There are vacations and then there are VACATIONS. And this one was a VACATION. One that my hubs and I will never forget. We recently made a voyage with the entire Robertson clan (aka Duck Dynasty anyone??) on the Duck Commander Cruise. What an experience! Let me just say that we went for one reason…Duck Dynasty, duh…and walked away with an entirely new reason. A new appreciation for the entire family. A new appreciation for my own marriage. A new appreciation about the people in my life. A renewed spirit. A renewed soul.
We sailed out of Miami. And honestly, I never thought we’d make it out of Texas. I planned for us to travel the day before the cruise sailed out to give us some breathing room. I am SO glad I did that because we ended up staying the night in Houston after my hubs’ plane was cancelled and then after getting him put on another flight, said flight was delayed 3 times. Ultimately, he was not going to make our flight out of Houston…the one I was waiting on him to make. I made the decision to stay in Houston and wait for him and got us scheduled to fly out the next morning. We made it on the ship with about an hour to spare. Whewwwwwww…..
Let me tell you a little secret….the Robertson family…they are exactly how they are on tv…in person. Exactly. And that was one of the coolest things to see. On the first night, we had officially elected Phil Robertson President. No lie. If you ever get a chance to listen to him talk, go do it. Our first pit stop was the Florida Keys. Hubs and I hung around the Hard Rock Cafe. I know…lame right?? LOL Well, it was an early pit stop that was leaving early out of port and we are not really early risers. 😉 Our other port stop was Cozumel where we had a Beach Buggy/Snorkeling adventure that was so much fun!
The nights were filled with fun Roberston activities. We had a “Newlywed” type show where the guys had to answer questions about their wives. That was HILARIOUS. There was a Robertson Family Musical where a lot of the crew got up and entertained/sang for us. There was a Red White and Redneck Celebration. And lots of great stuff in between. Like I could probably write a month’s worth of blog posts about everything.
Highlights of the trip (in no particular order):
**My hubs getting baptized by Jase Robertson
**Get our picture taken with the entire Robertson Family and Godwin and Martin
**Meeting some amazing people who became our table-mates at dinner while waiting for a table in the Table 401 seating debacle (shout-out to Gene and LeeAnn, Debbie and Jerry!!)
**Beach Buggy excursion with Gene and Leeann
**experiencing the faith of the Robertson family…especially Jase and Phil
**participating in the Mia Moo (http://miamoo.org) Silent Auction and winning a signed 8×10 pic of Miranda Lambert & a signed CD by her too
**seeing Mac Powell in concert…Third Day front man (bought his country CD too!)
**passing on my biz card to Rebecca Robertson
Changes I would make for the next go-round…Premier Cruises are you listening??
**I would seriously pay more money for less people to be on the ship (3000 people is a bit much)
**Premier: you promised autograph sessions/picture sessions…this was an EPIC fail on your part. All 3000 of us cruiser-goers paid A LOT of money to be able to see/meet/greet the Robertson Family. Your ushering said family around the ship and taking them away right after appearances was just plain rude. Especially when they were WILLING to stick around and sign autographs, get pics taken.
**Sail out of Galveston…it’s closer to me and the Robertson clan. 😉
Quick Side Story…see that US Coast Guard boat up above?? Yeah…that’s a gunner on the front. Manning a very large automatic weapon with a can of bullets at the ready. And there was another one on the other side of the ship. They escorted us out of the Florida Keys. I don’t remember this occurring on our last cruise. I was actually working out and as I was heading back to the ladies locker room I spotted our escort. And it kind of made me freak out a bit. Like why in the world would we need an escort with a gunner, let alone 2 escorts (and a gunner on the other boat). I mean I know whyyyyyyy, but freaky none-the-less. But a reminder that we have men and women protecting our great nation (and our cruise ship) at all times.
I’m sold on this family. They are the real deal. And I would totally vote for Phil. 😉 Who’s going with me on the next Duck Commander Cruise??
I would have FREAKED if that had happened to my flight, I don’t play around with travel agendas and schedules. That’s one reason I arrive at the airport a gazillion hours early. It drives Husband crazy but we’ve never missed a flight. HA!!!! Glad you enjoyed your trip. I’ve snorkeled in Cozumel too, it was ah-mazing and I didn’t want to leave. Wish I was there now. I need a vacation to rest and relax after the week-long vacation I just had to Kentucky. Kamden and I are still exhausted. 🙂
That sounds like SO MUCH FUN! I’m glad to know they’re the real deal. I love the Robertsons!
How fun! My honeymoon cruise was shipwrecked before we even got on the boat. We ended up flying to Jamaica for our honeymoon re-do. But if we had know about this we totally could have saved our pennies to see the Robertson clan. However, that would just encourage my husband to continue growing his beard, which I’m ready to shave off in his sleep!