About Our Cruise
Sunday, April 30, 2006
I left here on Friday afternoon and flew to Vancouver. I got to meet my boyfriends mom, sister and brother. The five of us went out for dinner and then they dropped us back off at the airport. We spent the night in the airport as we had to check in at 4am. We were both so excited that we only got a couple hours of sleep. The plane ride wasn't too bad besides being long. We got into Miami at about 7pm and found our group that took us to the hotel. It was an ok hotel, nothing spectacular though. We ate at the restaurant, took a walk around the property and went to bed.
The next morning we got up and at noon headed to the pier. It is amazing just how big those ships are. There were five of them in port at the time. We got to wait in some nice long lines to get on the boat, but for the length of the lines it went pretty quick. We got on the boat, found our room and started to explore while we waited for our luggage. It was huge and beautiful. On the ship you get an assigned dining room and dining time. Ours was at 6:15 in the Atlantic Dining room. We were at a table for four. Every night you eat with the same people. The couple we were sitting with were really nice. Not too much older than us and we had a great time getting to know them over the week. The first night we went to the show, wich was truly awesome. They are vegas style shows and it was really neat to watch.
The first day of our trip was at sea. This day we explored the ship and sort of tried to figure out were things were.
The next day was our first port. Costa Maya, Mexico. We had to get up early to be off the boat first thing as our tour was right away. Even first thing in the morning it was hot out. We did a tour in there wich included going on a two person boat out to a dock, snorkeling for about 45 minutes and then back to the beach. It was truly awesome to see the reef and the beautiful coloured fish. The water was so blue it was amazing. Afterwards we hung out at the beach for a bit before heading back to look in the stores.
We then had another day at sea. We went to some seminars, wandered the boat and did a bit of sunbathing.
Then it was to Grand Cayman. We got here just when the sun was coming up. Our boat was tendered wich meant that we had to take a smaller boat to get to the island. Grand Cayman is so flat that when we were on the boat you could see the water on the other side of the island. Here we did a tour of the island. First stop was the turtle farm. Here we got to hold a small sea turtle. They are really amazing creatures. After this we went to Hell. We were there for a very short time and it was pretty neat. Then it was off to a boat to go out to stingray city. It was a bit of a windy day and the water was a bit choppy so the ride was a bit rough. There were a tonne of people here wich made it kind of crowded. We got a short time to swim with the stingrays. They are totally awesome. Very friendly creatures. Very soft to the touch. After this we went back to Georgetown and wandered around the shops for a bit before it was time to get back on the boat.
The following day was in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. This was both of our favourite spot. It is absolutely beautiful there. We ended up having an hour after we got off the boat before our tour started. It was kind of neat to walk around the town before many people were there and before anything was open. We did ocean kyaking there and then climbed Dunn River Falls. The water again was warm and blue. You could see right to the bottom. Then we wandered around the stores when they were open. Chris bought me my birthday present there, a pair of Tanzanite earings. They are very pretty. We both want to go back to Jamaica sometime and spend a week there.
Then it was our final day at sea. Since we had pretty much seen most of the boat and there wasn't a tonne going on that we wanted to do we had a really relaxing day.
Every day it was hot out. About 30celcius. There was alot to do and see on the boat itself. Every night after dinner there was a show. We went most nights. There were different seminars and activities to participate in throughout the day and evening. The sunsets were absolutely gorgeous.
A cruise is definately very structured and next time we go away we are just going to go to an all inclusive resort. It was definately well worth it though.
The next morning we got up and at noon headed to the pier. It is amazing just how big those ships are. There were five of them in port at the time. We got to wait in some nice long lines to get on the boat, but for the length of the lines it went pretty quick. We got on the boat, found our room and started to explore while we waited for our luggage. It was huge and beautiful. On the ship you get an assigned dining room and dining time. Ours was at 6:15 in the Atlantic Dining room. We were at a table for four. Every night you eat with the same people. The couple we were sitting with were really nice. Not too much older than us and we had a great time getting to know them over the week. The first night we went to the show, wich was truly awesome. They are vegas style shows and it was really neat to watch.
The first day of our trip was at sea. This day we explored the ship and sort of tried to figure out were things were.
The next day was our first port. Costa Maya, Mexico. We had to get up early to be off the boat first thing as our tour was right away. Even first thing in the morning it was hot out. We did a tour in there wich included going on a two person boat out to a dock, snorkeling for about 45 minutes and then back to the beach. It was truly awesome to see the reef and the beautiful coloured fish. The water was so blue it was amazing. Afterwards we hung out at the beach for a bit before heading back to look in the stores.
We then had another day at sea. We went to some seminars, wandered the boat and did a bit of sunbathing.
Then it was to Grand Cayman. We got here just when the sun was coming up. Our boat was tendered wich meant that we had to take a smaller boat to get to the island. Grand Cayman is so flat that when we were on the boat you could see the water on the other side of the island. Here we did a tour of the island. First stop was the turtle farm. Here we got to hold a small sea turtle. They are really amazing creatures. After this we went to Hell. We were there for a very short time and it was pretty neat. Then it was off to a boat to go out to stingray city. It was a bit of a windy day and the water was a bit choppy so the ride was a bit rough. There were a tonne of people here wich made it kind of crowded. We got a short time to swim with the stingrays. They are totally awesome. Very friendly creatures. Very soft to the touch. After this we went back to Georgetown and wandered around the shops for a bit before it was time to get back on the boat.
The following day was in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. This was both of our favourite spot. It is absolutely beautiful there. We ended up having an hour after we got off the boat before our tour started. It was kind of neat to walk around the town before many people were there and before anything was open. We did ocean kyaking there and then climbed Dunn River Falls. The water again was warm and blue. You could see right to the bottom. Then we wandered around the stores when they were open. Chris bought me my birthday present there, a pair of Tanzanite earings. They are very pretty. We both want to go back to Jamaica sometime and spend a week there.
Then it was our final day at sea. Since we had pretty much seen most of the boat and there wasn't a tonne going on that we wanted to do we had a really relaxing day.
Every day it was hot out. About 30celcius. There was alot to do and see on the boat itself. Every night after dinner there was a show. We went most nights. There were different seminars and activities to participate in throughout the day and evening. The sunsets were absolutely gorgeous.
A cruise is definately very structured and next time we go away we are just going to go to an all inclusive resort. It was definately well worth it though.
