I'm back from vacation!!
 

Today's my first day back to work. Sucks!! We had 3 awesome days in Puerto Rico and then 7 days on a cruise ship. The cruise was great!!! It was interesting from a non-drinking perspective. You have the same assigned tablemates at dinner time. It was fun to dress up every night, especially for formal night. I couldn't help but notice my formal night pictures had my face looking very fresh - I'm not used to that. Anyway, one tablemate kept going on and on about all of his boozing. I mean, every single topic of conversation was about drinking. He even referred us to this awesome snorkeling excursion. His high point was the booze, mine was the crazy amount of angel fish!!!!

Finally, the last night, we are talking about some giveaway at the casino. I asked, what do we win? He says, $500 off your bar tab!!! My husband says, we don't have a bar tab. The guy looked shocked!!! He says, you-don't-have-a-bar-tab????????? My husband tells him, nope! He looks at me questioningly, and I say, "I don't drink". And then you see the wheels churning. Hilarious.

My husband had one alcoholic pina colada at dinner early on in Puerto Rico. Beyond that, I think he had one other during a repeat cruise guest party on the ship. I told him to go ahead if he wanted to and so he did. But it was hardly noticeable to me since he's a normal drinker.

Oh also, to those with upcoming first sober vacations (MUNCHKIN!), the excursions that offered booze also offered tons of non-alcoholic drinks. No one gave me a second look for having them.

I also had a minor mishap. Every island we were on, they happily offered booze-free drinks. So the last island, St. Maarten, we are on our way back to the ship. There's a stand offering fruit drinks. And I think oh man I could use one of those, I'm hot and thirsty! I ask them what fruit they are using and this lady says, "here try a taste!" So I take a sip off of one of those little dixie cups - they are offering samples. And...immediately I realize my mistake. I should have asked her if booze was in it. Because rum was in it. Thankfully I only had a little sip and tossed the sample away. My husband drank his and then realized what was happening - he then grabbed mine and tossed it aside! He said "YUCK! That tastes like Pepto Bismo!!" LOL!!!!!!!

I freaked at first, like my world would crumble. It didn't. And I'm right back here, sober as usual. Lesson learned. Diligence is key.

The rest of the trip was sooooo fun. I did lots of things I wouldn't have before. And it was super neat to have pina coladas and not have the booze in them. Puerto Rico's pinas are the bomb. So is their coffee.

Cruising does have a lot of booze-like activities. But --- tons of people weren't drinking. I played bingo, danced my tata off at the club, stayed up super late watching the sea rush past on our balcony, played trivia games, watched a few awesome comedy shows, and loved every bit of it. I was able to pop up early for some excursions and also our return day in port -- so that we could exit the ship easily. So glad I'm sober.

I went to one Friends of Bill meeting. No one showed up. But it was alright. I didn't feel a need or have any burning desires. All was well.

We are already planning our trip to Europe next year.

Barbados, one of six islands I visited on my vacation:

http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/2137/barbadose.jpg

Lost,

Yay for you!!! That vacation sounds like lots of fun. It could have been ruined with hangovers - congratulations to you!

Sissy, no kidding! I had a really good, memorable time.

Hey Lost....Glad to hear you had a great vacation, and you remember it!

That's awesome Lost...Glad you liked PR....My old stomping grounds....Lived there 21 years...And I wasn't sober for much of it. Sounds like a wonderful cruise...And it's so nice you got to enjoy it clearheaded. Welcome home!

I'm glad you had a good time. I think you see that shifting your perspective away from the alcohol-related activities onboard was fun and easy. :)

Great post and welcome home :)

Thanks everyone!

Anna, yeah, it was easy. Because drinking wasn't an option, it wasn't even on my mind. I looked for activities I would love to do - karaoke, comedy, etc. Whether drinks were included or not weren't really an issue for me, I didn't care.

At dinner, our tablemates were usually not drinking - but that's because they spent the day drinking. We were often missing a couple from our table (we had 3) because they were too wasted - that's what they told us the next day anyhow. One night we had the table all to ourselves!!

I was surprised to see that non-alcoholic drinks were being served at some of the activities. I had some of the best fruit drinks ever!!!!!! And others were right, in Old San Juan, you actually had to pay extra to have the rum added in. That was great for me. No one blinked an eye at me, and often on the menu the non-alcoholic version was listed. Very cool.

Sapling: We spent all of our time in Old San Juan. I loved it. We will definitely return to see other parts of the island.

Congrats on a dry vacation!! Have you cruised in the past when you drank? I am 18 days dry and have a cruise in 52 days, in the past I have used cruises to actually have an excuse to drink from morning to late at night. At first I was really worried about going on the vacation, but as a go, I think I am really looking forward for a vacation that I will remember, beyond the pics i take. Thanks for posting, i know it can be done, having a great cruise while dry, thanks so much.

Yes, I went on a cruise 3 yrs ago and drank my way through it entirely. I take a vacation at least once a year, sometimes several times per year. Those were my excuses too to drink in the morning, etc.

This time around I had so much more free time, time to do what I wanted. I really enjoyed the dinners and breakfasts on the ship. Before I hardly remembered them. I made it my mission to find a local spot on the islands we visited, and sampled their coffee along the way. All of it was really good.

I did some of the cheesy things on the ship, stuff I never was able to make it to before. And lastly, I let myself rest - every day. After a full day of activities, my husband and I would take a 1-2 hour nap and then dress up for dinner. We chose a later seating for that purpose.

You will find it is much more fun without the booze. I'm not sure why I was so hooked on drinking while on vacay.

Oh and I heard someone make the comment "it's 5 o clock somewhere!" and thought to myself how ludicrous that sounds.

Glad you had a good holiday Lost :) x

Thanks hypochondriac!

sounds like a great time Lost :)
welcome back!

D

Aw thanks Dee!!!

Awesome!! Welcome home!

Oh thanks Flutter!!! I'll be in touch as soon as my work life calms down some!!

That picture is beautiful, lost. I'm glad you had such a wonderful, sober trip. It's good to hear about happy, sober vacations. Thanks

This was great to read. I'm glad you had such a great time! I LOVE cruises, but the last two I went on were complete drunk-fests. I've only been sober 3 days (sounds like nothing but it's a start) and I have a vacation in a few months. You are so awesome for having such a great time, and not letting others' drinking get to you!! Good job!