Carrie's Bermuda Trip (The Backlog!)

Bermuda looks small from atop a giant cruise ship! 

That island is all by itself surrounding by miles and miles of ocean...

That's where these two spent most of last week!

They can call it "work related" since they're travel agents, but everyone knows they were out to have some fun.

Carrie insisted she would pay for her fare, but Grandma refused. Carrie, being stubborn, turned around and invested what she would have paid in a bid for an upgrade. She figured it was a long shot, but if she didn't win she wouldn't lose anything. 

For non-travel agents, some cruise ships will allow someone to make a bid for an upgrade. If there are open cabins, the cruise company will look to see if anyone bid on an upgrade. The best bid gets the upgrade. 

In Carrie's case, she won big. They upgraded from a junior suite ($900/person) to an owner's suite ($9.5k!). 

Carrie was ecstatic when she found out. She then set out to do everything she could to keep it a secret. She had to respond first to every update sent out by the ship and archive emails before Grandma could notice them.

But she got her wish. Grandma was shocked. She didn't even get suspicious until they were on ship.

Carrie said the room was so amazing it spoiled her for all future cruises. It got to double as a reminder that she'd pulled off a major coup surprising Grandma!

 So the ladies got to work and play with a cruise ship as their office. 

I got a picture of Carrie's scoresheet from a trivia game one night. She nailed identifying cartoon opening songs! I would have loved to have done that trivia night with her.

The ladies rented a car to make their way around the island when they arrived. It was an upgrade from the mopeds they used to rent when Carrie was young.

Bermuda holds a lot of memories for the Cassanos. I recognized this hotel from when Carrie and I visited the islands many years ago! Carrie had stayed there as a child and wanted to show it to me on our adventures.

They went off the beaten path, too. 

Bermuda is not a large place (20.54 sq miles), but I guess there are still parts where you can wander off on your own for a hike and photo opportunity (I remember being impressed that they didn't have to worry about ticks!).

Lemurs aren't native to Bermuda. This picture was shot at the zoo! There are many others like it on Carrie's Facebook page. I'm not going to post them all here.

A lot of good food was eaten on the island...

...and on the cruise ship!

It looked like a great time, but Carrie was ready to come home by the end of the week. She pushed to get home ASAP! I got a text update or two in the early morning hours and then she drove nearly straight back (Carrie's favorite way to view NY is from a cruise ship). 

I told you about the Ginger Nuts already, but I got a new cellphone wallpaper out of Carrie's trip, too! I sent her some screenshots to let her know I was thinking of her. It's still on my phone today.

Who's the horse? That's Beau's uncle.

Who's Beau? That's a story for another time. I was barred from posting anything on the topic to maintain operational security. The secret is out now. It was spoiled before the cruise! I'll probably do a post sometime in October for anyone reading online.