One year ago we began discussing a cruise with my family and decided to stop talking about it and book it. So we got a travel agent and booked our Western Caribbean Cruise that would take us out of Galveston, Texas, and we would cruise to Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and Jamaica. In the meantime, DaNae got pregnant and couldn't go and Heather and Darrell decided it wasn't a good time for them either. With the new age change for missionaries, Caden decided to go on his mission after graduation which meant he would not be going to Puerto Rico with us. So Joel and I talked to my Dad and asked him if we could buy his airfare if Caden could stay in his cabin on the ship. He agreed and we surprised Caden for Christmas with some snorkel gear. He was so shocked!
Saturday, March 2nd
Dad drove to Boise on Friday and was our traveling mate. We got up early on Saturday to catch our flight to Houston. We arrived about 2pm.
Justin rented a 12 passenger van for us and picked us up at the Hobby Airport . He and Rhett and Lance were all together. Shalean and Rick got in later. We stayed in Houston at the Hampton Inn and we ate at a yummy restaurant that I can't remember the name.
Sunday, March 3rd
We woke up early to make it to the 9:00 church. The ward members were so nice and we knew we were in a new place when they sang all 8 versus to the songs! haha! After church we drove by NASA Space Center. The guards told us we could go see the building that held one of the first shuttles for free! We were all over that! It was amazing! We headed back to our hotel to change and see if we could squeeze all of our luggage into our van. We packed it all in with no problem! We just had to hang on for dear life as every bump we hit tossed us into the ceiling of the van. When we got to the Royal Caribbean Port in Galeveston, TX we knew we had a long day ahead of us as we stood in line for 3 hours to get onto the boat. Once aboard, we began our exploration of the Mariner of the Seas which entertained us with workout facility, ice skating rink, basketball court, swimming pools and hot tubs, miniature golf, rock climbing wall, shopping, and soft serve ice cream machine for our convenience! This is where we would call home for the next week and we couldn't wait! We finally set sail into the beautiful Caribbean Ocean about 5 pm.
Monday, March 4th
Today we spent the day at sea. We spent most of our day eating, walking around the boat, eating some more, and enjoying the ocean views. The evening show was the Mariner of the Seas dancers and singers.
Tuesday, March 5th
Today was another day at sea. Rick, Joel, and Caden got involved in a dodgeball tournament and they ended up winning the championship game. They loved rubbing it in as they wore their medals around the boat:) Nat and I went to a class on how to have flat stomaches (haha) and missed the whole thing. Our evening show was The Unpredictable Boys (something like that). That night was our first formal night for dinner. It was so fun to be in such a fancy place and eating fancy food while looking out on the ocean watching the sun go down.
Wednesday, March 6th
Today we were happy to get off the boat and enjoy some ocean and snorkeling! The plan was to ride scooters around the island and find our own snorkeling spots, but instead of putting ourselves in danger with the local driving we bought a snorkeling excursion with a glass bottom boat. It was so fun!! The underwater world is amazing and beautiful! It was so funny to see the family snorkel. some wore life jackets and Dad was hilarious in his mask. Everyone was so happy to see such beautiful things. We got a van and drove to get some good food at a restaurant that our van driver just so happened to own. We then went to a resort area and beach and did more snorkeling and laying out etc. It was very nice. It was also Katie's birthday!
Thursday, March 7th
Today we made it to the beautiful Cayman Islands. We were unable to port there so we had boats tender us back and forth to the island. We enjoyed Sting Ray City, and snorkeling in the coral. Then we ended on Seven Mile Beach and had french fries before heading back to the boat. The sand was so cool! It was like stepping into flour. It was hard to say good-bye and leave such an incredible place. Everything was much more expensive here and a lot more Americanized then the other places.
Friday, March 8th
Today was our last stop, Jamaica! We had a hard time deciding what to do at this stop, but when we got off the boat we soon found that our decision was already made because everything was sold out because everyone had bought their excursions on the ship! Royal Caribbean owned the port in Jamaica and made it a lot more safe in their area. They had a few shops where we did all of our shopping and then when you step into the Jamaican land its a whole new world. We found a van ride to Dunns River Falls. On the way we talked the driver into stopping at Grotto Caves. They were cool, but very hot. We were anxious to get into the cool Falls. They were beautiful! Our leader video taped us dong stupid "I Love Jamaica" and "Hot, Hot, Hot...Wet, Wet, Wet" cheers. It was hilarious! We laughed so hard! The Jamaicans wanted our money and we had stepped into the territory and they weren't going to let us go without a fight. So stupid us ended up being the last ones off the falls. All our guides held out their hands for tips. Then as we walked through the area that they all have their shops etc. Carleen took a picture and one of them posed with her and then said that because he did that she and Justin needed to go to his shop and buy something. Then a guy handed Caden a wooden statue and said it was free then asked his name and quickly carved it. Then asked my name and quickly carved it and then demanded money. Joel told him he didn't want it and the guy got angry and followed Joel to me. I made it out and was waiting by the van. I just stared at the ground and walked straight forward. Joel gave the guy $5 and he got mad and said it was not a good deal. Justin didn't get out so well, he and Carlean and a huge bag of stuff. We were happy to get out of there.
Friday, March 9th
Today we spent another day at sea. There was another dodgeball tournament with Joel, Caden,Rick and Justin and some other people we met that went to BYU. They called themselves the Cougars. They were on fire! But ended up throwing a ball into the ocean which made them lose a game. They came in 2nd place. Then the girls went to a class at the Spa about choosing our colors. I found that I am a winter. We all bought a bronzer that makes us look tan. We ended our day going to a game show that was really inappropriate so we left to get some dessert:)
Saturday, March 10th
Today was our last day at sea. We played miniature golf with Dad and Rick and Shalean. We Spent some time laying in the sun and chilling in the ocean breeze. We decided to stay away from the filthy shows and we went and sat in the hot tub on the top deck and watched the new James Bond movie on the big screen.
Sunday, March 11th
We made it back to American soil! It was such an awesome trip and a fun time to spend with family!! We have so many funny moments and memories. We spent all day in the airports. We got dropped off at 10 am and didn't fly out until 6 pm. We flew into Boise at midnight.
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