Our Cruise

***Warning- Really long post***

We (Bob and I) just got back from 10 fun days. We went on a 7 day cruise with our friends the Deardens. (Yes we are still friends) With our travel time there and back we were gone for 10 days.

I have to start by saying a HUGE THANK YOU to Erin!!! Bob’s sister was so awesome to come and stay with our kids so we could go. She stepped in and got the kids to all of their school, doctor, lessons etc. Rachel loved having her here and all the attention she got.

So we left on Saturday the 23rd and flew to New Orleans. We stayed the night right downtown near the port. After checking into our hotel we set off to explore a little before dark. We walked the Riverwalk shopping center, ate at Mothers Restaurant,(the best jambalaya I have ever had) and did a little people watching. We called it an early night so we could do some exploring the next day before we got on the ship.

Sunday we got up early and headed for Bourbon Street and Cafe Beignet for breakfast. It was delish. While there we tried Cafe Du Monde’s beignets to and like Cafe Beignet’s best.

Here is the famous Bourbon Street at 9am on a Sunday!!! Even though it is deserted for the most part, it STUNK!!! It smells of urine, and throw up and just humanity. Some corners were so bad I need to cover my nose. What was the most shocking to me was that people everywhere and even at breakfast are walking around with drinks.

After that we went walking on the hunt for a grocery store. On that walk on the way back to our hotel we passed by Lafayette Square. It was really neat to see all the statues and the grass.

After that is was time to board the ship. We set sail that night about 5 pm and headed down the Mississippi River. Which was pretty cool to watch.

Our first 2 days were at sea. We just ate, played games and sat on out balcony’s and talked and read. We spent a lot of time out there. It was so worth it and was nice that we could open the divider between our rooms so we had a great view.

We also had our first “formal night” on Tuesday.

Our first Port day was Wednesday and were docked in Montego Bay Jamaica. This ended up being my favorite port. I was really nervous about this port because so many people told me how they hated Jamaica. We hired a taxi driver for the day and just went. First stop was Green Grotto Caves.Also know as Runaway caves. One of the James Bond movies was filmed here. It was cool, but way overpriced. And yes those are bats in those pictures.

Next we headed to Dunn's River Falls. It was really beautiful. They try to get you to hold hands and make a human chain to go up, but we just kind of did our own thing. Dearden’s have a waterproof camera and were able to get some good shots.

On our way back we stopped at Discovery bay where it is said that Christopher Columbus landed. It is really pretty and we had a late lunch at a local place called Scottie’s. It was really yummy jerk chicken and pork.

Sunset as we left Jamaica that night.

Thursday found us in Grand Cayman. Here we tendered into the port, so we were able to get some cool shots of our boat as we went in that day. We were on the Carnival Conquest.

Craig went diving while the rest of us headed to the Cayman Turtle Farm. It was a cool little park where they bred and raise turtles. It was breeding season so we didn’t see any tiny baby turtles or eggs, but we saw so many turtles up close and even got to hold some. Bob also snorkeled in the stocked lagoon they had. Kristin and I just walked around, enjoyed the sunshine while playing with the turtles, then found a nice shady spot to relax and wait for Bob.

After the turtle farm we wondered around the port town before heading back to the boat.

 

This is the sun setting that night as we left Grand Cayman.

Our final port was Cozumel Mexico. This was the port I was looking the most forward to and ended up being the worst. We had made arrangements ahead of time with a local tour guide who is LDS to give us a tour of the ruins in Tulum with a LDS perspective. This was our shortest day in port so we made sure he knew it would be tight but her assured us it was doable. We were to catch the ferry across to  Cancun and meet him there. He would meet us on the pier. we told him we would be on ships time and that we though it might be 1 hour ahead of local time. That we would dock at 10. That is where we went wrong.

We hustled off the ship and got on the ferry which left at 11. we also found out that local time and ship time were the same here. Right before we bought our ferry tickets, we questioned if we should go through with it. It was going to b3 $52 round trip to  ride the ferry. It was 40 minutes each way and then a 45 minute drive to the ruins so we would be left with only at the most an hour at the ruins. We were all looking forward to this so we decided to do it.We emailed him as we left telling him we were on that ferry. When we got off we couldn’t find him. Long story short, he didn’t do any research and took our word that ship time was an hour off. So he sent his son to meet the earlier ferry, and when we weren’t on it he left.

We were SO mad!! we were now stuck here until the ferry left again at 3:00. We exchanged a few well worded emails. He never once apologized for leaving us or not looking into our ship time. We are partly to blame since we gave him bad info to begin with, but as part of his job you would think he would know that. He did offer us a free tour is we go back, but the chances of that happening are slim.

So it now became a very expensive shopping trip. We wandered around the port and then went and sat on the beach for a few minutes. We didn’t bring swim suits with us that day knowing that every minute would be full.

It was an adventure we won’t forget.

Our final day was again at sea. This time it was WINDY and COLD. So much we were forced indoors. It was to cold to be on the balcony. We did try!!

We got off the ship on Sunday and then headed to our hotel out by the airport.
I guess we didn’t get enough exploring while in port so we explored Kenner, LA that afternoon. We took a walk to a local Wal-Mart, tried to go to a Golden Corral for dinner. It was 2 miles away. We sweet talked the hotel shuttle driver to drive us there, and then we would walk back.

When we got there the line was out the door. Bob and Craig got in line and we walked up the road to a store. As we headed back Craig texted us that as far as they could tell it was about an hour wait and that they were the lighted skinned people in the room :).  After a little debate we went to our 2nd choice restaurant. It was across from our hotel. SO we walked the 2 miles back, down a busy road, under a freeway interchange and down a canal. Only to eat at a place we could see from our hotel. It was Kristin’s birthday that day too so of course we had to get a yummy dessert too.

Monday morning bright and early we headed to the airport to get our flight home.

It was a really great trip with some great friends, but it was sure good to get home and see the kids. We enjoyed a break, but were so happy to be back home again. I must admit, I am ready to plan another, who’s with me???