Anniversary Cruise

For our one year wedding anniversary, Logan and I went on a week long Caribbean cruise with Mike and Leanne.  This was our first cruise, and we had a great time.  The cruise left out of Galveston (not a beautiful cruise destination…) and went to Cozumel, Jamaica, and Grand Cayman.  Although we hadn’t publicly announced my pregnancy yet, I was 9 weeks along at the start of the cruise – and really worried about being sick the entire time.  We lucked out, and for some reason, the morning sickness and the motion of the ship complimented each other perfectly, and I felt the best I’d felt in weeks! 

On the balcony of our room in Galveston.    Our stateroom, looking from the balcony.  From the other side. After settling in and unpacking, we headed over to The Windjammer, which is the all you can eat buffet.  (Actually, everything is all you can eat, and already paid for.  Quite dangerous!)  I loved the carved watermelons at the entrance!
An ice sculpture of a Texas Longhorn, and more Texan watermelon carvings.
Yummy lunch!
The view of the back of the boat from The Windjammer.

The next day, we had lunch at Johnny Rockets.  And what Jonny Rockets experience is complete without a chocolate shake??  It was delicious!
   
On the first formal dinner night, Logan and I were actually invited to eat at the Captain’s table!  Our room was at the end of the hall at the front of the ship, and the only rooms past ours were the Captains living quarters, and the Bridge, where they “drive” the ship.  The day before, we walked out of our room at the same time as the Captain of the ship, and the Staff Captain.  We talked with them, and they found out that this was our first cruise.  The next day we had an invitation on our door to join them for dinner that night!  There were only two other couples that were invited to eat with them.  We had a special menu (lobster and filet mignon) and were seated in the center of the 3 story dining room.  Quite the experience! 

Afterwards, we met up with Mike and Leanne for cocktails.  (My specialty drink for the week – water.  Sometimes with lime if I was feeling a little crazy.  Oh, and the real treat was my one diet coke a day at dinner!) 
I LOVED the towel animals our stateroom attendant made for us!  At the beginning of the week, I was finishing the book Water for Elephants, so I really enjoyed the little elephant he made us. 
Arriving in Cozumel, Mexico.
In Cozumel, Logan and I took a boat to “Passion Island” for the day.  Apparently, one of the Corona commercials was filmed there.  Anyway, the boat ride there was beautiful!  I was surprised at how blue the water was.  On the way back, we actually saw some flying fish, which was really cool.  Passion Island – plenty of space for relaxing! Clear blue water!  (I thought it was cold, but it was perfect for Logan.) 
I got sunburned pretty badly the first day on the boat, so I spent the majority of my time in the shade in a hammock, reading and relaxing.  Have I mentioned how much I LOVE hammocks??   Beautiful Cozumel water on the way back to the ship!   Our cruise ship.  It was huge. 
Loved that water!
Cozumel.
I thought these “seats” at a beach bar were pretty cute.   
Two Royal Caribbean ships docked next to each other.  You can really see how massive they are next to all the tiny people.  Our home for the week.   
Since I was still sunburned, instead of spending my afternoon baking on the pool deck, I decided to walk around the ship and take pictures of everything.  Here’s the kid’s pool area.
The chairs covered with yellow towels were reserved for the rich people in the fancy huge suites.     The adults only pool. 
All of the elevators had the day of the week placed in the floor so you don’t forget what day it is. 
The Promenade – where all the shops are. 
The Pig and Whistle – a little pub.
Scoreboard – the sports bar.
The Aquarium Bar.  (I was disappointed the fish were fake!)
Casino Royale – where they take your money as fast as they can. 
The floor at the entrance of the Casino always freaked me out – it’s clear, and had decorations beneath it.  I always felt like I was going to fall through. 
Mmmm… cheesecake at dinner. 
The gorgeous blue water in Grand Cayman!  This picture was taken from our balcony.  The water was so clear that we could actually see fish swimming around from 10 stories up!
We had to ride a little boat to get from our ship to the shore of Grand Cayman.  We passed some other boats on the way. 
Our excursion in Grand Cayman was a catamaran ride and snorkeling!  This was our catamaran. 
Green blue water in Grand Cayman.  
So clear, you can see the reefs!
The first snorkeling site was a sunken ship.  The ship had only been underwater for a few months, but there were still several fish swimming around.  It was a lot easier to see them in person than in the pictures…
The little blue dots are fish.
Logan swam down and took a picture of me snorkeling. 
And I got one of him. 
I LOVED snorkeling around the reefs.  There were a lot more fish, and the reefs themselves were really pretty. 
Big fish in the middle! Striped fish.       The water in Grand Cayman would turn from crystal clear green to the deepest blue.  It was beautiful.  After our snorkeling adventure, we stopped and had lunch at Hammerheads.  Our lunch view.
Logan and Leanne were excited to try a local favorite – Poutine.  It is french fries with cheese and brown gravy.  They were thrilled with it, but I personally prefer just plain fries and ketchup.  :)   
Ugh – we passed a local fish market on the way back to the boat.  No refrigeration of the dead fish.  They just sit out in the open and stink up the air.    We passed this Pirate statue, and Logan, being the good sport that he is, reluctantly agreed to take a quick picture with me.  Good husband. 

Grand Cayman shopping.  I was good and stayed away. 
The view of Grand Cayman from the pool deck of the ship.  
I went back to the room and read on the balcony while enjoying the sunset.  Beautiful!
Later that night, Logan and I went to the Champagne Bar before dinner.  He tried to spice up my usual water by surprising me with some San Pellegrino (sparkling water) with lime.  Unfortunately I thought it was awful… although he became obsessed with San Pellegrino!
 
Us at dinner.
All the waiters sang for us this night. 
Fantastic dessert – three different types of chocolate!
We came back to our room and found this cute little guy! 
Our next stop was Falmouth Jamaica.  The port is still in the process of being built, and there’s no real beach nearby… so none of us were really fans of Jamaica. 
This guy danced on stilts the whole time.  Jamaican band.

There were tons of beautiful wooden carvings.  I got an elephant. 
Now these may have been what made the trip to Jamaica worth it:  the Jamaican Patties.  I have no idea what they were exactly, but Leanne had done her research and said they are a traditional Jamaican food that we had to try.  The inside was filled with your choice of beef and cheese, or chicken and cheese.  I had the beef and cheese… and for some reason it tasted like a bean burrito.  Loved it!   Mmmm…
Enjoying their patties. 
A fresh coconut for us to drink!  See the coconut water inside?  
(It looked much better than it tasted…) 
Back on the boat, I woke up from a nap to the sound of an extremely LOUD Jamaican band.  I wasn’t happy they’d already woken me up that morning at 7 am, and then again during my nap.     
Falmouth port.   Pretty Jamaica – we only had this view from the boat, and not while standing in the actual port.  Shame.    
Our next cute towel animal was a hanging monkey!
Dessert on our last night:  layers of chocolate, covered with more chocolate. 
Sunrise in “beautiful” Galveston the day we arrived back home. 
We had a great week, and I’m already excited thinking about where we can go to celebrate our 2 year wedding anniversary next year…