A Cruise to the Caribbean

To celebrate our 30th birthdays this year (it's one of this big decade changers you know...kind of a big deal), we decided we should do something big...so we took a CRUISE TO THE CARIBBEAN!!!

Beginning our cruise out of Fort Lauderdale, FL

Since cruising with a toddler would be quite a different experience from the other two cruises we took "pre-Cammy", we decided to bring Jason's parents along (don't worry...we invited mine, but they just couldn't make it this time).  GENIUS is what that was!!!  Having that extra set of hands, eyes, legs, extra of anything really was SOOOOO nice!  Thanks Scott and Glenda for finding time to get away from work and come cruise to the Caribbean with us (haha...any excuse to get away from work, right?!).

Our cute little junior cruiser

We did our research beforehand to make sure we found the most "kid friendly" cruise ship of all time (minus the Disney cruise line of course).  The Allure of the Seas is what we took.  And if you know nothing about cruises, then you need to go here and click on the "watch video" under the Oasis Class.  Pretty sure the kid pool area and the carousel had us sold!

We did the Western Caribbean this time (for our "babymoon" we did the Eastern Caribbean) and visited 3 great ports!  The first stop was Labadee, Haiti.  Next stop was Falmouth, Jamaica.  And lastly we visited Cozumel, Mexico.

Now I know what you are thinking...Haiti?!  I thought the same thing once we booked the cruise, so I understand completely!  But the nice thing about Haiti was that Royal Caribbean owns a part of Haiti and therefore has their own private beaches and whatnot there.  So everything we did was safe and nicely maintained.  The sad part was that they had a giant wire fence dividing us from "real Haiti" so we would see kids at the fence begging for food near the lunch area.  We decided not to book any excursions at this port and instead just enjoyed the beach for the day.  Before we got back on the ship we decided to do one short little roller coaster ride on the Dragon Coaster (a coaster where you can decide how fast or slow you go).

Enjoying the warm water of Haiti

The Lumsden crew

A buffet lunch compliments of Royal Caribbean

A small part of the shopping area

A group picture with our cruise ship behind us

Naptime on the beach...life is good thanks to a shady tent

One last picture on the beach

Our little sleepy bathing beauty

A picture on the coaster

Heading back to the ship

A view from our ship balcony of the beaches

Right about where we were for the day

Our second port was Falmouth, Jamaica.  This was my favorite of the ports and where I would like to go back to to explore other parts of for longer.  We spent pretty much the entire day on an excursion.  We visited Dolphin Cove and Dunn's River Falls.  Cammy was unsure of the dolphin touch experience.  She liked to watch the dolphin from afar, but as soon as we got up close and personal with Alex the dolphin she didn't really seem to like it.  At Dunn's River Falls Jason and I made the big climb using the "human chain" while Scott and Glenda stayed back with Cammy and watched us from the walking path.  Such an amazing falls and even more amazing to actually be able to climb the entire thing!!!

Glenda holding an iguana

Just like holding a baby, right?!

At Dolphin Cove watching the dolphins

Jason getting up close and personal with Alex the dolphin

Ready to give Alex a big kiss 

Petting Alex as she swam by

A little surprise jump from Alex!

Waving bye bye to Alex

G-ma walking with Cammy waiting to see Jason and I climb by

Part of the human chain to climb the falls

We did it!!!

A balcony view of the shopping area in Jamaica

A view of the pretty water in Jamaica

Our last port was Cozumel, Mexico.  We walked around the area close to the ship all together and then split up from there.  Scott and Glenda were wonderful grandparents and took Cammy for a good part of the day while Jason and I went on a wild adventurous excursion driving off road cars on a VERY bumpy, muddy and dusty dirt road that took us to Jade Caverns.  At the caverns we jumped in the water and swam under thousands of bats hanging from the rocks (something I never imagined myself ever doing, but you only live once, right?!).  While we were on our wild adventure, Scott and Glenda spent the afternoon relaxing with Cammy at a resort with a private beach, all you can drink and eat food, and free snorkeling.  A fun day for all of us!

X Rails excursion to Jade Caverns

This picture doesn't even do justice to how muddy we got!

Swimming in Jade Caverns

So cool to be under all this rock!

Juice is so silly!!!

At the swim-up bar with Grandpa Scott

(apparently she didn't want to get in her swim suit)

Naptime on G-ma

A balcony view of Cozumel

The resort where Cammy hung out with the grandparents for the day

A look down the beach

Days on the ship were never dull.  We spent lots of time riding the carousel with Cammy or chasing her around the ship.  We all took our turn at ziplining across the ship.  Some of us spent some time at the pools getting some sun (surprisingly Cammy had little interest in the toddler pool after her one time going in).  We played some Bingo, but never won.  And most of all, we spent way too much time eating (but really, what else do you want to do all that time on a ship?!).

Riding the carousel after a formal night

Crazy girl at breakfast at Johnny Rockets

Trying to teach Cammy to mini golf

Jason ziplining across the ship

Leia ziplining across the ship

Toddler pool time

BINGO!!

Formal Night #1

Our little family on the first formal night

Formal Night #2

The pizza place....where Cammy became very well known

We ran into the captain of the ship on our last night

Even though there was a big learning curve with cruising with toddler, we sure had a fun time and enjoyed every second of it!!!  I think we are all ready to start planning our next cruise!