My First Doodle Cruise! What a Fantastic Trip!

[Leslie and Halas]

I was lucky enough to participate in Doodle Cruise 2013!  It was my first, but not my last.  I think y'all are stuck with me.  And my mom.  Here are some of my thoughts on the events of the week.

Here we are as the ship left the port.  Ronna pointed out how she is posed like Flat Laurie in this photo.  But this was before any of us had met Flat Laurie.  Coincidence?!  Or a clear sign that Flat Laurie and Ronna had a very special connection?  Please refer to Flat Laurie's picture below for a comparison.

Right after lift-off, or whatever they call it, a few of us made our way to the Lido Deck for our first Liquor Juice of the trip.  Every day, the ship featured a special drink of the day.  It was always just 3 or 4 liquors mixed with a couple of juices.  So by day 2 or 3, we just started referring to the drink of the day as Liquor Juice.

A few of us went stand up paddleboarding in Key West.  Here we are right before we got into the white, nondescript windowless van for the ride to our starting point.  It all turned out OK.  The only casualty of paddleboarding was Ronna's sunglasses.  Sure, there was a lot of falling off of the paddleboards, but it was a great time, and the mangroves were beautiful!

Here's one of Flat Laurie's Key West photo-ops.  Please compare it to the first picture above.  Notice how similar her pose is to Ronna's.  This was way back when Flat Laurie was still kind of a "good girl," but that reputation was fading fast.

Key West should also be known as The Port of Silly Hats, because THREE silly hats were purchased by Doodle Cruisers.

My mom bought this lovely Octoberfest Chicken hat for herself:

Ronna was able to wrangle this stunning cow hat (wrangle - see what I did there?):

And Laurie bought this birthday hat for my mom.  Her birthday wasn't until the 21st, but we celebrated on the cruise.  She loves the hat!  Thanks, Laurie.

In Grand Cayman, we rented cabanas for the day.  The beach was absolutely beautiful.  A few of us went on a banana boat ride, which was sooo much fun!  The signal to tell the driver to go faster was a thumbs-up.  So you can see Doris giving him the signal in this first photo.  We were dumped off the banana shortly after that.

Grand Cayman group photo:

In Ocho Rios, Ronna and I did the Jamaican bobsled thing, followed by rum drinks in an infinity pool.

The rest of the group relaxed and shopped, and we caught up with them later.

And a few more pics, just to round out the trip.

Loved our Fatheads, even though we didn't win.

Since Laurie is 5' 12", we decided my mom must be 5' 12" minus 12"  This made it really difficult to take their picture together.

And a crowd favorite...

Hearing people laugh is one of my favorite things, and we got a lot of that on this cruise.  We all laughed until tears ran down our faces.  And sometimes laughed until some other bodily fluid ran down some other body part.

My mom and I had the most amazing time.  Within a few minutes, we felt like we had known everyone forever.  I'm still working on having my mom microchipped, since several people threatened to steal her.  She already has a file at the vet's office, since they removed that tick from her last year, so I don't think the microchip will be a problem.

It was so nice to meet everyone in person, and I love hearing all of your voices now as I read your comments.  I know that we all made some new forever friends and some very special connections.  If any of us ever needs anything, we just know the others will be there.  That's just a feeling I get. ;)  <3

Thanks to Ronna, Doris, Laurie, John, Nicky, Dori, Deanna, Kathy, Elizabeth, Jim, Jane, and Bob for making this a wonderful trip for my mom and me!  We think all y'all are the best!

[Carol and Banjo]

Leslie, thanks so much for taking us along for a little bit of the fun.   I love all the photos....what a great bunch of Doodlers!!!   I'm sorry I didn't get to meet you, your Mom and the rest of the gang.    Your Mom looks like she had a most wonderful time!!!

[Carol and Banjo]

p.s.     GREAT prom pic of you and mom!!!!!

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

Just want to add that I had the best fun with a most wonderful bunch of people anyone could hope to meet. I always knew there would be no problems but what I didn't envisage was the warmth and connectivity that existed between all of us instantly. Of course we all did know each other in a two dimensional way but it was the three dimensional element that made all the difference (besides Flat L who turned up everywhere LOL)  If any of you are thinking about a vacation next year start saving your spondoolicks (Irish for $€£)!!!

[Janie, Jackson and Jilly]

Oh Nicky, great photos! That sunset is amazing, as are the rest! I've been admiring your hats in all these photos and wonder if you traveled with them all the way from Ireland or bought one in each port! Looks like you all had a great time!

[Janie, Jackson and Jilly]

Leslie, you and your Mom are adorable! I just love the photo of her in her chicken hat! I bet she had one heck of a birthday with you all! Thanks for sharing the photos, looks like such a wonderful trip!

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

I had one hat with me and a big scrunchie thing (not sure what they are called but they can be worn like a bandana or a scarf) and I bought one. They aren't actually hats, just big brims that wrap around the head. Great thing is the wrap really neat for packing.

[BG and Gavin]

Great pictures Leslie and a fun blog - your mom looks like she has a good sense humour (Oktoberfest Chicken Hat??) too.  Apple...tree?  Fat head Halas and Barley the shopping cart dog are a-dor-a-ble!

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

Leslie - sounds like you all had a wonderful time.  Thanks for the great report.

[Lonnie &amp; Libby Lu]

Nicky, love all your pictures and thanks for sharing them!  What a great time for all of you with lots of memories!