Our amazing Caribbean Cruise took off in Ft. Lauderdale Florida and lasted 7 blissful days.
Our first stop was Grand Cayman. The water was so blue and so clean and everything was amazingly green.
After our ship docked we make our way to shore on little ferryboats that doubled as lifeboats provided by the cruise line. The waters were too shallow to bring the ship all the way in.
Once on land we entered into a little mini city of shops where everyone was selling fun things to help us remember our trip. Sean and I had already decided that we were going to get a magnet from each stop and try to stay clear of others things we may not need as much.
We met up with our tour guide and he took us by bus to a little fishing boat where our Grand Cayman swimming with Sting Ray’s adventure would begin!
On our way to the sting rays we stopped for a few minutes to snorkel at a star fish farm which was pretty amazing and after the sting rays we got to snorkel in an area that were a lot of exotic, colorful fish hang out.
The stingrays were probably one of the highlights of our trip trip. There is sandbar out in the middle of the ocean where southern string rays come to hang out. They are bit tamer than other stingrays and they know they will get food if they come so there were hundreds of them!
We learned that kissing one will get you 7 years good luck!
We gave them a stingray style high 5.
And one even let us pose with it after we fed it octopus.
Our next stop was Roatan, Honduras!
Here way paid a local man to take us around in his little taxi van. He was a CRAZY driver but so was everyone else so I’m glad he was driving and not me!
Roatan is a little green mountain right off the ocean.
While we were visiting this beautiful country we got to zip line through the forest on our way to Gumbalimba Park.
Gumbalimba Park was fun. We got to tour a pirate cave and hear all about how he stashed his ship in the cave so he would not be seen and then would attack incoming ships and steal all their goods.
We got to chat with talking parrots.
We had our own personal tour guide who stayed right by our sides.
And we were able to visit with some darling moneys who were fond of my bobby pins
And loved relaxing with Sean
And loved relaxing with Sean
After our tour the crazy taxi driver surprised us with fresh mangos. They were AMAZING and even made Sean consider moving to Roatan just so that he could have them all the time.
We made it safely back to our ship and bid Roatan farewell.
Stop Number Three was to Cozumel Mexico. Here we got to tour the Mayan Ruins. We took a special Book of Mormon tour with Carlos and learned about the Lamanite people, their lifestyles and their beliefs in God.
This is the home of a priest. He would spend the majority of his day praying and worshiping so his home was built to mirror a temple. The front was his living space and the back was a personal temple he could worship in.
This is the front and back of the temple. In the center of the picture of the front you can see a rectangular pillar. That was for sacrifices for the Lord. The Lamanite people took the commandant to have a broken heart and a contrite spirit literally, they would place a live virgin on the alter and cut out his or heart out and offer it up to God.
After visiting the ruins we able to visit a current Mayan temple. We were not allowed to take pictures but it was patterned after the one seen here. The differences were that the sacrificing table was inside and they don't kill anymore. A temple priest is called to watch over the temple and that is his only job in life for the next 6 months to a year. When we got there there were 2 temple priests on duty. They were lounging in hammocks outside, just waiting for someone who wanted to come in.
The Book of Mormon tour took most our day, the tour was amazing and we learned a lot from it. It was nice to learn about our ancestors and also a bit about how others worship.
Day Four and our last stop was to Princess Cays. This is a private beach on one of the islands of the Bahamas. We played on the beach, snorkeled, did a little souvenir shopping and had a great lunch provided by cruise line.
You may have noticed a bit of redness in these pictures. They day before had been a cruise day which meant we spent all day on the ship in the water working our way to our forth stop. I decided while we were watching a movie outside that I would expose my legs to the sun in an effort to give them some color. Well, I did not take into account our proximity to the sun or the fact that we were on the water. The result, a very burnt Makenna. While we were on Princess Cays it wasn't too bad. However, the ensuing night and day would make my condition worse.
It got so bad I could barley walk. I have never felt so much pain from a sun burn.
This was our attempt to bring the swelling down (ice packs on my elevated legs) and blankets to try to keep me from shivering to death.
And in-case you thought I was exagerating take note the extreem swelling.
I felt like my skin was going to be ripped off my legs. I'm not sure it could have endured anymore stretching.
At last it was time for our amazing week to come to an end.
It was so much fun to be pampered and taken care of.
Some fun cruise facts:
Princess Cruise recognized Sean's great accomplishment as well! We got to choose a night that was all about him! They put balloons on our door and he got a special dessert at dinner.
We loved the formal dinner night. It was so much fun to get dressed up and go out on a date while were on our vacation.
One of my favorite facts is that when we would return to the ship after a day of touring and fun there would be cruise workers ready with cool damp cloths for us to freshen up with.
Javier, who took care of our room was the nicest man. He left us fun surprises that made our perfect days even more fun.
The food was great. The entertainment was always fun. The people were energetic and so enjoyable. Our travel partners were fantastic and this is one experience we wouldn't mind doing again!
xoxo
