I've been MIA from writing for a bit now, things have been hectic because of our trip and school starting right after. My little family decided to take a Canada/New England cruise via Royal Caribbean aboard the 'Adventure of the Seas.' The first goal I had photography-wise was to put down the camera more...which for me, is pretty hard to do! My second goal was if we went to landmarks, to look for a new angle to avoid the same picture everyone gets. The third goal was to get in the frame more, which I accomplished via the selfie. In the end, I took 1,838 photos which isn't bad for nine days...for me anyway.
"Fun" fact about me, I hate flying. I hate not having control over anything and being so high in the air, I hate the turbulence especially. So I booked the cheapest and fastest plane I could to get there to avoid a 15 hour drive (plus kids...it'd be a lot longer), our plane ride was about 2 hours. Jell-O legged and grateful to have not died in a fiery crash, we landed in Newark NJ. After checking in with the hotel we grabbed an Uber to go see the Statue of Liberty as our only attraction planned for the day. Turns out that the ferry ride is right next to a 9/11 memorial so we did that as well, it's a beautiful place to reflect. I should have known that the kids would love the pigeons most of all, it's a kid thing.
The next day was embarkment day and we thought we were smart by arriving early...traffic getting into Cape Liberty proved us wrong, it took over an hour to drive what should have been 25ish minutes. Our Uber driver regretted answering our ping, poor guy. We like to keep to ourselves so after boarding, we watched the ship leave the harbor from our room and away from all the people who would surely be difficult to navigate around. It was quite the debate on if we'd hit the bridge or not. To our relief, we did fit under.
Our ports of call included Halifax, Nova Scotia; Saint John, New Brunswick; Bar Harbor, Maine; Portland, Maine; then back to Bayonne, New Jersey with two sea days thrown in there. My oldest daughter and I did get off at every stop, my husband and youngest daughter decided to remain on the ship for more swim time for one stop. The landscape is beautiful and if you're ever thinking of going...just do it :) These are a few favorite photos from these ports and surrounding areas. The kids were happy to see seals, lobsters, starfish, and seagulls while out and about.
We had just as much fun on the ship as we did off, these things have anything you could ever need and the most amazing staff members. Photography is relaxing for me and not only was I able to photograph my family but I also was able to do some long exposures of the sky (mind you, I forgot my tripod...) and a dragonfly was nice enough to stay still for a mini session. By the end of the trip, we were all feeling renewed (with the exception of the youngest, who missed our pets back home).