Our Royal Vacation!!! Day 7, Our last full day at sea!!! About This Page:

[chezp]

Sounds like another great day Tara! The excursion sounds pretty - but I would've taken the rope climb as well!

[wdwlovers]

Thanks for the installlments and the pictures Tara! Looks like you had a blast on this cruise! I love all the drinks you got to try!

[GoofyMom]

This is really sounding like a heavenly vacation! I'm wondering how many of those souvenir "drink of the day" glasses you came home with!

[disneyknut]

OMG Tara! I just got caught up in your trip report & sat here reading about Katie being out.. How scary for you & John!!
So glad to read that Day 2 was a lot better & boy you guys clean up pretty nice!! Adorable pics!!

[luvnwdwgal]

Sounds like a pretty cool shore excursion! Bring on some more Tara!!!

[goofy4goofy]

Your excursion sounded like a ton of fun! Thanks for sharing it with us!

I can't wait for the next installment!

Kelly

[Colexis Mom]

Wow Tara, just catching up with your report. What a great time you are all having I the picture of you guys at formal night, it came out great. And I absolutely love Katie's gown. What a great color!!

The cave tour in Belize sounds wonderful, and very different! Keep it coming, the pictures are fantastic and it's a great job as usual

[Tara O'Hara]

I have to figure out a way to sort my pictures better because I just found another cool picture from last night! For some reason, when I put my pictures in an album, they don't go in in order-even if i click on them in order! Anyway, this picture is from dinner on Tuesday. The reason I am posting it is becuase it has a cute little story behind it!


Our singing 'Italian' waitstaff!

I forgot to mention that for dinner every night, the waitstaff dressed in themed vests or tuxes. Since this was Venetian feast night, everyone had on bightly colored Venetian themed vests. After dinner, the entire three decks of waitstaff went over to the balcony area and sang an aria!! It was a medley of Italian songs with, of course, a Royal Caribbean plug inserted. It was really something to see. Even the kids were impressed!

Wednesday, April 7th-Grand Cayman and Stingray City!!!

You guys, I couldn't believe that today was already Wednesday!! This week was flying by! Why do we wait so long for vacations and they they come and go so quickly?! Anyway, I know I said that we were due to arrive in Grand Cayman at 10AM, but in checking the Cruise Compass for today, I got it mixed up with Cozumel and we were actually not due into port until 1PM. We were once again up with the sea birds, had an early breakfast and let the kids sleep in while we went to watch the sunrise! We checked the schedule for today and went for a walk around to check out some parts of the ship we hadn't seen yet.

We first went up to the beautiful wedding chapel, then the rock climbing wall and the golf deck. We saw a cute little in-line skating track and decided to try that later when it opened. There was also a huge basketball court and a mini-golf green that went all the way around the ship! We were just in time for a Walk-A-Thon and decided to sign up for that. We did four laps around the ship, then went in-line skating for a bit! It was way fun!

By this time, it was 10:45 and time to sign up for 'Win A Cruise' Bingo!!! This would be the beginning of Muffin's closet Bingo addiction! At first he said 'no way!' again-then he decided he didn't have anything better to do! Whatever, Muffin! Thanks for the sacrifice! We bought our cards and found a seat in the theater. I, of course, had to get the drink of the day, which was a Rum Punch. And Donna-you are right! I am embarrassed to say that I have 5 Royal Caribbean collector 'drink of the day' glasses! Anyway, we didn't win a cruise, but we had a great time! I am telling you guys, it was all because of the Bingo host. His name was Hamisch and he was from Jamaica and I hope they pay him alot of money! He is absolutely hysterical and makes you want to come back to the next Bingo! It's like some kind of weird hypnosis or something, but I found myself disappointed when I couldn't come to Bingo! Anyway, Muffin made fun of him, but I caught him more than once cracking up at the guy! Hamisch would tell jokes like 'Why did the man throw his wife overboard?'........Tequila! ( Get it?!?!)

Anyway, it was a gorgeous day and we once again went outside to watch the ocean. I don't know if we were just lucky or not, but the water was so calm and you really could get lost just standing there watching the waves go by! Here is a picture of Muffin out on the deck:


Muffin out on the deck!

Do we not look happy in all of these pictures?!?! Anyway, we skipped lunch on the ship today because we were to be docked in Grand Cayman very shortly and I am a big Hard Rock Cafe shirt collector! I had done some research and knew there was one here, so I was looking forward to picking up some Caribbean themed HRC t's!

Finally, it was time to tender ashore! The kids found us and we got ourselves together for today's excursion, which would be Stingray City snorkeling. Once again, we did not need to obtain tender tickets as we had prepurchased this excursion. We got in line to get off the ship and were on our way to Grand Cayman in a huge tender!!


I hope you can see the color of the water here! It truly is like a jewelled blue.


I will be impressed for the rest of my life with the size of the Voyager!


The beautiful shoreline of Grand Cayman


Another coastal view


Land Ho!

We immediately spotted the Hard Rock and headed over for lunch. There were 7 cruise ships docked here today and the Hard Rock was a popular lunch spot, but we really didn't wait that long and I went and purchased my shirts while we were waiting. Lunch was delicious!







We still had a little time before our Stingray adventure, so we walked around the shopping area for a bit. Grand Cayman, unlike Belize, is quite built up and beautiful. It is more like what I pictured the Caribbean to be like with blue, blue water and brightly colored shops. We thoroughly enjoyed just walking around and soaking in the atmosphere of this beautiful place!

Continued in next post..............

[Tara O'Hara]

It was time to head back to the dock and meet up with our tour to Stingray City. Boy was it getting hot and humid out! I made everyone put on extra sunscreen, as we had to wait a while in the sun for our bus.


Our sunny bus terminal




Mike looking cool in the heat!

The bus takes you to the other side of the island and drops you off at a two story fishing boat. It then takes about 45 minutes to get out to Stingray City. The tour guide said it was over a six mile boat trip!

Here are some photos of our boat ride out:


Mike and a girl, of course! My son is a babe magnet!


This is the channel we went through.


The gorgeous Caribbean water!


Mike again, in all his snorkeling glory!

Even though Mike put his snorkel gear on, the tour guide told us that the water was not deep at all and we really didn't need the gear. Boy, was he NOT kidding! The water was about 18 inches deep and although I would not want to discourage anyone from taking this excursion, we were very diasappointed in it! Maybe, it was just because it as Easter week and there were lots of people at once here, but I am telling you guys, there were exactly two Stingrays to about 500 people! To top it off, one was pregnant and wouldn't eat from your hand. The setting was absolutely gorgeous, but I was glad that we had only paid 45 bucks for this excursion. Also, in the RCCL book, they describe unlimited free drinks and snacks. This is way not true! You get free lemonade and water and the snack size bags of Doritos cost 2 dollars a piece! It was 4 dollars for a Stingray beer! I just didn't like the fact that this was misrepresented in many ways. I have heard of people who have come here and the place was teaming with Rays, so I guess we just picked the wrong time to come! Despite all of this, we had a great time anyway-after all, the sheer beauty of the place was amazing!!

We got back to the dock at 4PM and decided to check out a few more shops before boarding the ship. I got a really nice watch and Katie got a cool throw blanket. We then headed back for dinner.

Tonight dinner was Caribbean casual, so we all wore our brightly colored vacation shirts. Dinner was colorful and delicious as usual! The kids were excited to go to some kind of scavenger hunt after dinner, so we let them go before dessert and of course, didn't see them until after midnight! Muffin and I had plans to see the Krooze Comics later on and went to the Royal Promenade for Dancing in the Street! There was a band set up right in the middle of the Promenade that played great dance music and we had a ball! We then went to the Casino again for a little while. After this, Muffin, all of a sudden, got a little bit of a stomach attack! He said he would be fine, but, alas, begged off of the rest of the evening's activities. I went by myself to see the Krooze Comics and I was really glad that I did! You guys, these people are amazing! Not only are they funny, but they can do lots of other stuff!! I was in tears at one point from laughter. I still wasn't tired after this, so I went to check on Muffin, who was sound asleep and then went to the first of two midnight buffets. This one was on the pooldeck and was Caribbean themed. They had a steel drum band and stations with hoagies, tacos, meat carving, snacks, drinks, you name it!! I really don't think I will be getting on a scale anytime soon, you guys! Anyway, I missed Muffin, but had a pretty good time by myself and ran into the kids, who of course, didn't want to hang with me, but were at least hanging with each other and a bunch of other teens as well. They truly looked like they were having a great time, so I just said Hi and left them alone! Finally, around 1AM, I was pretty exhausted and made my way back to our stateroom. Shortly after that, the kids came in and fell fast asleep once again!!

[GoofyMom]

Wowee! Another terrific day! Hamisch sounds like he was a hoot - his joke was really bad, but that's right up my alley! That's really too bad the Stingray excursion was disappointing. And I hope Muffin is all better tomorrow.

[luvnwdwgal]

Great updates Tara! Sorry your stingray encounter didn't turn out well but I'm glad you got your HRC t-shirts!

[goofy4goofy]

Another great installment!!!! I love the pictures too!!!

A friend of mine just showed me pictures of her cruise on the Princess Cruise Line. They, too, went to Stingray City and there were a ton of stingrays. You must have just hit it on the wrong day. Maybe next time, huh?

Again, thanks for the latest installment! Can't wait for more!

Kelly

[Colexis Mom]

Another great day Tara Sorry the stingray's didn't live up to expectation Hope Muffin's doing better tomorrow Keep it coming

[Tara O'Hara]

Thursday, April 8th-Cozumel

Okay, you guys! So..........we again were set to dock in Cozumel at 1PM. We got up around 8 and ate a liesurely breakfast in the dining room this morning. I had french toast, which was yummy!! It was especially great, because I had been craving it all week and instead was opting for healthy choices like yogurt and fruit and granola! Today, though, for some reason, I just had to have syrup and a warm breakfast. We sat at a table with a bunch of other people and had some nice conversations about shore excursions and teens. We met one couple from Mexico, but Baja, Mexico! They were celebrating their 20th anniversary and had never been to the Mexican Riviera. They also had four kids and were also having a grand time! I swear it was almost like Disney. I didn't meet anyone who was having a lousy time or hated the cruise!

After we ate, we went to an art auction. We didn't buy anything, but having never been to an art auction, it was pretty interesting to see one in action! We then signed up for Happy Hour Bingo-two for one drinks, Donna! This time Muffin just said,"oh, get me a card!" This tickled me pink!! Noone had won the grand jackpot yet and it was up to around 6,000 dollars. The drink of the day was a Vodka Collins-blech! but all of the drinks were two for one at Bingo! I had not one, but two Pina Coladas! Again, we didn't win a penny, but I was never so happy to lose my money! We went for a swim and then back to the stateroom to change for lunch and I finally got a couple of pictures of our rooms:


Chris and Mike


Our room


The other side of our room. Please excuse the mess!


Muffin being a geek!


Chris and Katie in the hallway.

We ate a quick lunch and both today and tomorrow, we were dry docked and would not have to tender ashore! We arrived in Cozumel right on schedule. Today we were going parasailing and everyone was excited! That wasn't for a couple of hours, though, so we did some extensive shopping beforehand and even had time to bring our stuff back to the ship! Here are some port pictures:






Me and Mike at the dock!

Here, the kids bought lots of stuff. Poppy had given them each a hundred bucks and I think they took a nice chunk out of it in Cozumel. Mike and Chris both got hats and T-shirts from Senor Frogs, Katie got a silver bracelet and a pair of earrings and Muffin and I bought a really cool print and a bottle of Kahlua. Liquor is way cheap here, you guys! We took everything back and met our tour for parasailing at the dock. There were only us and two other people, so it was very nice. I cannot describe the exhilarating feeling you get up in the sky!! It is truly amazing. You feel as though you are floating and everything looks so peaceful!! We all thoroughly enjoyed this adventure and I would do it again tomorrow, given the opportunity!! Here are a few pics:


I know that you can't tell, but that is Chris and Mike!


That's me and Kate!!


Me and Katie coming back down to earth!


A closer shot of Chris and Mike


Let's not forget Muffin! He got to go by himself!

When we were done, we walked back to the shopping district and decided to check out Carlos and Charlie's. I am trying to find the right words, without sounding prudish, for this place. Whoa!! Is it wild!!! Perhaps ten years ago, I would have been doing tequila shots and dancing on the benches, but with three teenagers and the heat, we ordered a drink and wound up leaving right after! The kids must have been uncomfortable, as well, because they didn't even protest! It was ungodly hot at this point and we all voted to go back to the ship for a swim! The long and short of it is-we never set foot back on Cozumel, except for Muffin, who returned later that evening to get his mom a present and wound up bringing me back a beautiful silver chain with a turquoise stone! Don't get me wrong-this is a gorgeous port and I would totally come back here, again!! I think the heat just got to us today.

We went rock climbing, did a trivia contest and I went to a digital photography class. It was really fun!! After dinner, when Muffin went back ashore, I hung out at the sports bar and had a grand time!! Afterwards, I went to the Casino and won 300 bucks!! Of course, I wound up spending it on other things, but it was great fun to win! We also went to a Broadway Tune production at La Scala, which was awesome!! I honestly thoroughly enjoyed each and every show that I went to in the theater this week!! After the show, we were quite tired and went straight to bed! Even the kids were in by midnight tonight!

[Colexis Mom]

Another great update Tara. Ooh, Senor Frog's and Carlos and Charlies That takes me back to Spring Break in Cancun about 15 years ago Parasailing looks like such fun, glad you all had a great time Looking forward to more