brookeq

So I was up pretty early due to itching.  I had some kid benadryl packed so I used that to try to help a bit.  The itching came and went.  If any of the dots were bumped then they got itchy.  As the day went on I got more and more.    

We were up early enough to head to the main dining room for breakfast.   I got the breakfast sandwich with bacon  My fried eggs tasted almost hard boiled.    My husband got the pancakes and the granola.  He enjoyed both.  My daughter also got the pancakes with cereal and bacon. She was happy. My son did not come.  He doesn’t like breakfast and you just can not make him eat.  He will refuse.  I knew this would be a problem later.  Sigh.

We arrived to Roatan and the Vista was already there. So was the Liberty of the Seas (at a different pier).  I think there was more ship that still needed to arrive.    It was a busy day for ships on this island.  We got off the ship and started the walk out of the cruise terminal.  You have to walk all the way out and up a hill.  Then down the hill and there are the tour guides.  It was hot!

The last time we were here we went to West Bay beach for the day.  Unfortunately it poured most of the day so we didn’t get to snorkel.  This trip we wanted to do something new and then snorkel.  We booked a private driver for the day thru Rony’s tours.   It was $25 per person and any entry fees to the places we chose to go.  Brian our driver was there waiting for us.  He had a nice clean Camry for the day.  He pumped up the AC and we were off.  We saw our family members crammed into an old bus for their beach day (thru the ship) and we were so thankful to be with our own guide. 

Up next ...Roatan

After dinner we watched the sunset. 

It was a good one.

Then the girls went to watch some of the hasbro game.   The boys went to watch Creed at the pool. 

The girls also took some cute cousins photos. 

I also took the kids to hide some ducks we brought.  If you haven’t heard about it, basically you bring some toy ducks and add a note and then hide them.  People who find them are supposed to post on the unnamed internet site a picture and where they re hid it.  The girls each hid a duck.  We didn’t find any ducks.  Others on our roll call did.  And one of the older cousins found one. No one posted our duck so not sure what happened to them.  We did walk by the next day and they were gone.  

I think the kids may have swam again that night.  I was tired.

I headed to bed but didn’t get a good sleep at all.  I woke up covered in bites.  It started out with two here and there.  By the middle of the night I was covered in patches all over my body.  And they were really itchy.  They just kept popping up everywhere.  It was a rough night for me and we had another morning port arrival.

This was just a small patch of them.  It was way worse.  😞

Here were the menus for tonight.   

I didn't take many photos of the food tonight I just forgot.

I know that  I had the cheese soup and the chicken Milanese.  The chicken was good but it was too much food for me.  I also remember that the fried shrimp was a hit with most of our group.  My husband got the beef skewer appetizer that I didn't really like and the pumpkin soup.  He enjoyed both. 

Before the trip I told my son all about the steak house.  He loves steak and wanted to go.  When I realized that we wouldn't be doing anything with the rest of our family on the islands, I decided that missing a dinner with everyone wasn't the best idea.  so I promised him he could order a good steak from the steak house one night.  He chose tonight.  He also ordered a steak from the regular menu too!   His steak came and he looks happy here.  But for some reason he did not like it.   He was kind of getting in one of his moods where nothing pleases him. 

My husband and I both tasted and it and thought it was good.   He ate it all so it couldn't have been that bad.   

I tried the popcorn dessert.  The pieces of popcorn were good but I didn't not like the texture/consistency of the rest of it.  

Our waiters sang to Amelia and brought out her cake.  It was vanilla with strawberry cream in the middle. I ordered a small cake so the kids table had that. 

Amelia opened some small gifts.  She loved them all.  Especially  her new headband with hair extensions.  She loves anything girly.  

I went to Friends Trivia with my niece.   I got a peach cosmopolitan from the alchemy bar.  I love these bars.   I have been re watching friends on Netflix and thought I would be really good at friends trivia.  They were some hard questions!  We didn’t come close to winning.   I didn’t really care for the guy who did the trivia. 

Eventually it was time for dinner.  My daughter stopped at the fun shops and got a small giraffe.

And she had to wear the birthday headband.

We spent a few hours here and then headed back to the road and our cab driver was there waiting for us.  Yay!  We got dropped off and got on a tender and quickly went to get some real food.   My son was starting to get cranky.  I have noticed that when he gets hungry his behavior is worse. So I try to keep him fed.  But we have to watch because he is a big boy.

So we dropped off our stuff and headed straight for the lido deck.  It was busy.  My son got a burger since that line is the fastest.  My husband noticed that the deli special was the Vietnamese sandwich he liked last cruise so he got that.

My daughter tried the grilled cheese from the deli.  But the bread was just too hard/crunch y for her.

I think I got pizza.  The line was long though.  And slow.  Two people working is not enough. 

The kids did the ropes course again with their cousins. 

And the girls got drinks after (gotta use that on board credit)

So we really enjoyed our day at Grand Cayman. 

Just some tips if going to Cemetery Beach...

Pack food and water.  There is nothing here.  But that keeps the crowds away.  

Arrange for a cab driver to pick you up.  This beach is at the end of where everything is.  So I don't know if many cabs are around to get one last minute.   And since it is far away leave plenty of time to get back to the ship.  Traffic can get bad at certain times.  There is a bus that comes by but our family didn't want to do that.   You can find lots of posts on this site about that.  Its pretty cheap.

Some more photos from our day. 

We then packed up our stuff and started to head back towards the ship.  On the walk here we passed a cab stand so we headed there.  We had another family join us so we now had 23 people.   We got our own taxi for all of us to cemetery beach for $5 a person.  He drove us there and we arranged a pick up time for him to come back.  He seemed worried we would just get another taxi on our own when we were done but we insisted we wouldn’t.  So we hoped he would be there when we were done!

Cemetery beach gets its name because there is cemetery next to the public beach access walk. 

There is lots of shade but no amenities.  No bathroom, food…nothing.  We packed a lot of snacks and waters.  We didn't need anything just this great beach.

We found a spot away from the groups of people who were already there.  It was a great beach.  The water was clear.   Everyone was happy with our choice.  Sometimes I hate being in charge because you feel bad if they don’t like what you chose.  Everyone was happy with my choices for Grand Cayman.  

We spent the day playing in the water and just enjoying the warm weather.   The kids enjoyed looking for sea glass.   My brother in law tried to snorkel.  The spot where you needed to go was pretty far out though so he didn’t see much. 

Also wanted to add that it appears that the road construction was done when we went two weeks ago. 

I would think French key would be more relaxing.  It looks amazing.  I would like to visit one day.    West Bay beach is very pretty but busy with lots of vendors.  But the snorkeling is amazing.  You can snorkel from the beach if you want.  We were a little far from the snorkel point and had limited time so we paid someone to take us out on the boat to the reef.  It was amazing.  I can't comment on the snorkeling at little french key.  Here are a few of our photos from two weeks ago

Look into Fishing with Pedro.  He took our family out for the day.  No one else just your family.  You can fish, snorkel and visit El Cielo and swim with a few friendly sting rays on an amazing beach.  We didn't see any starfish there.  Just the rays.  This was the best day of our cruise. 

I forgot to mention that the dive shop has equipment you can rent.  They also have locker for rent.  they are only $5 but you need to put a deposit of $15 down.

We walked to Eden Rock and snorkeled.  They have lockers you can rent for you stuff.  I think they are $5 with a $15 deposit you get back.  

I am currently doing a review of our cruise on the carnival magic.  I just posted about eden rock with some pictures.   I can't edit my signature right now.  But look under my profile.

Nice picture.

So that was our morning at Eden Rock.  More people started to come as we left but it didn’t seem to crowded. 

It was a good place to snorkel.  Everyone was happy with the choice.  My mother in law and her friend even got in and snorkeled around the ladder.   So definitely check it out if you are looking to snorkel or just do something different in Grand Cayman

We decided to start heading back in.  On the way back my son was stung by a jelly fish.  It really scared him and we had to “tow” him back in .  That was the end of him snorkeling this trip.

When we got out a few of the cousins were saying they had some small jelly fish stings.   My poor son did end up having a good size welt.  Everyone else had pretty small ones.   

Before we left someone mentioned seeing an octopus between the stairs on one of the ladders.  Its kind of hard to tell but you can see a tentacle in the hole in the rock. 

Here are our underwater photos.  I missed most of the fish.  Or they are small and  you just can't see them.  There was a drop off area and there were lots of little fish there.  

They have three buoys out in the water.  That is where the good snorkeling is.   It’s a good swim out.  So make sure you have enough energy to get back.  

I tried to get a photo of some of our group with the ship. 

There was stuff to see right when you got in.  Lots of “fans”. 

We saw some fish and the kids were doing good.  We saw a lot of these brown fish that were kind of gross then they opened up and had these blue pretty fins.  ( you can see what they look like without the blue fins since there is one in front of this one).   We must have scared them away because no one else really saw them.   But they were right there near the ladder. 

So if you aren’t the best swimmer there is stuff to see right by the entrance. 

At some point Amelia got really freaked out and she went back to shore.  Luckily she is pretty easy going and can entertain herself.  She had some toys and snacks and sat on a chair with family who was just hanging out.  So we were still able to snorkel.

We headed out of the cruise area and took a right.  It was probably a 10 minute walk.   We passed some chickens. 

We eventually arrived to Eden Rock.  There are now some inflatables blocking the nice view of the ship.  They are part of the place next door.   Of course my kids kept asking to go on them.   

We got our stuff on and headed right in.   We brought our own gear that we got at Costco.  Mike and I have had ours for two years or so.  The kids was new.   It pays for itself after snorkeling one or two times.

They have a ladder for you to use to get in.  The dive shop asks that you use the ladder and not just jump in. 

Amelia and Hayden joined us.  

When they called tender boarding we headed down to the deck.  We had a spot that we were going to meet.   Travelling with big groups can be fun, but it can also be annoying. 

I am going to stop for a minute and give a little side information that will be relevant in a few minutes.  

**************I mentioned before that we didn’t pick this cruise.  Over a year ago my SIL mentioned she wanted to maybe do a family cruise again.  (We did the breeze a few years ago).   She picked the week that her family could go.  We listed all of the cruises that week and started discussing them.  At some point everyone listed their top 3.  Mine chocies were not on anyone else list.  And other SIL wanted a shorter one.  It seemed we couldn’t really agree .  We discussed other vacation options and then just ended up saying no to a family trip this time.  SIL really wanted to a cruise with her family so she picked the magic and booked it.  My other SIL  changed her mind and booked.  My MIL who didn’t ever want to do the cruise also booked.  So my husband felt left out.  Its hard for him living away from his family.   I wasn’t 100% sold on this cruise because we already did the exact itinerary with our kids already and this cruise was more than we usually spend for a cruise.   Airfare was high too.   I love doing new things so I was kind of bummed to be doing the same exact cruise.   Plus we had already been to Cozumel like 5x and Grand Cayman 3x.   But I agreed for my husband.   Besides a cruise is better than going to work any day.

I really researched the islands and tried to find new things for our family to do.   I found some really good things on each island and was excited.  Turns out no one in my husbands family wanted to do any of things we picked out --except for Grand Cayman.  I was a little bummed but, I don’t expect everyone to do what we want.   So we all planned our own things on each island, but planned to spend the day together in Grand Cayman.   *****************

Ok back to the review.  We all met downstairs except one SIL and her kids were not done eating yet.  They didn’t really know where we were going so I wanted to wait for them.  This was the only day my kids would be with their cousins on the islands.   If we got separated I know that this SIL would not try to meet up with us.  She would just do her own thing.   Well my MIL is not patient at all and just left with some of the cousins and headed to the tender.   Not sure why she was in a hurry since she wouldn’t even be snorkeling and doesn’t care for the beach.   She gets very impatient and can’t wait one minute for people.  (Once She left me to get on a tram at a national park when I was in the bathroom.  She said I was taking too long.  I didn’t take long, I let all of the little kids in our group go first and I was last).   It can be very annoying.  Yes its annoying SIL wasn’t down there yet, but she wasn’t going to be very long.  Ugh.  So now we are all getting separated and I don’t know if I should wait or get on the tender with them (which they also didn’t really know where they were going.  They were relying on me).   My husband never stands up and says anything and if I do they get mad.  So we told my BIL to please try to meet us at Eden Rock.   And we headed to the tender.  Ugh.

We ended up on the same tender as everyone.   It took a long time to load it up.   My son was a little tired.

Since we were just sitting there so long luckily the rest of the family was able to get on the other tender that was loading up.   Since we were right next to the ship our app still worked so we were able to communicate.  So thankfully they would be joining us.  Yay!

The ride was short.   And we all ended up arriving within minutes of each other. My MIL still didn’t want to wait for them.  Sigh. I insisted this time.  It was literally like 3 minutes.  

Finally we were all together and off we went.  

Grand Cayman

According to our research Grand Cayman would have 4 or 5 ships.  We were arriving first.   We wanted to get ahead of the crowds and go to Eden rock and snorkel.  Then head to the beach.  

According to the papers we got in our cabin you had to go to the coffee shop to get your tender ticket.  And it said everyone in your party had to be there.  It also said you could get it at 6:45.  (I think that was the time).  Anyways we got up and were heading out the door about 10 minutes before they started passing the tickets out.  But my mother in law texted us and said she already got all 18 of tickets for the first tender.  So they started passing them out early AND your entire party didn’t have to be there.  No big deal for me but my SIL was annoyed since she woke up all her moody teenagers.

So we headed  to the breakfast buffet.  I usually skip the buffet and head to blue iguana but it wasn’t open yet.  So buffet it was.   I think I just got some eggs and bacon and few other things.  It was all ok.  

Apparently my kids got an ice cream cone with breakfast.  I was just happy that they were up early with no problems. 

Up next -- our day at Grand Cayman.  

My son, husband and some of the kids went to watch Bumblebee.   I took my daughter and her cousin swimming in the aft pool.  They sat in the hot tubs a bit but there were some rowdy kids that the life guard had to stop and talk to a few times.  The girls decided to just get out and swim and the life guard apologized to them and thanked them for being good.   I sat and read my book and just relaxed while they played. 

We didn’t stay out late.  We had an early day at Grand Cayman tomorrow.  7 am arrival time!    And there were a lot of ships scheduled to be there so we wanted to get off right away and avoid some of the crowds.