Cruising the Caribbean

My first cruise was incredible! The food, the drinks, the sun, the people, the ship, the sand, the stars, the weather, the entertainment…

We sailed on the Navigator, one of Royal Caribbean’s ships. Our room was small, but somehow all four of us fit in there quite nicely and there were no mishaps over the one-week period. Who spends much time in their room anyway? We didn’t.

We began the cruise on a Saturday and spent the first two days out on the water. I have to admit I was concerned about the potential possibility of seasickness, but none of us had any problems. It didn’t take us long to discover the fun and sun of the deck, and planted ourselves quite nicely into one of the lounges, and soon found the drinks coming in our direction. There’s a lot to be said about sipping a pina colada, while the sounds of Caribbean music waft in the air.

We took in four ports of call; Labadee, Hispaniola, Ocho Rios, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel, Mexico. Labadee was my only disappointment. We booked an excursion to a small beach, where we were to enjoy the peace and quiet a small beach has to offer. We found that the beach had been recently washed away during a rainstorm, so that not much of it was left. To compensate for the loss of the beach, they offered us “free drinks”, but at 9am, fruity run drinks did nothing for us. There was also to be much coral to view while snorkeling, but we didn’t find much there. The rest of the ports were wonderful.

I did something on the cruise I thought I would never do. I got on a horse, and stayed on for about 45 minutes. My ass never left the saddle. I have had a fear of horses since about age five, and throughout my life time have tried several times to combat this fear. I have never been able to. Until now. I thought what better time to squash this fear. The sun was out, the air was balmy. The horses seemed willing and my family was right there to support me. The ride was awesome. I did it.

My favorite part of the cruise was our excursion to Sting Ray city in Grand Cayman. We took a catamaran, named the Cockatoo out to the area. It was a 45 minute sail, and we layed on the tarps and sunbathed to and fro. The water was a gorgeous color, and the sting rays are awesome to play with! We learned a lot about these magnificent creatures and hopefully got some great underwater pictures of them.

The ship offered so much to do that one would never have to leave the ship if they didn’t want to. I can’t imagine staying on it, and missing the ports of call, but there were those who simply had no interest. I didn’t want to miss any of it. And I didn’t. I can’t wait for my next cruise. I'm planning it now!