Cruisin'

At the end of July, Lance and I took a 7 day cruise to Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Cozumel. We had such a great time! This was our second time to cruise. The first was our honeymoon. It was so nice to get away and relax. We spent a lot of time in the spa and in the casino. We spent the first two days at sea. Our first port was Jamaica. We had heard that Jamaica wasn't all it's cracked up to be, so we had already decided that we would just stay on the boat that day. We did get off and shop in the little market that was set up just outside of the boat, but that was it.

The next day we were in Grand Cayman. In Cayman there is no port, so the boat has to anchor our in the ocean and you take a little boat to shore. We didn't buy an excursion from the boat, but we wanted to go to the Turtle Farm. When we got off the boat we went to a local coffee shop for coffee and breakfast and asked the girl who was working there where to catch a taxi to the Turtle Farm. She suggested taking the local bus (a small van). She said it was only $2.50 each and would take us all the way to the top of the island where the farm was located! We jumped in the bus and enjoyed the scenery on the way to the Turtle Farm. We really enjoyed seeing the turtles. I even got to hold a little one :) We jumped back on the bus and headed back down the island to do some shopping. We were intending to do the typical souvenir shopping. The first store we went in was the Diamonds International store. I just wanted to browse and see what all the hype was about. Well, browsing turned into buying!! :) When we got married, Lance and I both just got plain platinum bands. I have been wanting a diamond band to go with my solitaire and we just couldn't pass up the great deal they gave us, so I got one! Every time they dropped the price my eyes got bigger. After assuring Lance that it would look great with my ring (I didn't bring it with me on the trip) he said we could get it. He's so good to me! After that purchase, I didn't care much for your typical souvenirs. I think I made out pretty well! We went and had lunch and walked around town for a little while before it was time to get back on the boat.

The next day we were in Cozumel. Again, we didn't buy an excursion on the boat so when we got off we walked around and checked things out. After bargaining with the local car rental guy (he started at $55 and we ended up paying $30), we decided to rent a Jeep and drive around the island. It was fun to drive and see the scenery change. The other side of the island is beautiful! There are few people and you are actually driving along the shore rather than between the trees. We stopped at a beach and laid out and played in the ocean for a little while. Cozumel was one of the ports on our honeymoon cruise and we wanted to find the restaurant that we ate at last time we were there. We remember the food being great and the margaritas being even better! Of course, we didn't find it until after we had eaten somewhere else, but we did take our picture in front of it. Now we know where it is and won't miss it next time.

The last day was at sea and we spent more time in the spa and casino. It was a very relaxing trip. We understand now why people take back-to-back cruises. We could have stayed on for another week.

*Sorry the pictures are out of order. We used two different cameras and I didn't think about the order of the pictures as I was loading them. I hate that it's such a pain to rearrange pictures on Blogger. Does anyone have an easy way to do this? I need to figure out how to scan pictures so you can see pics of both of us. We bought pictures on the boat because it was just easier than bugging people to take our picture.


Lance wondering where all of his money went :)

There it is! It's on my finger :)

The ship and the little boat we took to shore in Cayman.

The locals watching the ship dock in Jamaica.

The other side of Cozumel. Isn't it pretty?

What I'm used to seeing of Mexico.

This one's for Erin :)

Hello, Mr. Turtle.

This little guy was so cute.

Lance outside the market in Jamaica. This is what we saw of the island.

I love the towel animals that they leave in your room!