Western Caribbean 2014

What a time we had!  We took the family on a 7 night cruise to the Western Caribbean a few weeks ago.  We visited 3 different countries, had 4 nights of time zone changes, and did excursions in all 4 ports we stopped in.  I have slowly but surely been working on posting pictures on here ever since!  The kids had a blast and are ready to book another trip!  They participated in "Splash Academy" which was like a high end kid camp where they did activities like scavenger hunts all around the ship, practicing and performing in a circus in the theater, and doing other fun activities.  Norwegian really has a wonderful kids' program in place.  It was amazing what they got done and how the kids wanted to go check in. 
We began our trip on a Saturday.  We drove for 11 hours to Tampa, checked in at the hotel, drove another 30 minutes to St. Petersburg to eat at an oyster bar, then 30 minutes back to the hotel to get a nights rest before embarking onto the Norwegian Dawn on Sunday.  We were onboard by 11:30am on Easter Sunday and we were surprised to find out that the Easter bunny had found our stateroom and brought goodies for all of us! 

The 6 kids of our party

So the fun began!  We were at sea all day Monday so we enjoyed pool time and learned our way around the ship.  Tuesday was our first port stop in Roatan where we had booked a snorkeling trip.  The kids have snorkeled before in a pool, but never in crystal blue ocean water.  They took to water like a fish and we had so much fun!

This is what the Roatan port looks like from the cruise ship

Roatan view from ship



The Burnette crew aboard the catamaran

Abi, Emily, and me exploring Roatan waters

Tour guide dove down and found a conch and let Abigail hold it

A starfish the guy found and let the kids hold

The next day when we awoke we were in Belize.  We had booked a cave tubing excursion and had to get on a bus and ride into the mainland a little ways to get to the river area.  It's always neat to venture away from the port and see what the "normal" countryside looks like.  The ports always seen like tourist traps, but when you travel away from the ports you begin to see how things change.   They served us cashew wine on the bus.  Apparently there is no "drinking age" in Belize, just parental consent and who are we to tell our kids no!  Hahaha!  I don't even think Abigail tasted hers, she smelled it and gave it back.  Emily did drink hers but said it was nasty (which it was).   We drove to an area, got out and hiked to the cave opening, then floated through the cave system.  After that we went back to the cave tubing company's area to have tamales and drinks.

The next day when we woke we were in Costa Maya.  We had a 2pm appointment for dolphin swims so we had all morning to venture out and about.  We took a taxi away from the port area and went to a restaurant called Chiquitas.  I had read if you buy food or drinks from them you can sit by the ocean and use their facilities for "free" So this is what we did!  Pina Coladas were 2 for $7 and after paying $9 on the ship for 1, we were in paradise!!  We had freshly made salsa and chips, guacamole, and the best chicken quesadillas we have ever had!  We played in the ocean, people watched, and practiced our Spanish with some of the locals.  We walked down the malecon (it's like our boardwalk at the beach).  After several hours there we took a taxi back to the port area where the dolphin swim was.  The kids were so excited to get in the water and be able to swim with the dolphins.  They captured some really good action shots of the girls with the dolphins and we were swayed to buy the CD, but they had some really good shots that we couldn't get ourselves.


This is who greeted us in Costa Maya

 

Girls with snorkel gear in Costa Maya 



Me and Brandon on the beach at Mahalhaul

Kids enjoying quesadillas at Chiquitas on the beach.  I have no idea what I caught Brandon doing

Abigail found her a luchador mask on the malecon in Costa Maya

Here the 12 of us on the beach in front of Chiquitas.  Red-Burnette's, Blue-Wallace's, White-Hamilton gang.

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Girls waiting for dolphin swim to begin.

 They said this was the best part of our trip!

 Abigail sailed through the water!

Abigail looks horrified or confused!  They said they were telling them about their mouths.

 Abigail is silly looking in this!  I wonder what was going through her mind!

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They have done it!  How exciting!

Our towel monkey that night!  Give him a banana!

The next day we woke up at port in Cozumel.  We had an adventure planned for the Tulum Mayan Ruins for that day.  We had to take a 45 minute ferry over to the mainland and ended up in Playa Del Carmen.  From there we took a 1 hour bus ride to the Tulum Mayan area.  It was around 100 degrees and 75% humidity and we hiked into the site.  Brandon was really into this excursion and Abigail and I had researched it before we left home.  I figured if she already knew something about the site she wouldn't be so bored and irritated with the weather conditions (I had read that it was excruciatingly hot there).  We practically melted as we walked around with one of the best tour guides ever!  He had a lot of knowledge and his history with the site went way back so he knew his stuff! 





The Burnette and Wallace children on a ferry ride.



It was a beautiful day in Playa Del Carmen!  I would love to go back there and see this city for a little longer than a pass through.



 



Awesome Playa Del Carmen view!



The Burnette's have made it to the entrance of Tulum!

 

What a pretty site!  Our tour guide did an awesome job making this as interesting as possible (even for people like me that are bored with history lessons!)

GORGEOUS! (and there is a very cool astronomical story that went along with this structure!)

Abigail trying to cool it off in the shade.  Bless her...

 

 We went down to the beach for Abi to swim.  The rest of us didn't want to get wet for the hike back to the bus.

Me and Brandon on the beach at Tulum

Emily and me catching a selfie!

After we finished at the ruins we hiked back to the village we had parked at, bought some fish tacos and chicken quesadillas and a large amount of potable liquids, and boarded the bus back to Playa Del Carmen and the ferry.  It was a very hot day, but the sights were amazing and now we have seen some Mayan Ruins!

The next day was a "sea day".  We were headed back to Tampa and we got to relax onboard.  I spent the majority of the day out on deck laying in the sun with my Kindle. 

This was my view all day Saturday.  Too bad in the picture you can't hear the steel drum music and feel the ocean breeze!

The kids did their last practicing with their circus act and we attended the "Circus" that afternoon.  Abigail was a plate spinner and Emily walked on stilts.  Apparently I only got video of Emily and I can not upload it onto blog. Dang!



So in a nutshell, we have 100s of good memories from this little excursion and will definitely want to visit some more places like these!  The kids have a new love of snorkeling, which is a bit hard to do unless you at least go to Florida.  I have a very strong attraction to some blue water and can't seem to get it off my mind.  I see us taking another trip to Central America (or at least Florida)very soon!