nikki goes on a cruise

 Happy Hump Day!

I'm so excited for you to meet Nikki @ The Pink Growl!

She's here to chat about a ridiculously fun cruise she went on a few years back.

You should totally go check out her blog and see those cute little pups of hers, Sadie and Tilly! You should also watch her vlogs because she has the cutest little Southern accent ever. I'm jealous.

xo Brie

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Hi y'all! I’m Nikki and I blog over at The Pink Growl. Miss Brie asked me to do a vacation themed guest post while she was on her vacation (jealous!) so here I am! A little bit about me…My blog explores the everyday adventures of a Southern belle wanna be. I'm a girly girl, soon-to-be cop's wifey, doggy mama, and Vol for life. If it glitters, is gold or growls then I probably love it. I keep it real on my blog talking about everything from weight issues, the urge to get married & reproduce, planning my wedding and any random crazy ideas that comes into my head. Come on over and help me figure things out, one normal girl struggle at a time!

In my household vacations are a group event. After 7.5 years together my fiancé, Skye, and I have never been on a weeklong getaway by ourselves. I know that sounds weird, but we just like to travel in a pack. We usually go off and do things on our own for long weekends, but never for the week. Needless to say, I’m very much looking forward to our FIRST vacation alone together, which will be our honeymoon in May 2013.

Until that time comes, I am going to stick with giving you the sweet details about one of my most favorite vacations that we took back in 2010. We went on a Carnival cruise with our two best friends, and some of their family members. This was my 2nd cruise and Skye’s first. Cruises are either love ‘em or hate ‘em, and for me I love ‘em! It’s an awesome adventure if you want to visit multiple places throughout the week for one pretty reasonable price. Plus, you get the opportunity to mingle with people from all over the world on the boat. Oh and eat your brains out! That’s probably my favorite part. Skye’s favorite part was the casino – hands down. The best thing about this cruise in particular was that we left on my birthday! So it was a vacation and a celebration all in one. We departed from Ft. Lauderdale and ventured to Key West, Grand Cayman and Ocho Rios, Jamaica. Our ship was the largest at the time, the Carnival Freedom. Now I am basically going to bombard you with my favorite pictures from each port.

Key West, FL - we made it to the Southern Most Point in the US

Double fisting it in Key West at Sloppy Joe's - Vacation = drinky time

Cayman Islands

Swimming with the stingrays in Grand Cayman

My favorite part of the entire trip was meeting this little guy, Nemo. We swam with the dolphins in Grand Cayman and I truly urge you to splurge and spend the money to do this the next time you cruise. It was AWESOME!

Casino time! I actually got lucky and hit the jackpot on a 2 cent slot machine - I won $55!

Had to throw this one in, one of my favorite pictures from the trip. It cracks me up that our hair looks the same!

Formal dinner night - Again, with the double fisting it

Beach Club in Jamaica - I was honestly not that impressed with the beach we went to

In port at Ocho Rios, Jamaica.( Yes, Skye got his hair braided by a Jamaica hehe)

Ft. Lauderdale - We took an airboat tour through the Everglades - SO FUN!

Apparently, mingling with the animals is my thing - this little fella was hanging out around the airboat.

Another animal connection - baby alligator, he looks real happy, doesn't he?

I have to tell you that looking back through these pictures made me giggle. Skye and I have both lost a ton of weight since then so it's funny so see our former selves. We had a blast on this trip! Obviously, I chose to bond with the wildlife everywhere we went. That's just how I roll. It was an awesome experience and I hope that you take my advice and swim with the dolphins if you ever get the chance. SO WORTH IT! I had 13409738723 pictures to go through so it was really hard to narrow the trip down into just a few. Hope you enjoyed! And I hope to see some of you soon over at The Pink Growl!