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Monday, April 18, 2011

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.  1.  On balcony in Galveston  Our stateroom, looking from the balcony.  2.  Stateroom 1230 From the other side. 3.  Balcony view 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!4.  Watermelons in Windjammer
An ice sculpture of a Texas Longhorn, and more Texan watermelon carvings. 5.  Ice sculpture
Yummy lunch!6.  Windjammer lunch
The view of the back of the boat from The Windjammer.
1.  View from back of boat
The next day, we had lunch at Johnny Rockets.  And what Jonny Rockets experience is complete without a chocolate shake??  It was delicious!
2.  Chocolate Shake  4.  Mike and Leanne at Johnny Rockets 5.  Logan and Lorin at Johnny Rockets 
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!)  7.  Formal Night
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.  8.  Towel Elephant
Arriving in Cozumel, Mexico. 9.  Cozumel port at sunrise
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.  10.  Riding boat to Island 18.  Logan and Lorin on boat from Passion Island11.  Cozumel water Passion Island – plenty of space for relaxing!12.  Passion Island 13.  Passion Island Clear blue water!  (I thought it was cold, but it was perfect for Logan.)14.  Cozumel beach water 
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??16.  Hammock 17.  Logan and Lorin at Passion Island  Beautiful Cozumel water on the way back to the ship!19.  Cozumel water 20.  Cozumel water from boat  Our cruise ship.  It was huge.  23.  Voyager of the Seas
Loved that water!24.  Cozumel water
Cozumel. 25.  Cozumel port
I thought these “seats” at a beach bar were pretty cute.  26.  Bar swings 
Two Royal Caribbean ships docked next to each other.  You can really see how massive they are next to all the tiny people.  28.  Between two ships Our home for the week.  29.  Voyager of the Seas 
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. 31.  Kids pool
The chairs covered with yellow towels were reserved for the rich people in the fancy huge suites.  32.  Pool deck   The adults only pool.  35.  Adult Solarium
All of the elevators had the day of the week placed in the floor so you don’t forget what day it is.  36.  Elevator Days
The Promenade – where all the shops are.  37.  Royal Promenade
The Pig and Whistle – a little pub. 38.  The Pig and Whistle
Scoreboard – the sports bar. 39.  Scoreboard
The Aquarium Bar.  (I was disappointed the fish were fake!)40.  Aquarium bar
Casino Royale – where they take your money as fast as they can.  41.  Casino Royale
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.  42.  Floor of Casino
Mmmm… cheesecake at dinner.  43.  Cheesecake
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!44.  Grand Cayman Water
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.  45.  Tendering into Grand Cayman
Our excursion in Grand Cayman was a catamaran ride and snorkeling!  This was our catamaran.  46.  Catamaran
Green blue water in Grand Cayman. 47.  On Catamaran in Grand Cayman  49.  Sail
So clear, you can see the reefs!50.  Grand Cayman 51.  On Catamaran 52.  Grand Cayman water 53.  Grand Cayman Water
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…102.  Snorkeling101.  Snorkeling100.  Snorkeling
The little blue dots are fish. 99.  Snorkeling
Logan swam down and took a picture of me snorkeling.  103.  Lorin underwater
And I got one of him.  98.  Logan
I LOVED snorkeling around the reefs.  There were a lot more fish, and the reefs themselves were really pretty.  93.  Snorkling 94.  Snorkeling 95.  Snorkeling
Big fish in the middle!96.  Snorkeling Striped fish. 97.  Snorkeling      The water in Grand Cayman would turn from crystal clear green to the deepest blue.  It was beautiful.  55.  Grand Cayman water After our snorkeling adventure, we stopped and had lunch at Hammerheads.  59.  Hammerheads60.  Hammerheads56.  Lunch at Hammerheads in Grand Cayman Our lunch view. 57.  Lunch at Hammerheads in Grand Cayman
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.  :) 58.  Poutine  
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.  61.  Smelly fish market  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.  64.  Pirate with Logan and Lorin

Grand Cayman shopping.  I was good and stayed away.  63.  Grand Cayman
The view of Grand Cayman from the pool deck of the ship.   65.  Grand Cayman
I went back to the room and read on the balcony while enjoying the sunset.  66.  Sunset at Grand Cayman Beautiful!67.  Sunset in Grand Cayman
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!
68.  San Pellegrino at Champagne Bar 
Us at dinner. 70.  Logan and Lorin at dinner
All the waiters sang for us this night.  69.  Waiters Singing
Fantastic dessert – three different types of chocolate!71.  Dessert trio
We came back to our room and found this cute little guy!  72.  Towel rabbit 73.  Towel rabbitt
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.  79.  Falmouth Jamaica
This guy danced on stilts the whole time.  74.  Jamaica 75.  Horse drawn carriage Jamaican band. 76.  Jamaican band

There were tons of beautiful wooden carvings.  I got an elephant.  77.  Carved wooden animals
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! 78.  Jamaican patties  Mmmm…84.  Jamaican patty
Enjoying their patties.  80.  Mike and Leanne with Jamaican Patties
A fresh coconut for us to drink!  See the coconut water inside? 81.  Inside Coconut 
(It looked much better than it tasted…)83.  Lorin with coconut drink 
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.    85.  View of Jamaican band from balcony 
Falmouth port. 87.  Falmouth Jamaica  Pretty Jamaica – we only had this view from the boat, and not while standing in the actual port.  Shame.  89.  Falmouth Jamaica 90.  Falmouth Jamaica  
Our next cute towel animal was a hanging monkey!1.  Towel monkey
Dessert on our last night:  layers of chocolate, covered with more chocolate.  3.  Brownie sandwich and ice cream
Sunrise in “beautiful” Galveston the day we arrived back home.  4.  Sunrise in galveston
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…