Friday, March 2, 2012

Grand Cayman, Jamaica, and Haiti--part two

(You can catch part one of our cruise here!)


The next day, day four, we pulled into the port of Labadee, Haiti.
Royal Caribbean owns this whole area, and it was very beautiful!

Shane and I took a morning excursion....

....with Tom and Jen!

We all took a tiny boat out to a coral reef to go snorkeling.


It was very neat and Tom got lots and lots of good pictures with his underwater camera.
Then, we came back to the island, had a little lunch, and went bargain hunting. :)

The afternoon excursion was another boat ride to our own 'private' island!

Stopping to take a picture in front of our gigantic ship. 
It is really hard to understand the scale of one of these things--they are absolutely amazing!

Excited to get to our next beach *grin*

See how excited he is!

There it was!
We were actually a little disappointed with this excursion. 
The beach was very small, and there was to be no thrashing here, due to the lack of waves!
But we can make good of anything!

I absolutely LOVE this picture of Jen. She is such a fun loving person and I don't know what it is about this picture, but it just showcases her hilarious personality and I adore it! She made this trip so much fun for me.  Shane and I really are best friends--and I would have had an amazing time with just him. But something about having her there, in almost everything I did (and Shane having Tom, mind you--bonus!) just made it that much better.  

I love you, my fun-loving friend! I still giggle when I look at this picture 
and think of this moment arriving on our beach!

Shane and Tom, headed to seek out some fun


Right after these pictures, we decided to take some glass-bottom kayaks out and look at the reef we were right above. Unbeknownst to us, something was wrong with the kayak that Tom and Jen were in--and they ended up starting to sink! We had to row them to shore (which, I may add, was super difficult to do because we were all four laughing hysterically at the situation)....

Just one more hilarious memory!!

Then, some relaxing on the very quiet beach.
Ahhhhh.

Back on the boat, it was time for one more formal dinner....


...and a trip around the boat to take pictures of the beauty of it!

(Maps everywhere, in case you got lost!)

We saw a juggler that night for our show!

Not only could he do some amazing things, but he was fuuuunnnnny!

A view from the lounge by where we played cards every night. This is above the pool/spa area.

We had 'brunch' the next morning (because when you are up till 2 in the morning 
playing cards, it's hard to get up in time for breakfast!)

Then we just hung on the ship for our last day at sea.
It was the most gorgeous day!

Shane and Tom got word of a dodge ball tournament...well, Shane couldn't resist! 
So while Jen and I worked on our tans, Shane became....

A DODGE BALL GOLD MEDALIST!!
*giggle*

Last night....*sniff....last show!

It was a musical montage through the ages. This was....the 70's, you guessed it!

Off of the ship, and now waiting in the Ft. Lauderdale airport for our flight.
Still having fun! We just had an incredible time together.

Headed home!

We arrived back around 5 p.m. on Saturday night, almost seven days to the hour of when we left. 
Grandma Jane helped the boys make this sign for us!

Colin did all the drawing...love the cruise ship and the fish in the water. 
That kid is so creative!

It was an amazing trip--and hard to leave those beaches and sun behind--but I think
 we returned to some awesomeness that can not be found anywhere else!!

3 comments:

Leanne said...

Wow, I loved getting to cruise right along with you!! It was amazing and makes me want to go on a cruise even more!! Next year it's my 20th anniversary, AND a milestone birthday for me (not mentioning WHICH milestone *grin*) and I just think that's a great excuse to take a cruise!!

Now, tell us all about the finer details, like, was the food on board any good? were the staff friendly?? Did you get some shopping in? Tell us!!

Thanks again for sharing your wonderful time at sea!!

Aim said...

UMMMM. First thing first. I ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY LOOOOOOVED your black dress with red trim!!!!! OH MY WORD!!! LOVED IT!!!
Um second. Colin drew an awesome ship. First thing I noticed and thought maybe your mom helped with that. I couldn't even draw a ship like that. really.
And last. I am guessing my next dream is going to be about me or someone sinking in a boat....I will let you know how it turns out...

Aim said...

OH and one more thing. That pic of Jen... Won't be able to look at her the same way anymore I don't think. That was a pretty funny pic. :)k. I think I am done...