The Cruise

I think I am finally recovering from the cold this week and the shock of coming home to -25 weather after 2 weeks of sunshine. Even the week we spent in Utah was beautiful. It is just darn Canada that is so cold. Lucky us. I finally got the kids outside today to go for a walk because it was warm enough I didn't have to worry about frostbite during a 10 minute walk. They loved the fresh air and Heidi was in tears that we made her come in after a while, apparently she has also been feeling a little cooped up inside all winter! I am so happy it is March and to me that means spring is around the corner. Only a month or to left of this cold and then I can think about planting some flowers and my vegetable garden, yippee!

Anyway the real intention of this post is to talk about the cruise as I know everyone has been DYING to hear about it :)

It was great, so relaxing (which was the whole point) and we got some time alone without the kids which was definately needed. Some things I would change if I were to do it again?

1. Invite another couple, for sure. It was definately an "us" trip but even with another couple you can find plenty of alone time with your spouse with the added benefit of more company when you want it. The evening shows on the ship were ok, not great, we would have much preferred to have someone to hang out in the cabin with and play cards and games, and someone else to share dinner with.

2. Book a cruise with more stops. In the week long cruise ours only had 3 stops. The sea days were fine but got kind of boring since there were so many. Don't get me wrong I love to relax, but I would have loved to have an extra day of adventure thrown in there. The shore days were really fun, and we loved seeing a new place each time.

Our first stop was Cozumel, Mexico. I love being in Mexico with Josh because he speaks "Mexican" so well. The people always give a double take when they first hear him speak and they love hearing a white guy speaking Spanish especially in their own accent. We rented a scooter and drove around the whole island. There were so many beautiful beaches to see, but we didn't have a lot of time to stop at all of them, just peek. If we were to ever go to Cozumel again and spend a few days we would know all the great places to go. It was a good tour. We also spent some time shopping and ate at a great taco shop that had Josh's favorite dish from his mission.

Second stop was Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands. This was my favorite place. It was really clean and modern and I can actually see bringing my family here. We chose to do a tour this day and were picked up from the port and taken to a beautiful part of the ocean where the water was crystal clear, it was stunning! We snorkeled and check out all the beautiful colored fish and then went to a place called "Stingray city" and swam with the Stingrays. It was really neat. They were so friendly and tame.

Third stop was Ocho, Rios, Jamaica. I thought I would love it here but it was probably our least favorite. the excursion we went on took us Snorkeling again and it wasn't quite as impressive as Grand Cayman, but still neat to see, and then we went to Dunn's River Falls and I climbed up to the top. The part we didn't like about it was all the locals trying to sells us there stuff. They would lie and say something is free and then if you take it they would ask for a "donation" and they wouldn't' stop pestering you or touching you and it was hard to escape! I think if we were to hang out with some Jamaicans not trying to sell us stuff it would be different, and they would be a lot of fun. Think about how it is in Mexico when they pester you to come check out all their good, and then times that by 10, they were so much worse I think because they actually spoke English. The land was beautiful though and all jungle like. Definately a place I would go back and visit if I had someone to show me around to the not so touristy places where you get hounded!

Ok the photos...

Cozumel




This is a place we stopped at for food on the way, we though it was a fun little place with a beautiful beach, until we realized (the hard way) shortly after that we were at a "topless beach" so we quickly went on our way!

Grand Cayman

In real life, I am actually really cool... despite what this looks like...

Josh hanging out with a stingray

Ocho Rios

My successful climb

Making friends with an iguana.

I am not sure why we both look like we are 12 here but we did get a lot of people asking if were were newlyweds on this trip and I guess this is why!

And one of our formal nights on the ship.


That's a wrap!