Photo Hunt: Together

A family that drinks together, stays together? Ok.. Maybe a family that cruises together, stays together. :)

Join in the Photo Hunt or check out other participants at tnchick.com

Photo Friday: Nassau View from Disney Cruise

The view of Nassau port with very vibrant color of the Bahamas. This was our only port during our 4-night Bahamas cruise with Disney 2 years ago. It was our first cruise so I didn't know what to expect and didn't prepare much. We walked to the straw market and spent sometimes there. Then I had to find Hard Rock cafe to get my pin. See.. I'm a HRC pin collector. But I only buy the pin that represent the city or country that I have visited. We didn't do any excursion to Atlantis. Probably next trip. :)

We did throughly enjoy our time there so much that 2 years later we got on another cruise vacation. I love cruising. It's such a great way to travel as a family. You plan in advance and then just enjoy your time there.

Wordless Wednesday - Disney Cruise Line

Wordless Wednesday - Dream Escape

Peaceful and relaxing day by the beach in Cozumel, Mexico... Oh! How I dream to go back!

Carnival Cruise - Day 6 - Orcho Rios

Welcome to Jamaica. It's our final port on our 7 nights cruise. Oh.. I couldn't believe that we had been on this big, huge ship for over 6 days already. We took the Jamican Irie attitude to heart. We woke up late and grapped our breakfast. No rush here.. We booked the Bamboo Club excursion which basically a beach club. I knew from some of the cruise forum that the beach club is just a stone throw from the pier. So we weren't that worry about being the first one off the ship.

:: Getting Around ::

We knew that first thing we had to do was to get my Hard Rock Cafe pin. We missed it in Grand Cayman and I wouldn't want to miss it again here. We got off the ship and checked out the excursion tent to find out what we need to do. The lady there from Bamboo club told us that she would prefer us to go directly to the beach club. But after we insisted that we really wanted to walk around first she said she will wait for us. We headed out the pier area and walked to Hard Rock Cafe. I have heard about how Jamaicans are very persistent in offering you their service. I can totally understand that. It's their livelihoods. I have no problem with that.. A big smile and a polite 'no' will do. We walked a good 10 minutes to the cafe and picked my pin. Mr. Rojo got a teddy bear. Yes.. that's right.. Teddy bear but he is so cute.

:: Things To Do ::

Then we walked back and checked out the Island Village. Basically, it's a compound with a lot of stores in a nice setting. We walked around and got a few more shopping here. I think we made the most damage here than any other ports. :) I guess it was the last port and we missed out on the shopping in Grand Cayman so we felt obligated to shop to make up for the missing opportunity. We were also looking for a place to get Miss J hair braid. But believe it or not, we couldn't see one. We got approached by one lady but she wanted us to follow her to her place.. Ehhh.. No. Thank you! Guess she will be one of a few kids who didn't get her hair braid in the Carribean. Well, we can't get everything we want in life. Good lesson here, heh?

After about an hour and a flat wallet, it's time to head to the beach. When we got back to the excursion tent there wasn't that many people left and the lady from Bamboo beach wasn't anywhere to be found. No problem... Another lady showed us how to get there. It was really easy. We signed in and they quickly found us a host to take care of us. The food and the drink weren't as good as what I expected. Basically, you had 2 choices of drinks (lemonade and rum punch) If you want something else then you would have to buy it from the bar including soft drink. Doesn't make sense too me.. I would think soda is cheaper than alcoholic drink. Maybe not. Food was some chicken and pasta.. It wasn't that great.

No worry.. The staffs were so friendly and nice. So food wasn't a big deal for us. Plus we weren't that hungry anyway.. I mean.. come on.. After 6 days of all-you-can-stuff-in-your-face food.. we could possibly stay for a small meal for one day. The entertainment throughout the day was great. The DJ had the music on pretty much all day. I think if you love to party, this is the place. Also if you love to watch people dance and do funny things, this is the place as well. But some of the dance move could be non-kid friendly. Luckily Miss J was spending much of her time in the water and Mr. Z was busy building his sand castle.

I have said this before and I will say it again that I won't judge Jamaica with just my one small trip to a beach next to a pier. I know I can't expect much from that. And I'm glad I didn't. The water was murky and had a lot of algae in there. It's hard to not compare with Grand Cayman or even Cozumel. How could I not.. Either way, the kids still enjoyed the day there. We also enjoyed the music and had fun watching other groups danced. We spent a few hours there before heading back to the ship.

:: Back on The Ship ::

We went up to our regular hang out in the Lido Deck after we took a quick shower. Soft serve yogurt couldn't taste better. We sat at the back of the ship with the view as the ship pulled away from Ocho Rios. It was a nice day and certainly a place we need to come back. I know there are more that this place has to offer but right now our kids are too young to do any adventure activities. But next time we might leave them on the ship.. Well, not in our room of course. This is one of the benefit with cruising. You can drop your kids at the Camp Carnival and enjoy a day at port for any adults activities.

It was a formal night and this time we were smarter. We just realized that there were several photo session setup throughout the ship on Promenade and Lobby decks. Mr. Z was so hyper that he almost pulled down one of the background. Boy! I thought the guy was gonna throw him out. hehe.. We took only 2 sessions. I'm glad we just only did that two. I thought we migh have to take a loan to get those pictures.. Gosh!!! $20 for an 8x10 picture. Come on!!!

After walking in the high heel for a while, it was time to change to my comfy outfit. We headed back to our cabin and was greeted by our lovely monkey. We changed and dropped them off at the Camp Carnival. They had face painting and color bookbag. I got to do some laundry. I know.. I know.. I'm crazy that way. I like to get my laundry done on the ship. This way it won't be too smelly. Plus it wasn't as much as what I had waited for me at home.

This was the night I was looking forward to. The Midnight Gala Buffet. I wasn't sure if *WE* will be up at that time. Well, I sure did. But after stuffed ourselves for the past 6 days, even the most tempting chocolate and cake couldn't even get Mr. Rojo to eat after midnight. I was able to get in line to take pictures just to show that I was up! Maybe next trip we will eat less (yeah.. right..) and can enjoy the midnight buffet. ;)

Carnival Cruise - Day 5 - Grand Cayman

Here we were in Grand Cayman. We woke up early than usual today. I had packed what we need for the excursion today the night before. I knew that we would have little time to prepare. I'm glad I did. After quick breakfast, we headed down to get our tender ticket. It was so easy. I thought we might have to wait for a while. But we got the ticket and they told us to head down there right away. The time zone was a bit confusing for me. I didn't bring my brain to work during vacation. But basically, Cayman Islands is 1 hour behind the ship time.

When we got of the tender ship it was around 8am ship time. So it was still 7am local time.. Way too early for anything to open. I had booked an excursion with Captain Bryan. The meeting time was at 10am local time.. We had about 2-3 hours of free time. So I had to change my plan. Originally, I was planning to go on excursion first and then check out 7 miles beach afterward. With so much time on hand we decided to go to the beach first. I'm glad we did.. I will tell you why later..

We took a short walk to check out where we were supposed to meet and then headed back to the port area to catch a taxi to the beach. The ride was quick and not that expensive. $4 per person. They dropped us off at The Reef Restaurant. We walked to the beach area and were in awe. The beach is so beautiful and it was so peaceful. Got there early enough we felt like we own this private beach. In the beginning, the kids were afraid to get in the water. They just played with the sand and the wave. But soon enough, we all were in the water trying to catch some waves. The sand was soft and fine.. We could have stayed there all day. Next time, I wouldn't bother book any excursion.

After about 2 hours, we packed up with a lot of resistence from the kids. I was sad to leave as well but was also excited for our next adventure to the Sting Ray City. We rinsed off at the restaurant and caught a taxi back to the meeting place. Now that we got accustomed to the time, we started to worry if we would get back on-time. The schedule for this excursion was from 10:30am-1pm so it means we would get back 2pm (ship time).. Very close to the last tender time of 3:15pm.. I was glad we did the beach first since I don't see how we can fit the beach time after the excursion. So they were several fellow cruisers who were worried about the timing as well. They were talking about leaving earlier so we could get back sooner.

We got on a bus around 10-ish and headed to the pier. I guess it was the loading/landing site for all boats to Sting Ray City. The reason we picked this excursion with Captain Bryan was for the sail boat. And he didn't disappoint us at all. The crews were very nice. The boat ride took about 30 minutes. It was a nice relaxing ride. Once we got to the Sting Ray location, we saw several boats from various companies. At first we planned to just take turn going into the water. But the water was shallow enough that we took the kids down with us. We still had to hold them but it's manageable. Miss J was afraid in the beginning. But later on she felt clamer. I got to kiss one of the sting ray. They said I will have good luck for 7 years. We will see about that. :) The sting rays swam all around us. It was an amazing experience. So much fun.. The skin was as soft as velvet. It wasn't what I expected. After 30 minutes in the water, we headed back on the boat and headed to the snorkeling sites. The excursion included 2 snorkel sites. I wasn't too impress with what I saw though. There weren't as many fish as what we saw in Cozumel. I guess it was more for diving than snorkeling.

Then it was time to head back to town. Mr. Z felt asleep on the way. I would have done the same way if I didn't have to hold on to him. It was so nice. We had such a great time there. The water as blue as the clear sky above.. We got back on the bus around 1:30pm local time which means we had about 45 minutes to get back to the port. The bus ride was very stressful for us since we kept checking our time. The bus arrived at 2:14pm.. Got 1 minute to spare. But when we saw the line for the tender boats, we started to feel panic. We didn't know if we will make it to the boat. But then we realized that most people in line were also on the Victory. We made it! But we didn't get a chance to pick up any souvenir at all.. Not even rum cake or my Hard Rock Cafe pin. Well, guess we have to come back.

Once we got on the ship, we took shower and planned to take a quick nap before dinner. Guess what.. We all slept till the next morning. We were that tired.. We didn't even make it to dinner that night. What a fun day in Grand Cayman!

Carnival Cruise - Day 3 - Cozumel, Mexico

I hope everyone still enjoys our journal for our trip on Carnival Cruise. Now that we were on 3rd day of our trip, it was the day at port of call - Cozumel. I had planed today excursion to be at Chankanaap Park. We woke up a bit earlier than usual but still not early enough to see the ship arrived at the port. We got off the ship around 8-ish.. if my memory serves me right. This is one of the reason I want to start our blog.. Gosh.. where did my sharp as a knife memory go? I can't even remember what I had yesterday. Anyway, off topic.. back to Cozumel..

::Getting Around::

Once we got off the ship, we realized that we had forgotten to bring our floating strap for our underwater camera that we bought specifically for this trip with us. So Mr. Rojo had to run back to the cabin and fetch it. The port is connected to a small shopping plaza. Basically, it is a tourist trap, just perfect for us. hehe.. We almost caved in and rent a Jeep to drive around the island. But being an obessive, compulsive, controlling person, I didn't feel right renting without knowing the fact beforehand. And I would not know how much the rent should be and I could see rip-off report in the near future. So against our temptation, we decided to stay with our plan. We walked to the end of the strip mall and got on the taxi. I was so afraid that we wouldn't be able to communicate. This excursion was the only one that we would be on our own. No tour, no Carnival guide.. but.. There is no need to fear, Underdog is here.. oh.. wait.. It's not the movie.. Anyway, it seems everyone can speak good English for communication. Heck better than some South Floridians I met in the Miami mall.

::Things to do::

We hopped on the taxi for $10 and headed to the park. Using the coupons I printed from their site, we saved an extra $4 for all 4 of us. The entrance fee were $16 per adult and $8 per kid. Money saved here means more for our shopping.. yeah..

We arrived to the park fairly early. We didn't have any problem finding a chair to sit. Actually, it was kinda lonely.. Just us and probably another group at the beach at that time. We settled down and tested out the water. I sent Mr. Rojo to the water first. Well, lucky him.. He found that his snorkel didn't work properly. It was a new one and did I tell you that we hardly snorkel. So we couldn't figure out what wrong with it just that it didn't take in as much air as it should.

We took turn getting into the water for an offshore snorkeling. It was really nice. I was amazed at how many fish I saw. And I didn't even have to swim too far. The kids were just playing right there by the entrance to the snorkeling area. I was worried a bit that they would get swept away by the wave. Next time, we will buy a floaty vest for them. So we don't have to rent it there. We went to the diver shop there to rent fins for us and floating vest for the kids. They only had one kid size vest! One! How could that be? Don't they know that most of the time there will be more than one child in the cruise.

After about an hour at the snorkeling site, we moved to the small beach area so Miss J and Mr. Z could really enjoy some beach time. I wasn't impressed with that area. It was just a rope-off area with stagnant water near the restaurant. However, they did enjoy their time there building sand castle (not so much a castle but a lump of sand) and floating in the calm water. I understand that this park is more about snorkeling and swimming with the dolphin so I wouldn't say that Cozumel doesn't have nice beach. We just didn't have a chance to check it out this trip. There will always be a repeat trip. :)

Later we moved to the pool area. I really like it. It's next to the dolphin area so you could enjoy the show. The pool was really nice with the bar right there that you can swim up and enjoy your drink. It wasn't busy at all. It was a nice way for us to rinse off our salty feeling from the beach. I wouldn't mind stay there for a whole day. But Mr. Rojo was hungry and we didn't want to mess with hungry man. :) We headed for lunch.

::Place to eat::

We had lunch at the restaurant there. La Laguna Beach Grill was right on the beach. The service was great. Along with music. Mr. Rojo couldn't resist requesting La Bamba.. tourist! I had Fajitas which I think it was delish! Maybe I was too hungry or maybe it was the place.. Either way, it was paradise meal. The breeze and the food was so nice. I didn't want to move.

::More things to do::

Before we headed out, we walked the botanical garden. We didn't really slow down to see all the plant. The heat was too much for us. Yup.. even us. So we caught another taxi back to the pier.

We decided to head back to the ship and had quick shower before headed back to town.

There were a few places that we had in mind.. First I needed to check out Hard Rock Cafe to get my pin. I was rather disappointed at the pins collection this time around. I loved to get guitar pin of each city I visited. They had a good design that really capture the city. But this time, I didn't see anything that give me Cozumel feeling. So I was on the fence about getting the pin there. Mr. Rojo suggested that we should check out another HRC in town which is about 10 blocks away.

Then we walked around the plaza a little bit before decided to walked to check out another HRC about 10 blocks away. If we had more time, I think it would be really neat to head to town and really experience the town.

Then we headed to Starbucks. Mr. Rojo couldn't resist order coffee in the 90 degree weather. Crazy man! He got his Cozumel Starbuck mug for his collection. It was a long day.

We got back on board and waited for the sail away. We were able to find a hidden door to access the front of the ship on a few decks. Unfortunately, the best one is reserved for crew member only. No chance to post for Titanic moment on this ship.

The day was over but the night was just begun. We washed up again and got ready for dinner. The next day would be Fun Day @ Sea so it was a great schedule. We had a break from a long day in Cozumel. Next trip we will definitely look into snorkeling tour or renting a Jeep. Adios.

Wordless Wednesday - Caribbean Paradise

I'm still in the vacationing mode even though we have been back for a few days now. It's just the kind of feeling that I would love to treasure it as long as it lasts.

Check out other WW participants here.

Last port on our list - Orcho Rios

Orcho Rios in Jamaica is the last port on our trip. I have heard both good and bad things about Jamaica so I am still undecided as to what to do. One thing for sure is that we will book our excursion with the cruise on this trip. In reality, there are not that many choices we can do with small kids here. Majority of excursions involve a lot of activities and sometimes are not suitable for small children. I will be happy just to see the country and visit the beach. After all, that's what this country is all about. Beautiful beach, laid back people and good food.

The most talk about place to visit is of course the Dunn's River Falls. But I don't know if I want to do that since the kids are too small to walk up the fall anyway. Then again, how often we will get to go to Jamaica.

Another option is to buy an admission to one of the all-inclusive resort by the beach and enjoy another nice and relaxing day on the beach.

Thanks to various resources on the web. I have a lot of homeworks to do for Orcho Rios.

Carnival Planning - Grand Cayman

Next stop on our itinerary for the cruise is Grand Cayman. After looking at several excursions I think it's hard to not try Stingray City. My hubby is a little bit iffy about it after the crocodile hunter incident. But I have heard that it's very safe for these stingrays as they are tame.

Now, whom to book the excursion with. The obvious choice is through the cruise line. But then the downside is it's more expensive than independent reputable local tour operator. Also it will be larger group and that won't be fun snorkling with lot of people around you. So I have looked at a few local tour operators.

1) Captain Marvin - Looks like he is a very reputable one and has received a lot of great reviews. The one thing I have to make sure is timing on the booking and arrival of the ship. Looks as though we will be on the same timezone. The ship will arrive at 7AM. and the earliest time is 8AM. But will that be enough time for us to tender to port? Or we can opt for half-day trip which will push the time back to 9:15 AM. The price is only $5 difference and we will get more stops and extra half an hour.

2) Buccaneer Catamaran - This is another highly recommended tour operator. The plus side for this tour is they meet at 10AM.

Well, my unable-to-decide skill will keep me waited for a while again. Hopefully, I will be able to make my choice soon. Till then at least I know where I will be going. Just the matter of with whom.

Oh! tips from experience cruisers. Shop in Grand Cayman and don't forget Coconut Rum Cake. Hmm.. I like this tip!

Carnival Planning - Cozumel

Our first stop for our next cruise for the Carribean is in Cozumel. This will be our first time to go to Mexico and Cozumel. I plan to take it easy in this port as we will vacation with the kids so need to keep that in mind. Plus I don't want to overdo things to stress ourselves out from relaxing vacation.

After searching and reading through several forums, I think we will settle for a day at Chankanaab National Park. And I opt to do this myself instead of buying a shore excursion from Carnival. I consider myself as a pretty well-traveled person so I don't think there will be any problem getting a taxi to the park. Need to learn a few spanish and probably bring some dictionary. :) Just to be on the safe side.

The park seems to be very nice and perfect for a day on the beach with kids. Also I found a discount coupon on their website for $2 off per person. Not bad considering the ticket price is $16 per adult and $8 per kid. Hopefully, the price will remain the same in May.

Watch out The Carribean - The Q is coming!

After our first cruise experience with Disney, we were hooked. It was nice to be able to just enjoy a vacation without having to plan so much about what to eat and what to do. Well, we did have to plan a bit but not as extensive. Plus the idea of knowing exactly how much we will be spending for a vacation is a new concept for us. As we always ended up with more than we anticipate. So cruising seems to be a good vacation choice for us.

And since we are not going back to Thailand this year, we started looking for an affordable and fun vacation. We decided on at least 7 days cruise to anywhere that we have never been before. So the choices are down to somewhere in the Carribean. The bahamas cruise is out since we have been there twice already. Next we looked at port that we can drive there without flying. Even with that we still have a lot of choices. After that it comes down to price. We decide to go with Carnival as it's the cheapest for all the family oriented cruise. We know that it probably won't be able to compare to Disney but as long as we don't set too high expectation and just enjoy our vacation we should be ok. We are pretty laid back people anyway.

So after looking and checking several days I found a really good deal during the promotion that Carnival gave. Free 6 level upgrades for the same price of Guarantee Stateroom. I kept going back and fort and didn't make any decision till it's too late. By the time I decided to book, the promotion had ended! Another lesson learn here, if you find good deal, go for it!!!

After beating myself up on my incisive decision, I booked the cruise. So Carnival here we come.

We will be sailing on Carnival Victory 7 days - Western Carribean. The ports will include Cozumel (Mexico), Grand Cayman (Cayman Island), and Orcho Rios (Jamaica).

Well, I have 136 days left till we set sail so I have a lot of planning to do for each port. Will keep you post!