We left Cleveland about 8am on Monday, August 3. We drove, and drove and drove. Our destination? Elizabeth, New Jersey which is just outside NYC. Somewhere along the way my parents made a quick switch of drivers. A couple hours later we stopped at a rest stop. After we did our thing... I was sitting in the van waiting for everyone to get back in, and I noticed this sign straight ahead of us. 
Let me zooooooom in a little closer so you can read it.
Apparently Mom thinks we have a higher status than we really do. From the time I realized it, until we moved I was prayin that we wouldn't get ticketed... but I did think it would be a funny 1st ticket for my mom! So, we drove, and drove and drove some more. We made it to Elizabeth without a problem.
On Tuesday, about noon, we ventured into "the City" to catch our ship. My father was the pilot, and I was the co-captain/resident Garmin reader. Amazingly, while enjoying the sights, we did NOT get lost!
This is the Verrazono Bridge headed into Staten Island(?). You don't have to pay to go on it, but it's $11 to go back out of Staten Island. Oddly enough when we put in the address to go home, it skipped this lovely bridge, and instead cost us $0.75! Now that's a deal!
I loved it that as we got closer to our ship, we could see glimpses of the Statue of Liberty. This is by far one of my favorite US landmarks. It's just a neat symbol of our freedom! If you look closely you can see it! (It was extremely hard to get a good picture of it between buildings driving at average pace on a heavily populated freeway.)
This was our view as we left the harbor. Kinda cool huh? I would highly recommend leaving out of NYC. It was also a neat way to come back to U.S. soil! Almost like a smile saying "Welcome Home!"
And what would a cruise be like without a show? Ironically, this was the only show we went to!
Our first stop was in Bermuda! This is probably one of my favorite ports of call. It was clean, and there really wasn't a lot of poverty evident. Oh I'm sure it's there, but... we sure didn't see it. While we were there my dad and I did one of the most fun excursions. We took a tour of the island on Segways! Oh my goodness are they soooooo much fun!
Below is my dad, getting our quick crash-course-"lesson" from our guide, Jordan.
They made us ride around in circles for the first 10 minutes. Something about letting novices out on the public roads, near water on a $5k+ machine. The only song that kept going through my mind was Weird Al's "White and Nerdy." (Thanks Jeremy for implanting that song in my head!)
Proof that we both were on it... beautiful beaches... beautiful island.... fun ride!
Two of my most favorite people. I had so much fun with them on this vacation. (Course I have a lot of fun with them on any vacation.... or any place for that matter. Amazing how fun they get when you grow up!)
This is she! Our BEAUTIFUL Caribbean Princess. I am a little sad, we booked for another one... and after 3 wonderful cruises on the same ship, we're gonna give her younger sister a try.
When we were in Puerto Rico, my mom and I decided last minute to take a bus tour around Old and New San Juan. This was our first stop... they let us out and this nearly paradise looking oasis! 
This is a drive-by picture taking.... it came out kind of cool though.Mom and I somewhere in the "new" San Juan, I think?
This is the only type of picture I got from St. Thomas. These little guys were EVERYWHERE. They freaked me out! (Not enough to deny myself the excitement of a helmet diving excursion, though.)
As you can probably tell, we had an amazing trip! It's probably my favorite cruise so far... beautiful ports, GREAT food, AMAZING service. It was yet another gold star of excellence for Princess Cruise Lines. Tomorrow (?) I will try to share a few stories... I will also give you a few reasons why I have fallen in L-O-V-E with Princess Cruise Lines.
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