Saturday the 10th: Took 2 airplanes to a charter bus to the ship...we left at 4:00 am and were on board by 1:30 eating lunch...not too shabby, but we were EXHAUSTED!
Sunday the 11th: Arrived in Key West by late morning, got off the ship and explored the town, got "Conch Fritters" to try and then took the kids on a pirate scavenger hunt in the nearby pirate museum...(parts of which were quite disgusting...everything was supposed to be actual artifacts).
Monday the 12th: was a day spent at sea...the kids tried out the pool, we played ping pong and Foosball, Sophia got her hair braided, and Tony and the kids went to see the movie BOLT in 3-D while I took a nap.
Tuesday the 13th: we arrived in Grand Cayman and we had to tender to get onto the island (this means the ship can not dock, it has to stay out in deeper waters and we take smaller boats from the cruise ship to the dock and back again). We had scheduled an excursion to visit a turtle farm, so we got aboard a charter bus and they drove us about 25 minutes from Georgetown (the capital city)to the farm where we were dropped off and had a few hours to explore before heading back. We got to see the breeding tank, we got to hold a turtle and then the kids and Tony got to swim in a salt-water lagoon with fish and Iguanas (which apparently freaked Tony out a bit and he quickly got out!). On the way back our bus stopped in "HELL" and we took photos before heading back to the dock. The kids and I were exhausted so we headed back to the ship, Tony stayed behind and got himself some Cuban Cigars and stopped into "Margaritaville" and got himself a shot before heading back...
Wednesday the 14th: the kids spent the entire day in the Kids Club due to the fact that the excursion Tony had planned for us was to take around 8 hours. We were forewarned that the 35 minute boat ride from Cozumel to mainland Mexico was going to be really bad, as the waters were very rough, and Disney offered to refund us our money if we chose not to go, Tony was determined we were going no matter what, so we boarded the boat and hung on tight as people all around us were getting seasick...we thank goodness made it across in one piece! Once in Mexico we walked thru a very crowded city marketplace and then to a van that took us another 25 minutes away into the jungle. Once at the location we zip lined thru the jungle, rode bikes, swam in the underground rivers and saw a Mayan purification ceremony, it was all very surreal, after we finished all four activities we had a traditional Mexican lunch before heading back to the beach to re-board the ferry back to Cozumel.
Thursday the 15th:this was anotehr day at sea, but this time the weather had turned cold and windy so the kids could not really use the pool. We played video games in the arcade, Tony and I had a couples massage, and then we caught the movie "Bedtime Stories"...nothing real exciting...
Friday the 16th:This was our last stop before heading back to Florida...Disney's private island "Castaway Cay." The high was only in the 60's (not warm enough for me to get dressed in swimming clothes) so we got off the boat in jeans and sweatshirts to spend the day at the beach...as the morning progressed and the sun came out, Tony headed back to the ship for swimming clothes for himself and the kids, it was just too cold for me! Gabe and Sophia played in the sand and surf and made some new friends. When we got back to the ship we started packing up our things because all of our bags that needed to be checked for our airplane ride home had to be outside our door by no later than 11:00 pm.
Saturday the 17th: we asked for a wake-up call as we needed to be up, dresses and be out of our room and eaten breakfast by the time the ship docked at 7:30. Because our flight home was before 12:00 noon we needed to be off the boat and heading back to the airport as early as possible. Once back at Dullas it was "back to reality" as we had to go and wait at baggage claim for our bags and then hail down a bus to take us back to our very COLD van and drive back home...
***We had dinner service at a different restaurant each night, alternating between Luminere's (a French Style), Parrot Cay, and Animator's Palate...I think we all agreed that Parrot cay was our favorite!
*** Each night when it was time for bed we would find our towels turned into all sorts of animal shapes along with 4 chocolates so that we would have "sweet dreams"!
***I had to go to the on board ER on Tuesday because I had been not feeling well for 2 days and I found out that I had a bad case of Strep Throat and was given some strong anti-biotics, even though I did not feel good and was freezing cold all. the. time. I still went on all the excursions and tried to make the best of the situation!
