Our Cruise

So two years ago we went on a cruise for our ten year anniversary.  We had so much fun that we knew we had to do it again.  So we planned this trip with our cruise buddies- Jacob and Laurie.  (The Owens were supposed to come too but that's another story.)  We were lucky that Oma was willing to watch the kids for us again.  We have been spoiled lately, and we know it.  I have more pictures than this coming but I thought Id better get this post done before I forgot all the important details of the fun that was had.

 Here we are arriving at the ship and then inside the ship just clowning around and checking it all out.

Once on board, we ate a big lunch at the Windjammer and then walked around, checked out our rooms and even did a few rounds on the wave runner.  

We decided to do our first nights dinner at Chops.  Jacob had earned us a free dinner there because of some mess ups with our booking and missing the WOW sale.  Thats a long story for another day.  It was fun and delicious and our waiter Ivan made it a memorable night.  As you can see from the picture below, he was quite a character.

Chops made us a bit late for the evenings show but after catching the last snippet of it we participated in some sort of game show (which one I cant remember) and we won our first of many key chains.

Day 2 Onboard the ship was spent at sea.  We mostly laid by the pool and soaked up the sun.  Then that night was formal night and our first night in the dining room with our waiter Garth from Jamaica.  We had a great table. A four top right by the window.  I cant remember what the show was that night or the game show for that matter but I know there was one because that was our nightly pattern.

Day 3 was Grand Cayman.  We got off the ship first thing and spent the morning on an excursion with a boat trip out to Stingray City and two stops for snorkeling.  It was great!

 Here is Kevin on the boat.  We got to lay right out on the front deck.

And here we are at Stingray City.  Its just a spot where a lot of sting rays hang out- I think because they get fed so well here but I could be wrong about that.  Lots of tour groups come here so it felt crowded but there were stingrays swimming all around you and you could hold them and feed them.

Here's another picture from the boat that is a particular favorite of mine.  It makes me laugh because I took it when I was sitting by Laurie and she said "Look at the difference in color- you should take a picture"  I thought she was talking about the skin color of these two guys but actually she was talking about the ocean - you can see a change in color at the drop off where it goes from shallow to very deep.  Funny.  But a cool picture no matter which differences in color you are observing.

And here's a couple snorkeling pictures.  I think he could hear the ocean!

And after that fun little trip, we decided to eat at a local restaurant to try to have a real "taste of the island".  I cant remember what that fish we had was called but it was sooooo good.  And on our walk back to the ship, we bought a coconut from a street vendor.  I had never tried coconut water before and I wasn't all that impressed.  Still fun though- a great adventure in Grand Cayman.

Day 4 was spent in Jamaica man (yes in Jamaica they really do say "man" at the end of every sentence- and its more like mon than man but you know what I mean man)

So I booked a tour for us with an independent tour company called Liberty tours.  I definitely was nervous about it because there are a lot of scams and crime in Jamaica- its not the safest place.  But I trusted the tripadvisor reviews and went for it.  It turned out pretty well.  Our main problem was that we had to wait over an hour before we got started because they were waiting for more people who never did end up coming.  In the end though that meant a private tour for us with our beloved tour guide Carlton (seen below)

Here we are posing by this sign out of boredom as we waited for our tour to get moving.

Once we got going, we were off to the "Blue Hole."  (also known by a few as the secret falls).  This is a picture from the internet because I didnt have my camera.  See that waterfall- we had to walk partway down and then jump in.  It was a lot scarier than I thought it would be and apparently I didnt jump far enough out and almost hit rock on the way down but hey I survived. yay!.  There were other small falls we jumped from and a cool rope swing as well as several other fun jumping cliff spots.  It was beautiful and exhilarating.
 

 After the blue hole, we went to a little "restaurant" that is said to be the best Jamaican jerk chicken there is.  It was called Scotchies and it was indeed delicious and authentic.  We had the jerk pork too which we all agreed was even better than the chicken.  As you can see, watching the way they cook the meat is an experience in and of itself.  Very Jamaican- man.

And then back on the ship, it was time to get ready for dinner.  Without even coordinating, look how well Laurie and I matched.

Day 5 we were in Labadee Haiti which is Royal Carribeans private beach area.  It was so gorgeous there and hot and perfect.  Very relaxing and very beautiful.  I just love a lazy day on a beach.  I left my camera on the ship for this day so here's an aerial photo from the internet to try and capture the splendor of that place. 

Besides just laying on the gorgeous beach, we did enjoy lots of wading in the water, a yummy barbeque lunch right on the island and some time on kayaks.  This was my favorite stop.


Day 6 was spent at sea.  The weather was cool and rainy and I was starting to get sick- some sort of cough and flu.  Luckily it happened at the end of the trip.  So we went to a towel folding demonstration and a fruit carving demonstration. They were pretty interesting.

 

And here we are on our final night with our waiters.

And here is a picture of the guys goofing around on the dance floor.  I dont think there was even any music playing at the time. 

 And sadly that was the end of things.  Fabulous trip.  (more pictures to come too)