Before boarding the cruise ship we took a tour of the everglades in Miami. We had done this once before, but we still really enjoyed it. We saw alligators, birds, fish, and turtles, and after the boat tour there was an animal show). Little tidbit: the everglades isn't a swamp because the water in the everglades is constantly moving. Here are some photos:
Leaving Miami: It was fun looking off the ship, seeing all of the people waving from the shore. It got me thinking that it would be pretty fun to be on the other side, and to watch the ships take off one by one. Of course, it's really fun to be the one on the ship too! Leaving Miami is always bittersweet because it's our last chance to call our kids until we're docked back in Miami a week later. My last phone call with Megan was interrupted by the ship's super loud overhead speaker. I could barely make out anything she was saying, so I was so glad when the announcement ended, only for the exact same announcement to then be given in about 5 other languages. Welcome to the world of cruising - lots of nationalities onboard! :)
Bye Bye Miami! Caribbean, here we come!!!
Our first port of call was Costa Maya, Mexico. Take a good look...yep, this is it! :)
The small city you see here was created about ten years ago so that cruise ships could visit. We took a shuttle bus down along the water about 20 minutes or so, and spent the day at a private beach resort. Brad went scuba diving here with about 7 others from our group while I stayed on the beach (with about 20 people from our group), and ate chips and salsa, strawberry mango slushies, and did a little kayaking. (Yeah, not white water kayaking - think "waist deep", calm, seaweed water). :) Brad enjoyed his dive (he saw lots of lion fish), but he unfortunately forgot to take dramamine this particular day, and he threw up about 3 times after his dive (including while on the dive boat and on the shuttle bus on our way back). That kind of ruined this day for him, and we of course didn't stop and shop at any of the souvenier shops you see in the photo. We hurried back on board ASAP. Tip #1 - ALWAYS take motion sickness medicine when on a cruise vacation!
Brad found these pictures online of a lion fish and a lobster (which he also saw on his dive):
Our second port of call was Belize. We were surprised at how far out the cruise ships had to dock. It was a 25 minute ferry ride to shore. Here's a photo of how far out our ship was docked:
We were excited about Belize because we scheduled a cave tubing excursion along with the majority of our group, and my parents and my sisters McKenzie & Shalyce had done this excursion before. We hiked quite a while with our tubes and then lazily floated down two long caves, while wearing head lamps. Very fun. Brad really wants to get a water proof camera now, because every excursion we went on we were in the water, and unfortunately we didn't get many photos of the fun things we did on this trip. Sorry!
Our third port of call was Cozumel, Mexico. We had so much fun in Cozumel! We booked the Palancar Beach Resort and Snorkel excursion. Brad and I booked it alone, but were happily surprised when our friends Bonnie & Ken had booked it as well. Bonnie works with Brad, and they are in our ward. It was fun to have them on the trip with us this year. We had an hour long boat ride out to the snorkeling spot, and then we snorkeled for an hour & twenty minutes. I had never snorkeled that long before! I was super cold by the end & was completely shivering in the water. We saw two sting rays, two sea turtles, a baracuda, and tons of the coolest fish I've ever seen. I am seriously in love with snorkeling. It is amazing what is underneath the water!!! Our dive master spotted the sting ray on the bottom (it was buried in the sand), and he dove down to touch it, which made the sting ray swim around us. Very cool! Here's a lovely (dorky) photo of me before getting in the 75 degree water (which felt very cold actually, because we were used to much warmer air).
Here's Bonnie & Ken and Brad & I (photo was taken on board the ship):
Our fourth and final port of call was Grand Caymen. We had been here before on a previous cruise, and when you see this water, you'll know why we were excited to come here again. Isn't this beautiful?
Brad's boss took the whole group on a day long excursion in Grand Caymen. First, we took a boat out to a sandbar where we touched and fed squid to the sting rays. I chose not to feed the sting rays, but Brad couldn't get enough. He kept catching every ray that swam by him. I think he was reverting back to his days on the farm where he caught wild rabbits or something! :)
Afterwards we took a boat ride to a different spot where we snorkeled for a half hour. The snorkeling spot wasn't as cool as it was in Cozumel, but still very fun & cool. This is a photo of another group snorkeling in the same spot that we just finished snorkeling at. Once again, we wished we had a water camera on this trip!
Next, we visited the turtle farm. Our kids would have loved this! The first turtles we saw were HUGE!
Then, we got to hold the smaller turtles! Brad held the smaller one, then one a little larger.
In Grand Caymen we bought our girls some cute stuffed animals (turtles & sting ray). On our customs form Brad declared 3 stuffed animals, and the man in customs checking our passport and customs form asked if they were real animals that we'd had stuffed. Brad's like "uh, no. No taxidermy." Hilarious!
Our cruise ship (Liberty of the Seas) was a lot of fun. Brad's favorite thing on board was the Flowrider. His boss reserved it 3 different times throughout the week. Brad got pretty good at the boogie boarding, and then spent two nights working on the surfing. One night he was surfing so long that I was wondering if he was going to join me for dinner (on formal night). He showed up to our room ten minutes before we were supposed to be seated for dinner. He was having too much fun, and he wanted to surf until the reservation time was up!
Here was our ship!
Here's Brad on the flow rider. The time that our group had it reserved was in the evening once the cruise ship was moving again, so sorry the video is shaky & loud (it was really, really windy). Notice with the surfing video that Brad's pretty much the only one out there still!
We also did a little rock climbing. I made it to the top, but only after falling off the wall twice. The worker belaying me told me to just keep trying. She started me on a really hard part of the wall, and once I shifted over a bit I was able to do it. It felt like I was working on my climb for ten minutes, I swear. To give you an idea of how long it took me, I started on the wall, then Brad got started on the wall on a section to my far left, then he climbed it all the way and he took more photos and some video footage of me ringing the bell at the top! So, this first photo of me is at the beginning, then Brad was climbing the wall himself, then the second photo is of me near the top.
By the way, I read a good book while on our vacation. I thought it was a great book if you just want a quick, light read. It's quite a bit like Cinderella. I found it in the junior section, as I was just browsing titles. It was called The Amaranth Enchantment by Julie Berry. I really enjoyed it. Just thought I'd share.
