Stampin’ Up 2014 Cruise Incentive trip – part two

Here is the next installment of the incentive trip cruise with Stampin’ Up and demonstrators from across the globe.

Thursday saw us having a day at sea.  Stampin’ Up! had arranged a walk-a-thon and for each lap we did of the ship, they would donate $1.50 to Mission of Hope.  The aim was that with the monies raised they would be able to build three homes to move people from the temporary blue tent homes to solid, brick built homes.  I am so proud to work alongside a company who value philanthropic efforts amongst their priority and choose a charity which is related to the location of our trip.  So we all donned Orange commemorative T-shirts and walked the maximum 10 laps allowed.
It was warm but a fun way to walk off the massive amounts of food we had eaten on the ship and to mix and mingle with our fellow demos at the same time. And look at how much we raised!!!

We had the early afternoon to ourselves and then the demos were invited to a share affair where we picked up our swaps, saw some demos demoing different techniques and got to mix and mingle with one another.  I absolutely loved this event.  I lost myself in the Stampin Up world, met and chatted with so many lovely people, took loads of photos and won a prize in the daily hoop throwing contest!

Depending on which colour bottle the hoop landed on depended on which prize you got….
There were beautiful displays……

And here are the swaps I received! Don’t worry I have just filmed a video of all of them to credit each person who made them and to show you in detail which I will share on here this week.

Our demo presenters, were Brian King from the US ….

Constanze Wirtz from Germany ……

Kim Gavarra from Australia……..

Rhoda MacPherson from The Island of Shetland in the UK……

And Erica Cerwin from the Artisan Design team, I did not get a photo of her at her table with her work as it was SO crowded with people looking at her creations….

There was also a fab business presentation from Karen Trelfa, no pictures to share here through as her display had figures and examples which I did not think were appropriate to share…
And as we received 25 swaps the rest of the swaps were shared on display boards for all to see……

A huge amount of talent and I will share my swaps with you in a video as mentioned.
We headed off to the cabin to freshen up before heading out for dinner with great company.
The next day we were due to land at Cozumel in Mexico.  I had planned a private excursion for some of the UK group to go snorkelling in three locations around Mexico.  We boarded the boat and headed off into the distance with some Bob Marley, beer and tequila before stopping in the middle of the ocean to begin our first snorkel.  Here is Rhoda steering the boat….

It was quite choppy and my goggles were steaming up and I dropped my snorkel so had to abandon the snorkelling and get out.  We soon moved on to the next spot and I was off seeing lots of huge fish and swimming about when I realised that there was only two of us and a guide in the water.  I panicked slightly as I could not see Simon or the boat but apparently one of the group had lost a flipper and Simon had swallowed lots of sea water and need to get out along with the rest of the group.  Our poor snorkel excursion was not going to plan!

I forgot to mention that the coast guard pulled us over to check out the paper work as well!

So we headed off to the final destination with the bluest waters I had ever seen.  One of our party was terribly sea sick and I felt for her so much as there is nothing worse and I knew we were at least one hour away from the ship….

You won’t believe me when I tell you that the boat then broke down, the rudder broke and they could not steer! Seriously it was like a comedy sketch!  They began to try and fix the rudder whilst calling in a distress call.  A boat in the vicinity came over to see if were were OK but the boat owners were confident they could fix it so we hung tight.  In the meantime we had the most amazing guacamole and chips I had ever eaten, it was 2:30 and way past lunch time and I think the nervous energy had worked up an appetite.

We were so close to a beach but could not get out as it was a protected island and so by the time they fixed the rudder we asked if we could head back without even getting in the sea.  So we had another hour at sea heading back and we were oh so relived to see the huge ship in the distance and get back on solid ground!

Not quite as planned but wonderful company and we made the best of it and we will certainly not forget it in a hurry!

I was relieved to get back on the ship and wash the salty sea air off my skin and have a nice calm and relaxing evening…

We awoke on Saturday with our last day on the ship and a day at sea.  Sunbathing was the order of the day and we took some time to top up our tans, the weather was glorious and it was the first time I had put my head phones in and listened to some music – bliss!!
We met up with some friends on the sunbeds in the afternoon and chilled and caught the last sun before we were to meet with nearly all the UK group for a farewell dinner.  We booked the specialty 150 Central Park restaurant which served a 6 course tasting menu.  It was a perfect way to end of cruise with special people eating wonderful food.  We had arranged a European demo meet up to say farewell to our fellow demo which turned into one of the most amazing, you could not plan type of evenings.  Lots of friends, chats and farewells and before we knew it the bar was closing for the night and we were ushered off to the Piano bar.  Luckily for us we met up with some of the Australian demos too and as the european group got smaller and more hard core we got louder.  We were finally moved on from the Piano bar to the Nightclub which if you know me is absolutely hilarious.  I can stand nightclubs, never have, even hated them as a teenger but for some reason I seemed to think it was the best place to be.

We danced the night away with great friends and lots of laughs before being ushered out of there when it closed too!!  Time for bed and a quick lift party on the way back to the room finished my cruise off in the best way possible.

8am came around far too quickly and before we knew it were were in a coach off the Miami airport to get our flight home….
I was ready to head home and see the kids and Pip but left with a heavy heart knowing we had experienced a holiday of a lifetime with very very special people.  Thanks to all the people who talked, hugged, laughed, shared and made my holiday amazing.  I really hope we get the chance to do it all again.

Tomorrow I will be posting the pillow gifts and the last photos before sharing my swaps video too so pop back tomorrow, it would be great to see you….