Girls Get Away Cruise Reviews

I've been back from our awesome Girls Getaway Cruise to Cozumel on the Carnival Holiday for over a week and am still processing it all. Beachmama and I had such an incredible time on the ship and met some great people. We ate wonderful food...too much actually. The ship staff was friendly and took very good care of us. The ship rocked and rolled the entire time but it wasn't unbearable.

I mentioned in another post some of the more well-known folks who'd be on the boat. Karen Kingsbury was by far the most gracious person we met. She let us know that she was on the boat to meet us. I know she was worn out! Meeting Karen was like seeing an old friend again. I felt like giving her a big hug and asking where Ashley was! She and Richie McDonald were on stage together. She and Richie (former Lonestar lead) have written songs together based on her books. Richie was on the boat with his wife and kids and he was friendly and very normal, easy going. He sang some of their most well known songs for us....it was so fun to meet him.

Point of Grace girls were also gracious but we didn't seen them out and about much on the boat. Their (rather short) concert was great but I especially enjoyed what Leigh shared. Her dh is the guitar player...and they sat on stools together at one point and she candidly shared some of her painful past while introducing one of their new songs..."Heal the wound but leave the scar." Her dh sat beside her and the love on his face for her was unmistakable. Very touching. Those girls are moms and wives...who just happen to sing in Point of Grace.

Lisa Whelchel (aka Blair) gave a great talk on being a wife and building up our husbands instead of tearing them down...and giving up our husbands and kids to Father to trust Him with them.

But I will honestly say, though, that the speaker who left the biggest impression on me was Lysa TerKeurst. Lysa spoke twice and her talks and her life story is a phenomenal picture of God's grace in her life, her marriage, her family with hilarious stories mixed in. She has an amazing, miraculous adoption story. She started the Proverbs31.org ministry several years ago to encourage women and it's basically exploded. But I met her on the boat. She's not a diva. She's just a normal mom who is in awe that God's using her. She is precious and I wouldn't hestitate to drive just to meet her again.

And the pleasant surprise of the trip was another Proverbs31.0rg gal named Shari Braendel. She is passionate about encouraging women to embrace our bodies as God made us and to remember that we are all beautiful. We caught her workship on What Not to Wear and LOVED IT. What blew my mind the most is that Shari sat at her table with her special light for HOURS and HOURS after that workshop while 100s of women stood in line to, one by one, hear what body type and shape they have and what colors look best on them. I have a feeling that cruise organizers weren't expecting such a response....which just tells me that all women desire to feel beautiful. No, we didn't stand in that line but we did meet Shari in her autograph line. She was precious....and very encouraging. Yes, I now have my swatches of "soft" colors that I should wear to take shopping with me. Shari does Modest is Hottest talks for teens that I'd love for our tweenie to hear one of these days.

Of course, Gary Smalley's talk was excellent. We found out some incredibly personal things about him that I never knew. He was very transparent. I appreciate that. Michael O'Brien, former Newsong lead, performed a fun concert for us the last night. He has a new cd of love songs...I'm heading over to itunes for the downloads. We enjoyed Angela Thomas' talk the first night. Louise DuArt and her dh Squire Rushnell were also a delight. Even meeting them in person.....they were so friendly and personal. Squire wrote When God Winks...he produced our favorite childhood Schoolhouse Rock shows and started Good Morning America. His wife Louise does hilarious impersonations......awesome.

Would you believe there were musicians and speakers that we never got to hear or meet? We had very full days on the cruise...which is why it's taking so long to process and wrap my brain and heart around all I heard. And I haven't even told you about our very funny dinner mates and Cyrus...our ever patient and impeccable waiter who called us all "Beautiful." I haven't told you about the delicious escargo....or the chocolate melting cake that arrived at our table each night promptly after BeachMama's hot tea and my coffee. And I haven't told you the horrors of the seasick patch withdrawal or the cool souvenirs we picked up in Cozumel.

But the REASON for the cruise, was to GET AWAY. BeachMama and I are both stay at home moms who homeschool and lead hectic lives in reality. I wouldn't trade my life for anything....but it was so nice to be with my sweet friend and have nothing more to be concerned about except which entree to choose, which speaker to hear, or which outfit to wear. I didn't exactly come home rested and raring to go, but that was because of wonderful late night speakers, singers and pillow chats in our room, snuggled in our comfy beds. If was definitely a weekend I'll never forget. I did come home inspired and grateful for my sweet sister-friend.