Our Cruise

We got back from our cruise last Sunday and it was so much fun. The weather was great almost everyday that we were gone and we were just able to relax and do whatever we wanted the whole time. Here is a little bit about what we did.
Day 1
We flew out of Salt Lake on Saturday afternoon and flew from Salt Lake to Houston and had about an hour layover there and then we flew the rest of the way to Miami. We got to Miami about 11 there time, and by then we were tired from traveling. As soon as we walked out of the airport we could feel the humidity in the air, but it was nice and warm and the humidity doesn't bother me as much as it bothers AJ, he was already hot! We got a shuttle to the hotel we were staying in and waited for Clint and Jamie to get in. They got into Miami about an hour or so after us.
Day 2
We didn't need to be to the port to get on the ship until about 1 or 2 in the afternoon, so we slept in had some breakfast from this pastry shop that the guys had found near by and got ready for the day. Then we took another shuttle from the airport to the port. It was amazing to see how big these ships are when you get up close. There were 3 different ships in the port that were leaving that afternoon as well. After we got there we got in the huge line that takes you through security and they check your passports and your boarding passes. Then we moved to another line, where we check in and get our ship cards, which are very important. These cards are what you use to buy anything on the boat and they are also your room key and your I.D to get on and off the ship at each port. After we checked in we got into yet another line to finally get on the ship. It was amazing how beautiful and ornate these huge ships are. We went down and checked out our rooms, which were surprisingly a lot bigger then we were expecting them to be. There was a king size bed with nightstands on each side and enough cupboard space for all the crap you take with you. Even the bathroom was bigger than I thought I would be and everything was really nice and clean. The bed was really comfortable and the guy that cleaned our room did a great job. It seemed like every time we left the room he had come and cleaned it again. Then we decided to go grab something to eat for lunch. We had some hamburgers and fries and they were great! Overall the food on the ship wasn’t that great, but the hamburgers were pretty good we had one almost every day for lunch. After we went up on deck so that we could watch the boat leave. It was a pretty chilly day in Miami and it was overcast all day long and even started raining as we were leaving. The boys wanted to stay up on deck all day but me and Jamie were pretty cold after a while and we finally went back inside. We decided we would explore the boat a little bit until it was time for dinner. It is amazing all the stuff they have on these boats. They are kind of like little floating cities. They have dance clubs, lounges, a casino, stores and restaurants. They even have a gym and a spa. So we walked around and explored, then we went to dinner for our first dinner in the dining room. They have the yummiest dessert called a Chocolate Melting Cake. We had one every night after dinner it was so so good. After dinner we went to the show. They have a different show each night in the theater which we went to every night. The first night was the Carnival Valor dancers and singers. When they came out it was pretty funny. They are ok dancers not great, but the funniest thing was that the main singer guy in all the shows was our safety instructor that earlier that day had showed us what to do just in case we needed to evacuate the boat. It was pretty funny I couldn’t stop laughing for a good 10 minutes, but overall the show was fairly entertaining. After the show we went to bed. We kind of thought it was interesting that everyone says Carnival is a party ship, because after the shows at night, there was like no one around, everyone had gone to bed! Me and AJ were probably one the youngest couples on the ship by like a good 5 years. It was definitely not a party ship, which was actually really nice.
Day 3
This was our first full day on the ship. Me and AJ slept in way late. Our rooms were interior rooms and so there is no way to tell what time it because there are also no clocks in the room. So by the time we got up it was time for lunch already. So we went up and grabbed some lunch and went back to the pool area. I was looking forward to spending the whole day lounging in the sun reading a book or something, but of course it was raining still. So we spent most of the day inside. Me and Aj decided to play some blackjack just for fun and AJ actually ended up winning about 120 dollars. So he really enjoyed that. That night was our first formal night. So we got dressed up for dinner, which I thought was really fun, how often do you get to get all dressed up for dinner. That night we had lobster for dinner, and they had this really yummy strawberry soup that me and Jamie had for an appetizer, and of course melting cake. Then we wondered down into the lobby area, where they had a couple playing the piano and singing and a lot of people were dancing. We got the guys to dance with us. It was so fun because you kind of feel like you are going to prom again or something, because you are all dressed up and go to dinner and you get your picture taken and then you go dancing, but it is even better because this time your date is someone you actually love! Then we went to the show, which I think was another dancing and singing show by the Carnival Valor dancers, then after the show we went up by the pool and played cards.
Day 4 Grand Cayman
This was our first port stop in Grand Cayman. We woke up and got off the boat pretty early about 9. It was beautiful. The water was so blue, like turquoise blue and it was perfectly clear. It was gorgeous weather too, nice and warm and blue skies. I was amazed because it is actually true all the pictures that you see of the Caribbean aren’t lying. The water is really that blue!! So we got on shore and had about half hour before we needed to meet up with your excursion group. So we walked around and saw some of the shops. The boys wanted to find some polarized sunglasses but didn’t find any that they loved. We wandered back and met up with our tour guides, then they loaded us on a boat and we headed off to go swimming with the sting rays. We booked all our excursions through this website called Shoretrips.com and they were great. All of our groups were nice and small, our tour guides were great and knew exactly what they were doing and the price was a lot cheaper than the cruise ships prices. So I highly recommend this website if anyone is going on a cruise. So we are driving through the town and the tour guides was telling us about the island the whole time, which was really interesting. Then we got to this place where they loaded us on a little boat and we headed out into the water. It was about a 20 minute boat ride to where the sting rays are, and the tour guide gave us instruction on the way there to make the most of our time in the water. When we got there, it was this shallow sandbar in the middle of the gulf and the water was clear blue! We got off the boat and these huge sting rays were swimming around us. Some of them were like 5 or 6 feet across. They were huge it was crazy and they would just come up and brush their slimy fin against you. It was so crazy but they let us hold them and feed them. It was awesome. We were there for about 45 minutes and then we got back on the boat and they took us over to this place called Coral Gardens to do some snorkeling. The snorkeling there wasn’t great, but we did see some cool fish and it was amazing just to be out there. After that they took us back into town and had about another hour to do some shopping before we got back on the boat. That night we went to dinner and then the show. That night they had a juggler, which he did a great job and he was really funny and then they had a comedian. It was a great show, one of the best ones the whole time.
Day 5 Honduras
The next day we were in Honduras, which was by far my favorite place of the whole trip. When we got off the boat they had some people there that were dancing and playing the drums. In Honduras we went zip lining which was a blast. We drove up this big hill and at the top they stopped and let us out and that is where we got geared up. With each group they had four instructors with you and we just went back and forth across this huge like ravine and it was awesome. We were so high about the ground and you could get going pretty fast, it was just so much fun. There were like 12 different zip lines that we went on all the way down the mountain and the view was amazing from up there. Definitely the best way to see the jungle. After that they took us down to this small secluded beach area, where we were able to hang out for a couple hours. The boys went out and went snorkeling and me and Jamie just hung out on the beach and relaxed. It was one of those picture perfect beaches with clear royal blue water and white sand. So beautiful! When we were sitting there a bunch of little boys came over to sell us some jewelry which of course we both bought some and I also got my hair braided. It was painful! Ha-ha but the lady wouldn’t stop asking me and finally I just gave in and had it done, but I had to take it out the next day because it was giving me the worst headache ever. We walked down the beach and there were a lot of little shops that people have to sell their stuff and we ended up buying a few things there as well. AJ bought a Frolex, aka fake Rolex and a T shirt and I bought a few bracelets. It was my favorite stop of the whole cruise. The island itself was beautiful so green and lush and covered with beaches and beautiful water. When we were driving through the little town of people that live there, it was quite a cultural shock for me. I have never really been anywhere like that before and it was amazing to see how poor some of these countries are. People just live with whatever they can find, barely making enough to get by. It was pretty interesting to see.
Day 6 Belize
Belize was our next stop. Since the water around it is so shallow we had to tender pretty far from shore and then get on a smaller boat that takes us to shore. It’s about a 20 minute boat ride so it’s pretty far from shore. In Belize we went Cave Tubing. It’s about an hour drive through the city out into the jungle. We got in this big club wagon van with about 8 other people. Our driver was a little crazy and they have no speed limit there so you just go as fast as you want! So when we finally got there we were all glad that we were still alive, but we were the first ones there, so we couldn’t complain about that. We picked up our tubes and our lifejackets and then it’s about a 2 mile hike through the jungle to where you get into the river. Our tour guides were great though. All along the way they told us about Belize and then they pointed out different plants in the jungle and what they were used for, it was really interesting. Once we got to the river they helped us in, the water was pretty cold, but they put us in chains of 5 each and then did all the work, so we were just able to enjoy the ride. But all through these caves they pointed out cool stone features and what the Mayans used them for, so there was lot to learn and it was pretty cool in the caves. After the tubing they had a place where you could eat, there were two restaurants one that was 12 dollars for lunch and the other that was 5, but our tour guide said they were basically the exact same food, so we were like ok, well 5 bucks sounds good. So we go into this little like shack hut place and the lady is like we have 2 things Rice and Beans or Beans and Rice. I was like is this a joke? Because to me that sounds like the exact same thing, just said backwards right? So we all just kind of looked at her like are you serious? Ha-ha but come to find out they are actually two different things and they were both delicious. It was some of the best food that we had the whole trip. When we got back into the city we had time to do some shopping and we found some cool things, but man some of the people are annoying. They won’t leave you alone the whole time you are walking by; you almost have to be rude to them to get them to leave you alone. But I did find a cool wood carved statue that I really liked and bought. Then it was back to the ship. On the way back, there was this lady that must have just got off the ship and been drinking the whole time, because she was totally drunk, and she just kept talking the whole way back to the boat and she kept touching this guys face that was sitting next to her and he was like stop it, and she just kept doing it. It was pretty funny, we were laughing.
Day 7 Cozumel
In Cozumel we didn’t have any excursion planned so we thought we would just get off the boat and see what there was to do, because at every port there are tons of people just standing there with signs, so you could easily find something to do. When we got off we decided we would go Snuba, which is part snorkeling part scuba diving. So we signed up for that but we had about an hour before the group left so we did some shopping. They had tons of stores there and I found a black pearl ring that I loved and we also found some t-shirts that we liked. Then it was time to go and it ended up just being the 4 of us in a group, so it was practically like a private excursion, it was really nice. They took us down the street to where they had their little spot, which had a store and a bar and a restaurant. We sat in a class for about 15 minutes that explained how to snuba. Me and AJ had never done it before but Clint and Jamie had gone before so they already knew how to do it. After the little class they took us in some shallow water to practice and I have to admit it was kind of hard, and I was kind of freaked out. But after a while I finally got the hang of it and we saw some cool things. We saw a puffer fish, which our guide got to puff up and we saw a little sting ray and some other cool fish. So it was actually pretty fun, even though I was nervous. After that Clint wanted to do some scuba diving so the rest of us sat on the beach and ate lunch in their restaurant. The food was so good! It was the best food we had all week. We loved it so much we had nachos, burritos, tacos and quesadilla between the 3 of us! It was delicious. It was a blast!
Day 8
This was our last day and it was our second full day at sea. And lucky enough for me the weather was sunny and warm. I spent the whole day on the deck soaking up the sun and reading. AJ also hung out on the deck with me, but he doesn’t love lying in the sun quite as much as I do! It was the perfect last day on the boat. In the afternoon we did go to the newlywed game that they do. They find three couples from the audience. The youngest, the oldest and a couple in the middle and they have them come up and ask them questions. It was pretty funny the oldest couple was hilarious the guy kept saying the funniest things. That was also the second formal night. So we got dressed up and went to dinner. Our server was pretty funny. He was from St. Vincent and it was pretty hard to understand him a lot of the time, but he was great and few enjoyed getting to know him. Some nights at dinner the servers would do a show. The first formal night they sang to us, the third night they danced and then the last night they sang and danced. It was pretty funny! Then we decided not to go to the show that night and instead we went and sat in the hot tub for the last time. In our rooms they have bath robes for everyone, so we decided that it would be pretty funny to put on our robes and go up to the hot tubes. So we did and it was pretty funny. Some people give you the funniest looks.

Overall the cruise was so much fun. It was nice to have a whole week to relax and we got to see some really cool places and do some really fun things. Thanks Clint and Jamie for going with us, we had so much fun with you guys! I can’t wait until we can go again, which hopefully won’t be too far away.