Avast, and welcome to the blarmy tale of an ocean voyage that titillates the fancy and scuttles the butt. (ha ha, that was Jess)
OUR.CRUISE.WAS.AMAZING!!! We've been back from our cruise for 17 days now, and have been planning our next cruise..for 17 days. FOR REALS! If you've never been, or it's been over a year--start planning now and do it! Cause CRUISES ARE GREAT!
(Also...this all was made possible because of an amazing mother-in-law who volunteered to watch our 3 young'ns (and an amazing mother who wanted oh so badly to be able to but apparently when you're getting paid to work somewhere...they expect you to actually come in each day and work..so lame as it was, she couldn't this time--but I love you for wanting to mom!)
Thanks to Julie, George, Andrea and Aubrey! THANKS THANKS THANKS!!!! You guys are incredible!!!)
That being said, let's begin.
We were sooooo lucky to go on a cruise with 3 of our favorite couples ever! Who does that?
We woke up in the early morning hours (4:30) on Saturday, and started the party as three couples carpooled down to Cape Canaveral. We talked, we laughed, got lost, slept a little, played Celestial Companions, talked and laughed some more and then we were there. We met up with our last couple--the Davis' at the ship-YAY, and were ready to get this started!
We got on the ship, had ourselves some delicious soft serve ANYTIME ice cream and took a look around to get ourselves acquainted. HA HA--this did us no good since we were still lost on the last day there--but we did try. We found our rooms, or "body closets" as Jess called them (ha ha--cause they're tiny ya know) and then it was dinner time. I LOVE DINNER TIME!! ahhh...I digress, that's later in the blog....Let's start with our first Port--Cozumel Mexico!
After waiting 20 minutes for the group to meet up--half the group waiting in the boat, and the other half waiting on the dock-ha ha--we met up, planned to plan better next time and started out for an AMAZING day. We were told to wear our grubby clothes for our excursion because we were going to get all muddy--hence my favorite grubby shorts...which Jess will tell you are my "homeless shorts", or "ugly shorts" or "don't wear those shorts" shorts. They've been through a lot...but if I didn't have them, what would I wear to paint...or do X-Rails, or other "grubby" type things in? I'm a thinker.
We were a little anxious and got our taxi a bit too soon off the pier...so we had plenty of time to walk around and do a little shopping. I hate haggling! For reals. I'm horrible at it cause I'm so cheap, I'll start off way to low and they just laugh and say 'no'. I still mourn for the cutest messenger bag that I didn't buy cause I thought I'd see it again later...no...I'd pay $13 for you now cute messenger bag from Cozumel. Lesson learned. Jess had the greatest idea to get the boys SHARK TOOTH necklaces though--they may have broke the first week..but they were rad!
Since we had plenty of time, we all took a picture on the giant chair by our meeting spot. How can you resist sitting on a giant chair? Doesn't it look like only one of my legs belongs to me in this pic? Weird.
Our tour guides met us, had us sign papers basically saying that even if they drop us off a cliff, or run over our faces or poison us, we're cool with that. We did of course and off we drove to our jungle-y destination. So here's the cross rail--I like to call it a buggy, and they're rad. Here we are learning all about how to drive these bad boys.
It was not so much muddy that day as crazy dusty, so they conveniently had bandanna's to purchase which I'm soooooo glad we did. We saw the guys coming back who didn't and woo-wee! That was yucky. But the fancy helmets were "free 99".
The guys all drove first. I have to admit I was a little tense. I don't like seeing the bumps, and not knowing which way we were going to hit them. Eventually, after a few crazy moments of Jess driving I relaxed and enjoyed the bumps!
We drove for like 20 minutes out to "Jade Caverns" on a skinny, rocky, uneven road. It was super. Read this description,
"Upon your arrival to Jade Gardens you can cool off by diving into the fresh emerald waters or simply relax as you take in the caverns unique formations and the exotic surroundings.
Floats are available for those taking the dip!"
Floats are available for those taking the dip!"
Ha ha--by "fresh emerald waters" they meant crazy sulfur stinking bat caves...with all sorts of unknown objects floating around you. And by "floats" they mean life jackets. I can't even describe how awful the smell was. (although Sarah described it as "swimming in an egg". ha ha.) The best part about it, WE TOTALLY SWAM IN IT! It's all about the experience people. Our 4 couples were the only ones to partake of the true Jade Cavern experience, the others opted to not swim or "relax and take" it all in. But we all jumped in (I did dive--that was a mistake--don't open your mouth in that stuff) And it was so fun! The bats were really cool, and we all swam into a section of cave that was pitch black and we had to use a rope to stay together...once in we could just listen to the bats--there were lots. For real, when do you do that on a regular Tuesday. I'm not saying I'd want to do it on a regular Tuesday--just that it was way different and fun in the moment! There's a video on the Lindquists blog if ya wanna seen of us jumping in :)
After, we all got "helmeted" again (I like to make nouns verbs). This time it was my turn to drive.
Jess was soooooo awesome to let me drive and do the jump. I was all giddy and excited driving and going over all the bumps. It reminded me of growing up a ton. Each year, my dad took our family down to Moab for the jeep safari...I loved that..but turns out driving is like a million times better then being the passenger! HA HA! LOVED IT!
Not to brag or anything (read: I'm totally bragging here) But I totally caught the most air of anyone else in our excursion here on this jump. It was sooooo fun to pick up as much speed as I could and go for it.
(I should also note that there was no power steering..which turns out is sorta hard..and I may have got stuck trying to make a mega slow sharp turn..and they had to pull me out--but they had to do it for like 3 others so I felt totally fine about it---ha ha (nervous laughter :)
One of the times over the jump the Lindquists camera flew out of their buggy and I just remember turning around and seeing Jessica flailing her arms about so that the Galan's wouldn't hit her or run over her camera as they came over the jump....that was scary...Good skills Galans on not killing our friend (although we did sign those waivers so you would have been fine) And thanks Jessica for not dying--and thanks Adam for taking this picture with said camera--I'm really glad my getting stuck was documented well:)
He's cute huh. Jess I mean :) We made a few random stops, and they'd pull out these "authentic" animals..which was silly, cause you know some guy is just following us around with these animals in his jeep, and then showing us them--next to the "authentic" mayan ruins...ha ha--love it.
There were a few muddy places where they were good enough to hose down the trail...we ended up really muddy actually by the end. Thank goodness I was wearing my "grubby shorts".
Jess is a cereal guy--he's just a big kid (love him) and after the first 2 days of asking for cereal and getting it in a small mug (see mine) he asked for a big bowl of cereal (see his) it looks smaller here but for real it was a platter, the took 3 or 4 of those boxes to fill it up and like 3 milk cravats (is that what those little jugs behind his bowl would be called). What an awesome cruise staff right?
We learned that even though breakfast in the dinning rooms took time, it was the same food and we didn't have to wait in crowded buffet lines. And it was so nice to just sit and talk with all our friends each morning and go over the days plans--like waiting at the same places, and what the day was shaping up to be..and see Perry covered with napkins since he was so cold, and see Jessica try, and try a try to order "well done" eggs over and over. "okie dokie" :) I also especially loved each morning starting it off with hot cocoa and a croissant to dip in it. Mmmm...
(Shari was missing for the picture above...she was always darting off for this or that, but didn't say anything..-we've decided she's a super hero, leaving inconspicuously to save poor defenseless children from falling off the ship and other such activities...good job with that Shari!)
We had originally asked for the early seating at dinner, which, turns out, is for senior citizens. It was hilarious to look around and, FOR REAL, just see a collage of white, gray, and maroon hair, walkers and scooters. And us spring chicks smack dab in the middle of it all.
Our table was a rectangle one and so loud that we couldn't hear each other (not all hearing aids are created equal I suppose). We asked to be moved to a round one for the next night. The Maitre'D said sure, and suggested we move to the later dinner time (8:00) where most of the "younger people" are--- Best Advice Ever! The next night we had the most perfectly sized round table on the second floor. Not to mention we had Jose and Johnny as our servers and they ROCKED. It was so much quieter, and we could all hear each other perfectly, we always had plenty of time to play hard all day and still be ready for dinner.
..for real...I just want to pause here and say how much I LOVED the food. I'm just sitting here...still...and smiling thinking about it. IT WAS SO GREAT! I kind of have a thing for food....i love it..and a lot of it. I'm not picky so I have a HUGE selection to choose from and enjoy.
A#1 I never had to make it any of it there. So right there it's already an A+, but they let you have AS MUCH AS YOU WANT OF ANYTHING!!! For starters, their appetizers were amazing, there were these chilled fruit soups that WE LOVED. Cherry, Mango, Strawberry...there were stuffed mushrooms, and escargot, sushi, bisques, cute delicate fruits you almost didn't want to eat.... And Jose didn't even look at me funny when I ordered 2 each night--what a pal!
AND DESSERT! I wish we would have taken a picture of our favorite thing ever. It was their Chocolate Melting Cake a la mode--(drool, drool, drool) I always finished my meal with some hot cocoa and a dessert or two :) Here's a picture of Jess eating an amazing bread pudding and me with my hot cocoa. I love that stuff!
Fancy night! Jess was a trooper and brought his suit. Good job big guy--he doesn't care so much for dressing up when he doesn't have to.
Jess was sick the first Fancy night. It was sad. So we went to dinner and I brought him some food down to his room (which Johnny totally hooked me up with..apparently you can eat the buffet stuff and room service all you want but the dinning room food isn't supposed to leave the dinning room and he got us stuff to bring it down--nice nice guy-) Plus, it was Spaghetti Carbonara which is our FAVORITE! Jess loved it even on his sick-bed.
His being sick also resulted in his missing an amazing display of cruise ship entertainment via singing and dancing by their professional dancers--which coincidentally was one of our favorite parts on our first cruise. They're a hoot!
ANYWAY--here's everyone beautiful pics below!
"and here's Cari the Giant"--don't I seem like a mega women here? But I loved the fancy nights. How often do you get the chance to dress up? Everyone looked so so pretty for each for each of the nights and Jessica was so nice to switch me dresses on the second one. I love her blue dress so much!
2nd EXCURSION...Cave Tubing in Belize (or Cave "Boobing" as Jess called it cause it looked so anti-climactic --ha ha!)
Okay--so at first thought--tubing down caves sounds fun right? I mean, tubes, helmets with lights on them..water..that's fun :) But then we saw the pictures on the web sight and laughed A TON! All the tubes are tied together as they go down the river--AND (drum roll) a guide is actually walking them. I thought--Now there's no way they'll actually have to walk us down. The flow will surely be fast enough to make this exciting.
NOPE.
And if this was all this excursion turned out to be it would have been amazingly lame--in a good way--I mean amazingly lame is still amazing in some way right? We both fell asleep during this. BUT the rest of it TOTALLY made up for it!
Okay--so here's the picture of our tour guides and us. THEY WERE AWESOME! The drive out to the caves was about 45 minutes and the entire time Rocca (on the left) told us EVERYTHING about Belize. The school system, agriculture, exports, government, history...and it was crazy interesting. Not to mention that he had the funniest and happiest laugh we've ever heard. You couldn't not laugh when he laughed. He was like our groups silly little brother.
As we were driving out of Belize City, all the school children where heading to school. It was there first day back after a long vacation and they all looked so so so nice and sharp. It was so nice to see all these beautiful children. Most holding hands with a sister, or brother. Many on the handlebars of their dads bike while he peddled them to school. Mothers walking their kids to school. And all sorts of different uniforms because of the many different schools around. Careem pointed out that they wear uniforms specifically because all children should be treated fairly; the rich and the "less fortunate" ones. The way these children wore their crisp, clean, tucked in uniforms was so heartwarming. Like they took a special kind of pride in them. I loved it.
We didn't have a camera till on the way back when most of the kids were in school already so this picture doesn't show what we saw really...it was really beautiful!
Once we to the jungle area where our hike began, a down pour began. It smelled soooo amazing! We each grabbed a tube, helmet, life jacket and were off to hike through the jungle. As we hiked, Coreem pointed out all sorts of trees and their uses, some tree that's sap was the first "gum" and the gum would last for years, another tree (I'm good with remembering names :) that's bark was used to feed cattle, leaves were used as medicine, and the inside was like cabbage and eaten. Awesome. The hike seriously was incredible...did not expect a hike with a giant intertube to be so great--but it was. And the Jungle was just fascinating and beautiful. LOVED IT.
Tying the tubes together for our crazy ride down the rapids :)
Me and Jess having an uproarious time and Ben full of life :)
The first sign of life after at least 5 days in the caves.
Once out it was so nice again. The sights and smells and beauty (I get all worked up over nature) Coreem even ripped off an Alspice leaf and we all tried a bit of it. It also had numbing properties so that was funny feeling in our mouths. We almost saw a toucan..it flew away but the people if front of us saw it. And at one spot there was a big-o rock on the side of the river, so the guys all swam to it and jumped off..then Shari and I did too. Fun Fun Fun.
Ben bought us all some coconuts at a little place when we got back which was delicious! The water was a little sweet and the meat was so so good and refreshing. We drank that as our tour guides took us to this little authentic mexican food place called "Amigos" where he eats a lot. SOOOO GOOD! They served us beans and rice, and chicken and some cole slaw dish. They cook their beans and rice in coconut milk--it makes it so so good! We loved this place and it was so nice to just sit in Belize, and eat and be surrounded by such good friends!
Last time we were in Belize, on our way out of town Jess and I saw an LDS church. So I'd wondered if we'd pass it again. Turns out there's like 4 there. We passed this one and Rocca said, 'This is where I go to church'. WHAT? For REAL? We go there too! So that was a crazy coincident. He told us he'd been going since he was 8, his favorite song was the "popcorn song" and his sister was serving a mission in Panama. How funny is that! The tour was awesome! We love Belize. Awesome.
We stayed behind after we got back, did some looking around, and rode the last tender back to the ship with the Davis'. Lovely day in Belize.
okay okay--Jess rocked his "Captain Quarters" swimsuit. It's specifically supposed to be worn to prevent chafing if you'll be in a suit lots right? He dawned it a few special times without the baggy shorts over top and well...I just love that man! :)
I LOVED GOING WITH FRIENDS! It was so fun to always have great conversation and stuff going on and games and someone to get ice cream with you no matter what time it was. In the evenings we'd go up to the comfy chairs and all just hang out and talk. Here's Jess and Adam relaxing on such an evening.
Jess and Adam playing a giant game of Chess.
Chillin' out, reading on deck
our fancy room
Our 3rd excursion: Zip and Dip on Roatan Island, Honduras
We opted for the Extremely Extreme Zip Line. We wanted nerves, we wanted intrigue, we wanted possible death (ha ha--not really--but scary we did want). And I'm sure glad we did...cause I bet the others were lame ha! Apparently our highest zip line was 328 feet, and the longest line was 1,837 feet. Mountain top to Mountain top...but in my mind I think I may have been picturing Everest or something--these are more like "hilltops" wouldn't you say? Still awesome and so fun though. My favoritest favoritest part though is later this day.
He's pretty serious about this.
After we were finished with the zip lining, we saw these cute monkeys just swinging around the place...I was standing with my back to this one and he just grabbed onto me, startling me so much...then just sat there...for ever. And he was cute--but so so stinky and dirty..so that was...an experience anyway :)
SO THIS WAS MY FAVORITE'EST BEACH EVER! Probably my most favorite part of the whole cruise. After the zip line they took us to a private beach.
They had music going and tons of tables and chairs laid out. Once we got there and set all our stuff down, the girl in charge of the 'fun' at the beach asked if there was anyone who wanted to have a canoe race--WOO WOO! HELLO! YAY! All of us! After a short period of figuring out how we were going to divide up, the men went first.
To make it harder on themselves they decided once they got to the other side, they had to jump out of the canoes and touch the wall on the other side to make it count. Jess and Perry totally won! (To be fair though, Adam stepped on some rough coral and tore up his foot...which we didn't know about on the other side of the beach and just kept yelled harassment's...sorry bout that :). But...also to be fair, Jess and Perry were probably just faster-ha ha-- Good on-ya BABY!
Jessica and I were on a team and Shari and Sarah were on the other....which later we realized might not have been the most fair way to divide since me and Jessica probably have way longer arms then our "short" friends :) But we totally won...I'm kind of a junkie for competition so this was so so fun for me! YAY for races! (plus, how gorgeous is that background right?)
Each couple got a free drink at the bar/restaurant from the canoe races which was awesome and we got a Virgin Pina Colada! I love the beach. We had great nacho's there and a delicious burger too (only the burger much later then the nachos on account of our waiter forgot about us--but that saved me lots of fatty food cause I was full when it came) ..me and jessica tried to lay out on the beach with some books...but a down pour started a few minutes after we tried :)
How pretty is that beach right? And the amazing clouds in the back ground? wow...It was so great!
Next the eight of us played volleyball while dancing to the music all around--again--maybe we didn't divide the teams the right way cause turns out Jessica and Shari (on the same team) both played in high school and Shari dominated in college too...so....we may have sorta lost to them....twice! BUT SOOOO FUN! It rained half way through--we were all wet anyway so it didn't matter though.
I want to explain how this was seriously like heaven to me....it...was...like..heaven...Okay---I can't get out what it was like, and Jess is good with words so he could try--only he actually hates the beach so that wouldn't work. But it is totally my magical place. Ahhh- Honduras.
"Y'all got all y'all's teeth--isn't that pretty"
HA HA! We had some lovely black ladies take our picture here. I laughed so much inside when we smiled for the picture and she said--with all seriousness, "Y'all got all y'all's teeth--isn't that pretty". I've never heard that before!
The "Toilet Bowl"
The "Toilet Bowl"
Okay--so I know this picture looks a lot like the other one, but I want you to notice two things. First--Adam's addition to the picture in the back (ha ha!) and 2nd, Perry is the one taking the picture in the front. Notice the red welts on his back. One of the slides on the boat was dubbed "the toilet bowl" it shot you down into a bowl type thing and you just circled around in it. Well, the guys having competitions all week to see who could get around the most times. Perry won...but his back got all torn up.
We hit the club twice. First, in our pj's. The plan for the night, was to get comfortable and go up on deck and play games and shoot the breeze. But on our way up we saw the club was open for "80's and 90's music" and changed our minds. It was sooo funny to watch everyone dance. Especially Perry--it's like a drug for that guy--he can go FOREVER. He and Sarah cracked me up. I may have even blessed everyone during a circle type event with my "worm". That thing where you do a handstand and then slide down...like a worm? Probably you know right? (we'll get some video on here eventually of it :)
Just chillin out in the hall...waiting for the friends :) Notice the fancy Carnival drawings on the wall.
The boys playing mini golf on top the ship.
LAST EXCURSION--Scuba Diving in Costa Maya, Mexico. Jess is the only certified diver, but I LOVED diving on our last cruise so much that I had to do it again. If you're not certified they can teach you and let you go down 30 feet I guess (or in our case, 40 feet). So, although there were LOTS of wary people on this one. We did it!
The girls had the cutest instructor ever name Claire. She was from Italy and was so sweet and kind. We all suited up--finding the right size vests and goggles, and went out to the shore to practice. We practiced breathing through our regulator--scary! People are not supposed to breath underwater and my mind knows this. Thats scared feeling is why I love it so much though I think. Something to conquer. ANYWAYS...we practiced what to do if we couldn't find our regulator or if our mask filled up with water or how to clear the regulator. We practiced like an hour and then took a 5 minute boat ride out to where the dive was.
Mostly I love this picture because of how awesome scuba goggles make us look. So pretty!
I love this picture of Adam and Jessica. Turns out...Adam gets super sea sick on small boats. He threw up of the side of the boat...and 3 times underwater before the guide said he really should go up. Each time he was so calm and gave the "okay" sign. We were all very impressed with his calmness.
Shari was nervous before the cruise began for this one excursion. She was doing awesome as we practiced..scared but doing great with the lessons. She's so cool for trying too. Once she started desending--her mind remembered it's not's supposed to breath under there either and told her to knock it off! But she did awesome!
My only moment of panic was after I followed the rope down to the bottom...and had to wait. We probably waited for like 5 minutes..I just kept thinking, if something happened and I freaked out right now...I could die--and that's kinda scary--but luckily--I kept myself from doing that :)
It's like everything is in slow motion and muted down there. I love how these picture capture exactly how it felt. While we were down there we saw lots of fish and a giant lobster. It was amazing to do this again. Fun Fun Fun.
The morning we left, ALL the guys ordered GIANT bowls of cereal as their last meal on the ship (rather I should say, as "part" of their last meal on the ship), I ordered my last hot cocoa and last croissant. And then it was over.
We had an incredible time and seriously thank you Lindquists, Davis', and Galans for coming. That was so fun and JESS--I love you like crazy!
