Our Cruise

A couple of days after Tom's graduation, we flew to Florida to go on a cruise. Ainsley flew home to Utah with her grandparents. We took a Princess Cruise of the Western Carribean. It was so much fun. Our first port was Princess Cays, the cruiseline's private island in the Bahamas. It was beautiful. We sat on the beach, read, and snorkeled. There was a reef right along the shore and we spent the day snorkeling. I was amazed at the beautiful variety of fish we saw. It was so relaxing and the water was so warm.

Our cruiseship, the Emerald Princess

Day 2 was was spent at sea. We spent the day exploring the boat. We laid out, read, watched movies on the deck, and went to a show. We had signed up for "Anytime Dining" but would alternate having dinner with ourselves or with strangers. We met people from all over and had a really fun time.

Our second port city was Orcho Rios, Jamaica. When we got off the boat, we booked a taxi to Dunns River Falls. We started at a beach and hiked up a waterfall . It was a lot of fun. They made you follow a guide up the waterfall, which made it really slow, but we had fun. There were spots to swim, slide, etc. After we hiked the waterfall, we took a taxi back to town to shop. We bought souvenirs. We also had some amazing Jamaican Jerk chicken from a street vendor. It was delicious!

Our third port was Georgetown, Grand Cayman. We had booked an excursion to go snorkeling with Sting Rays and then take a boat to snorkel at a reef further offshore, but five minutes before we were supposed to leave, they canceled the excursion because the sea was too choppy. We were really disappointed. So instead we went to Grape Tree Beach and laid out most of the day. We went swimming and tried to snorkel along the coast. It wasn't as good as it had been in the Bahamas, but we did see a few fish as well as some crabs. We swam far from shore trying to find more reef, and we found a giant shell. Tom dove down and brought it up. It was pretty cool. Unfortunately, we used a waterproof film camera most of the day and so we don't have many digital pictures to post for Grand Cayman, but here is a picture of the beach that I snapped right before we caught the bus back to the boat.


Our last port city was Cozemel Mexico. We booked an excursion to the Mayan ruins of Tulum. We had to take a forty five minute ferry ride from Cozemel to Playa del Carmen. It was a really rocky ride and Tom got a little sea sick. When we got to the mainland, we had to take another forty five minute bus ride to the ruins. There was a guide on the bus that taught us all about the Mayan culture and history. It was really interesting. He taught us more history as we walked around the ruins. It was built on a cliff above the ocean. There was a beautiful beach right below the ruins. We walked down to the beach and wished we had worn our bathing suits so we could swim. After walking around the ruins, we took a bus back to town. We tried desperately to find a taco stand to get some authentic Mexican food, but we didn't find anything. We caught the ferry back to the boat. This time, we sat in the open air back and was serenaded by a local boy and his guitar. We got sprayed with water, but the music was a nice distraction and we didn't get sea sick.

The ruins were right above a beautiful beach.

These iguanas were walking around everywhere!

Our last day was all at sea. We spent the day relaxing, reading, and watching movies on the deck. We walked around the boat, ate delicious treats, and took pictures. We had an amazing time. We ate some amazing food and saw some really cool things. It was a trip we will never forget!