3 Sets of Footprints: Caribbean Cruise 12/16-12/23

Here are some pictures from our cruise. We had such an awesome time relaxing, eating tons of food (we gained 2-3 lbs each), trying out new activities (snorkeling, jet skiing, swimming with stingrays, climbing a water fall), and exploring beautiful countries. We had 3 port days, and 4 days at sea. The cruise included free food at any time of the day, 3 pools, jacuzzis, live entertainment, games, movies, a running track, and a gym. There were also other services available (spa, hair salon, bingo, casinos, etc.) for an additional cost.

Day 1 (Miami, FL)

The first thing we did was eat lunch while enjoying this beautiful view of Miami.

Then we explored the ship, and found this Serenity area; I love this big chair!

watching the sunset from our big chair.

Everyday, we had a new towel animal, they were so cute.

Dinner time, I loved the desserts, they were so yummy.

The ship at night.

Day 2 (Fun Day at Sea)

We spent the day reading, eating, talking, walking, and swimming in the jacuzzi; I even had time to work out in the gym.

For dinner, we had assigned seating at a fancy restaurant. This night we were required to dress up, which I don't mind at all.

Tim made a request for an elephant (my favorite animal).

Day 3 (Cozumel, Mexico)

Here we are in front of our ship, ready to start a new adventure.

We rented a scooter for the whole day to go around the island. Two minutes after we left the rental office, it started to pour with rain. We were completely soaked, but had lots of fun in the rain. The sun came out 10 minutes later, and next thing you know we were dry and looking for a beach.

Since we wanted to stay away from all the tourists, we drove until we found this secluded beach

Playa Bonita.

Then we made a little shelter to protect ourselves from the sun

and then just had fun!

That's right, I've been working out :)

The beaches in Cozumel were absolutely stunning.

Dinner time

Enjoying some entertainment. This night we had a family-friendly comedian.

Day 4 (Fun day at Sea)

Spent the day mostly reading, tanning, swimming and just relaxing. Tim and I joined a bean bag competition on this day, we didn't win :( but we did get fourth place out of 30+ teams.

Day 5 (Ochos Rios, Jamaica)

In Jamaica, we decided to visit Dunn's River Falls, or should I say climb it.

After the falls we hung out at the beach close to our ship port. We rented a jet ski and I got to ride it for the first time, I even drove it; I screamed the entire time, but truly enjoyed it.

Now this is what I looked like when I was driving!

Then we did a little shopping.

Back on the ship, time for dinner.

Low-fat pumpkin pie, it was delicious.

At 11PM they had a Mexican buffet open. I couldn't resist having a little piece of flan.

Day 6 (Grand Cayman)

We decided to go on a sea excursion while in Grand Cayman. For $25 each, we went swimming with stingrays and snorkeling, the boat ride and shuttle drive were all included. This was such an awesome deal!

In the middle of the sea somewhere, there was a big sand bar populated with hundreds of stingrays. We also saw a dolphin swim right by, I was so excited to see one from so close :)

The water was just soo pretty here.

While I was waiting for Tim to get the camera, a big one came my way. Needless to say I was a little paranoid. LOL

I know, I was a little scared. I can't forget to mention that while all this was happening, Tim was just laughing, he thought it was soo funny. :)

This is how the bottom of the stingray looks like, no teeth. It's funny how after the captain fed the stingray some squid, the ray became so docile and friendly.

We all had the chance to hold the stingray, give it a kiss, and get a massage from it, some people even gave the stingray a french kiss (YUCK).

Tim's turn, he did much better than me, well everyone did.

Kiss time

Massage time

I think that Tim was enjoying this a little too much, lol.

After the Sting Rays, we went to a deeper area to go snorkeling. It was my first time ever, and I loved it! It's like another world down there, full of pretty fishes of many colors, shapes and sizes. God is just so creative, and I am so thankful for the opportunity to enjoy his awesome creation :)

On our way back we saw a couple of these guys. They loved posing for pics.

arghhh...

Back on the ship....

some days were definitely windy.

Fancy dinner night

he's so handsome :)

The one Sting Ray I was not afraid of.

It was so nice to have this camera with us.

Day 7 (Fun Day at Sea)

We spent the last day either sitting, or laying down. It was so windy and the ship was a bit rocky, we would get a little dizzy standing up, so we decided to sit down and watch White Christmas on the big screen. And of course, we made time to eat lunch; there was a Mongolian Wok station on the cruise.

Here is Tim's Szechwan beef dish and chocolate dessert.

I was a little cold this day using towels and anything I could find to cover up, but not Tim, he decided that it was still a good day to tan.

Day 8 (Miami)

After we left the ship to go to the airport, I found out that my family's flight to New York was at around the same time as our flight to Chicago. My family had been spending the week with some friends in Orlando and Tampa. So we met up and spent a couple hours hanging out.