HoneyMoon Part 2

After being greeted at the airport by the live flower Lei's

, we went to our hotel (Intercontinental) which was beautiful. We checked in (while having a signature orange drink) and found out we had received a free upgrade as well as free room credit to use at the hotel. The room was very nice and had a beautiful beach view. 

Since it was our honeymoon, we received a little gift from the hotel and headed off to bed. The next morning we woke up and headed straight outside. It was absolutely beautiful (really humid for us dry heat veterans). We went straight to their restaurant at the hotel and had breakfast. 

The restaurant has no air conditioning or anything as it is outside. We ate with the birds and other animals outside and walked around exploring our hotel. In the afternoon, we had a transfer from the hotel to the pier where we were catching our ferry to the island of Mo'orea. The pier area has a lot of people around there and we just sat and waited for the ferry to arrive, all-in-all, about an hour. After getting on the ferry and the short ride (about 45 minutes) over to Mo'orea, we had a transfer directly to our hotel, again, another Intercontinental hotel. 

It was beautiful. The entire lobby/bar had a roof over it, but other than that it was completely open air. We loved every minute of it. We headed off to our bungalow (not an over-the-water one) and settled in. The room was beautiful with our own pool on the deck and sun lounge chairs. The room had a nice bathroom, a nice sitting/living room area, as well as a separate bedroom. Beware that the room has one air conditioner in the bedroom and other than that the windows are just screens. 

So, if you get bit by mosquitoes, head to your local drug store to get some spray. What seemed to work well for Mary was one that we purchased locally at the grocery store, it does include deet, hence the reason it actually works. We explored the hotel a bit which had a dolphin area as well as a sea turtle rehabilitation area. It was magnificent. 

We decided to do dinner at the hotel. There we shared a steak and a noodle dish. It was pretty good food (although we were hungry, so it could have just been that). We sat outside for a while before turning in for the night. 

HoneyMoon Part 1

I know that it has been a long time since we posted, and we apologize, but in our defense, we have been swamped with our new puppy!

On to the beginning of our Honeymoon, Let me preface it with when we left the wedding reception to us leaving on our journey. Our ceremony and reception were on Friday, and we had many friends and family that flew in from all over the country to be there. So Saturday Morning, we snuck off to einstein bagels (we were starved [we didn't eat at the actual reception]). After eating at einstein bagels  we went to Mary's family's house for a brunch where we had her entire family and a lot of our great friends there. We packed the car full of our gifts (yay!) and headed to Jon's aunts house where his entire family was. We had lunch there (even though we just finished eating) and went off to get gas and headed home. After getting home and unloading our car, we heated up our leftovers (AKA our meals from the wedding reception) and packed to leave to Tahiti the next morning!

Our plane took off to LAX on Sunday morning. We arrived at LAX and we were hungry as it was early in the morning and our flight did not leave until 3PM. We attempted to get to the international terminal (knowing that there is plenty more to eat/do in that terminal) Unfortunately, they don't let you in the international terminal until AFTER the ticketing gate opens for your specific flight, which is 3 hours before your flight takes off. They even had checked us in in Tucson for the international flight, but you need to re-check in apparently. Therefore, we were hungry and seatless until noon. Did I mention it is like 8:45 AM? So, after asking all the employees, we determined that the ONLY place to eat was an employee type cafeteria area. What a great start to our Honeymoon. After walking off our breakfast and waiting for a little while, our ticket gate opened and we were the second in line! We got ticketed, went through security, and hello beautiful international terminal. One thing about our air carrier. Air Tahiti Nui, they will not upgrade you to save your life. Even if there are only two people in first class and the plane is 30% full.

We decided to eat somewhere and decided on the Border Grill. From what we thought, mediocre food got us through. Then we wanted to explore the lovely terminal. It was all brand new and it was really nice. We caught our flight from some random terminal in the middle of this weird area with big air conditioning tubes. If I could remember what it was called or what number it was, I would tell you. From that terminal, you board a bus and they take you to another area in which you board your airplane. It was awesome! We are avid believers in flying Air Tahiti Nui. Upon boarding the aircraft, they give you a flower and we sat in our seats. What was great is our airplane was about only 30% full, therefore we had no problem spreading out. After we took off, we received our drinks- Hello Champagne (by the bottle, in all, we downed six). They also serve 3 meals on this flight, and not any chincy peanuts (which we still love by the way). I am taking full meals- Hot and all. The flight is awesome because there are personalized like tablets in the back of all seats. You can watch Television, see where you are flying, or turn it off to sleep.

Upon arrival, we realized that the flight attendants had changed outfits multiple times throughout the flight. They were hilarious and very attentive to all of our needs. When we stepped off the airplane (yes, stepped) we headed straight to the area where our luggage was (very humid and pretty much outdoors, be prepared). We then went through Customs and found our van ride, they greeted us with Live flower Lei's!

Day one of Honeymoon is complete.

Stay tuned for more!

Coming Soon- Our HoneyMoon Adventures!

Coming soon will be a few blogs of our HoneyMoon adventures. Check out the preview below. We went to Tahiti!! Please note that it was a week long vacation and we really explored the islands therefore it will take a few posts to tell you what we did and what we recommend. In the meantime, if you have questions about it, please comment and let us know! 

Want to head to Tahiti? Check out their airline website. In our books it gets a flying 5 star! http://www.airtahitinui-usa.com

Most Recently-Alaska

Let us first tell you about our latest travel adventure: ALASKA- Known as the Last Frontier. 
We went here on Norwegian Cruise Line- The Norwegian Jewel. (As an editors note- Mary has been to Alaska with her family before this trip. But, it was my first time) Leaving out of Seattle, our first Port was Ketchikan, AK. Here we went to the logging show which is only a few steps from the ship's port. It was awesome! A must do! They teach you all about the logging culture as well as it is interactive. (Alaskanlumberjackshow.com). From there we went across the street (literally ten steps) to the Bar- Fat Stan's. Where we had a good stop for Beer before shopping in this mall area where Fat Stan's is located. After that the sun was out and we sat on the patio at Crab Cracker Seafood Bar. Please note that I do not like seafood, but Mary does and the rest of the group that we were with does.  Everyone ordered a variety of things, but let me tell you, what you order is what you get. You order King Crab legs, you're going to get only King Crab legs on a plate. Nothing else. So, please beware. After that we got back on to the ship to sail away. What is amazing about this place though is the planes are flying in on the water and much littler boats are surrounding the cruise ship, so it really is a treat to be outside when departing from this port. The next day we were in Juneau, AK. For starters, I knew Alaska would be cold, but did not know how cold! It was windy and rainy in Juneau. But, we took a wonderful bus tour around the city and learned more about the Alaskan culture there before taking a ride to Mendenhall Glacier. We did not hike to the falls near the glacier but got some great photos. It was freezing, but absolutely beautiful. We also visited the museum/visitor center (that costs $3 to get into) But it was well worth it as it shows you the melting of the glacier as well a teacher you about the animals. It also has restrooms and is toasty warm inside. After boarding the ship again and departing, we then sailed through Sawyer Glacier area (with all of the ice in the water, Titanic definitely goes through your head). It was cold, but absolutely beautiful. The best part? You get to see it all from the ship. 
The next day, we were in Skagway, AK. Where coming into port, there was a 5.8 earthquake, which apparently some people felt on the ship, and we slept through it. Either way, we got off in the morning to take a bus tour. Stop # 1 was the old cemetery where they tell you the old history of the town of about 900 people. Stop # 2 was a snowy hill in the mountains, where naturally a snowball fight broke out. In to Canada (about 10 mins.) and back into USA. We then went gold panning at this place where they also have a lot of tours (sorry, the name slips me). Then we went to the main street and went shopping. First, we stopped for a shot at the brothel that was PACKED! 1. they do tours there and 2.  it is a popping place to be, I highly suggest getting there early to have a drink. We also went to a popcorn place that as on the main stretch. It was so amazing! They literally pour the popcorn smells onto the street for you to go in there. After some shopping, we took a quick 5 minute walk back to the ship. If we were to head back again, a helicopter tour of some sort would definitely be in the works. After our next day at sea, we went on to Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada). This was both of our second time to this port and we absolutely fall in love with it more every time we visit. A very colonial looking town, with many young people, bars, coffee shops, food, and history. We started with, guess what else than a bus tour around the city. Where you can actually see Washington State, USA at certain points! We then headed out to The Docks restaurant (http://www.thedocksnow.com) Where we had wonderful food and service. On top of it being on the water, we sat at the back in what we would be used to calling a Sun/Florida/Arizona room. It was absolutely beautiful to eat out there before we went shopping around the downtown district and then of course took some photos in front of The Empress hotel (Which you cannot miss) then headed back to the ship to head out to Seattle. 

Overall, this trip was amazing. The thing that bothered us was the cruise ship. This was the second time we sailed Norwegian Cruise Lines (First time was to Bermuda, which will be another blog post). Both times that we have sailed them it has mostly been a disappointment. Lack of good food and good service. Also, they always shut down the buffet for certain hours of the day (which are the only hours that we are hungry) and then put the same food over and over out. Also, beware that they do not serve Lobster tail on this cruise, which was also a major disappointment as they had a real lack of good seafood. 

Pictures from this trip will follow.
Can you tell us about your Alaska Adventures? 

Welcome!

Welcome, First let us introduce ourselves to you.
A newly married couple that has traveled together many places inside and outside of the United States. With many upcoming trips planned, we want to share our experiences as well as deals we find for the money savvy travelers. In our mid twenties, what would we know about traveling right? Well, shockingly we have traveled many places that our entire families have yet to be and most likely will not go to. Therefore, we figured we can set up a site to share our experiences with the public as well as friends and family. Also, we will be sharing deals that we find on certain vacation destinations that you can book as well! 
If you have any questions for us, please email us!
-Jon and Mary

Can someone tell us where this is from?