Friday, November 20, 2009

Caribbean Cruisin!!!

Before we found out we were prego with little Link we planned a cruise to the Caribbean. Once we found out Link was on his way we decided to keep the cruise booked due to the fact that he would be 4 months old by the time we left and I'm sure we could use a little vacay :) Well... I don't think either one of us realized how much the little man was going to change our lives. It's amazing how much you can love a little bug :) Leaving Link for 8 days was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. Our plane left at 7:00 am, I was thinking this would be perfect because Link would still be asleep so it would make the whole goodbye a little easier. BOY WAS I WRONG! Linkin woke up right as we pulled up to the airport. JJ and I were both blubbering idiots!!! Thanks to amazing family, Linkin was fine and was spoiled rotten the entire time we were gone.
This is Linkin the night before we left! He was in the funniest mood. Laughing and Giggling all over the place!

This is how our trip played out!!
We flew into Miami on Saturday to be greeted by horrible winds due to hurricane Ida!!! We were all a little worried but by the time we boarded the ship on Saturday the hurricane was reduced to a tropical storm and we ended up only having really bad seas the first day.
Here we are boarding the ship. 7 days of cruisin here we come!!
We had such a fun group! There was over 100 of us all together but about 20 really close family and friends. We spent every night on the ship either in the karaoke bar or dancin it up in the club onboard!

1st Port - Grand Cayman
In Grand Cayman we took a boat out to stingray city. The water was the was unbelievable color and it is the weirdest feeling to be way out in the ocean and standing in 3 feet of water. After playing with the stingrays we went snorkeling on the reef and headed back to the Ship. Here are some pics of the stingrays.
All those shadows in the water are huge stingrays. It was a little scary to have these huge animals swim between your legs.
French kiss a stingray and you get good luck for life. YUCK!!

2nd Port - Honduras
At this port we took a little boat out to the most amazing island to do some snorkeling and see all the animals. This island was a refuge for animals and it was so cool to get up and close with sea lions, monkeys, and much more. Here are some pics of the monkeys.
This is George. He kept reaching his arms out for hugs and would make kissing sounds until you kissed him :)
This monkey loved JJ.
It rained almost the entire day but this is still one of my favorite stops. The snorkeling was unreal and that was with overcast skies. I can't image how gorgeous it would have been with the sun shining.
Notice the standing water on the ground. Lots, Lots, Lots of rain!
More kisses from George.

3rd Port - Belize
At this port we went cave tubing. I am so mad we didn't have a waterproof camera. We didn't get many photos because we were on tubes and didn't want to ruin our camera. Cave tubing was SOOO much fun. We all got headlights and linked up on inter-tubes and floated down a river in the middle of a jungle and went in and out of caves. It was awesome, a little scary in the caves because it was so dark and your not sure what was under you...yikes... and it was freezing in the caves! However, I can't complain because it was an amazing experience. After, our guides fed us lunch and it was SOO YUMMY!


4th Port - Cozumel
After all of our hard playing we decided we needed some good beach time. We spend all day at an incredible beach, eating chips and salsa under huts, kayaking, and much more.
After a great day on the beach we enjoyed a beautiful sunset before getting back on the ship. The sun does my mind and body good!!
Then back on the boat for one more day at sea before heading home! We have so many fun pictures and it is just too hard to post them all so here is just a few of our fun on the ship.


We had such a blast and I am so lucky to have such an amazing husband to travel with. I can't get enough of him and enjoy every second we get to spend together. However, I am so happy to be home with my little bug!