huge 4 story building. To me, it seemed like a more expensive H & M. Afterwards, we had long dinner and then we all went to bed as we were all exhausted from a day of travel.

We woke up early on Saturday and a few of us decided to do the Big Bus Company tour which also included a river boat tour. Some of the tour highlights were seeing Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Piccadilly Square, the London Eye, Hyde Park, Tower Bridge & Harrods. I gotta stop here and talk about Harrods. HOLY CRAP! I’ve been in some nice department stores but this one for sure is so over the top that you can’t even enjoy being in there with the amount of people that are in the store. It’s definitely an experience and you could spend the day just people watching. This place is so big that we were trying to find this pub inside of Harrods and we couldn’t find it. To get back to the same entrance we came in from, we had to walk out to the street and walk around the building to find our way back. It’s a spectacular store but I would want to visit after hours. We didn’t get a chance to see Buckingham Palace because there was some confusion with the tour bus. We ended up walking around Oxford Street again and that’s when I spotted SuperDrug. It’s basically like a Walgreens and as you saw from my previous post, I hauled quite a bit. I also hauled at Boots but those purchases were done the day we came back from the cruise. That night we ended up going to dinner to this yummy place called Grand Bazaar which sold an assortment of different cuisines such as Mediterranean, Italian & Indian if I remember correctly. We had a great meal there and it was nice to just sit back and talk about all we had seen that day. The next day (Sunday) we all got up early to go on our cruise. Wheeee!

Here are some pictures from my time in London. Some pictures were taken with my iPhone and others with my Canon PowerShot.

Simon says...

London Eye

The desserts at Harrods

Tower Bridge

With Big Ben in the background

According to the guides, it isn't often that you see the bridge open

Oxford Street at night

The lights at the Grand Bazaar restaurant. I thought it was a neat way to decorate the place.

Barry M display at SuperDrug

Reflection of Harrods

Westminster Abbey

London hauling

I had a blast on my trip & while in London, I did manage to get some hauling done at SuperDrug & Boots. I'll be posting pictures of my trip as soon as I get all of my pictures organized since I took about 800 of them.

Here is the low down of the goodies:

Nº7 - Liplicious Moisturising Balm SPF 15 in Caramel & Purple Liquorice, Extreme Length Mascara in Black, Iridescent Saphire & Iridescent Emerald, Color Calming Primer, Skin Illuminator in Peach, Nail Polish in Beanie & Stay Perfect Eye Shadow in True Gold. Boots was having a gift with purchase & got samples of Protect & Perfect Day Cream, Protect & Perfect Intense Beauty Serum, Stay Perfect Eye Mousse, Cleanse & Care Eye Make-Up remover, Lash 360º mascara in Black & Moisture Drench in Pink Crush.

Rimmel nail polishes in Sky High, Purple Reign, Blue My Mind, Black Pearl, Cranberry Zest & Apricot Punch.

Barry M - Lengthening Mascara in Electric Purple & Bright Turquoise, Super Soft Eye Crayon in Shade #7, Shimmering Eye & Lip Crayon in #1, Nail Paint in Blueberry Ice Cream, Blue Glitter & Strawberry Ice Cream.

Gosh - Let's Twist Eye Liner in Hot Flamingo, Nail Lacquer in Green Hawaii, Sweet Peach, Flamingo & Metallic Blue.

MeMeMe Ultra Gloss Nail Polish in Katie, Jordan & Aquamarine.

Models Own Nail Polish in Jade Stone & Lilac Dream.

The two Miss Sporty nail polishes didn't have a name or number & also for two SuperDrug vaseline tins.