Monday, November 21, 2011
Early Thanksgiving
This weekend we went to Mechanicsville and Newport News to celebrate Thanksgiving with our families since I have to work Thanksgiving night. Friday we ate dinner in Mechanicsville with most of Justin's family at a delicious Asian restaurant. Saturday we spent the day with my parents, visited Justin's grandparents, and ate a traditional Thanksgiving dinner with them. Sunday on our way back home, we had brunch with some of the other members of Justin's family in Mechanicsville. It was a quick trip but we got to see a lot of family and eat a lot of great food.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Grand Cayman Island & Mexico
Thursday we docked beside the Grand Cayman Islands. There was no pier so we had to take a "tender" to get to shore. From there we took a taxi to "7 mile beach" and relaxed and played in the water for a little while there. We could see the ship from where we were, so we decided to walk back to the ship. It took us about 1.5 hours to walk back but we got to see a lot of cool things along the way. We saw the Ritz hotel, lots of fish among the waters with more coral in it, lots and lots of coral, and I stepped on a bee! (Ouchie! but my foot is fine now)
Friday was our last port and the one I was the most excited about because of the excursion we had picked to go on. We docked beside Cozumel, Mexico, which is and island. But then we took a very rough ferry over to the mainland. From there we boarded a tour bus to Tulum, which has a section of the Mayan ruins. On the ride, our tour guide spoke for over an hour about the Mayans. It was definitely really interesting.
After touring Tulum, we got back on the bus to go to the beach where we had our very our private Mexican lunch. The food was really excellent, I was like, "so this is what Mexican food is supposed to taste like!" Definitely way fresher tasting than anything you'd find around here. It was also my favorite of the 4 beaches we went to. Just really lovely water and so picturesque.
Saturday was a day at sea and our last day on the boat. We got to see Puss in Boots in 3D in the afternoon. It was a cooler day so I didn't spend that much time outside, but it was still a very restful day. Sunday we got off the ship around 9am and drove back home. Good thing we had our kitties waiting for us or we might not have ever come back!
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| the Ritz! |
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| Justin swimming |
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| Coconut Tree |
Friday was our last port and the one I was the most excited about because of the excursion we had picked to go on. We docked beside Cozumel, Mexico, which is and island. But then we took a very rough ferry over to the mainland. From there we boarded a tour bus to Tulum, which has a section of the Mayan ruins. On the ride, our tour guide spoke for over an hour about the Mayans. It was definitely really interesting.
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| the "castle" |
Saturday was a day at sea and our last day on the boat. We got to see Puss in Boots in 3D in the afternoon. It was a cooler day so I didn't spend that much time outside, but it was still a very restful day. Sunday we got off the ship around 9am and drove back home. Good thing we had our kitties waiting for us or we might not have ever come back!
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Haiti & Jamaica
Tuesday was our first port: a privately owned section of Haiti called Labadee. It was nice and hot (about 95) and just a really great day for swimming and relaxing by the water. The water was beautiful and warm. We enjoyed a nice barbecued lunch outside and then enjoyed the afternoon by the pool listening to island music.
Wednesday we docked in Falmouth, Jamaica. For that day, we chose to take a bus tour to Ocho Rios to climb the famous Dunn's River Falls. It was an interesting ride listening to the tour guide about the history of Jamaica. Dunn's River Falls is a 183 ft waterfall that dumps into the beautiful ocean. It was definitely really different than anything we had done on our previous cruises and we were glad we got to make the trip.
Stay tuned tomorrow for the last two ports we visited!
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| our awesome ship |
Wednesday we docked in Falmouth, Jamaica. For that day, we chose to take a bus tour to Ocho Rios to climb the famous Dunn's River Falls. It was an interesting ride listening to the tour guide about the history of Jamaica. Dunn's River Falls is a 183 ft waterfall that dumps into the beautiful ocean. It was definitely really different than anything we had done on our previous cruises and we were glad we got to make the trip.
Stay tuned tomorrow for the last two ports we visited!
Monday, November 7, 2011
Universal Studio's Islands of Adventure & First Days Aboard the Freedom of the Seas
Yikes, it's been a month since my last post! I guess I was waiting for all the exciting things that would happen on our trip to Orlando and cruise going to Haiti, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Mexico.
So Friday, October 28, we drove down to Orlando and spent the night there. Saturday we spent the day at Universal's Islands of Adventure aka home of Harry Potter World. The day started out a little rainy but it cleared up by 10. It wasn't all that crowded there so we never had to wait in any lines. I don't know if we planned on it, but we did end up riding the 3 water rides they had there so in some of my pictures we look a little wet. They have a Jurassic Park, Cartoon, Superhero, Dr Seuss, and of course Harry Potter areas. By the end of the day, even Justin admitted that the Harry Potter section was the best one even though he thought he would like Jurassic Park the best. Since there were no lines, by 3:30 we had ridden all of the rides at least once and were pretty wiped out. So like a couple of old people, we left to go back to our hotel and eat some delicious stuffed pizza at Giordano's (a Chicago based Italian & pizza restaurant). It was as fabulous as I had remembered it being in Chicago.
Sunday morning we got up, excited to board our ship and drove the hour to Port Canaveral. As we were standing in line to go through customs, I was like man, there are an awful lot of people wearing Harley Davidson shirts. Is it biker week? Soon we saw the banner, "High Seas Rally." Apparently of the 4000 guests on board the ship, 1400 of them were bikers. It's an annual get-together they do to raise support for dialysis. They definitely made this cruise a little more "interesting" than the previous ones we had been on.
Monday, also Halloween, was a day at sea. We had fun doing the many activities on board such as lounging by the pools, mini golf, and ice skating. We entered the Halloween contest that night but we did not win :( Maybe next year!
Stay tuned tomorrow for more about our vacation!
So Friday, October 28, we drove down to Orlando and spent the night there. Saturday we spent the day at Universal's Islands of Adventure aka home of Harry Potter World. The day started out a little rainy but it cleared up by 10. It wasn't all that crowded there so we never had to wait in any lines. I don't know if we planned on it, but we did end up riding the 3 water rides they had there so in some of my pictures we look a little wet. They have a Jurassic Park, Cartoon, Superhero, Dr Seuss, and of course Harry Potter areas. By the end of the day, even Justin admitted that the Harry Potter section was the best one even though he thought he would like Jurassic Park the best. Since there were no lines, by 3:30 we had ridden all of the rides at least once and were pretty wiped out. So like a couple of old people, we left to go back to our hotel and eat some delicious stuffed pizza at Giordano's (a Chicago based Italian & pizza restaurant). It was as fabulous as I had remembered it being in Chicago.
Hogsmeade
Hogwarts!
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| butterbeer! |
Jurassic Park
Popeye & Olive
Sunday morning we got up, excited to board our ship and drove the hour to Port Canaveral. As we were standing in line to go through customs, I was like man, there are an awful lot of people wearing Harley Davidson shirts. Is it biker week? Soon we saw the banner, "High Seas Rally." Apparently of the 4000 guests on board the ship, 1400 of them were bikers. It's an annual get-together they do to raise support for dialysis. They definitely made this cruise a little more "interesting" than the previous ones we had been on.
Monday, also Halloween, was a day at sea. We had fun doing the many activities on board such as lounging by the pools, mini golf, and ice skating. We entered the Halloween contest that night but we did not win :( Maybe next year!
I made both of our costumes this year
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