Our Caribbean Cruise

WOW! What a vacation! Steve, Meghan, Kyle, and I had so much fun. It took us two days to recover when we came back. We did so many neat things, I will only share the highlights since there were so many.

Our cruise was 7 wonderful days. The first day was fun boarding the ship, settling in our room, exploring the ship, watching us set sail, and enjoying the beautiful sunset. We left Miami, FL and headed out to the open sea. Steve and Kyle had never been on a cruise before and they were over come by the size of the ship. Our ship, Carnival Liberty, had 3,350 passengers on board. The Titanic only held about 2,200 passengers.

Luckily none of us got sea sick. The funny thing was, it wasn't hard to adjust getting use to being on the ship. The hard part was getting use to being on land again. Steve and I both felt more dizzy and off balance after the cruise than on it. We called it being 'land-sick'.

The second day, was a fun day at sea. We spent most of the day eating, swimming, racing down the water slide, eating MORE ice-cream, soaking in the hot tub, and watching 'Tangled' on the huge big screen on the top deck of the boat. It was fun to relax and not worry about anything.

Another great highlight of the cruise was not having to do any dishes or clean ANYTHING!

The food on the ship was amazing. I felt like all we did was eat. Meghan and Steve had seafood almost every night. There was also an all-you-can-eat sushi bar which Meghan, Kyle, and Steve hit up every night. I stayed far away. I HATE seafood.
The water-slide was a blast. Steve and Kyle raced each other while Meghan and I timed them. They were both crazy fast, but Kyle almost always came out faster. They both broke 10 seconds! If you look closely you can see Steve on the slide in the picture.







Here we are all hanging out near the pool. Surprisingly Steve, Meghan, and I didn't get burned. Poor Kyle, his back got fried. My scalp was the only thing that got burned, but it wasn't too bad. Thank goodness for sunscreen.

Hello everyone! This picture was taken with Meghan's underwater camera. This was in one of the pools on the ship.

Meghan and I had some fun sister time, too. It was nice just to have some us time. I love how close Meghan and I are now. She is one of my best friends.

On the third day, we were in Cozumel, Mexico. The beaches here are BEAUTIFUL. Our shore excursion for this port was 4x4 Jeeping, a cavern, and a beach safari. It was amazing. First we started off in a jeep, (driving in Mexico was an adventure in itself). Everyone there drives crazy. Stop signs mean nothing down there, but we all made it safely. Kyle and Steve were the only ones who drove. Meghan and I had no desire. They are worse than Denver drivers! There were police everywhere, but they were not pulling anyone over. It must be just how they drive.





After the 'thrill' of driving we ended up at the underground caverns. They were fun to explore and learn about. During the tour we learned more about the culture and heritage of the natives. Some of the cavern was underwater so we got to snorkel through it. It was kind of scary being in such tight spaces. The caverns are mostly made of calcium so the sand at the bottom is really good for your skin. We all gave ourselves facials. Our faces felt like a baby's bottom!!! This was one of my favorite excursions we did.



After exploring the caverns we went to the beach. We ate OUTSTANDING authentic Mexican food. Then we played in the sand, in the water, and hunted for sea shells. It was beautiful and fun. It reminded me of my summers in Florida with my grandmother, Mommie Dot. I sure miss her. Every time I am at the beach I think of her. The water in the Caribbean in CRYSTAL CLEAR.

Steve, who is normally afraid of sharks and won't go in the water, was one of the first ones in. Since the water was so clear he wasn't afraid. It was fun to splash in the waves. Steve and I decided that when we retire we want to live near the Caribbean. We better retire soon, we have found so many places where we want to go when we retire, ha ha!

After our excursion we returned to the ship, showered, and went back out to explore the shopping. Steve wasn't a huge fan of the shopping, but he didn't walk away empty handed. He got two pairs of nice sunglasses. I bought a silver bracelet that had an abalone shell in it.

We all enjoyed Cozumel. Although after driving and walking through the streets we realized just how fortunate we are to live in the United States. We saw some families living in the back of trucks. We are so blessed and I thank my Heavenly Father everyday for the blessings we have.

The fourth day was another sea day. We really enjoyed our sea days. It gave us time to sleep in and relax. The ports were fun, but I wouldn't say they were relaxing. On this day we pretty much took it easy. We played in the pool some more, raced on the water-slide, ate MORE ICE-CREAM, played basketball, putt-putt golf, shuffle board, and watched live comedy shows and live theater.

Steve also competed in a free throw contest. He didn't do very well, but it is hard to play basketball on a rocking ship. It was a day full of laughs, food, and relaxing.





On the Fifth day we were in Grand Cayman. I can't tell you how nice the people were here. They were all very humble, helpful, and friendly. They made us feel right at home. Here we drank coconut water, ate authentic Jerk Chicken and Conch stew. Steve loved the coconut water. I didn't like it as much, but it was fun to try. The Jerk Chicken and Conch were delicious but a little spicy. It was fun to have time to explore and learn about the culture here before we went on our shore excursion.

For this shore excursion we got to snorkel the reef and then go to Stingray City. Snorkeling was probably everyone's least favorite. We all really enjoyed it, but if we had to rank it, it would be at the bottom. The waves kept crashing into our snorkels and it was hard to breathe. We did get to see fish, coral, and live conch shells. It was refreshing to swim under the water and touch and pick up some of the conch shells. We were careful not to touch any coral, because some of them will burn you (fire coral is nasty stuff). The water where we snorkeled was only about 10 feet deep, but just a few yards away on the other side of the reef was a huge drop off. It dropped over 6,000 feet in a matter of a few yards. The guy driving our boat said that is where all the sharks are. Steve, I think, was a little scared, but was comforted by the fact that the reef acted like a barrier. The captain of the boat said the sharks are about the size of the boat. That scared even me a little.


After we snorkeled for awhile, we climbed aboard the boat and traveled over to Stingray City. During our boat ride over we saw star fish and a very friendly dolphin. Stingray City is a large sandbar (the water is only about waist deep), where hundreds of stingrays hang out. When you enter the water the rays come right up to you. They rub against your back, feet, and legs. There are so many you have to be careful not to step on them. They were so soft to touch. We also got to hold them and get a full body massage from them. They were heavier than I thought. It was a little scary knowing that these were wild stingrays and that they could sting us if they wanted to, but we didn't have any problems and we got tons of pictures with them. Meghan, who is terrified of fish, did very well. She let the rays touch her and she even kissed a few. This was another favorite for all of us.


















On day six, we were in JAMAICA...Yeah-mon!!! This is the most laid back place I have ever been. EVERYTHING is 'no problem' and 'yeah-mon'. It was refreshing at first to feel no worries, but then I started to get a little worried because no one else was.

This day was jam packed with adventure. There was never a dull moment and we got to do so many things. First, we went to Mystic Mountain were we got to do three fun things. We got to ride a 'ski lift' up through the canopy of the rain forest. I have always wanted to go to a rain forest so this was a dream come true (I still want to visit the Amazon Rain Forest someday). At the top of the mountain we got to explore some of the plants, read about the amazing athletes who compete in the Olympics, shop, and dance with some local Jamaican chicks. Steve, I think, enjoyed it more than I did, hahaha! While shopping, Steve and I bought a hand painted personalized picture frame. It will be a neat memory for us.

While on top of the mountain we got the opportunity to ride in a bobsled...no ice, of course. It reminded me of the movie 'Cool Runnings' which is based on a true story. It was fun to race down the mountain in a small sled. I can't believe how fast you go! Steve and Kyle said that this was their all-time favorite. I thought it was fun, beautiful, and super FAST. Now when we get back home and watch the Winter Olympics I will have more respect and appreciation for those who compete in this sport. What a THRILL!

After the bobsled we got to participate in zip-lining. This was my all-time favorite. We were in the top of the trees 'flying' through the air. There was even one part where you have a complete vertical drop. Somehow they don't tell you this before you sign up. I was the first one to go down this part. They demonstrated how you go down. The guide went super slow. Then it was my turn and they dropped me the whole way. I screamed so loud. The rest of the group just laughed. The guides really made this part of our excursion fun. After they found out I was a screamer they kept picking on me and making me the guinea pig. They also didn't tell us how to stop, they just sent us on our way and laughed at us when it was time to stop (they actually were the ones that could stop us, but we didn't know that so we all freaked out). It was fun zipping through the air and seeing all the plants and animals. Meghan would never move to Jamaica because there are so many spiders.

After the zip-lining, Steve and I went to the Huge Ocho Rios Waterfall. It was beautiful. It reminded me of North Carolina. Steve and I were able to hike up the waterfall. The waterfall runs right into the ocean. It was neat to play in the ocean salt water and then rinse off in the fresh waterfall. We were on a time crunch to meet back with our taxi driver (we didn't want to be late getting back to the ship and be stuck in Jamaica). We told our tour guide that we needed to leave in 10 minutes and asked him where we should get out. He told us 'no problem' and continued on. This is where I started to worry, because no one else was. It was a problem because the hike up the waterfall was only halfway through (another 30 minutes or so) and we had to leave in 10. What a great island. Very laid back, but a little too laid back for me. Most Americans, I think, would have a hard time adjusting to their culture. Even though the waterfall was beautiful we had to duck out early to catch our taxi (surprise, surprise it was late...but the important thing is we made it back to the ship on time).

We enjoyed Jamaica and thought it was very beautiful, but we wouldn't want to live there. The people are friendly but very pushy, everyone is smoking weed, and the crime rate is out the window. I am glad we got to visit, but I am so glad we are safe and back home. We love America.


Day seven was another sea day where we were traveling back to Miami, FL. We traveled in between Cuba and Haiti and got to see glimpses of both. The cruise was a BLAST, one of our favorite vacations. We can't wait until our next cruise (it will be awhile!). Here are a few more photos of our cruise (The guy in the photo with us was our waiter...he was so much fun. He is from Jamaica...'yeah-mon' was his answer to everything!).












One of my favorite parts of the cruise was watching the beautiful sunrises and sunsets. It is always fun to be together creating memories. We created several memories I am sure we will never forget! Goodbye Caribbean...we will be back!








We LOVE the CARIBBEAN!