A Dream Vacation | Part 1 – Crusing

Disclaimer – this is a long, image heavy post.  Photos are either my own taken with a Canon 5d mk iii, Fuju x100t, iphone5 or from photos purchased from photographers on the Royal Caribbean photo pass. 

Anyone who knows me personally, knows that the last few years have not been the easiest.  We have had our share of tragedy in our family, and some real lows as parents, as a couple and as a family unit.  On Valentine’s Day my husband and I took some time on our date night to meet with a travel agent, Heidi, from Cruise About Uptown.  We wanted to price out a family trip – something that would bring some joy to us, and help the four of us reconnect with each other.  Pricing turned into booking.  For 6 months we kept this a secret from our children.  Then at the airport at the end of August we told them the truth – we were going on a Caribbean Cruise.  It was  the start of a dream vacation!  (We only told them about the cruise at this time, keeping week 2 a secret for a little longer – and the next blog post!)

They were in shock and awe – almost silent as they absorbed the news.  In fact they didn’t even believe us until we actually boarded the cruise ship after taking the red eye overnight from the Pacific Northwest to Orlando!

We cruised with Royal Caribbean on their Dreamworks Experience onboard the Freedom of the Seas.  We originally were supposed to do the Eastern Caribbean – but Hurricane Danny (which later got downgraded to Tropical Storm Danny, and then had Tropical Storm Erika on it’s heels) forced us to change course and we ended up following a Western Caribbean route.

(Above two photos taken with the Fuji x100t while we were on the ship’s tender going to port – settings: ISO 100 |  f/2.8  | 1/2000)

Within the first hour on-board the kids were already in the H2O zone – a huge pool/splash park area that our kids practically lived in for a week.  Thankfully we had packed the $2 water wings that I bought for Liam earlier in the summer – he lived in those things and was comfortable floating around in the deeper pools.  Dreamworks characters – Shrek, Fiona, King Julian and Alex the Lion greeted everyone with a set sail pool party.  We went to bed early that night, since we had been up travelling the night before.

Day two of the cruise had us anchored at Coco Cay Bahamas – the private beach island for Royal Caribbean.  The water was warm and crystal clear and we enjoyed half a day of floating, suntanning, and frolicking in the water.  It was blissful.  We had to drag the kids back to the ship, they were having so much fun.

Night two of the cruise was our first formal night and also the first night we put the kids into the Adventure Ocean program.  Through Adventure Ocean, each of our boys got to be in an age appropriate group setting with leaders and other children doing themed activities, while we got to have adult time on-board!  The staff were amazing with our kids and accommodated Liam’s peanut allergies well.  We had brought walkie-talkies with us to use with the kids, and they also had a few mobile phones that they would lend us to contact us in case of emergency.  The boys loved going!  Caleb was old enough to sign himself out, and we let him have some freedom to wander around the ship on his own a little once he had our cabin memorized.

Day three of the cruise was a sea day.  We spent the morning in the H2O zone, watching the belly flop competition and eating ice cream.  Caleb went to Adventure Ocean club in the afternoon, and Adam and I spent time with Liam.  We mini-golfed,  Adam surfed the ship’s Flowrider, and Liam and I met King Julian from Madagascar.  After our dinner we sent Liam to Adventure Ocean club and spent some time with Caleb.  He had ice cream at the Ben & Jerry’s, and watched the entertainment on the Promenade deck with us.

Day four of the cruise had us in port at Montego Bay, Jamaica.  We took a bus tour of Montego Bay and Falmouth – seeing some of the historic sites, some varying communities and then doing some shopping along Montego Bay’s hip strip.  We ate at Margaritaville with the kids, taste tested some rum, and had samples of Jamaican coffee and banana bread.  It was such a valuable education for our children to see how other children live, and to see another culture.  Caleb especially understood how lucky he was, as he watched children selling fruit in the street.

The evening of day four was pirate night for the Aquanauts (Liam’s AO group).  They performed the most adorable little parade and show on stage in the theater.  He was thrilled to be part of the show.  I think musical theater is in his future.

Day five we anchored in George Town on Grand Cayman Island.  We had to tender off ship again.  We then went to Dolphin Discovery and had a chance to swim with dolphins.  It was amazing to be belly to belly on top of our dolphin Copernicus.  The kids loved it!  We then did some shopping in the town, and somehow ended up at a Margaritaville again – to have lunch and wait out a little tropical rain.  We ended up on their waterslide and pool – with Adam and I taking part in some adult waterslide alcohol shots.  (It was vacation time afterall!)  Although we missed out on 7 mile beach (mostly due to weather) we still had a fabulous time on Grand Caymen Island.

I had the pleasure of having a massage in the ship’s spa when we got back on board.  (Thank you Heidi for the surprise treat!) It was formal night once again and we dressed up in all our fancy wear.  Adam and I each had lobster tails. We watched the Royal Caribbean show Once Upon a Time – it was fantastic!

We then left Caleb in charge of Liam while Adam and I wandered around the ship’s casino.  I played my grandma’s favorite game – a Wheel of Fortune slot machine.  I won $12, but I lost $20.  Oh well.  It’s exactly the way my grandma play too.  (Miss you lots grandma!)  We also enjoyed the evening white pool party – a club party on the dance floor in the middle of the main pool.

Day six we were in port in Cozumel, Mexico.  This is the second time Adam and I have been here – the last being in 2003 when we were honeymooning in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico.  However, this was the first time either of us, and the kids, had been snorkeling with stingrays.  It was a big learning experience for the kids, but we had an awesome instructor William from Stingray Beach who helped out.  After snorkeling we got to play with the iguanas, parrots and hermit crabs.  One of those parrots even made it into our family selfie!

We then spent time walking through downtown Cozumel.  We did some shopping, and had lunch at a delicious Mexican restaurant – with the best salsa and guacamole. Before we went back to the ship we explored the tide pools in the rocks along the coastline.

We then had a dinner reservation on board the Chops restaurant where our kids got their first taste of filet mignon, and of course totally loved it.  The kids then had PJ and movie night at Adventure Ocean club while we went to the Freedom Ice show at the ship’s skating rink.

Day 7 was our last full day on our floating home.  It was a sea day, and we were busy for most of it.  We started our day with a character breakfast, enjoying our eggs and juice with Alex, Gloria and King Julian from Madagascar.  I had a facial and body scrub at the spa, the boys went mini golfing and Adam went rock wall climbing.  (He was fast at it too!)  We then spent most of our time at the pool.  It was super windy, and we had reports of rougher weather back in Port Canaveral, Florida, where we were headed back to.  We also took a few photos with Shrek and Fiona.

Just before dinner we watch the Dreamworks Move it! Move it! Parade, a final event for our Dreamworks experience.  I had mentioned at breakfast to a staff member that we were disappointed that our oldest never got the chance to meet Puss in Boots.  She told us a very specific spot to stand and watch the parade.  As it ended, Puss came over and gave our kids a hug and paused for a photo op.  They were the only two kids that got this special treatment.  I am so wowed by the way the staff on board made sure it was a magical experience for our kids.  We had our last dinner – and as promised the boys got magic tricks and balloon hats from our waiters Jay and Brian.  They did an awesome job taking care of all our fancy dinners on board.

The kids had their final Adventure Ocean time while we packed up the luggage.  Adam smoked the cigar that he bought in Jamaica, and I lounged on a deck chair on last time.  The next day we disembarked.  Although we were sad to leave the ship – week two of our dream vacation was about to begin.

…to be continued!

Part two of our dream vacation is here.  And part three can be found here.