Cruise vacation: Day 1, got the kids up at 6:45, pulled out of the driveway at 7:25. Played at the play area at BWI airport for a while and easily caught our plane. We had a new toy for each of the kids hidden in the carry-on bags so the flight was pretty easy too. We learned that giving the kids lollipops seemed to help equalize their ears better than chewing gum. We arrived at Fort Lauderdale just before 12:30, got our bags and a taxi (a first for the kids!), and went through check in and security at the cruise dock and were on the ship by 1:15! Our rooms weren’t ready yet so we went to the dining room and hit the ice cream bar. Our room had a queen bed for us, a love seat that folded out into a twin bed, and a second twin bed that folded out of the ceiling over our bed. The kids fought over the ceiling bed, so they had to take turns. Casey and I forgot about the ceiling bed just about every night and cracked our heads on it while getting in and out of bed. We gave the kids each a ½ Dramamine before we set sail and they both passed out during dinner. I ate my entire dinner one handed with Alex sleeping in my lap, but I also started a tradition that I held all week, I had a glass of champagne with my dinner.
Day 2: Alex got up early and he and I went down to see Grammy Barb and then headed for breakfast. Alex got waffles with whipped cream! After breakfast the kids couldn’t wait to get in the pool, but the water was freezing, and we noticed a bunch of kids using the 3 hot tubs. Turns out the hot tub water was more like bath water temp and the kids had a great time playing. The ship has a separate pool with hot tubs in another part of the ship that is for grown-ups only, so we didn’t worry too much about displacing people who would like to relax in the hot tubs. We checked out “Club HAL” (the kids club) and it turns out they do watch kids aged 3 and up and you have to sign them in and use a password to pick them up. There were lots of toys and video games and art supplies. This night at dinner the kids didn’t actually fall asleep (the first night was the only night we used the Dramamine), but they were pretty tired and fussy, so we hurried through dinner and had dessert sent back to our room.
Day3: ALEX SNORKELED WITH ME!!!!! I was so excited I said that if the cruise ship sinks I'll still count this as a great vacation. I took pictures with my new water resistant camera, but my downloader isn't working, so I can't see what the pictures look like except on the 2in screen on the camera. This was all at Grand Turk. Our excursion on the semi-sub was canceled so we just went to the beach and the pool. Weather was perfect. Kids are napping now, much needed. Tonight they will their 1st build-a-bear (on the ship!). Tomorrow is Tortola and a ferry ride to Virgin Gorda to see the Baths.
Day 4, 5, & 6: Whew! 3 islands in 3 days was busy. We're glad for a day at sea to catch our breath. On Tortola we took a ferry to Virgin Gorda and saw the "Baths" which a pile of huge granite boulders on the beach. We played at the beach and climbed through the rocks. On St Thomas we rode a semi-submersible boat with glass windows to look out onto the coral and fish and then we went to Coral World Ocean Park and the kids fed Lorikeets (colorful birds) and Stingrays and pet starfish. A Lorakeet landed on Alex's head and he just laughed. That kid has gained so much confidence this year it is amazing. On day 3 I forgot to write that Chloe didn't snorkel because she was too hungry and was wilting when we got around to snorkeling, but the next day at the beach she still wouldn't try the snorkeling. She's very brave about swimming though and the water is so clear that you hardly need to stick your face in the water to see. One night Grammy Barb and BobBob watched the kids while Casey and I had dinner by ourselves. It was a nice treat and the kids were funny when we got back, Alex said “Mom, I had soooo many desserts!” It turns out he had 2 desserts, but that was pretty exciting for him!
Day 7: Today we went to Half Moon Cay, Holland America’s private island in the Bahamas. Our scheduled excursion was a swim with the Sting Rays. They are in a fenced area to keep larger predators out, and there is a set of stairs down into the pen. The water was pretty cool in the morning so the kids weren’t up for swimming with the Rays, but they walked down the stairs and Alex fed a squid to a Ray and Chloe pet one. Afterwards we went to the beach for the remainder of the day. The island is exactly what I picture in my head when I picture an island paradise in terms of the beach, clear water, and beautiful plants. And then Holland America added bars, a barbeque (included in your cruise fare), clean restrooms, several stations for washing sand off, and a water play ground for the kids complete with water slides and a floating trampoline. Grammy Barb watched the kids while they built sand castles and Casey and I snorkeled a bit and saw some pretty neat coral and fish right off the beach. All told it was an amazing day! We heard that Columbia, MD got 5.6 inches of snow so the kids at least have something to look forward too in going home. Me, I’m having trouble thinking of anything that is better than fun in the sun!
Day 8: We had an easy trip home, and although most of the snow is gone, the majority of our backyard is shaded in the winter so there is still a crust of snow for the kids to see. I was right about nothing to look forward to at home, the cat spent all week peeing on both the kids’ beds, and stepped on the scale and discovered I gained 6 lb on the cruise.
Reflections: On the cruise I was pretty worried about the kids bothering people with their naturally boisterous behavior, but everyone I talked to seemed glad to see some kids and talked about missing their own kids or grandkids. Alex and Chloe had a fan club by the end of the trip and they got used to the attention from strangers and started playing to the crowd.
At dinner every single night Alex ordered cheese pizza and Chloe ordered a hot dog, and our server had two glasses of chocolate milk waiting on the table before we got there. Chloe did try the escargot and had a lot of fruits and vegetables throughout the day, but Alex ate junk the whole week (much like his parents).
The kids really weren’t excited about Club Hal, and we learned later that neither were the other kids on the cruise. We heard one parent tell his son “if you splash your brother one more time, you are going to Club Hal!”.
The kids had a great time. At random times during the day one or the other of them would say “I really like this” or “I’m having a wonderful time”. They were tired all week because there were too many exciting things going on to get proper sleep, and they were very active. This led to quick tempers and a lot of tears when things weren’t going well, but fortunately most of the time things did well.
I’m going to be stingy with the pictures this time. When I send them out into cyber space I miss out on the privilege of droning on and on about what a wonderful vacation it was, so this time I’m going to put my usual 100 pictures in a paper album and you won’t get to see them until you see us :)
Day 2: Alex got up early and he and I went down to see Grammy Barb and then headed for breakfast. Alex got waffles with whipped cream! After breakfast the kids couldn’t wait to get in the pool, but the water was freezing, and we noticed a bunch of kids using the 3 hot tubs. Turns out the hot tub water was more like bath water temp and the kids had a great time playing. The ship has a separate pool with hot tubs in another part of the ship that is for grown-ups only, so we didn’t worry too much about displacing people who would like to relax in the hot tubs. We checked out “Club HAL” (the kids club) and it turns out they do watch kids aged 3 and up and you have to sign them in and use a password to pick them up. There were lots of toys and video games and art supplies. This night at dinner the kids didn’t actually fall asleep (the first night was the only night we used the Dramamine), but they were pretty tired and fussy, so we hurried through dinner and had dessert sent back to our room.
Day3: ALEX SNORKELED WITH ME!!!!! I was so excited I said that if the cruise ship sinks I'll still count this as a great vacation. I took pictures with my new water resistant camera, but my downloader isn't working, so I can't see what the pictures look like except on the 2in screen on the camera. This was all at Grand Turk. Our excursion on the semi-sub was canceled so we just went to the beach and the pool. Weather was perfect. Kids are napping now, much needed. Tonight they will their 1st build-a-bear (on the ship!). Tomorrow is Tortola and a ferry ride to Virgin Gorda to see the Baths.
Day 4, 5, & 6: Whew! 3 islands in 3 days was busy. We're glad for a day at sea to catch our breath. On Tortola we took a ferry to Virgin Gorda and saw the "Baths" which a pile of huge granite boulders on the beach. We played at the beach and climbed through the rocks. On St Thomas we rode a semi-submersible boat with glass windows to look out onto the coral and fish and then we went to Coral World Ocean Park and the kids fed Lorikeets (colorful birds) and Stingrays and pet starfish. A Lorakeet landed on Alex's head and he just laughed. That kid has gained so much confidence this year it is amazing. On day 3 I forgot to write that Chloe didn't snorkel because she was too hungry and was wilting when we got around to snorkeling, but the next day at the beach she still wouldn't try the snorkeling. She's very brave about swimming though and the water is so clear that you hardly need to stick your face in the water to see. One night Grammy Barb and BobBob watched the kids while Casey and I had dinner by ourselves. It was a nice treat and the kids were funny when we got back, Alex said “Mom, I had soooo many desserts!” It turns out he had 2 desserts, but that was pretty exciting for him!
Day 7: Today we went to Half Moon Cay, Holland America’s private island in the Bahamas. Our scheduled excursion was a swim with the Sting Rays. They are in a fenced area to keep larger predators out, and there is a set of stairs down into the pen. The water was pretty cool in the morning so the kids weren’t up for swimming with the Rays, but they walked down the stairs and Alex fed a squid to a Ray and Chloe pet one. Afterwards we went to the beach for the remainder of the day. The island is exactly what I picture in my head when I picture an island paradise in terms of the beach, clear water, and beautiful plants. And then Holland America added bars, a barbeque (included in your cruise fare), clean restrooms, several stations for washing sand off, and a water play ground for the kids complete with water slides and a floating trampoline. Grammy Barb watched the kids while they built sand castles and Casey and I snorkeled a bit and saw some pretty neat coral and fish right off the beach. All told it was an amazing day! We heard that Columbia, MD got 5.6 inches of snow so the kids at least have something to look forward too in going home. Me, I’m having trouble thinking of anything that is better than fun in the sun!
Day 8: We had an easy trip home, and although most of the snow is gone, the majority of our backyard is shaded in the winter so there is still a crust of snow for the kids to see. I was right about nothing to look forward to at home, the cat spent all week peeing on both the kids’ beds, and stepped on the scale and discovered I gained 6 lb on the cruise.
Reflections: On the cruise I was pretty worried about the kids bothering people with their naturally boisterous behavior, but everyone I talked to seemed glad to see some kids and talked about missing their own kids or grandkids. Alex and Chloe had a fan club by the end of the trip and they got used to the attention from strangers and started playing to the crowd.
At dinner every single night Alex ordered cheese pizza and Chloe ordered a hot dog, and our server had two glasses of chocolate milk waiting on the table before we got there. Chloe did try the escargot and had a lot of fruits and vegetables throughout the day, but Alex ate junk the whole week (much like his parents).
The kids really weren’t excited about Club Hal, and we learned later that neither were the other kids on the cruise. We heard one parent tell his son “if you splash your brother one more time, you are going to Club Hal!”.
The kids had a great time. At random times during the day one or the other of them would say “I really like this” or “I’m having a wonderful time”. They were tired all week because there were too many exciting things going on to get proper sleep, and they were very active. This led to quick tempers and a lot of tears when things weren’t going well, but fortunately most of the time things did well.
I’m going to be stingy with the pictures this time. When I send them out into cyber space I miss out on the privilege of droning on and on about what a wonderful vacation it was, so this time I’m going to put my usual 100 pictures in a paper album and you won’t get to see them until you see us :)
2 comments:
Whoa! It doesn't get much better than that! Can't wait to see the photos. ;-)
ok... first yard envy...
now... trip/weather envy :o) What a wonderful trip! With and without the kids... The beach photos KILL me!
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