Western Caribbean Cruise
Summary of the trip:
Flying First Class! Included all the diet coke I wanted I drink, all the treats I wanted to eat (chips, twix, cookies, etc.) and all the movies I wanted to watch.
Cold, cold weather – Florida was a chilly 27 degrees! Florida!! Did I accidentally head north instead of south and end up in Idaho?! It was so cold!
Out boat was enormous! The food was incredible!
Sprinkles – We weren’t allowed to walk past the free ice cream maker without getting an ice cream cone (this probably helped contribute to the 7 pounds I gained).
Haiti – So sad. It was too rainy to get off the boat in Labadee Haiti. We took pictures at the top of the ship of the island where we could have gone ziplining. Since we couldn’t get off the ship, we spent the day playing in the arcade, learning some 70’s dance moves, ice skating and of course, eating.
70’s Disco Night – If you’ve ever met Paul or Dani, you know they are excellent dancers! They were the life of the party and everyone kept asking how much they had been drinking. Of course the answer was nothing!
Jamaica – Dunn’s River Falls was incredible. You start at the bottom of the falls and climb your way to the top right through the falls. There are about 40 people all holding hands and climbing. It is quite a sight to see. There are specific points during the trek where there are excellent picture taking opportunities for the guides. At one particular point where you are supposed to squat down and let the water tumble over you while the guides take a picture, I told them I didn't want to do it. The guide looked at me and said, "It's Standard". Apparently, in Jamaica you don't get to make your own choices....the guides at Dunn's River Falls make them for you. I was laughing so hard and all day whenever someone would ask us to do something, we would say, “It's Standard”. We ate genuine Jerk Chicken which was soooooo yummy! Then came shopping - a pink bamboo bag, leather sandals, coasters, and beanies for our nieces.
GRAND CAYMAN!!! We booked a guide to do some snorkeling and to take us to Sting Ray City. The weather started out beautiful. We took about a 20 minute ride out to the ocean and settled in to do some snorkeling. It was really windy so the waves were really big. I had never snorkeled before and didn't really enjoy it. Water kept getting into my snorkel because of the waves and I kept thinking I was choking to death and I only saw one little fish. We did that for about 30 minutes and then headed another few minutes to Sting Ray City. Sting Ray City is in the middle of the ocean where it is shallow. The Sting Ray's are just swimming around everywhere. I held one and then it was time to feed them. I was really jumpy because I didn't want to step on one and I just kept shuffling my feet. When the guide got the food out to feed them, the Sting Ray's came from everywhere! I couldn't handle it. I was running for the boat (praying I wouldn't step on a Sting Ray, because there was no way I was taking the time to shuffle!) and screaming the whole time, I don't like this, I don't like this!! I'm sure I looked like an idiot. Paul stayed there and fed them and held them. When we were done with the Sting Ray's we went to the beach. It was the most beautiful beach I'd ever seen. The sand was soft and white and the ocean was the most clear blue-green. It was breathtaking! We ate some lunch on the beach enjoying the view and then headed back to town to do some shopping. Paul and I got Hard Rock Cafe Sweatshirts.
Cozumel! - This was the day I was most excited for. We were going to rent UTV"s and go look at some ruins, a lighthouse and do some more snorkeling. The UTV's were so much fun. We were able to stop at a Mayan Ruin which was really cool. It was pretty small, but it had a lot of significance. Then we headed to the lighthouse where we climbed to the top of it. There were 135 stairs and it was so difficult to climb that high when I was at least 5 pounds heavier than I was a couple days before and I'm been lounging for 5 days straight. But we made it to the top and the view was gorgeous. It was so windy though, I thought I was going to fly right off the top! After the lighthouse we went to the private beach where we were supposed to snorkel. It was too windy so we were only able to lay in the hammocks for awhile. It was so nice to just lay and look at the ocean for a bit. After that our tour was over. We got a taxi back to town to do some shopping where I got a couple of Coach Bags (of course they are real!).
The Quest – The funnest scavenger hunt ever! Picture 300 adults all running around trying to do the craziest things imaginable to try and win bragging rights! Some of the “quest” items included: men wearing bra’s, two guys in one pair of pants, 10 person pyramid, and doing the worm. This was hilarious!
80’s Night – Complete with Madonna, Prince, and other guest 80’s singers. Loved kicking up my shoes during Footloose. Nothing better than 80’s music.
Formal Night – I loved being able to wear my “fancy” dress for one more occasion. Paul and I dressed up for the Formal Dinner and felt very classy.
Benaminia & Raniel – Our very wonderful Waitress and Assistant Waiter. Benaminia was the funniest girl. She showed us a magic trick every night. Loved having them as our servers at dinner.
Kennedy Space Center - Gotta admit, I was kind of bored. Paul really liked it though so I'm glad we went.
This trip was such a fun vacation for me and Paul! Loved every minute of it (except the rain).
