Cruisin' the Caribbean Sea

Over a month ago (really? I know! I should have posted forever ago) I went on a cruise to Grand Cayman, Jamaica and Haiti.  I went with my good friend Jana.  We have traveled to many parts of the world and United States together.  So it seemed fitting that we should also do a cruise together.  We deemed it our "Because We are Turning 30 Cruise" but it also ended up being a good trip since Jana is getting married in August and I am losing my travel buddy.

We chose to use Royal Caribbean and I would highly recommend this cruise line to anyone wanting to cruise.  The food was fantastic, the environment fun and perfect for people without young kids.  Our cruise was 7 days and 6 nights.  I had fun but can't really imagine being on a cruise any longer than that.  It was beautiful weather around 75 degrees but also with about 80% humidity.  I also can't imagine going there in the summer, the heat would be brutal.  I'll save my summer cruise for Alaska.  With that said, I would cruise again but I have many more places I would like to visit first.

Well, now it's time for pictures.  I have tried to trim it down but since I don't know how to make my pictures go next to each other or link a Picasa photo album; you just need to get your coffee, sit back and enjoy!

 After the Italy incident, Jana and I made sure we knew how to put on our life jackets!

 First day sunning on the deck.  The land in the distance is Cuba.

 Grand Cayman excursion - Turtle Farm and swim with the dolphins.

No cameras while swimming with the dolphins.  

Let's just say that I touched one, swam with one and was pushed by one.

He made a freaky noise coming up for air.

Fact:  Male sea turtles have longer tails than females.

I held a baby sea turtle and kissed it!

Grand Cayman was our first port stop.  We were in Jamaica the next day.  We didn't have any excursions planned, but found a driver named Eddie to take us around.  We hired him with our new friends: Sam, Nick, Stephanie and Jose.  They had done the dolphin excursion with us the day before and we ran into them while leaving the boat for Jamaica.  So we teamed up and spent the day together.

 The beautiful Caribbean Sea

 Our ship

Eddie, our driver, and our new friends!

After Jamaica we headed to Haiti.  Now we went to Labadee which is land owned by Royal Caribbean.  So my interactions with "real" Haitians was pretty limited.  I spent the day on the beach and shopping in the little shop.

The view of the sea, zipline and our ship

The best part of the cruise, to me, was not stopping in the different ports but meeting new people and doing things on the ship.  We met the two couples (Sam and Nick, Stephanie and Jose) and not only spent time with them in Jamaica but also played in a dodgeball tournament with them.  Jana and I felt super lucky when it came to our dining seating.  On the first night before dinner, the dining room called us and asked if they could move us to a new table.  We said sure and never knew we would be so lucky!

Our dinner group

Heidi and Trey, Rick and Eileen, Jana and me, and Craig and Rebecca.

I looked forward to dinner every night and it was for the company not the food!  We were the loud, rowdy table in our area.  We spent time together outside of dinner, playing dodgeball and volleyball together and have all become Facebook friends!  Jana and I know that the bar has been set very high for a dinner group if we ever cruise again.

 Our towel animal.  We came "home" to a different one each night!

 I played $.50 in the ship's casino so I could make my father proud!

Well, that is all I have.  You should earn a reward for sitting through and reading all of that.  Speaking of awards, I have 2 silver medals from my volleyball and dodgeball tournaments.