If you’ve been following along on my Instagram, you know that last week I got to soak up some sun in the Bahamas during my spring break! A few months ago, JMU Young Life College announced that they were taking a group on a cruise to the Bahamas at an amazing price, so my friends and I signed up FAST. I had never been on a cruise and had been anticipating the experience for so long that it felt surreal once it finally arrived! I had an amazing time journeying somewhere warm with my friends, clear water, and sand. The cruise was the perfect length too, as I got home Thursday night, allowing me to have a few days to spend with friends and family. Here’s a run down of the week!

DAY 1 AND 2

On Friday, we left JMU in the late afternoon and drove until we got to South Carolina, which is where we spent the night! At 6 am, we woke up and started on our way towards Ocklawaha, FL for the Southwind Young Life Camp for a day of service. On our way there we stopped at this really yummy place called Gator Joe’s for lunch (pictured top right). After we arrived and did our portion of service, we ate dinner, made s’mores, saw an amazing shooting star (!!!), and passed out in our tents for the night.

DAY 3

Left camp early in the morning and drove two hours to Port Canaveral in Orlando, FL! We boarded around noon and set off to sea at 4 pm. It was so fun exploring the huge ship and humbling to witness the vastness of the ocean and imagine all the life within. There was some pretty steady rockiness on the first night though, and I felt somewhat nauseous half of the night. Even veteran cruisers said that that night was the rockiest any of them had ever experienced! Apparently, the first night on a cruise is always the worst in terms of seasickness because the ship has to travel the furthest, thus going faster than the other nights.

DAY 4

Libby’s birthday!!!! The ship docked in Freeport, Bahamas at 8 am and we set off for the beach! It was really nice to just lay out in the sun and catch up on some personal reading. One of my favorite parts of the day and the whole trip was taking a long walk with a few people and discovering this really calm, clear, shallow, and warm canal towards the end of the beach. Not only was the find and swim there exciting, but the conversations we had were personal and real on the way there and back. Once back on the ship I went to club (where everyone sang for Libby!), took a nap with Libs as we were EXHAUSTED, and went to dinner! All food on the ship was all you can eat, so Libs and I split a bunch of appetizers and entrees! So yummy. Dinner was also one of my favorite memories of the cruise, not only because the food was so good, but because our waiter was awesome and during dinner the waiters performed songs and dances!! So entertaining.

DAY 5

We spent all day on Nassau beach for our next stop! Some highlights were paddle boarding (first time!), snorkeling, shopping, and honestly having time to delve into my book. In the evening, we watched karaoke (all the slots were filled by the time we got there) and had another yummy dinner!

DAY 6 AND 7

A full day at sea! My friends and I woke up to watch the sunrise and save seats on the deck since we knew they were going to fill up FAST. The sunrise was gorgeous, and until afternoon club, I laid out to tan and read. After club we returned to our seats, watched some of the funny events going on on the deck and then had a really great conversation with our little tanning group. For sure a highlight. After dinner, we went dancing, which was a fun way to spend our last night. The next morning we drove all day back home and made great time!

I really appreciated my last 2.5 days at home. While there, I got to see almost everyone I really wanted to see, even if it was only for a little!

Now here are some of the professional photos I took while on the trip!