Platinum Cruise 2008

Day 1

Friday, November 28:

SAN DEIGO/AT SEA.

• Arrive in San Diego. So excited for the cruise.
  

Board ship. Pleasantly surprised to find we had a balcony suite. Saweeet!
 

Lunch with friends at the buffet. I'm not a buffet kind of girl but the food was really good. 

Avoided the emergency preparation/muster by sitting on our balcony in our life jackets. Don't ask why we actually put them on.

• Platinum orientation. Drank many, virgin, daquaris, pina coladas and other drinks I don't know the name of but tasted tropical. Austin attempted to squeeze a quarter in his butt cheeks while walking to win $100 but apparantly that rock hard skiier bum of his doesn't squeeze very well.
  

• We caught him gambling. Sneaky, Sneaky.

• Dinner in the dining room.
  
• Comedian. All he got were pity laughs from us. 

DAY 2

Saturday, November 29:

AT SEA.

• Early breakfast at the dining room with Mel and Adam.
  
• Spent the majority of the day laying on the top deck at the back of the ship while chatting with friends and reading.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Splendid nap with comfy pillows.
• Dinner in the dining room.  1st formal night.
  
  
• Karaoke. Great laughs.
  
• Dancing at the club till 2:30 am.
  
  
  

DAY 3

Sunday, November 30:

AT SEA.

Laid out all day. Caught some rays.

• Water slide baby!

• Let's Make a Deal Platinum Style.  Missy and I won (well Missy did the picking) $80 dollars for having the most lipglosses. Collectively we had over 30.
• Explored the ship.
  
  
  
• Gambled. Or should I say we watched Austin and others gamble.
  
  
• Another glorious nap and time spent reading.
• Dinner. Happy "real" birthday Mel!
  
  
• Comedian/magician. He was very cool and funny. Most unlike the comedian earlier in the week.
• Karaoke. Missy, Felisha, Mel and I actually sang. "Any Man of Mine" by shania twain. I have only karaoked twice in my life and both times, not by choice, I sang this song. Maybe the third time will be a charm? You just had to be there.

DAY 4

Monday, December 1:

ACAPULCO, MEXICO

•  Beautiful.
  
  
• Played at the beach. Apparently no one swims in Acapulco because of the tide. No one told us this. The waves rocked us. I had sand mashed in my hair, eyebrows, lashes, ears, mouth and other places I won't mention on a blog. The mexicans felt the need to hose me off. Literally. Despite their efforts I remained sandpacked the rest of the day. I washed my hair and body 4 times-- I still wasn't clean and there was an inch of sand left on the bottom of the shower. I'll be finding sand for weeks.
  
  
  
  
• Parasailed. It wasn't scary at all. And that's a lot coming from someone who is afraid of heights. It was actually exhilarating and relaxing at the same time...somehow. My landing was a little iffy. I pulled the wrong rope and floated into the ocean not onto the land. I got the hang of it though and landed A-OK.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Water weenie ride. The boys were so sweet and let us jump off before they tipped the weenie.
  
  
  
• Ate at a mexican restaurant. Austin played some random mexican's guitar.
  
  
  
• Shopped around at the flea market. Bought nothing.
  
  
• Saw cliff divers. The top dive was over 105 feet. It was amazing. The youngest diver was 14. They free hand climb up the cliff and jump into the ocean. It's dark. The waves in the ocean are raging. The last diver jumps with fire. It is truly amazing. I futilely attempted to get it on film. You'll just have to go and see it in person. It was the best $3.00 I've ever spent.
  
  
  
  
  
• Went to a mexican walmart and bought some mexican treats and vanilla (the best vanilla ever!)
• Boarded the ship at about 11 pm. 

DAY 5

Tuesday, December 2:

IXTAPA, MEXICO

• Our favorite stop.
  
  
• Swam with dolphins Mia and Brisa! Love, love, Loved it! I danced, kissed, hugged, fed, & petted them. I also rode on Brisa's belly & they lifted me out of the water by my feet! The dolphins really were so sweet. They reminded me of puppies. I wish Austin could have been there to take pictures (he was getting a massage at the time).
  

•  Boat ride to Ixtapa Island.

• Ixtapa island. Absolutely dreamy. Pristine beaches.
  
  
  
• Played in the water.
  
• Snorkeled. It was only Austin and myself and a couple other people.  The water was so clear and warm. This beach is known for its reef.  It was a little tricky to navigate around the reef but worth it because of the sea life that swim in and around it. It was one of my favorite snorkeling experiences.

• Boat ride back to the shore to board the ship.
  

• Slept until 5 minutes before dinner. Oops.
• Dinner.
  

• He just had to start the madness we call "the shake face" among the Platinum folks.

• Gambled with quarters. Missy and I won 10! And then we spent them all (along with about $40 more dollars) on the flippa winna game. That thing is rigged. But it provided at least an hour worth of fun!
  
  
  

DAY 6

Wednesday, December 3:

MANZANILLA, MEXICO

• Played at the beach.
  
  
• Boogie boarded. Kara and I rocked! We caught those waves every time and they took us all the way to the shore. Our sand burned knees are proof.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Ate lunch. I love mexican food.
• Jet Skied for about an hour. We found a sunken ship (it looked like a pirate ship) in the middle of the ocean. It was right under the crystal clear water so we saw quite a bit of it. We just wished we had snorkel gear with us.
• Soaked up the sun and ate some coconut.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Yet another nap. Are you noticing a pattern?
• Dinner on the ship.
  
  
  
  
• Deck party/dancing.
  

DAY 7:

Thursday, December 4:

AT SEA.

• Enjoyed some rays pretty much all day.
• Platinum karaoke.
  

• Austin's almost permanent mexican Platinum tattoo.

• Formal night #2.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Girls chat. Missy, Jenna, Katie and I chatted while our husbands gambled. 

DAY 8:

Friday, December 5:

AT SEA.

• Slept in.
• Breakfast.
• Infirmary (austin was sick). I also got some crazy bug bites. Every morning another one would show up...and only on my elbows. It was bizarre. They really hurt, actually.
• Slept some more.
• Laid out but it got chilly so enjoyed some hot tubin time with the cute ladies Helina, Aubree, and Diana.
• Platinum bingo. We didn't win. But we got close a couple of times. Enjoyed some more virgin frozen goodies.
  
  
  
• Dinner.
  

Awesome legends karaoke show. The platinum performers rocked the house.

• Danced until 2 am with the coolest ladies on the planet. Love you gals!
  
  
  

DAY 9

Saturday, December 6:

AT SEA/SAN DIEGO.

• Sad to leave our mexican adventure.
  
  
• San Diego airport line was atrocious. If you zoom in on this picture you will see my arms up in the air in the very very back of the line.
  
• Arrived back in Utah. It was cold. It was dry. It had snowed. Back to life. But we're doing it with sun kissed skin!