In the beginning of May, I was lucky enough to be able to go on a short Carnival cruise with my family and boyfriend to the Bahamas. It was a great little get away! If you like the idea of cruising, going off season is the best way to save money. A lot of people think cruising is very expensive, but it’s not. Food is included, everything is included except your shore excursions. I typically stay in an inside room because I rarely spend time in the room except to sleep.

This trip was interesting because it was the first time my boyfriend Richard and I had to deal with our additional allergies to milk, yeast and other things on top of my gluten intolerance. It was sometimes a frustrating experience. The matre’d tried her hardest and I commend her for her efforts, however being on a smaller ship means they have less ability to cope with food allergies. Carnival offers gluten free and vegetarian options on their normal menu, however dairy and vegan options were a bit more challenging. For the record, we have not gone vegan entirely, we just find that’s easier to get dairy free things and people understand that better. For those with more extensive allergies, I recommend talking with the cruiseline first as well as thinking about travelling on bigger ships.

My dad and I had done this shark dive in the past with my brother and it was one of our favorite dives. The sharks are friendly and used to humans but nonthreatening. During the first dive, they just swim around you, close, but not too close. The second dive we all get in a circle at the bottom- the areana as it is called- and the divemaster brings down the fish and feeds the sharks close to you. The sharks are more interested in the fish than you, and as long as you don’t put your hands out, they dont bother you and see you as obstacles more than anything. This was also my first dive with my new Ikelite underwater housing for my Canon 5Dmkii, so I was very nervous taking my baby underwater! I love the photos that resulted though. None of these photos were taken with strobes, I used natural light only and white balanced in post. I’m not an underwater animal photographer, but if you have any questions I can try to answer them! Comment below.

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