February 20-28, 2015
We went on a Western Caribbean Cruise
the end of February. We took both kids and Chase's mom, Jennae, with
us. This was our first time cruising with Norwegian Cruise Line. We
really enjoyed it!
Day 1 – Friday – Fly to Houston, TX
We flew out in the afternoon.
We had
an hour layover in Phoenix where we grabbed some dinner before being
almost the last ones onto our next plane. After we were seated, the
flight attendant asked me if I wanted to move across the isle in
front of the rest of my family. There was only one person in that
row and three in the row I was in, so I moved. Just as I sat down
and had all my bags put away under the seat, the last two people on
the flight arrived and happened to be assigned to the row I had just
moved to. I was starting to move back to my seat when the flight
attendant offered them seats a few rows back. The man was fine with
it, but the lady got all upset and raised her voice saying she wanted
to sit in the seats she paid for. The flight attendant explained
that the seats were together and just in a different row. Her companion
confirmed this and she decided it was ok to go sit there. I just
kind of gave a face to all the people sitting around me that
witnessed the incident and they all just laughed at her reaction. We
had a pretty second flight other than that and the fact that our
tired children refused to go to sleep. We made it to Houston at
11:30pm. We got all our luggage from baggage claim.
We were quite
the site for those around us. One large suitcase, 4 carry-ons, 2 car
seats, and a stroller, besides two adult backpacks, one child
backpack, and a camera bag. Somehow, we were able to handle it all
and were able to get outside to catch our shuttle to our hotel. We
got to the hotel and got up to our room. It was so hot inside! We
turned the A/C on and only hot air came out. We told the front desk
and they immediately got us a new room. We got settled in and tried
to go to bed. Well, both kids had a different idea of what we should
be doing. After wrestling with them both to go to sleep until after
12:30, Chase finally took each for a walk in the stroller until they
fell asleep. Have I ever told you how hard it is to travel with
kids? Ugh.
Day 2 – Saturday – Houston, TX
The next morning, we got up and ready
to go. Chase walked across the street to Taco Bell and brought us
back some breakfast, since there were no other options in the area.
We got checked out of our hotel and took the hotel shuttle back to
the airport, where we checked in at Super Shuttle and waited for our
ride to the cruise ship terminal. We didn't have to wait long,
loaded our luggage, and, along with another couple, we rode the 45
minute ride to the ship. Luckily, both kids fell asleep on the ride.
It as wonderful. We were excited to finally be on our way! We got
all our luggage and car seats turned in to the porters at the
terminal and stood in line to check in. All in all, it took maybe
30-45 minutes to get from the curb to on the ship.
We were welcomed with a little party and started making our way around the ship. They had our rooms (10553 and 10561) ready when we got on, so we dropped our things off and went up to the Tsar's Palace dining room to eat some lunch.
We were welcomed with a little party and started making our way around the ship. They had our rooms (10553 and 10561) ready when we got on, so we dropped our things off and went up to the Tsar's Palace dining room to eat some lunch.
After lunch, we came back to our rooms so that Colton
could take a nap. By the time I got him to sleep, we only had 30
minutes until we had to meet for our safety drill. Our bags came to
our rooms only seconds before we had to leave, which was a good thing
because we were all out of diapers in our diaper bag and Juliet was
naked. We were trying to figure out what we were going to put her in
while we were there, so we were so glad to see our bags. On past
cruises, they used to have you actually meet outside by your specific
life boat so you knew where to go. Now they have you meet in a room
on the ship and essentially, they showed us how to put on a life
jacket. Yes, that was totally worth waking my sleeping baby for.
After that, we went back to our rooms.
We started unpacking our bags, but honestly, the room was too small
for all four of us to be in there at once while doing that, so I sent
Chase and Juliet with Jennae up to the Garden Cafe for more food.
Because, you know, when you're on a cruise, that's all you do! I got
everything else unpacked and met them up there just in time for some
yummy crepes. Shortly after that, we went to dinner at the Azure
Dining Room. I told you that all you do is eat! After dinner, we
went to find seats in the Stardust Theater for the main production
that night. Just as we were finding seats, Colton had another diaper
blowout, so I ran him back to the room to change him. It was such a
mess, I had no choice but to bathe him, which meant I had to shower
also since there was no tub in our room. Before he got in the
shower, I put Colton on the floor after getting him out of his dirty
clothes and he promptly peed on the floor in the 30 seconds before I
got him in the bathroom. I just had to laugh, because really,
there's not much else you can do! So after we were bathed and
dressed again, we went back to the theater and saw the last 20
minutes of the show. It was a preview of everything that was coming
up that week including dancers, Nickelodeon characters, a comedian,
and a magician. We went back to our rooms after that. Chase and
Juliet got showered. Colton fell asleep on the way back to the room.
We laid him in his bed we made for him on the floor and Chase walked
Juliet in the stroller until she fell asleep and we put her in her
bunk bed above ours. It had a side rail, but no safety bar at the
bottom, so Chase tied the ladder up at the bottom as a barricade and
it worked quite well. We were all asleep by 10 that night.
Day 3 – Sunday – At Sea
We were awake by 7:30. After getting
dressed, we went to breakfast at O'Sheehan's Irish restaurant. After
that, we went to check out the guppy playroom for kids age 0-2. It
was just a little play room with some toys. Nothing spectacular. We
went to a trivia game after that, but got there a little late, so we
couldn't really participate. We weren't very good at knowing much of
the answers anyways. We went back to our rooms and Colton and Jennae
took naps while Chase, Juliet, and I went out to the pool deck for
the Nick Jr. party. We thought some of the characters would be
there, but they were just doing a game with the kids similar to
Double Dare. After that, we went to the bridge viewing room. The
officers in the bridge turned around and waved to Juliet.
We went back to our room to plan the excursions we were going to sign up for. We all went to lunch at the Garden Cafe. They had some fun greeters to that cafeteria that would sing with a guitar and say “Washy washy makes us happy!” while giving us hand sanitizer. They were one of the highlights of the ship! After lunch, we went to the excursion desk and booked our Belize excursion. We had a $100 onboard credit per room just for booking through Costco and were were able to apply it to excursions. We chose to book the city tour and tour of the Altun Ha Mayan Ruins. The total came to $220, so we only had to pay $20 for the whole thing! Score! After that, we went and walked around the outside of the ship on deck 7. We saw some flying fish in the water. That was pretty awesome! I had no idea something like that existed!
After that, we went to look at the pictures that were taken of us so far. Jennae wasn't feeling well by this point (sea sickness), so we all went back to our rooms for some R&R. We went to dinner in the Azure dining room again. Both kids fell asleep during dinner.
We thought how wonderful this was and how we were going to get to go to bed early that night. Boy were we wrong! By the time we got back to our rooms, Juliet was still asleep, but Colton had woken up. So I had Chase take him with him in Jennae's room while I packed our bags for Cozumel the next day. Juliet stayed asleep for the whole 1+hour. I tried to move her up to her bed when I was done and she woke up. She was really upset and groggy. Chase came back shortly after that with Colton, who was now asleep. So he took Juliet in the stroller to try to get her back to sleep. I laid Colton down in his bed and right before Chase got back with Juliet, Colton woke up for no reason. Juliet was not going to sleep in the stroller, so we all just stayed in our room and watched TV. After it hit midnight and we were fed up with neither one of them going back to sleep, we finally turned all the lights off and, since we were in an inside stateroom, it was pitch black. We held both of them until they finally fell asleep. Trying to get a kid to sleep when you are so tired yourself is one of the most frustrating things ever! We didn't dare move them after they fell asleep, so they both slept in our bed until we woke up at 4AM and moved them.
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| She loved being up on her bunk bed. |
We went back to our room to plan the excursions we were going to sign up for. We all went to lunch at the Garden Cafe. They had some fun greeters to that cafeteria that would sing with a guitar and say “Washy washy makes us happy!” while giving us hand sanitizer. They were one of the highlights of the ship! After lunch, we went to the excursion desk and booked our Belize excursion. We had a $100 onboard credit per room just for booking through Costco and were were able to apply it to excursions. We chose to book the city tour and tour of the Altun Ha Mayan Ruins. The total came to $220, so we only had to pay $20 for the whole thing! Score! After that, we went and walked around the outside of the ship on deck 7. We saw some flying fish in the water. That was pretty awesome! I had no idea something like that existed!
After that, we went to look at the pictures that were taken of us so far. Jennae wasn't feeling well by this point (sea sickness), so we all went back to our rooms for some R&R. We went to dinner in the Azure dining room again. Both kids fell asleep during dinner.
We thought how wonderful this was and how we were going to get to go to bed early that night. Boy were we wrong! By the time we got back to our rooms, Juliet was still asleep, but Colton had woken up. So I had Chase take him with him in Jennae's room while I packed our bags for Cozumel the next day. Juliet stayed asleep for the whole 1+hour. I tried to move her up to her bed when I was done and she woke up. She was really upset and groggy. Chase came back shortly after that with Colton, who was now asleep. So he took Juliet in the stroller to try to get her back to sleep. I laid Colton down in his bed and right before Chase got back with Juliet, Colton woke up for no reason. Juliet was not going to sleep in the stroller, so we all just stayed in our room and watched TV. After it hit midnight and we were fed up with neither one of them going back to sleep, we finally turned all the lights off and, since we were in an inside stateroom, it was pitch black. We held both of them until they finally fell asleep. Trying to get a kid to sleep when you are so tired yourself is one of the most frustrating things ever! We didn't dare move them after they fell asleep, so they both slept in our bed until we woke up at 4AM and moved them.
Day 4 – Monday – Cozumel, Mexico
We woke up early and had breakfast at 8
in the Garden Cafe. It is the quickest place to get some food. We
went back to the rooms and grabbed our bags and stroller and then
headed down to the 4th deck to get off the ship.
Everyone's room key card is signed when you get off and back on the
ship so they know if they have everyone. We walked the long pier at
Punta Longasta and walked past all the shops they have set up at the
end of the pier. We made it out to the main street and started
walking south in search of a beach. Three years ago when Chase and I
were on a Western Caribbean cruise, we came to Cozumel with no plans
and no research of what to do. We were docked at another pier more
south and after everyone around us either left on an excursion or in
a taxi, we decided we would try to find a beach within walking
distance. Well, we walked for a few miles with no beach in sight and
were finally picked up by a taxi who drove us the other few miles to
a beach park. We figured out after we got back, that there was more
civilization and a higher chance of finding a beach if we had walked
north toward the city center. So, since this pier was further north
than the other one, we thought if we just walked south, we would find
a beach quickly. We were wrong. We walked for probably an hour and
only found one beach that was very rocky. It would have been great
for the snorkeling that Chase and I wanted to do, but Jennae and the
kids needed some sand to sit on. We got almost to a lighthouse which
was near the other pier and gave up. We turned around and walked
back. As I look at the street view of google maps now that we're
home, I can see that we just needed to walk to the other side of the
lighthouse and there would have been a small sandy beach. Oh well.
Now we know for next time. Or we know just to get a taxi to take us
to a better beach. On our way back to the pier, we stopped at
Dophinaris. This was a place to go swimming with the dolphins. We
already knew we didn't want to pay the $120 each to swim with them
because we could see that it was a very small pool and we know there
are better opportunities out there for this activity. But we did
want to stop in at the restaurant that was connected to it to watch
people swim with the dolphins. The hostess brought us in and took us
upstairs to the loft to view them. They had a small swimming pool
upstairs that was right in front of the fence and completely blocked
the view of being able to see the dolphins. When we asked for a
table to sit at where we could actually see the dolphins, she offered
us a tall table in the bar with three bar stools and about 1 ½ feet
of room for our stroller and kids. Surprisingly, we passed! So we
left that place and watched the dolphins through the viewing holes in
the wall for a few minutes. Then we walked back to the pier. We
stopped at a small outdoor drink place there that had free WiFi for
“costumers”. :) Chase and Jennae bought some overpriced 12 oz
cans of Coke ($2 each) and we got hooked up to the WiFi. Jennae got
a call from her realtor on the condo she is selling, so we needed to
check her email and reply back to him that we would be out of service
for the next week. When we were finished with that, we headed back
to the ship. We were greeted at the pier with juice and water by the
cruiseline. Nice touch, Norwegian. Nice touch.
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| Mommy, that's a big bird! |
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| Pedicures with fish |
Juliet and I went to the pool since we
were so hot while Chase laid down with Colton for a nap and Jennae
rested. Juliet started out in the little kiddie pool and was scared.
Then, she got used to that, and was scared of the slide in the
kiddie pool. She finally went down that and decided she wanted to
try the slide at the big pool. She was pretty scared, of course, but
I put her on my lap and we went down together. It was a very
slow slide. I ended up having to push myself down it at times.
Apparently, it was the perfect speed for Juliet though, because she
decided it was ok to go down by herself after that. It is funny how
scared she is of the unknown. I'm glad she did it and was able to
have fun on it. We stayed on that slide for probably 45 minutes and
then I had to drag her away kicking and screaming to go get the rest
of the family for lunch, promising we would come back after lunch.
We had lunch in Garden Cafe. We had to grab food quickly because we
got there just before they were closing.
After lunch, we got Juliet back in her swimsuit and went back to the pool. She showed everyone how she could go down the big slide by herself. Dad was so proud! While she and I went down the slide probably another 50 times, Chase and Jennae took Colton down to the 7th deck to watch the ship sail away. We were delayed about twenty minutes because a couple people hadn't made it back to the ship yet. We were supposed to be back by 3:30 and set sail at 4:00. They either didn't know what time they were supposed to be back, or they were going off of Mexico time instead of ship time, which was an hour different.
After lunch, we got Juliet back in her swimsuit and went back to the pool. She showed everyone how she could go down the big slide by herself. Dad was so proud! While she and I went down the slide probably another 50 times, Chase and Jennae took Colton down to the 7th deck to watch the ship sail away. We were delayed about twenty minutes because a couple people hadn't made it back to the ship yet. We were supposed to be back by 3:30 and set sail at 4:00. They either didn't know what time they were supposed to be back, or they were going off of Mexico time instead of ship time, which was an hour different.
While
we were going down the slide over and over, I started talking to the
crew member that was at the top. His name was J.R. and he was
married to another crew member. They were both from the Philippines
(like a majority of crew on all cruiseships) and grew up next door to
each other. They've been married for 4 years and are still waiting
to have kids because that would mean the end of one of their careers
on the ship. We love hearing about life on the ship and what life is
like for the crew members. Honestly, it makes us very sad for so
many of them when they tell us that our young kids remind them of
their young kids that are the same age at home. It would be so hard
to leave a child that young. I can't even imagine.
We went back to our
rooms to shower and get ready for dinner. We went to the Azure
dining room again. Both kids were trying to fall asleep again, so we
had to keep them awake this time. After dinner, we got them in
jammies and headed into the theater for the show at 7:15. Tonight,
it was a comedian named Bud Andersen. He was really good and
relatively clean, which is refreshing. As we were entering our row
to sit down before the show, a cute little grandma on the end said
she would love to hold Colton, so I sat him down in her lap as I was
passing! Chase thought it was kind of funny that I would give our
baby to a complete stranger, but she seemed pretty harmless, so I
figured it was ok. She just soaked him up and he was such a good
baby sitting with her until the show started. As soon as I took him
back, he fell right to sleep and slept through the whole show.
After the show was
over, we headed back to our room. We got Juliet to sleep real easy
and then we packed our bags for the next day. We were all asleep by
10.
Day 5 – Tuesday –
Belize City, Belize
We woke up nice and
early today and had breakfast in the Garden Cafe at 7:00. The Garden
Cafe has a wide variety of foods including eggs, meats, fruit,
breads, potatoes, yogurt, cereal, etc. When we were done eating, we
grabbed our bags from our rooms and headed to the theater to meet for
our excursion at 8:00. After they called our group, we headed
downstairs to deck 4 to get on a tender boat to shore. We were the
last ones on our boat, so we had a hard time finding any seats (we
had to split up), but we didn't have to wait long before we left.
It was about a 15 minute ride for the 5 miles to shore. When we got off the boat, we got in line for our tour.
I had to change Juliet's diaper on the ground while we were in line because we didn't have time to find a bathroom. As soon as we were done, for some reason, they came and grabbed us from the very back of a long line because we were a big group and had us skip the line and get on a bus that was very full. There were only single seats left, so we had to split up again. We were close enough to each other that we could still talk to each other though, so that was nice.
It was about a 15 minute ride for the 5 miles to shore. When we got off the boat, we got in line for our tour.
I had to change Juliet's diaper on the ground while we were in line because we didn't have time to find a bathroom. As soon as we were done, for some reason, they came and grabbed us from the very back of a long line because we were a big group and had us skip the line and get on a bus that was very full. There were only single seats left, so we had to split up again. We were close enough to each other that we could still talk to each other though, so that was nice.
We had
a one hour bus ride to the Altun Ha Mayan Ruins. Our tour guide
gave us a great city tour on our way in. Some things that stood out
to us: Belize City is pretty run down. They are very poor people.
The most expensive homes are $250,000 USD. The kids go to school
from age 4 to 14. Each school has a different colored uniform, that
way they know where children are supposed to be if they aren't in
school. There is no welfare program; you either work or you don't
eat. You are given a piece of land to build a house on when you turn
18. You have to be completed building in 5 years. A trick a lot of
them have learned is that if you leave a room unfinished in your
home, you don't have to pay property taxes. So, we made it to the
ruins after 15 miles on a dirt road. We were greeted by more vendors
selling their goods and cold drinks. It was very sunny and hot.
Luckily, there weren't any bugs that they said might be present.
After an explanation of the ruins, we got to climb the stairs on the back side of The Temple of Sun God, a 55 foot high pyramid. It was a steep climb and some terrifyingly sheer drop offs at the top. We took some pictures at the top and then slowly made our way down the stairs on the back side. It was much easier to carry a kid up the stairs than down, surprisingly.
There were some guys at the bottom of the stairs that offered to let people hold their baby crocodile and take a picture with it and then asked for money to do so. We rested in the shade for a few and then headed back to the bus.
We got to sit together on the way back, which was nice, especially because the ride back was way more fast and crazy than the way there. Some people sitting next to us were eating an odd fruit. I asked them what it was, they said it was a custard apple and gave us some to try. It was....interesting. Almost tasted a little like warm yogurt. Juliet spent the ride back laying in the aisle drawing on her magna doodle with her shoes and socks off. Silly girl!
After an explanation of the ruins, we got to climb the stairs on the back side of The Temple of Sun God, a 55 foot high pyramid. It was a steep climb and some terrifyingly sheer drop offs at the top. We took some pictures at the top and then slowly made our way down the stairs on the back side. It was much easier to carry a kid up the stairs than down, surprisingly.
There were some guys at the bottom of the stairs that offered to let people hold their baby crocodile and take a picture with it and then asked for money to do so. We rested in the shade for a few and then headed back to the bus.
We got to sit together on the way back, which was nice, especially because the ride back was way more fast and crazy than the way there. Some people sitting next to us were eating an odd fruit. I asked them what it was, they said it was a custard apple and gave us some to try. It was....interesting. Almost tasted a little like warm yogurt. Juliet spent the ride back laying in the aisle drawing on her magna doodle with her shoes and socks off. Silly girl!
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| Doesn't look very appetizing... and it wasn't to an American. |
We finished our
tour of Belize City with the poorer south side. We saw the LDS
church building in that area, which is always fun! We got dropped
off at a restaurant a few minutes walk from the pier. We looked in
the shops for just a minute but had to run to make sure we made it on
the tender boat back to the ship as they only departed every half
hour. Again, we were greeted with cold drinks and even cold wash
cloths this time before getting on the boat. How wonderful!
We dropped our bags
in our rooms and ran upstairs to the Garden Cafe for lunch just
before they closed again at 2:30.
After lunch, we went back to our rooms to shower and relax before going to dinner at 5:30 at the Azure Dining Room.
After dinner, we went into the theater to find some seats. We were going to run the kids back to the room to put them in jammies, but we didn't have time before the show started, so we just had to make sure we kept them awake during the show. Tonight's entertainment was called Duo Deja Vu and they were awesome! They combined dance with various aerial acrobatics. After the show, we went back to the room and got kids in jammies. We got our bags packed for the next day and everyone was asleep by 9.
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| Feeding brother her mac n cheese |
After lunch, we went back to our rooms to shower and relax before going to dinner at 5:30 at the Azure Dining Room.
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| Getting sleepy |
Can't...stay...awake....
After dinner, we went into the theater to find some seats. We were going to run the kids back to the room to put them in jammies, but we didn't have time before the show started, so we just had to make sure we kept them awake during the show. Tonight's entertainment was called Duo Deja Vu and they were awesome! They combined dance with various aerial acrobatics. After the show, we went back to the room and got kids in jammies. We got our bags packed for the next day and everyone was asleep by 9.
(Side note: While we were on this cruise, the internet blew up with a debate over a picture of a dress. Some people saw the dress as blue and black and some saw it as gold and white. You can see the skirt I'm wearing this day in the mirror near the end of the video. It looks blue and black. It is actually tan and off white. Interesting....)
Day 6 – Wednesday
– Trujillo, Honduras
We woke up early
again today and had breakfast in the Garden Cafe at 7:00. We grabbed
our bags and stroller from the room and headed down to deck 4 to load
the life boats that were used as tenders to shore. It was about a 10
minute ride. Luckily it wasn't longer because it was really warm,
crowded, and muggy inside the boats. As soon as we got off the boat,
we walked through the buildings near the pier. This pier is only 5
months old. We were only the 18th cruise ship there ever.
We feel pretty lucky to have been able to see Trujillo in it's
almost original state before they change it as it becomes a more
popular destination. The floors in most of the buildings weren't
even complete yet, so most vendors set up their tables outside the
buildings. They had lots of little souvenirs for great prices. We
got a keychain and a ceramic Christmas ornament for $3 and $5.
Extremely affordable! After we walked through the vendors for a bit,
we walked out of the main gates (where only cruise passengers and
certain vendors are allowed in) and walked west along the main road
that paralleled the beach. We walked south up a steep cobble stone
road to the city center. There were more vendors up there and we
walked around the city just a little bit. We sat on some benches
under some huge shade trees and soaked in the city. I noticed how
peaceful it was. There were lots of people around, but they were all
just quiet and kept to themselves. They were all very nice. They
loved to see our kids. So many people, especially the little
children, came up to them and touched them on the face and wanted to
talk to them. We figured they didn't see many white babies around
there. It was very endearing so see how excited they got.
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| Armed guards outside the bank. They waved metal detectors and checked bags before you could enter. |
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| Sharing! |
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| Dirt roads |
We walked back down
the road to the beach at the bottom of the street. It was so nice to
finally be at a destination that had plenty of sandy beach within
walking distance. We set up our towels, got our sunblock on, and
jumped in the ocean. It was so nice!! The water temperature was
great and the sun was hot. There was another couple from the ship
that came and got in the water next to us and we chatted with them
for a while. We then let Juliet play in the sand a bit under the
shade of a small palm tree. Some people found a starfish that I
pulled out of the water to get a better look at. We weren't sure if
it was alive or dead and then a local kid took off with it. We also
found a small conche shell, which was a great souvenir. We all sat
under the shade tree for another little while and lots of vendors
came walking by offering to sell us their homemade souvenirs. Jennae
ended up buying a bracelet for Juliet from an adorable little boy.
She also bought a key chain from a pretty awesome guy that stopped
and talked to us for a while. I wanted to stay there until we had to
go back to the ship, but I saw that all of us were already sunburned,
so we decided to head back to the ship. We walked through the
vendors some more and Jennae bought more bracelets for the rest of
the grandkids. At the dock, the cruiseline provided us with more
water, juice, cookies, and cold wash cloths. Loved it!
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| Scared of the starfish |
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| Pretty empty beach! |
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| Juliet's bracelet from Grandma |
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| One of the vendors - she thought he was so cute so I let her hold him for a while. |
After we got back
to the ship, we dropped our things in our rooms and went to lunch at
O'Sheehan's Irish Pub restaurant since the Garden Cafe was already
closed for lunch. We had such a yummy meal! After that, we checked
out the library and the gym (not that we actually used either one!)
before we headed back to our rooms to shower and rest until we went
to dinner at 5:30 at the Azule dining room. After dinner, we changed
the kids into jammies outside the theater before the show since we
didn't have time to take them back to the room. The show tonight was
a comedian magician named Jean Pierre (JP) Parent. He was excellent!
Very funny and good at what he did. Colton fell asleep at the
beginning of the show and stayed asleep. We went back to our rooms
after the show and Juliet fell asleep watching TV shortly after.
Day 7 – Thursday
– At Sea
We got to sleep in
today! We had breakfast in the Garden Cafe at 8:30.
Scrambled eggs
everywhere!
After breakfast, we went back to the room to get the stroller. We went to guest services to fix Jennae's account that they had messed up and then walked around the outside walking path on deck 7. We walked around inside also to get Colton to fall asleep. We went to a fruit and vegetable demonstration in the atrium. The guy made a bouquet and several different animals completely out of produce. He was a true artist!
Scrambled eggs
everywhere!
After breakfast, we went back to the room to get the stroller. We went to guest services to fix Jennae's account that they had messed up and then walked around the outside walking path on deck 7. We walked around inside also to get Colton to fall asleep. We went to a fruit and vegetable demonstration in the atrium. The guy made a bouquet and several different animals completely out of produce. He was a true artist!
Colton messed his
pants and clothes (again!), so we had to go back to the room to
change his clothes. Chase got him to sleep for a nap and I walked
the halls with Juliet in the stroller to get her sleep too. I
brought her back to the room and all four of us napped for a while.
It was wonderful! We woke up just in time to go get some lunch at
the Garden Cafe. After that, we went to the Stardust Theater to
learn some magic tricks from the magician. After that, we went back
to our rooms to relax and shower.
Colton started crawling on his knees for the first time during lunch and was standing more.
Juliet learned to hold open the elevator door for people as they entered and exited. It was adorable!
She also loved pushing the buttons on the elevator.
We went to dinner
at the Azule dining room a little earlier tonight. Jennae wasn't
feeling well, so she skipped dinner. We got her after dinner and
went to the show in the theater after putting the kids in jammies.
The show, Cirque de Bijou, was amazing! Colton fell asleep in
Jennae's arms and slept until we were on the elevator on the way back
to our rooms. So when we got back to our room, I fed Colton some
more and laid in the dark with him until he went back to sleep.
Chase took Juliet with him and Jennae up to the Garden Cafe so she
could eat dinner. I read my book while they were gone and then we
watched TV with Juliet until she fell asleep.
The employees love kids on the ship. This one took Juliet to get her a crepe while they were eating.
Day 8 – Friday –
At Sea
Colton woke up at
7:30 and Juliet woke up at 8:30 today. We went to breakfast at the
Garden Cafe. I brought Colton back to the room to take a nap. The
room steward was still cleaning our room, so I grabbed the stroller
and walked the halls with Colton to get him to sleep while I read my
book. I met up with Chase back at the room and we went to the Q&A
with the ship entertainers and the Captain and his staff. The boat
was really rocking today! The wind was very strong causing lots of
waves. Colton woke up from his nap too soon during the Q&A, so I
walked him to try to get him back to sleep. No luck!
Chase and Juliet played outside on the deck in the cold wind for a little bit, then Chase took Colton upstairs to nap again and I took Juliet on a walk around the halls in the stroller to get her to nap. After two laps, I was starting to get pretty nauseous because the boat was rocking so much. So I took Juliet upstairs to another trivia game and then to the Garden Cafe because she was hungry. We got her a hot dog and got Chase some ice cream and took it to him in the room. Colton woke up shortly after we got back to the room. We watched a little bit of the movie Big Hero 6 in our room and then went to a late lunch at O'Sheehan's. We took the kids to the guppy playroom for a little bit of play time after lunch. We went back to our rooms to shower and relax before a late dinner at the Azule dining room. The 7:15 show tonight was just a movie, so we skipped it. We headed back to our rooms to back our bags. We had to have all our suitcases outside our doors by midnight that night. The kids were asleep by 9 and we were asleep by 11.
As gross as it is to let them crawl on that dirty floor, they were having fun!
Chase and Juliet played outside on the deck in the cold wind for a little bit, then Chase took Colton upstairs to nap again and I took Juliet on a walk around the halls in the stroller to get her to nap. After two laps, I was starting to get pretty nauseous because the boat was rocking so much. So I took Juliet upstairs to another trivia game and then to the Garden Cafe because she was hungry. We got her a hot dog and got Chase some ice cream and took it to him in the room. Colton woke up shortly after we got back to the room. We watched a little bit of the movie Big Hero 6 in our room and then went to a late lunch at O'Sheehan's. We took the kids to the guppy playroom for a little bit of play time after lunch. We went back to our rooms to shower and relax before a late dinner at the Azule dining room. The 7:15 show tonight was just a movie, so we skipped it. We headed back to our rooms to back our bags. We had to have all our suitcases outside our doors by midnight that night. The kids were asleep by 9 and we were asleep by 11.
Day 9 – Saturday
– Going home
We woke up at 7 and
packed up the rest of our things. We took our bags with us to
breakfast at the Garden Cafe. The place was packed and we had to
find seating in the overflow restaurant. We stayed at breakfast
until they called our color to be able to disembark the ship.
We headed down to deck 7 and said goodbye to the ship. We made our way off, got our luggage, made our way through customs and outside to our shuttle. We had a great shuttle driver on the way back to the airport. We got to the airport and had about a three hour wait before our flight left. We grabbed some lunch and gate checked our carry on luggage, still very annoyed that they don't allow you do to it at check-in when they know the flight is full and that it's inevitable. Had a good flight to Phoenix with a short layover and then a good flight home to Salt Lake. Melissa picked us up from the airport and our trip was over. We had a great time. Glad we could go!
We headed down to deck 7 and said goodbye to the ship. We made our way off, got our luggage, made our way through customs and outside to our shuttle. We had a great shuttle driver on the way back to the airport. We got to the airport and had about a three hour wait before our flight left. We grabbed some lunch and gate checked our carry on luggage, still very annoyed that they don't allow you do to it at check-in when they know the flight is full and that it's inevitable. Had a good flight to Phoenix with a short layover and then a good flight home to Salt Lake. Melissa picked us up from the airport and our trip was over. We had a great time. Glad we could go!
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