Cruise!

Last week Ryan and I went on our first cruise with a large part of my family. We went on the Royal Caribbean cruise line taking the Liberty of the Seas through Labadee, Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Mexico. 

At Sea:

The first full day of the trip we were at sea. This gave us a good chance to adjust to the ship, explore the different floors and take advantage of the wave cruiser, rock wall, pool and much more. I don't feel like there was AS much to do on the boat as some people have said, but it was still a good time hanging around enjoying our time off work.

Labadee:

Haiti was our first island we visited. Labadee was the part of Haiti that the cruise line owns so the island was pretty much an extension of the ship. There was a small bar, rows of beach chairs and some random excursions that we were open to. We got off the island for awhile to enjoy the great weather and explore the area. There was also a small market set up where some people were selling random gifts and other items that occupied some of our time. 

Jamaica:

Montego Bay was our second island. It was a bit intimidating when we arrived because they basically dropped you off in a port and you needed to get a cab into the city. I honestly don't think it was one of the best places I've ever been - even once we got into the populated areas. the cabs were expensive (and you couldn't get anywhere from the port with out one) and they talked us into a cab tour which basically wasted a large part of our time. Before we knew it we were being dropped off at a really shady public beach. We later found out that there was a nicer private beach we could have paid to get onto, but being that we didn't have much knowledge about the island it was hard to know exactly where to go. 

Grand Cayman:

The night before Grand Cayman the waters were very rough (giving me a dose of sea-sickness) and so the waters in Grand Cayman the next day were apparently not ideal for snorkeling. We had an excursion planned for this island, but it was cancelled by the cruise b/c they said it wouldn't be worth it to pay for poor snorkeling. That didn't stop us though. We were eager to snorkel so found a spot on our own. We got off on this island and loved it. Everything was right at the port and a short distance to the beaches. We found a rocky-looking area to try some snorkeling and I had to get out before too long b/c we were being tossed around too much. Ryan, Bryan and Katy all went out for a little while and saw some random fish. Later we went further down the beach to a calmer area with out rocks and fought the strong current out to the deeper waters and saw some really cool fish swimming around. It was totally worth it. I'd love to go back to Grand Cayman some time to do more snorkeling and explore the island. It was really enjoyable.

Cozumel, Mexico:

Mexico was another great location! We got off to crystal clear calm waters. I almost wished we didn't have a tour planned so that we could try more snorkeling and just lay out along the beautiful beaches. However, the tour was well worth it! We went to see Tulum one of the ancient Mayan cities in Mexico. I never had a real desire to go to Mexico, but would actually LOVE to go back. The Mayan history would be great to see more of, along with getting to see the beaches. Our tour guide at Tulum was so enthusiastic and the Mayans are just an extremely interesting and intelligent group of people. 

Our final day we at sea and had a good chance to wrap up the vacation relaxing, spending time with the family and reflecting on the trip. We played a little shuffle board, got some lunch and saw a show that evening. 

All in all, I'm not sure that I'm a HUGE fan of the cruise experience in general, but for the value, you can't beat it. It was nice to see two places that I would have other wise had no real interest in seeing and now knowing that I'd be eager to plan trips back to these locations in the future.