Caribbean Cruise 2008

We have been home for one week now, and it has taken me that long to get this post up! I had to sort through my 300+ pictures and decide which ones to post.

We flew out Saturday morning and stayed in Tampa that night. Apparently we got out of town just in time - it snowed here while we were away. Check out my sister, Taryn's, blog to see pictures of Jack building a snowman!

Sunday morning we checked in at the cruise terminal, then went across the street to the Florida Aquarium. View from our balcony - just leaving Tampa.
Monday was a sea day - we just hung around the ship and participated in a few of the activities they had on board. We played miniature golf with Jed and Sarah - Sarah is a nurse at Jeff's work. Jeff was supposed to be keeping score, but after a few holes where he didn't do so well, he conveniently stopped.
Jed and Jeff played a few mean rounds of ping-pong with a couple of guys from Germany.
On Tuesday we arrived in the Cayman Islands.
We went out to Stingray City - a sandbar in the ocean where you can swim with the stingrays.
I have to admit, I didn't want to do this at all - Jeff talked me into it. I was creeped out when the stingrays came up behind me and rubbed up against my legs. I was surprised at how big they were. They still have their stingers - they have been tamed by people going to the sandbar for years and feeding them. I held one and even kissed it - they tour guide said it would bring 7 years good luck - we'll just see about that.

I can't take credit for the two bottom photos - I got them off the internet, but it gives you an idea of what we were swimming with!We also went to two other spots along the reef to snorkel. The water was pretty choppy that day - I kept getting water in my snorkel. Jeff had one that wouldn't allow water to go in the top, so he was just fine. I swallowed so much sea water I thought I was going to throw up. I took an underwater camera, but haven't got the film developed yet - I'll post photos when I do.

View of our ship riding the tender back.

The undoubtedly most entertaining, crazy and hilarious night on the cruise was when we all went to karaoke. The girls Jeff works with all put his name in to sing a Garth Brooks song without him knowing. When his name was called, I thought he was going to walk out of the room - but he was a good sport and got up there. I about died laughing. The best part? Someone had a video camera and recorded the whole thing for your listening enjoyment. Click on the photo to see the outstanding performance. Warning: your eardrums might never be the same!
Some of the girls (Camille, Stephanie, Sarah, Alycia) and Dr. Berry also got up there - Sarah took the performance by storm. You would have sworn she had a little too much to drink - but all she had was a coke! I don't think I've laughed that hard in a long time. Click on the photo to see.
On Wednesday we arrived in Cozumel.
We shopped - I almost forgot about how crazy and pushy the people can be to get you into their shops. A friend of mine (Kim) went on this same cruise last month and recommended that we go to Poncho's Backyard for lunch. It was sooooo yummy. Thanks, Kim! Don't ask me what Jeff is doing here.
Another ship docked next to ours.
I participated in the game show mania that night. They had the Halloween dress up night - that is why the staff are in costumes. Unfortunately, they didn't tell anybody about it before hand, so people just had to make up costumes - pretty funny what some people came up with.
A "tropical disturbance" began off the coast of Honduras Wednesday night and was moving up to Belize, so unfortunately they had to cancel that port. We were pretty bummed because we had an awesome excursion planned to some Mayan ruins. We stayed in Cozumel for an extra day. We decided to take a taxi out with Jed and Sarah to San Gervasio, a Mayan ruin site on the island. The ruins were once a hub of worship to the goddess Ix Chel, the Maya Fertility Goddess. Pre-Columbian Maya people would travel to the site and make offerings at certain times of the year. I took so many photos here - I love stuff like this.

These little lizards and iguanas were everywhere:
On the way back to the ship in Cozumel:
Friday we arrived in Roatan, Honduras - an island approximately 30 miles off the mainland.We found an awesome taxi driver with Jed and Sarah who took us on a tour around the island and stopped at a beach on West Bay.



We played in the water and soaked up the sun - you can see Jeff's head in the photo below being overtaken by a wave.
At dinner - Jeff's favorite part!
The whole group on Friday night (minus Laurie and her husband):
I really need to learn how to do night shots - the moon was gorgeous over the water, but I couldn't get the exposure right - this gives you the general idea.
The sunrise on Saturday morning:
Saturday was another sea day - we just lazed around on the ship all day. Sunday morning we disembarked, then went to the pier at St. Petersberg before our 5:20 flight that night. I was so excited to see the kids when I got home - I missed them so much! A huge thank you to Jeff's mom and dad, Taryn, Shawna and Kylie for watching Makele and Jack while we were away. It was so nice knowing they were in good hands!