We just came back from our 3rd cruise in 4 years and we had a blast!!! We love going on cruises as there is something for all of us. Tom and my mom like to go to the casino and Brooke and I enjoy the shore excursions. The cruise this year was really neat. Tom, Brooke, my mom and I went on the Carnival Legend out of Tampa on June 6, 2010 and visited Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Roatan/Honduras and Belize.
We were at sea the first day and on the second day, we arrived at Grand Cayman which we all love. (We went to this port in 2006 also). During that cruise, Tom, Brooke and I swam with the stingrays (yikes!) and snorkeled. Tom got stung by some fire coral (he didn't listen to me) and Brooke was a little nervous jumping in the water with about 100+ stingrays. It was pretty neat! My mom went on a rum factory tour and saw the sea turtle farm which she enjoyed. During the cruise this year, Tom, Brooke and I went snorkeling to a different cove. The visibility was 80+ feet, yet we didn't see as many fish this time. My mom went on a semi-submarine and saw hundreds (thousands) of fish. She had a great time and took some neat pictures.
We arrived at Cozumel the third day--boy was it hot!!! Our skin felt like it was burning. During the first cruise here, we all swam with the dolphins (I snorkeled with them--totally cool and my mom and Brooke were on a platform). Brooke was so cute when she kissed them. Tom didn't go in the water and tried to take pictures. During the cruise this year, we shopped a little bit and then my mom went back on the ship (too hot) and Tom, Brooke and I went to Dolphinaris to swim with the dolphins. Brooke was old enough to snorkel with me--it was great and she loved it! This place was set up differently so Tom was able to take pictures (and drink beer) up at the bar while we swam with the dolphins.
On the fourth day, we went to Roatan/Honduras, which was an island off of Honduras. It was beautiful!! The ship docked right at the island so we were able to walk to the beach and hang out. We decided to not go on an excursion and I am happy that we didn't. My mom hung out and talked with people on the beach and then later went back to the ship. Tom, Brooke and I snorkeled off a dock near the beach and saw about 20 different types of fish. The snorkeling was awesome. We were in the water for about 2 hours and we didn't want to leave. There were several restaurants there and we ate at one which was typical type food--nothing native. This was a great, relaxing place to go to and we would love to go there again.
The fifth day was in Belize, another very neat place. Belize is known for its scuba diving/snorkeling, yet we all went cave tubing. Belize has one of the largest cave systems (limestone caves) in the world. We took about a one hour bus ride to the western part of Belize. We had a great tour guy named Patrick and he showed us the beauty of Belize while explaining their country to us. Once we got to the park, we hiked about 30 minutes into a rain forest and saw about 10+ different types of butterflies and different birds (apparently there are 200+ different types of hummingbirds). We all did great hiking to the river, especially my mom, as it was very hot. Eventually we got down to the slow moving river and we were on the river for about 1 1/2 hours going through the limestone caves. This excursion was very neat--the water was cool, not cold, and Patrick told us of Mayan Indian traditions and stories.
The sixth day was on the water heading back towards Tampa. We relaxed at the pool. The weather was great on this cruise (and the others in the past). We were lucky as two weeks later, Tropical Storm Alex went over Belize and Honduras with 80 mile hour winds.
I will be booking the cruise for next year soon. We are leaving out of Miami going to Coco Cay, San Juan, St. Thomas and Turks--it should be another great one!!!
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