TRUE LOVE ABOARD THE CARNIVAL BREEZE

On this cruise....I met the man of my dreams.

My husband......he wanted to renew our wedding vows.  After everything I had been through, everything we had been through he wanted nothing more than to make me feel loved and secure.  

From the minute we boarded the ship I was treated like royalty especially by our personal wedding coordinator Natalia.  She kept calling us "her wedding".  The first night at dinner she introduced herself as our wedding coordinator and advised us that if we need anything at all the entire week to contact her.  She also told us that she would be checking in on us every once in a while. 

But first......before the big day.....

I lined up at the shore excursion desk the first evening aboard the ship. I explained to the woman at the counter that I would not be able to take part in the zip lining excursion, and why.  Medically I was not able to participate, I had not recovered yet and I still was not able to raise my arms above my head. The ladies were amazing and so supportive.  They gave me the option of attending just to watch, but also offered to send Mackenzie and I on a mini-submarine that would go just below the surface to a coral reef in Curacao.  This was a great idea.  In La Romana, the boys would have a "boys day" and in Curacao, the girls would have their day!

The submarine was great....except the sea sickness haha.  I never imagined that I would feel that much motion under the surface of the water!  Yep as usual, I was the only person puking into a paper bag while trying to smile and laugh and make sure that Mack had a great time on her special day.  Meanwhile I'm counting down the seconds until my feet were on solid ground!  But on a positive side, we saw hundreds of species of beautiful coloured fish, an octopus, a dolphin, amazing coral and a scuba diver!

Thank you Carnival for this great excursion, it was exactly what the girls needed!

While in La Romana, Mack and I relaxed by the pool, did a little shopping in town at the market, played some mini-putt on the ship and the boys had the time of their lives zip lining!  It was so nice for Dad to be able to spend the day with them doing adventurous men stuff!  They could not stop talking about the experience!  

Back to the vow renewal.......

The captain of the ship would perform our ceremony on the first formal night at 5:00pm.  They would decorate the  liquid night club with flowers, a table with a wedding cake, flowers, candles, and beautifully etched champagne flutes.  They would provide us with unlimited champagne, and ginger ale for the kids, give us our first dance and let us cut the cake.  Everything sounded amazing.

The next morning we received a phone call in our cabin from Katrina our wedding photographer.  I scheduled a meeting at noon.

Katrina was from Ukraine....what are the chances.  She was so patient and calm.  I explained to Katrina that I was really nervous about my scars and imperfections showing in our photographs.  She completely understood.  When I looked at our gorgeous family photographs 10 years from now, I wanted to remember this day.  Not my surgery.  She understood.  She assured me that she would touch up any areas around my breasts that may peak out during photo ops.  And she did.....beautifully.

Katrina explained that she would meet us in the liquid night club prior to the ceremony to take photos of Jason, the kids and I.

From 12:00noon that day, the girls (Mack and I) did girly stuff.  We relaxed, went for a swim, showered, did our hair and make-up and put on our dresses.

In the mean time....my husband and our 2 boys did boy things.  That's all I know.

But when Mack and I arrived at the ceremony, there stood my handsome thoughtful husband and our 2 amazing sons.  All decked out in their suits and ties.  

The ceremony was magical and the kids really enjoyed being a part of our special day.  Carnival Cruise lines made this day so memorable.  Before taking every picture, our photographer ensured that my dress was sitting in the perfect spot, none of my scars were showing and I was able to completely relax.  I truly felt beautiful, loved, like the luckiest woman on earth.  

The captain arrived dressed in his officers uniform, and all smiles.  He cordially introduced himself to each one of us.  The boys were in awe and Mackenzie was speechless!  Of course she wanted to know.... "if you are here marrying my mommy and daddy.....then who is driving the ship?"  Little smarty pants.

The captain was truly professional.  He did not rush us at all, he read to us our vows, performed the ceremony flawlessly.  He remained for some photos and a little chit chat then he was off to the bridge!

After the ceremony, champagne, a dance, and cake, Katrina took us out onto the deck for a family photo.

Thank you Katrina, Natalia and Thank you Carnival Cruise Lines.  And thank you to my wonderful family for helping me forget about the prior 7 weeks and reminding me once again why I made the decision that I did.



Previvor