Hello from Cabin 8204 aboard the Carnival Liberty somewhere on the Atlantic Ocean just outside of the Bahamas at the i5 Gold Bon Voyage Cruise!

The Carnival Liberty, Hostess of the i5 Gold Bon Voyage Cruise

What a way to start off the year once again, with yet another well organized vacation cruise organized by the i5 Gold Mentoring Program.

However, as you may or may not be aware, the i5 Gold Mentoring Program has officially closed its doors at the end of 2007, which makes the i5 Gold Bon Voyage Cruise all that bitter sweet, as it marks the final i5 Gold event.

Notwithstanding, it was an outstanding farewell party as we spent 8 whole days aboard the Carnival Liberty, sailing from Ft. Lauderdale across the Atlantic Ocean to the exotic East Caribbean and hitting up islands like San Juan / Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, Antigua, Tortola and Nassau / Paradise Island in the Bahamas!

And as you can see from the photos below, not only was this cruise a huge opportunity to build business relationships and strike joint venture deals, but we also made sure that we had a “boat load” of fun as well :)

There really is no better way to build these friendships than to do it on a cruise, especially because so many marketers brought along their families and/or spouses, you have no choice but to form bonds with your favorite marketers when you are a part of their family vacation.

We wasted no time at all as the fun started even before the Carnival Liberty set sail from Ft. Lauderdale Port Everglades…

Bon Voyage Welcome Shot With Ross Goldberg, Lasse Rouhiainen And Howie Schwartz

Later on that evening, our Internet Marketing group had a welcome reception to kick off the cruise, where Captain Lou Edwards and the i5 Gold Mentors took center stage to set the plans for the week.

Captain Lou Edwards And The i5 Gold Mentors At The Welcome Reception

Throughout the week, there were other series of receptions that gave us opportunities to all get together and share some nice conversation over cocktails…

Cocktail Party With Daniel Arzuaga, Ricky Secades, Alex Nghiem And Armando Montelongo

Cocktail Party With Karen Kwan, Scott Byers, Robert Secades, Danny Arzuaga And Lasse Rouhiainen

Mardi Gras Pre-Party Coconut Drinks With Sam Heyer, Julie Olsen And Karen Kwan

And on nights that we felt like partying a little harder, well we had a few of those as well :)

On The Dance Floor With Ross Goldberg, Michelle Galvin, Anik Singal, Alex Nghiem, Donna Fox, Matt Mazur, Nikhil Parekh And Lasse Rouhiainen

Mardi Gras Party With Scott Tousignant, JP Micek, Armando Montelongo, Veronica Montelongo, Joe Appleton, Stephanie Appleton, Donna Fox, Karen Kwan, Deborah Micek, Scott Byers, Tom Beal, Elena Beal And Anik Singal

At The Club With Donna Fox, Jermaine Griggs, Sarah Griggs, Lasse Rouhiainen, Anik Singal, Julie Olsen, Scott Paton And Matt Mazur

Washington Apple Shots With Anik Singal, JP Micek, Julie Olsen And Donna Fox

Needless to say, some of the best conversations, as well as the most productive ones, were discussed over the nice dining that the Carnival had prepared for us.

Dining With Jermaine Griggs, Sarah Griggs, Karen Kwan, Nikhil Parekh And His Family

Dining With JP Micek, Deborah Micek, Armando Montelongo, Veronica Montelongo, Joe Appleton And Stephanie Appleton

Dining With Mike Morgan, Holly Morgan, Michael Cheney And Laurie Cheney

Dining With Ross Goldberg, Bob Jenkins, Matt Mazur And Karen Kwan

Dining With Lasse Rouhiainen, Danny Arzuaga, Sam Heyer, Karen Kwan, Julie Olsen, Jennie Armato, Paul Armato, Donna Fox And Paulie Sabol

Dining With Ross Goldberg, Howie Schwartz, Mark Roth, Deborah Micek, Scott Tousignant And Karen Kwan

Early Breakfast With Alex Nghiem, Ross Goldberg, Joe Appleton, JP Micek, Armando Montelongo, Joel Therien, Ilona Therien, Deborah Micek, Stephanie Appleton And Veronica Montelongo

Brunch With Scott Paton, Lasse Rouhiainen, Donna Fox, Howard Tiano And Cynthia Tiano

Lunch With Jermaine Griggs, Jay Jennings, Tom Beal, Elena Beal, Alex Nghiem And Lasse Rouhiainen

Formal Dinner At The Supper Club With Our Aussie Friends Who Joined Us All The Way From Australia

Even though there were countless ways to have a good time on the ship (and we made sure that we maximized every opportunity), some of the best times we had were actually on land during our excursion adventures.

San Juan Puerto Rico With Sam Heyer, Nikhil Parekh, Julie Olsen, Scott Byers, Donna Fox, Ricky Secades, Danny Arzuaga, Tom Beal, Elena Beal, Robert Secades, Karen Kwan, Michelle Galvin, Anik Singal And Ross Goldberg

On The Pirate Ship In Antigua With Mike Morgan, Ben Mack, Donna Fox And Anik Singal

On The Pirate Ship In Antigua With Joel Therien, Mike Filsaime And Mark Braunstein

At The Flea Market In Tortola With JP Micek, Deborah Micek, Karen Kwan, Stephanie Appleton And Joe Appleton

At The Nassau Port With Mark Braunstein, Mike Filsaime, Sam Heyer, Julie Olsen, Paulie Sabol, Ilona Therien, Joe Appleton, Stephanie Appleton, Laurie Filsaime, Karen Kwan, Scott Byers, JP Micek, Deborah Micek, Danny Arzuaga, Armando Montelongo, Veronica Montelongo And Their Families

On the last night of the cruise, there was a Carnival Legends show where the winners of a singing contest would perform live on stage in front of the whole ship.

Out of the 10 winners who performed, 5 of them were from our own Internet Marketing group :)

Paulie Sabol As Elton John, Tom Beal As Ricky Martin, Jermaine Griggs As James Brown, Sarah Griggs As Aretha Franklin And Michelle Galvin As Madonna

As you can see, we just had a complete blast on the cruise, and just like last year, we didn’t want it to end.

Vacationing with fellow Internet Marketers on a cruise is so awesome because there are just a million things to do and countless ways to build and enhance our personal and business relationships.

There were just a ton of the top names in Internet Marketing that joined us this year for this private cruise, and for the most part, we had the chance to hang out with almost everyone.

However, there was one man who pretty much kept to himself throughout the whole cruise and spent most of his time with his family, but I was able to catch him and spoke with him for a few minutes, and here is a photo to prove it:

A Rich Schefren “Sighting” Aboard The Carnival Liberty Caught On Film

On every marketing cruise I’ve been on, I have had the pleasure of either meeting someone new or improving my relationship with people I have acquainted with, but haven’t had the chance to really get to know.

Being on a cruise gives us that opportunity because for 8 days, there’s really nowhere for any of us to go :)

So we make the best of it by getting to know each other, having a good time and above all, building the friendships and business relationships that will last a life time.

Even though the annual private i5 Gold Cruise has come to an end, there’s good news…

Moving forward, there will be a brand new and exciting annual cruise that I will have to tell you more about in a few weeks’ time.

And yes, this means that there will be another cruise next year, and we’ll make this opportunity available not only to the “VIPs,” but also to our fellow marketing friends, customers and subscribers…

So don’t feel left out if you didn’t get the chance to go with us this time around, because in just a few weeks, I’ll be able to make an announcement regarding next year’s cruise :)

The next one will be our biggest one yet, so stay tuned for more information about how you can join us on the next Internet Marketer’s Cruise!

In the meantime, enjoy this 5 minute short video I recorded on board the Carnival Liberty (sorry about the poor video quality - my camera has been taking a beating lately, I guess I need to get a new one soon)…