We just returned from a fun week at sea on a Carnival cruise with Kyle's family. The ship sailed from Galveston to Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. Besides the fun excursions, we enjoyed time with family and good food and entertainment.
Elaine and David
Lindsay, Kolby, and Shane
Kimberly, Mark, and Madison
The ship docked in Montego Bay, but we took a bus to Ocho Rios for our excursion. Kimberly, Mark, Kolby and Lindsay went with us, while David and Elaine stayed on the ship with the babies. The bus ride was an adventure in itself - it was almost 2 hrs, and was a wild ride that we weren't confident we would survive. We arrived in Dolphin Cove, where we had lunch and saw dolphins, sharks, parrots, and iguanas. From there we took mini-boats to the bottom of the falls, which opens right onto the beach. We had so much fun climbing the 600-ft of cascading falls.
GRAND CAYMANOur entire group took a private guided excursion in Grand Cayman. We snorkeled at two different spots, and visited Sting Ray City, which was really fun. I'll add photos of our sting ray encounter when I get the water camera photos developed.
One of our snorkeling stops.
Kimberly with beautiful starfish that our guide found while we were there.
Up-close and personal with the sting rays.
The iguanas are everywhere in Grand Cayman.
PLAYA DEL CARMEN, MEXICO
Cozumel was the last port of call, but we went with David and Kolby on an excursion in Playa del Carmen. We took a 30-min. boat ride to get there, then our guide drove our group to an eco-adventure park. There, we snorkeled in the crystal clear water inside the caves and enjoyed flying through the jungle on 3 different zip lines.
One of the caves we saw, but did not snorkel in because it is considered to be sacred. There is a light film of calcium deposits floating on the surface of the water, so it is hard to tell how clear the water actually was.
Returning to our ship.
On our last night of the cruise, Kyle surprised Melanie with a birthday cake at dinner so we could celebrate a little early with Kyle's side of the family. This would be birthday cake #1.
Being that Melanie's birthday is on Christmas Eve, it has always been easy to celebrate with family. This year we continued the tradition of going to a movie and dinner with Melanie's parents and brother, James. We saw Enchanted, which was fun and light-hearted.
Birthday cake #2 (it was actually a pie).
Birthday cake #3 at the restaurant.
