Day 9: Castaway Cay

This is the day we were most excited for!  The Disney Island.  We had a long 'to do' list, and planned to stay on the island most of the day.  It was sunny and hot and beautiful!  There were some storm clouds in the sky, but they looked far away, and appeared to be moving away from us.

Don and Jonathan did the sting ray adventure again.  Eric, Megan, and I just got snorkeling gear and snorkled in the lagoon.  Megan didn't last too long, as she didn't like the taste sea water left, but she did much better than last time!  Eric was pretty adventurous, and would swim out to the far ropes.  We saw some fish, but not  a lot.  It was still fun.

 The haze in the pic is from my lens.  It fogged up from the humidity every time I opened my camera.

 After eating lunch, Don and the boys went to the rec area to play mini-golf.  Megan and I went to find the gift shop.  At this point, it started to sprinkle.  Megs and I went back to the rec area which was under a shelter.  Then, the little sprinkle became a downpour. A really really long lasting downpour.  With thunder.  And lightening.  After about 20 minutes, we thought maybe, just maybe, Don should run back to the beach to get our stuff.  

 My backpack had a lot of water in it.  My cell phone was in my fanny pack (the cool kind that runners wear-not the touristy kind).  It was dead.  Don's phone was also in his backpack, and also dead.  My Nook was in my back pack. Dead (Darn!  No reading material for the rest of the trip).

 The boys were playing giant checkers while waiting out the rain.  

After an hour of heavy downpour, we noticed some people were heading back to the ship.  We thought we would do the same.  Megan was crying-very scared of the weather.  We joined those walking back to the ship against the recommendation of the lifeguards.  We were drenched by the time we got to the ship.  The downpour continued for another 45 minutes or so.  

It cleared up around 2:30, but we opted not to return to the beach.  We had a mess to clean up with all of our stuff getting wet.  We were bummed about the weather, but happy we had 3 hours on the beach before the weather hit.

Day 8: At Sea

Day 8 was spent cruising at sea.  We were ready for a day of nothing.
Don, Megan, and I spent much of the morning at the pool.  There was no line at the AquaDuck, so Megan and I rode it 5 times!  She went an additional time with Emily (our table mate).  We played Bingo (and lost...so close).
Eric was excited for lunch, as the Royal Garden had calamari on the menu this day, and he was eager to try it.  The escargot experience didn't scare him away from wanting to try it.  He liked it!  They were fried similar to onion rings.
We didn't see much of the boys-they had fun on the Sports Deck and at the teen club, Edge.  I did go on a date with Eric after supper to watch Ant Man.  Don and Megan went to the featured play.  Jonathan played at Edge.
These pics were sent to me from Michele, our table mate.

 Eric at the turtle farm in Grand Cayman.  Michele was rebellious and took a pic.  Most people were actually being rebellious. 

 Pirate night!  Guests are enouraged to dress up in pirate gear.

 Megan got a few braids.  She didn't keep them in long-too tight!

 Leaving the turtle farm.

Day 7: Jamaica

There are no pictures of Jamaica.  None.  All were taken on my cell phone, which is dead.  Since we did not have cell service on the cruise, there was no backing up to icloud.  We only have our memories of this day, unless by some miracle I will be able to get the pictures from my phone.

We took a tour of the Green Grotto caves.  There was a fun history to the caves that involved pirates.  Real pirates.  Our tour guide was entertaining, but our group was really big, and it was hard to hear him at times.

I pulled these pics of the caves from google

The final scene from the James Bond move "Live and Let Die" was filmed in these caves (or maybe it was another JB movie...)
Lots of bats live in the caves.  I knew this when booking the tour, and still chose to do it.

Following the cave tour, we took the shuttle to a beach area where we ate a yummy meal of Caribbean Jerk chicken, rice and red beans, cole slaw with pineapple, and hush puppies.  Megan didn't like it.  The rest of us cleaned her plate for her.  The beach was super soft sand, and very bright blue water.

Later that night on the ship, it was Pirate Night.  There was a big party on Deck 11, followed by fireworks.  I was already sleeping, but the boys attending parts of it and had fun.

Day 6: Grand Cayman Island

On day 6 we arrived at Grand Cayman Island.  The ship is actually not able to dock due to the corral reefs, so it drops anchor, and you travel to the island via a tender boat.  We were signed up for the Dolphin Discover adventure this day.  Megan was very exited to see and touch a dolphin.

As part of our excursion, we went into a pool with a dolphin, Galileo, and a trainer, Jose.  Galileo did a few tricks for us, then we all learned how to give him 5, shake 'hands', give and receive a kiss, and get him to smile.  I have no pictures of any of this.  The company has a policy that no pictures can be taken for the safety of the dolphins.  A highly qualified, professional photographer stands by the pool with you to take pictures of each and every special moment.  In fact, as part of each trick we did with the dolphin, we had to turn our head to the right so we could smile at the camera.  Then, following our time in the pool, we could purchase these pictures.  The lowest package was priced at $140.  You could not buy individual shots.  The professional photographer was really just one of the staff who escorted you to the pool, and had a fancy Nikon camera.

Following the dolphin time, we went through the turtle farm that is part of the Dolphin Discovery exhibit.  There were huge turtles!  There was one area where you could pick up and hold some of the baby turtles.  I started to take pics of Eric holding one, and was told by a staff member that for the safety of the turtles, no pictures could be taken.  He had a fancy Nikon, and was of course taking plenty of pics that I'm sure I could purchase in a package for $140.
The Grand Cayman was pretty, but not really a place I'd want to return to.

The pics aren't really in order of the day's events....

 Shoreline of Grand Cayman

 The AquaDuck water slide.  Coolest thing ever.  No lines in the morning usually.

 The largest tv I've ever seen (aside from the one on the Dream) played Disney animated movies all day long.  We would watch them while swimming.

 The quick service food area was Cars themed.  There were 4 different food stations, serving pizza, hot dogs, burgers, chicken strips, fried, sandwiches, wraps, and fresh fruit.

 Michelle from Italy (pronounced Mee KEL ah) was our assistant server, who took care of our drinks each night.  Shirley Temples with extra cherries were waiting for Megan and Emily, our table mate, each evening.

 Jonathan ordered the 'make your own pie' dessert

My 'sweet temptations' dessert 

 on the tender to Grand Cayman

The kids at the turtle farm.  

Day 5: Mexico

Day 5 we were docked in Cozumel, Mexico.  Along the way to Mexico, we had a nice view of the island of Cuba.  It was pretty from a distance.

We had an excursion through some Mayan ruins this day.  Our tour guide met us as we got off the ship.  He gave us stickers with his name on it (Patrick), so we knew group we were in.  The ruins were in a National Park.  Patrick was very proud of his Mayan heritage, and gave a good tour.

 Mopeds are a popular form of transportation in Cozumel.  Gas is very expensive.   Helmets are required.

 Some of the ruins.  

 These pillars have a religious significance.  I already forgot what it was.  

After the ruins, we toured a museum on Cozumel/Mayan history.  There was a dancing exhibit/ritual.  We had a little buffet for lunch.  The next stop was a chocolate factory.  Eric got to help make chocolate.  It was yummy stuff.  More pics that are on my iphone...

Our evening meal was at Animator's Palate, which is the kids' favorite place!