This is the word our cruise director used every time he said goodbye. He's from England and he was great! It made me happy every time he said it....he even made us say it back to him, which made me twice as happy just to say it. Cheerio was just the start of the awesomely fantastic happiness we enjoyed for 7 days straight! I have been sitting here starring at my screen for 5 minutes because I honestly cannot find the words to describe this vacation. It was so fantastic it almost brings a tear to the eye!
Here's a brief overview and millions (no, seriously) of pictures.
We had two and a half days at sea. The first day and a half, and the very last day were spent on the ship people watching, eating, people watching, eating, people watching, eating, people watching....you get the gist of it, right? In between all the people watching and eating we went to dancing shows, comedy shows, illusionist show, juggling show, karaoke, trivia, hairy man competition, booty shaking competitions, water slide, mini golf, and whatever else we could find. I ate so much ice cream it should be illegal....but it's not illegal, so I did it. By day number three I was so sick of (I cannot believe I am saying this) food, I wanted to puke. Speaking of food, how amazing is it that they can make that much food for 3,600 people?! Craziness.
One of my favorite parts of the actual ship experience was the towel animals. Seriously cute. I couldn't wait to see what Pedro had made for us every night.
Cozumel-We went to Mr. Sanchos beach. I didn't think we would make it there alive because the drivers there are almost as bad as Utah drivers. We snorkeled and laid on the beach. Nothing too spectacular....but it was fun to be on the beach just relaxing and hanging out. Before we left on our cruise, everything that we read said that the shopping in Cozumel was really expensive compared to other ports. Not so. It's the same...and I actually felt like Cozumel had better/more options. I'm not a big souvenir fan so we didn't buy much of anything the whole vacation....but it was fun to look around.
Belize-We went on an excursion in Belize. We took pictures with a waterproof camera, so I will have to scan the pictures in and put them on here later. We went cave tubing & we had to hike through the jungle for 30 minutes to get to the cave. This was one of Dan's favorite parts. The jungle was thick (except for the trail that we were on) and green....just like you see in pictures! It was neat to see. The cave tubing was fun...the water was pretty low so the guides had to pull all of us over lots of rocks....they worked so hard..I kind of felt sad for them. My favorite part was the drive there and back. We rode in a big (hot!) bus and the tour guides told us all about their city and Belizean life.
Roatan-AMAZING. Our favorite place by far. Ronald was our tour guide. He took us all over the Island and told us everything about everything! We loved it. His dream in life is to work on a cruise ship. He is 23 (with 4 daughters) and is trying to finish high school. He kept telling us how boring Roatan was....there is nothing there for him to do. I kept thinking, uh, are you crazy?! He hunts Iguaners (Iguanas), snorkels, and plays basketball after church for fun....his exact words...sounds horribly boring Ronald! The snorkeling at Tabyana beach was incredible! There were fish literally swarming around you. There were so many that I got freaked out and had to go back to shore...I'm a wuss. Fish and fowl....not my favorite things in the world. Dan came and got me and made me go back out with him. It was so awesome we forgot to take pictures. We have some, but none of them do it justice. We even saw an octopus. Craziness! There are no words for this place....you just need to go there!
Grand Cayman-Also amazing! We went to the stingray sand bar on wave runners. We got to hold, pet, kiss, & feed the stingrays. The water was SO clear it was unbelievable. I was so glad that we took wave runners there....the people that went with big groups in boats were all standing together in a HUGE group and I doubt that all of them got to touch one. There were only about 10 of us in our group. It was awesomely fantastic! Loved every minute of it. We took pictures on our waterproof camera here too, so I will have to scan them in and post them later.
I am so glad we got to go on this vacation together....I'd do it again in a heartbeat....but lets keep the camera out of the water this time honey buns, mmmmkaaaay?
There is too much to write about. I wish I had more time to write every little detail....but I have an exam to study for, a baby to watch, and an itchy running nose to wipe (mine, not his). Cheerio!
