"Pirates" on the Caribbean!

Don't we look happy? We should...Steele won a Caribbean Cruise through work... and January seemed like the perfect time to get out of town and head to warmer climates! So now...seven days later and seven pounds heavier...we're back from our first ever cruise! We sailed on Royal Caribbeans Voyager of the Seas and visited four different Caribbean islands.
First stop Haiti...Royal Caribbean has their own private beach there. So we enjoyed a 92 degree day at the beach, complete with crystal blue water, white sandy beaches, live entertainment and a fantastic barbecue! We divided our time between sunning, swimming, snorkeling and ...of course, eating.
After a day on the beach we boarded the ship and enjoyed a little more sun by the pool, and an evening of meeting new people, enjoying fine dining, great entertainment, and leisurely strolls around the deck.










Next stop...Jamaica! Truthfully, most of Jamaica, I could do without. Sorry...I know that sounds terrible, and I only had a few hours there, so it's not really fair of me to make such a harsh judgment...but I would have skipped our day in Jamaica and spent it on Grand Cayman! We did get to climb The Dunn River Falls though. (Well, Steele climbed, I photographed.) They were spectacular! Everyone held hands and then climbed up this 600 foot waterfall! It was an amazing sight! Of course, in my absence, Steele did manage to find some very cute Brazilian twins to guide him up the falls! (You can tell by his face how disappointed he was that I wasn't there!)











Now on to my favorite island...Grand Cayman! I'd heard wonderful things about Grand Cayman, but you simply have to see it to believe it. When we got there we boarded a 60 foot catamaran and sailed off to "Stingray Bay." Against my better judgment, we jumped into the water where we fed and swam with giant stingrays! I was fine as long as the stingrays stayed in front of me, but I must admit... it was a little alarming to have them come up and bump into you from behind. It took me a minute to gain a testimony of this activity, but once I did, it was great!


Last stop Cozumel. We were really looking forward to doing some snorkeling here. The water is suppose to be some of the clearest in the world. Unfortunately, we didn't know exactly where this water was. We thought we could just snorkel off the shore somewhere, so we headed to the beach to find our perfect water. Unfortunately, we realized too late that this beach, although beautiful, was not the perfect beach for snorkeling. We still had a great day! Steele found a little 10 foot Hobie to sail and on our way home we found a great little place to snorkel. If we are ever lucky enough to go there again, we will be little better informed! Of course, you can never go wrong when you are lucky enough to spend the day on a beautiful, sunny beach!

We really enjoyed our first cruise. As Nick said, " It's like staying in a five star hotel that floats!"He was right. We had great weather, fabulous food, first rate entertainment, great service...and my personal favorite...new little friends to greet us when we came in each night. As fun as all this was, I was happy to step back on good old American soil and especially on my own front porch!