Whew, we’re finally coming to a close! Just this one, and then probably one more, just talking about the cruise in general!
Anyway, on Wednesday morning, we dropped anchor in the beautiful Cayman Islands. We had planned to book an excursion to see the turtles, the stingrays, a beach, and do some snorkeling. But, unfortunately for us, our last minute planning landed us without any tickets for the excursion. They didn’t have enough for all 3 of us. But, we figured hey, we’ll be there for 8 hours. We’ll just do it independently. O_O
Now, Grand Cayman doesn’t have a port big enough for the cruise ships to dock. So, you have to take a “tender boat” from the cruise ship to the actual dock. This should have gone smoothly. Only, it didn’t. Apparently, the current was too strong, so we had to wait, wait, and wait a little more before we were able to start getting on the boats. It was nearly 1pm when got off of the boat. We needed to be back by 3:!5pm to leave with the ship. OK. So, we got off of the boat, and the first thing we see is a lady with a big sign, saying that she and her company would take us to see the stingrays. The sign said $40/each, but she told us $25/each and that Izzy would be free. OK, where do we sign up, lol! We ended up on a little excursion with about 15 other people from the Magic, including 2 couples we had previously met on the ship. And we had a great time!
Izzy caught a mouthful of salt water right before this, lmbo!
When it was time to get back on the ship, there was a loooong line, and we were at the very end. Then suddenly, one of the crew members from the Magic popped up, and starting sending people with small children to the front of the line, because it was very hot. #SCORE (Thanks Izzy!)
We got back on the ship, washed up, then went to go have dinner
And the next day, we hit Jamaica! Izzy stayed on the ship for this one! We ended up meeting back up with some of the people we had met in Grand Cayman the previous day, and went to Doctors Cove Beach, in Montego Bay!
I kicked it with these ladies (minus the little one in the front, she’s one of the kids!) and had *ahem* several drinks while the men were off scuba diving, and getting stung by jellyfish O_O
This beer was supposed to be less gross than other beers. o_O
He said this tasted really good…but I can still see its mouth. No thanks, lol!
Jerk Pork and Fries! Sooo yummy!
a Chocolate Martini! Yumm!
My first Jamaican patty, after seing people talk about them so much! It very much met my expectations, very tasty!
After that, we did a little souvenir shopping, which I kinda, definitely, hated. The Merchants were like, extra pushy about you seeing their store, even though they mostly had the same, mass-produced things, trying to pass them off as handmade. O_O We did by a few handmade bracelets, a little dress for Izzy, and Byron bought a cool looking necklace, which ended up lost somewhere on the ship . If I ever have occasion to go back to Jamaica, we’ll try Negril, which was very highly recommended, or Ocho Rios!
Next time, my overall thoughts on cruising, and the vacation itself! Thank you so much for all of your comments! I know I’m dragging this out, but there are SO many pictures, and so many things to tell about that I have to spread it out, lol! Thanks for reading!
After a great time in Houston, we set out for Galveston at about 11am Sunday morning. The drive took about an hour, and then…
Hi Galveston!
We parked our car (at Galveston Park N Cruise, $65 for a whole week, inside, and RIGHT across from the port. Like, RIGHT across from the port!) and then dropped off our luggage to be taken aboard the ship. Then, we stood in an insanely long line, outside, that I forgot to take pictures of. The crazy line moved pretty quickly though, and we were soon inside…and in another long line, that I couldn’t take pictures of. Then we went through metal detectors, and had our water shaken to make sure it wasn’t liquor (o_O). Then, we got in ANOTHER line, to get our Sail N Sign cards, and have our picture taken, so that they could verify who we were when we got on and off at ports. THEN we were able to get on the ship, and go to our room, which we either didn’t get a picture of, or lost the memory card or something.
Anyway, we washed up, changed, and started exploring the ship! The first night, there was a dance party for the kids, hosted by Camp Carnival, which is the program for kids 2-11. Izzy got down!
And won a medal for her awesome dancing:
Go Izzy!
Those kids were jamming! And y’all…they played the Casper slide! THAT’S what I should have gotten video of, lol!
Anyway, after that, we were all tired, so we were back to the room for the night:
To watch some Pocoyo
But not before checking out the balcony
Then ending up like this
And waking up to look out of the window
Y’all, I have such a struggle getting Izzy to get into the bath tub….but she sees the ocean, and says “Swim, swim, help, mommy, wanna swim!” O_O
The next day was a sea day, and we took Izzy to Camp Carnival to be with her group (2-5yo) as soon as they opened. She barely had time to say bye to us once she saw those other kids, lol.
I circled her, lol
Then Byron and I went to explore the ship some: (And apparently didn’t notice the smudge on the camera lens for a while O_O)
We Looked at (yea, just looked) the outdoor track and workout area
Pretty carved fruit at the buffet
Not pictured is Byron hurting his ankle at the basketball court while I was off checking out the (overpriced) spa
Picked up Izzy for lunch..
A Hairy Chest Contest on the pool deck O_O
And soon is was time to go get ready for dinner, which was one of the Elegant nights!
Towel Elephant!
Always wipe the bottoms of your feet after lotioning, so you dont slide around in your ridiculous shoes!
And watch for chocolate stealing babies!
We woke up in Cozumel the next day!
We dropped Izzy at Camp Carnival and went off to do our Beginners Snorkeling excursion! We stopped and got a crappy underwater disposable on the way.
Y'all have NO idea how much bravery it took to for me to take one hand off of that floatie to do a thumbs up. I can't swim, and we were in DEEP water!
I have no idea why we didnt take out the mouthpiece for this picture, lol!
Then we went back to the ship and got Izzy, who promptly fell asleep on the (FRIGHTENING, SEATBELTLESS) cab ride to the beach
Excuse the quality, this was scanned in. That thing is REAL and creepy, and feels really awful to touch. Izzy...didn't meet it, lol!
She woke up to eat though, lol
And to see the beach for the first time in her life (and mine!)
And play in the sand, and taste the ocean
and NOT cooperate for a picture with mommy!
And a wave knocked mommy down while taking this one with daddy, lol
. If I ever have occasion to go back to Jamaica, we’ll try Negril, which was very highly recommended, or Ocho Rios!
