Cruise

Ah, our cruise. Let's just say it was wonderful, as good as hoped for, lots of fun and laughter and LOTS of relaxation. We went on a 7 day western Carribean cruise with three other couples, Mark and Melanie, Greg and Emily and Clint and Amy. Our ports were Roatan, Honduras; Belize City, Belize; and Costa Maya, Mexico. We were supposed to port at a private island on Saturday, but there was a storm, so we stayed behind it and just stayed on the boat. Ryan and I had never been on a cruise before, so we didn't really know what to expect. The boat wasn't as wide as we thought, but it was very long. I don't know if it was full or not, but it could hold 2,300 passengers and had 1,100 crew members, so needless to say, we were well taken care of.

Our adventure started on Saturday, January 30. We drove to Chicago and then flew direct to Miami. Then on Sunday, we boarded the ship. I have to say, I think one of our favorite

parts was the food. It was awesome to eat whenever you wanted to and not have to prepare anything. After we boarded the ship, we didn't have our luggage, so we decided to go to the buffet for lunch. That was our first taste of the smorgasbord that would continue all week!

Each day the "steward" would make up our cabin in the morning and then while we were at supper, he would turn down our cabin. What service! I never had to pick up a dirty towel or fold any laundry. It was great! He would also deliver the Freestyle Daily, a list of all the activities happening on the ship that day. Let me just say, there was something for everyone. We skipped all the shopping and where to find jewelry seminars, but we did enjoy the nightly shows in the theater and the game shows later on in the evening. One night the men got to be part of Family Feud. When the host asked for occupations and Ryan said, "I sell eggs," he laughed and asked Ryan if he was serious. Then he made Ryan trade places with a lady on their team and said he had to be the new captain because he has such an interesting job. Who knew eggs were funny?

I was worried about getting sick, because I am known to get motion sickness, but I got a prescription from my doctor for a patch to wear behind my ear, and it was wonderful. There was only one night when I didn't feel well and had to leave dinner and go to our cabin to sleep. Thankfully, by the next morning, I felt fine again. The rocking of the boat is very pleasant at night when you are laying in bed, it just rocks you to sleep. It's funny because you don't really think about it after awhile, but the second port we went to, we were all feeling like the ground was moving and were happy to get back on the ship. After we got home, I got motion sick from feeling like I was still moving, but not actually moving. It took about 4 days before I didn't feel any movement anymore. A small price to pay for such a great trip.

Our favorite restaurant was one named Tsar's, and it was the dressy one on the ship. It was fun to dress up and actually have time to get ready, do my hair, etc. without kids interrupting. Don't get me wrong, I love my children, but breaks are great too! The first night we dressed up we took some pictures. It was a little windy, but otherwise gorgeous!

The guys posing: Greg, Mark, Clint & Ryan

The ladies posing: Amy, me, Melanie, Emily

Ryan and I

In order to get to all the ports except Costa Maya, we had to take a tender, aka, a lifeboat. These were much better than I had imagined them to be, and I think Amy was relieved that they had engines and seemed able to stay afloat. They held 100 people, so they really crammed us in there.

In Roatan, our first port, Clint, Amy, Ryan and I went to the beach. Our taxi driver took us to a resort that was very nice. The water was so blue, just like I pictured it. It was a little chilly, but after sitting in the sun for hours, it felt good to cool off. Amy and I had a great time people watching while our husbands went fishing. We saw quite a few interesting people, we didn't take any pictures because we were sure no one else would really want to see how these people were dressed! I applied sunscreen 3 times that day, but still managed to get sunburned. Thankfully it wasn't too bad though. The highlight of the day was the $10 massage. It was superb!

This is the beach where we camped out.

On the floor there were paintings of a zebra and a giraffe. I got this picture of the giraffe's head.

Me, Ryan, Clint & Amy after relaxing at the beach all day.

Inside the lifeboat on the way back to the ship.

At second port, in Belize City, we hung out with Clint & Amy again and we went shopping and site seeing. We found a telephone company and bought a calling card to call home. It was good to talk to the kids. The first thing Cameron asked was, "How is your cruise going?" I knew that they were having fun, so it was easy to not worry about them.

As we were walking down the street, we saw this sign and made Ryan pose with it. We went into a grocery store and it was amazing how high the prices were. Cereal was about $7-$10 a box, granola bars were about $5 a box and eggs were $3 or $4 a dozen. It made us thankful for our prices at home.

Ryan and I on the tender back to the ship.

Here we are in the Spinnaker Lounge. This is where the game shows and other events were in the evenings. It was at the very front of the boat, so you could really feel the movement of the ship. Thankfully at night they had the shades covering the windows, so it didn't feel as bad as when you could see the water.

The long dock in Costa Maya.

In Costa Maya Ryan and I went to the Mayan ruins. It was very cool to see how the Mayan people were able to build such buildings without modern tools.

Steps up to temple.

Here you could see the faded red paint that was originally on all the buildings. It was preserved on this side because of how it was surrounded by trees and the direction it was facing.

A picture of our ship, the Jewel.

This is the back of the ship. The row of windows at the bottom is in the restaurant that we liked, Tsar's.

Inside Tsar's

Congregating in the piano lounge before dinner.

Some more pictures of us. Notice some people in the background, trying to be part of the picture. When you don't have kids with you, you tend to revert to acting like them sometimes. There was never a dull moment, that's for sure!

Clint and Amy

Ryan and I, oh yeah, and Greg

Greg and Emily, and Clint

In case you haven't noticed, all of the men in our group are bald. This was a topic of conversation a lot during the week, so one night we decided to take a picture of the tops of their heads to see who had the most and the least hair, and to see if they are recognizable from the top. Can you see who is who?

Some pictures of our cabin.

There is a lot more that I'm sure I'm forgetting, and I might add more as I think of it. We are so thankful to our parents, who generously kept the kids for the week; this trip would not have been possible without you!