Western Caribbean Cruise

After the week together in Orlando, Uncle Andy and his family took off for Texas because Max was born 2 weeks too late for the cruise.  But Gramma and Papa went on the cruise with us.  Before the cruise we went to a tiny little free Space and Missile museum where the kids got a few souvenirs and Dad bought a whole collection of mission replica coins.  I don't think we took any pictures there.  

On the ship the kids got to enjoy the pool and slides two times and went to Camp Carnival pretty much every day.  They are still asking to go back to Camp.  They also loved the ice cream machine and one day they were being picky and I let them each have two ice cream cones for lunch. I chalked it up to being on vacation.  Awesome Mom, huh?

This picture was taken while we waited to sail away.  We were in ocean view spa cabins and this opendeck was right outside our window.

Belle was too short for the big slides, so she spent all her time blocking those four fountain holes with her hands and feet, using the wheel to control those fountains,and sliding on the baby slides.  Although one time she got bored there and made me take her to the big pool.

This was taken after Belle learned that she wasn't tall enough to go slide with Jackson

Jackson had a blast on the slides, especially once we decided he could go by himself while we watched from the bottom.  He went over and over and over and.....

Belle enjoyed the little slides when she wasn't thinking about the big slides

The water wasn't as cold on this cruise as it was on our last

I know you can't tell, but that is Tom (or at least his feet) as he hit the bottom of the Twister

Papa rode the Twister with Jackson, too

I think he rode that slide about 30 times in the two trips we made to the Waterworks.  For some reason he didn't like the drain pipe and only rode it once.

Because it was December, the ship was decorated for Christmas and the kids got to be in a Christmas show and they even made it snow in the atrium

This is the best picture we managed to get on formal night and I just love it.

Our first port was Cozumel, Mexico.  We decided to do the dolphin swim and ride and it was AMAZING.  It was what the kids had been looking forward to for weeks and it did not disappoint.  The one downside was that cameras aren't allowed and they charge an arm and a leg to buy theirs.  But Papa bought 3 pictures anyway... and a DVD.  I will be getting the DVD next week and I'll post clips and shots from it when I get it.  But the dolphin swim was so fun and even the kids got to pet, kiss, and ride the dolphins.  They will be talking about it for years.  This port was also where Mom and I did our jewelry shopping.

This Mayan temple fountain was in the port area in Cozumel...outside the shops where we bought my tanzanite jewelry set and Mom bought her bigold diamond earrings

This dolphin fountain is in the waiting area at the dolphin park.

After I got to ride the dolphin myself, Jackson got to ride on my back.  Can you tell how excited that made him?  Before he got his turn he kept saying he wanted to "ride dolphin....whoosh...." and doing a swooping hand motion.  He was very excited!

 

Belle insisted until the very end that she wasn't going to do it, but finally decided she was willing to ride with Papa and she was so proud of herself afterwards.

Belle wouldn't kiss the dolphin but Jackson did and this is one of my favorite pictures of him ever.

In Belize we had no plans, so we left the kids at camp and took a tender to shop and explore.  We didn't take many pictures.  I think the only ones are on Mom's phone.  If I get them from her I will put them in a post of misc vacation pictures later.  But we managed to find good cheap local chocolate at a grocery store.  And Mom bought the local hot sauce.  We each also bought a slate carving of the Mayan calendar.  Mostly Belize was a disappointing park unless you want to go into the jungle to zipline or cavetube.

The next port was Roatan, Honduras.  We decided to be boring and book a beach cabana for the whole day.  Maybe if we go back we will explore the island, but we really enjoyed the beach day, especially the kids.  It was a bit rainy but still plenty warm and the rain seemed to keep the crowd level down.

The port area is called Mahogany Bay.  That is Tom and Jackson in the background.

We walked out on the dock to see some baby barracudas swimming.  Belle liked the fishies....

Belle loved the giant hammock, which was our private hammock on the private beach for the day

 

"card worthy" family picture with the ship in the background

Our cabana for the day... Dad sat on the porch and read until the sun came out....as soon as it came out Jackson went and told him to come swim

  

The Dream beneath a stormy sky

My sandy toes hanging off the dock...

Our cabana rental came with two of these blue floats and the kids went crazy climbing on them and jumping off

Gramma and Papa held one still so Jackson could jump off it easier

Belle was a little Princess, even in the water

Gramma and Papa relishing in the moment that nobody was fighting them for their float

Back to sharing with Jackson...

See how much more crowded the beach is closer to the boat?  That's the "public" part of the beach

The little princess on her float in front of the ship

I can't believe they stayed still long enough for me to take this picture

  

Drying off to eat lunch on the porch

It was nearly impossible to lay on a float without a kid climbing up

Hey...a picture of me...

Jackson went out to fetch water for the sand castle moat...I didn't get a picture of the castle before Belle destroyed it, lol

Our little Christmas message in the sand

The castle AFTER Belle destroyed it

Mom spent most of her time laying out in the sun with her feet being tickled by the waves

A memento of that port day....

After seeing me draw in the sand, Belle drew this...

Jackson sat down to write his name

The shore past the dock at the beach

 

A close up of the trees above

Another attempt at our beachy Christmas message

This one turned out the best but doesn't show much of the tree

Papa reading until the weather clears up

 

I wouldn't have been grinning so big if I knew how burned I had gotten during that day at the beach

  
Our last port was Costa Maya, Mexico.  We nearly spent our entire port time on an amazing tour of the ruins through Native Choice.  We drove out to these very old ruins.  Gramma and Papa were surprised to learn how much older they are than the ruins they saw on a previous cruise (Tulum) but they felt familiar for Tom and I because they are modeled after Tikal.  It was rainy but we even got to climb them a bit.  After seeing the ruins we bought a few souvenirs for the kids and went to a local home to eat lunch.  It was the best lunch EVER.  And it ended with the best flan I have ever had.  I want to go back just for the flan.  They also served Jamaica (chilled hibiscus tea) that the kids guzzled down.  Picky Jackson ate a few tortillas, but Belle tried chicken and rice and beans.  I tried everything that wasn't spicy and went back for more tamales.  I LOVE tamales.

This was the temple of the Sun and was used to tell the seasons based on the sun's position relative to the top of the temple.

   

Turning to the left 90 degrees after taking the previous picture is the temple of the moon

These are the steps we climbed to see the temples of the sun and moon

Before we took this picture Jackson was saying "We did it!" and singing the theme from Dora the Explorer, lol...I guess he felt like Dora out there climbing the ruins

Well, that is our cruise in a nutshell.  I know Mom has some pictures that aren't posted here, so if I get them later I will throw them into the misc post next week.  Feel free to comment if you have any questions about anything here.  We had a lot of fun and I'd love to go on the same cruise again.