2nd Island Stop - St. John Excursion

We took an excursion on a small boat from St. Thomas to St. John. I wish I'd taken more pictures from the boat ride (photo regret #3 or so).



Here's a picture of the port where this little boat docked. St. John was really hilly & they drive on the otherside of the road. We were glad to have a bus ride to Trunk Bay. This photo was from the bus at the top of a hill.

This is Trunk Bay. It's really beautiful & we snorkeled here. It would have been great to spend more time. We only got an hour or so since we had a schedule to get back to the ship on time. This would be one of the cons with cruising.

Here we are down on that beautiful white sand beach. Bruce loves to snorkel now that he's figured out he needs to shave first.

The fish were all around these little islands & there were tons of birds living on the islands too.

Bruce loves nothing more than to float in the ocean. The water was crystal clear.

I'm trying to solve the Ryan-is-never-in-pictures problem with this trip. Ryan is the last to say "take a picture of me." So I got him to pose as much as possible. Here's a view of the beach from the water.

I wish I'd gotten pictures of our tour guides. This trip our guide's name was Jeff. Friendly guy but we found all tour guides tell the same jokes. Didn't matter on the islands the jokes don't change - "See that beautiful mansion (yes), that's my house (wow), no people you've got to be kiddin' hahahaha."

Tomorrow my favorite - St. Maarten!

2nd Island Stop - Port in St. Thomas

One of the best parts of a cruise is going into & out of port. We would all stand on Deck 12 the whole time we pulled in & out. St. Thomas was fun cause we came into port at 11am. We were able to get up, eat breakfast, & then go watch the island appear.

This is Charlotte-Amalia, St. Thomas. I think it was named after a queen but is now part of the US Virgin Islands. I didn't realize how these islands are all divided up between the US, British, French, & Dutch. It's like every country wanted an island paradise to own.

This photo gives you a idea how big the ship is. This port was the nicest with shops nearby. They did load you into taxis (like cattle) from the ship & then stopped half-way to the shopping area & asked everyone for $4. I guess you'd have to walk back to the ship if you didn't have cash with you.

More pics of the island and the houses built into the hills.

We did an excursion to St. John during this stop but I'll do a separate post since there are lots of pics to share.

Here's Bruce & the kids as we leave St. Thomas around 7pm.

Here's a pic of the parents - notice Bruce is gotee-less so he can snorkel. He's since grown it back which makes me happy :)

And the kiddos - lots of pictures of them being nice to each other.

Sunset photo that didn't turn out well but you get the idea. I needed Derek's photo expertise!!

Ryan is our sunset fool (I admit I love them too). He tried and tried to get a good sunset pic on his camera phone. That's not an easy thing to do. It was much prettier than this picture.

Bad thing about St. Thomas was the kids figured out they had cell phone coverage. They were good sports about putting them away again but did pout a little about what they were missing with their friends. Not too bad though.

Good night & goodbye St. Thomas - wish we could have stayed longer!

Tomorrow's post is our trip to St. John during our stay in St. Thomas. It's a quick boat ride away.

1st Island Stop - CocoCay Bahamas

CocoCay is a private island owned by Royal Carribean. It is very small & no one lives there. Royal Carribean has built shacks for bars & to make lunch. They have a flee market area too. The ship is anchored offshore & they bring you in by small boats called tenders. This process means lines & the "cattle car" feeling you get once in a while on a cruise. I much prefer the islands where you are docked & can come & go easier.

Here's our 16 year old posing on the beach with the ship in the background. Beach chairs are free but they rent you the floating mat & snorkel gear. We all shared one mat & I got one snorkel set for free (Mom would be proud) and we all shared it too.

We were all swimming when Megan decided to go lay in the sun. I look up there after 10 mins or so & she's got a tropical drink in her hand. Hmmm...thought I restricted the kids from charging to their ship card. Guess those rules don't apply on shore & Megan told me many times how much she enjoyed it. She's a real pushover for a guy with a tray of frosty-fruity drinks. Luckily he didn't add the rum to this one!

Best part of our day was renting waverunners. They took us out in a group of 10 and we got to go really fast. It was follow the leader & she was doing lots of turns & S curves. It was fun. Megan rode behind Bruce & Ryan was behind me.

This is Ryan & me from a distance with the ship behind us. They had a ship photographer on the island who took pictures of us on the waverunners too but they were super expensive. Hence the annoying nickel & diming. We'd just smile & think "I'm not buying this picture!"

The guide stopped the group once in a while & told us a story about an island, etc. Here she's giving us the info on a star fish. I made the kids pose with it to show how big it was. They fill up with air when you pull them out of the water & float. Kinda cool. You can also see how far we are away from the ship in this picture. It's that tiny white spec between the kids.
Then it was time to clean up & go to dinner. The food was good & the portions were small so you could easily have an appetizer (or two if you're Bruce), and an entree (or two if you're Bruce), and a dessert (guess how many Bruce had).

I like this picture of the kids so I made it our new banner photo. You can see Megan got some tan lines from CocoCay.

We tried to catch the sunset every night. Most nights were cloudy like this & one night it was raining. Ryan would actually leave the table early to see if the sunset was good. We finally caught a good one on our last night. I'll post it later. Gotta love a good sunset :)

Most nights Bruce & I went to the show. Sometimes the kids came with us. They weren't too thrilled with the teen program & didn't spend hardly any time there. Some people say you'll never see the kids. The kids spent a lot of time with us but that's fine by me (and Brucie too)! We didn't want them to miss out on any teen fun but didn't push them into it.




I almost forgot to mention that Bruce saw a baby shark while snorkeling at CocoCay. We got one set of snorkel gear so Ryan was floating on the mat waiting for his turn. Bruce saw that shark - turned on his heel (can you do this in the water) - got Ryan - and headed into the shore. He said it was a baby great white not a reef shark like we saw in Hawaii. I'm guessing he was right cause a lifeguard on a waverunner started patroling this area soon after. No one yelled shark or made people get out of the water. Pretty wild!

On the Cruise - Rock Wall

The best thing about the rock wall on the cruise - it's free! Megan loved it and climbed a bunch. Knock yourself out Meg - it's free! Yea! They do try to nickel & dime you for things but I'll complain more about this later - did I mention the rock wall was free - haha :)

This photo has both kids in it. Ryan was ticked cause he got the harder part. This was his first & last climb. Megan has climbed real rocks at church camp in Colorado Springs so she just shot up the wall. They ring a bell at the top so they know when to start bringing them down.

Megan was a happy girl after her first climb. This was her helper who looks Asian, right. He was British of course!

I think this is Ryan getting ready to go. I didn't get a picture of him at the end cause he wasn't a happy camper. Rock wall climbing isn't his thing so he headed off to the Flowrider, again.

Megan later did the same climb as Ryan and assured him it was much harder. That was a nice sister since his confidence was bruised a little.

Here's a cute picture of Megan on Deck 12. I see an island behind her so this photo is probably in the wrong folder. Oh well -- That looks like St. Thomas.
Next up is our first island stop - CocoCay Bahamas.

On the Cruise - Flowrider

One of the main reasons we picked Royal Caribbean was the Flowrider. The kids had seen the commercials and were hooked. Ryan spent the most time on it since he was more patient about enduring the lines. They'll sell you a lesson with no lines for $60 an hour - thanks, don't think so!!

Ryan's first trip on the boogie board was a little tipsy.

But then he got better...

And better....

And wipeout!! Ryan had lots of wipeouts cause he kept trying to do this double roll trick. He finally mastered it the last day but I wasn't there to take a photo. I was watching the cruise staff vs. everyone else in dodgeball.

Megan took a turn during our first full day at sea. She said it was fun but not fun enough to stand in line forever. She liked the rock wall (see tomorrow's post for pictures).
I can't remember if she's starting in this photo or about to get pushed into the back. That's when you're out when the wave pushes you to the back. They divide the Flowrider for boogie boards but use the whole thing for surfing.
Ryan convinced Bruce to try it during one of our last at sea days.

Bruce was surprisingly good on his first try. I was waiting for a big wipeout picture but never got one.


I forgot to mention how international a cruise is from the staff to the guests. Seemed like everyone had an accent except us. Although Megan was told she had a Kansas twang. The cruise director was from Canada, our waiters were from Jamaica (mon!), and our cabin steward was from Haiti. Tons & tons of British guests too. Made me want to start speaking with a British accent. I'm also guessing the British Pound is very strong against the US dollar so they all decided to cruise!

On the Cruise - First Day

We spent the first day exploring the ship. I was amazed at the size. It's like a mini-city and luckily they have maps everywhere. I didn't get pictures of Cape Canaveral but that's not really a regret since it's just a port - don't ever plan a vacation there!

This is all of us on the Promenade Deck (which was 5 out of 15). It's like a small shopping mall. They had a pizza shop & deli with free food but also places where you had to pay like Ben & Jerry's. Why would you pay when there is tons of good free food? Bruce & the kids got Ben & Jerry's one night but I refused and had a free tiramisu instead.
There is a different towel animal in your cabin each night. This was doggy night. I didn't get pictures of them all but I recall an elephant, monkey, & bat. I should have gotten a better picture of our stateroom. We had an ocean view so there's a big window behind those curtains. We were on the 3rd Deck though so mostly we saw waves. The kids beds pulled out of the ceiling. They said it was like being in a camper - pretty close comparison.

Here's a good view from Deck 12 which is where we liked to hang out. All the pools where on Deck 11. There were 3 - a kiddie pool area, an adults only area, & this main pool. The main pool was more fun since all the dance lessons, belly flop contest, & bands played here.

And here's a view of the pool area on a normal at sea day. I think I'm in this picture for the 70s line dance lesson. Anyone want to do the hustle? Bruce & the kids didn't but I thought it was fun. Bruce did do the salsa dance lessons with me so look out at the next family wedding dance!!

Being on the boat was a novelty and fun for a day or so. It is very relaxing. The best part about a cruise is coming in & out of port at the islands and the island excursions. I'm saving those for last since it's the best photos. More on the boat pictures for tomorrow.

One thing about our cruise that was great was our cruise director. No - not Julie from the Love Boat. His name was Allan Brooks & he was hilarious. The cruise entertainment staff did a 70s dance party on the Promenade Deck one night & they dressed like the Village People. They also did an 80s dance party - gotta love that. The shows were good but most were super cheesy. I did like the Drifters though & the comedians.

Best part of the cruise - my super motion sick boys didn't get sea sick at all. Yea!!