bailey

Okay, okay, I know I'm a little behind. I've been waiting for my cruise pics to be ready, but that may take a while. I forgot to take my camera charger and wouldn't you know it, my battery died and I couldn't find the right size anywhere. So we took most pics with a 35mm camera. I need to scan them all in once I develop them. Anyhow, my sister took some so I going to steal her pics for now and post some more later.

We flew into Miami at around 11:00 pm. It took all day to fly; we had two transfers and two different airlines. My sister, her husband, my mom, and a friend all went on the cruise with us, although we flew separately because we all booked at different times.

Day 1--Sail From Miami

We spent most of the day checking in, getting settled in our rooms and exploring the ship. The ship is so big, I still got lost even on the last day there. We had to take maps with us everywhere, and even then, it didn't help that much.

On deck there were several pools and hot tubs, a water slide, big screen TV, track, a few bars and eating places including: buffets, chinese, 24 hr pizzaria, etc.

Inside the ship there were several more eating places, a casino, a gym, a library, several entertainment areas like karaoke, piano sing along, bands with dancing, grand theatre, etc.

They also provided entertainment throughout the trip like the game-show Jessica was in and won a Ship-on-a-Stick.

Day 2--Day at Sea

The next day was a day at sea and also the first formal night, which just meant we were supposed to dress up nice for dinner and they had photograpers there if you wanted pics. Some people wore tuxedos and stuff. The restaurant was great. We ate there pretty much every night. They had a different menu every night, but there were some things you could order all the time. Our favorite was the Chocolate Melting Cake which we still crave. OOY GOOY GOODNESS!! Suffice to say we stuffed ourselves the whole trip. Why not when it's offered all the time and free!

The people who cleaned our rooms always made litte animal people with our towels. We had a different animal every day and they cleaned our rooms twice a day.

Day 3--Ochos Rios, Jamaica

Bryant and I didn't have anything booked for Jamaica, but we heard the falls were the place to go so when we got off the ship we just hopped on a boat that was taking people over there. We didn't know that the hike was actually in the water going up the falls. We figured we'd get wet, but not actually swimming. It was way fun though. Everyone was supposed to hold hands and make sure noone fell. The guides were so much fun making us hoop, holler, and cheer the whole time. I only have one pic because Jessica already had a tour booked, but just happened to see us when they were coming down.

We didn't do much shopping because, as soon as we went crossed the gate to go to the town, we were bombarded with Jamaicans wanting to sell us stuff. It was worse than Tiajuana. There was one guy wanting to sell pot to us and another guy said some suggestive things to me. So we got back on the ship.

Day 4--Grand Caymen Islands

Grand Caymen was awsome! So pretty! The only thing we booked before we left was a boat trip to Sting Ray City. Stingraycitytrips.com. The boat took us snorkeling to two places and then to Sting Ray City. It's just like a little plateau under the water where the sting rays seem to gather. I'm sure they do something to make them stay there, but I'm not sure what because it's not really by the shore at all. It's out in the middle of the water. Anyway, the stingrays were swimming all around us and it was kindof scary. I would scream when one would come swim up against me. The guide had us hold one, kiss it, then get a back massage from it.

Day 5--Day at Sea

The next day was another day at sea and another formal night. We went and watched some karaoke, did some more dancing, and took some nice pics.

Day 6--Cozumel, Mexico

The last stop we made was in Cozumel and Bryant's company has buggies in a tour company there, so we figured we deliver some stuff for the buggies and write part of the trip off for taxes. We didn't plan anything because we didn't know what was going to happen, we just knew we were meeting one of the owners. We did some shopping and then met the guy who drove us to the tour place. I just have to say, it was awesome, awsome, awesome!! They treated us like royalty. First they gave us a tour of the place where they do the buggy and 4-wheel tours. Then we did the buggy tour with another couple. Oh it was so much fun! It had been raining so the ground was covered in puddles and it was really bumpy; we were drenched in mud! We drove through the jungle to a sinote. This used to be an underground cave with water in it, and it had fallen in to make a sortof doughnut water hole. There were bats everywhere! They had it cleaned so we could swim in it. We swam with the bats!! It was kind of scary but so much fun. Then we rode the buggies to some more caves and learned some history of the Mayans. When we were done with the tour they drove us to their snorkeling beach place. I guess they have a tour where you can ride the 4-wheelers and go snorkeling. The fed us and took us back to the ship. Wow wow! Riding the buggy was definitely my favorite thing of the trip. When I get my pics back I'll post some of the sinote. It was awesome! Wild-tours.com

Day 7--Say Goodbye

The last day we got back to Miami. We actually did spend a little time there this time, but we were too pooped to do too much. We were definitely ready to come back home.

I'm so grateful that my dad is willing to do these races with me. If not, I would end up doing a lot of them by myself. This race we flopped what we'd signed up for. I did the sprint, while he did the olympic. It was his first olympic race, and he is amazing for doing it! I'm so proud of him.

We actually had good weather this time so none of the race got cancelled. While we were there we spent some of the time at the lake and played. Bryant found himself a new snorkel mask under the water. He tried to find an owner, but no luck. Actually it is lucky because we were thinking of getting him one anyways to take on the cruise. The girls loved it. I think the best, cheapest activity for the kids is at the lake. They could play all day and not get bored.