Cruise Recap + a [Giveaway]
As I was uploading some photos to Facebook yesterday, I realized that I still haven’t blogged about the cruise that John and I took last month! Today marks one month since we’ve been back (bad blogger, I know), so here are the details!
We sailed on the Carnival Breeze out of Miami. It was a 6-day Western Caribbean cruise that included a Rascal Flatts concert on board.
Day 1 – Embarkation
Leaving Miami, we got to the boat pretty early. Like 11am-ish. We were on board almost as soon as they started boarding and were able to start eating and drinking right away. Priorities. Once we finished up eating, our staterooms were available for us to drop off our carry-on luggage. And then back to drinking.
The muster drill ran a little late (around 4:30ish) but when it finally did happen, we had to report to the main dining room. It was nice to be able to sit in a nice cool room rather than being squished together with strangers on a hot deck like we were used to in the past.
Day 2 – Sea Day
With the second day being a sea day, we mostly lounged around and enjoyed the pools, and of course more drinks. There were some hot tubs on the side of the ship that weren’t too overcrowded, so we tried to mostly hang out there.
In the evening, John went up to the spa to get his face shaved. By that point he had been on leave almost two weeks, so I was glad to see the facial hair grow. That night was formal night, so we dressed up all nice and headed down to dinner. Unlike our past cruises, on this cruise we opted for the “your time dining.” I enjoyed the flexibility to eat dinner at whatever time we wanted, but probably will stick to assigned dining in the future.
Day 3 – Falmouth, Jamaica
So I had never heard of Falmouth, and there’s probably a good reason why. There is literally nothing there. For our day in Jamaica, we opted to do an excursion that included swimming with dolphins and climbing Dunn’s River Falls.
At the pier, we loaded onto a bus and made the 45ish minute drive to Dolphin’s Cove. There was lots to do and see there, from tropical birds to exotic snakes. When it was our turn to swim with the dolphins, our group of 10ish jumped into the water. We got to ride belly to belly, kiss the dolphin, dance with it, and pet it a few other times.
After swimming we were served a lunch that included jerk chicken. From there, we loaded back onto the bus and drove just up the road to the falls.
The falls were great. The only downside was that you were in groups of 20, and everyone in the group had to hold hands to form a chain to climb up the waterfall. Just our luck, we were surrounded by people who were clue less. The lady in front of us was climbing in flip flops with a little kid in Crocs. The ladies behind us were in their own little world, so it was up to us to try to stay with our group.
Day 4 – Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
I had hoped to swim with the turtles and sting rays in Grand Cayman, but everyone pretty much vetoed my decision. Instead, we walked about a block away from the pier to Margaritaville. Upstairs, there is a pool with a swim up bar that we hung out at.
Not too long after getting there, it started to storm. We moved the party inside and everyone continued to drink. The drinks were gigantic and only $2 for a refill, so some of us were more wasted than other.
We didn’t have a ton of time on the island before having to head back to the ship. On board, we found a spot on one of the higher decks where the guys could smoke their cigars. We hung out up there for a decent amount of time before heading back to the cabin to get ready for dinner.
Day 5 – Cozumel, Mexico
John and I happen to be fans of the “all you can drink” excursions. So it was no surprise that we booked one for Mexico. We got off the ship as soon as it docked in Cozumel and made our way to another pier with a catamaran. The catamaran took us just off-shore, where we snorkeled with all types of tropical fish. We were in the water for about 45 minutes before loading back on to the boat and heading to a private beach.
The beach had all sorts of activities available such as kayaks and water trampolines. There was also an open bar.We spent about an hour on the beach before having to head back to the pier. Since we had a ton of time to kill in Mexico, we walked around the shops a little bit.
Back on the boat we hung out at one of the pools for a while. The Rascal Flatts concert was on this night, so a bunch of people were out attending that. I kinda would have liked to go, but once again vetoed.
Day 6 – Sea Day
On our last day of cruising, we spent most of our time soaking up the sun. At one point, we were in the hot tub with this guy that just wouldn’t stop talking about anything and everything. Our saving grace was a woman that stood up in the tub and shouted, “What the heck?!” As we were sailing from Mexico back to Miami, we came across a raft of presumably Cuban refugees. The crew alerted the Coast Guard in Key West, which instructed us to remain near the raft until they arrived. While we were at dinner, the Coast Guard arrived and we were able to continue heading back to Miami.
Debarkation
For the most part, debarkation went smoothly. Because we were on one of the higher decks, we were some of the last people off of the ship. Sitting around got pretty boring when all I wanted to do was get home to my babies. Once we were off though, it went super quickly. We breezed through customs after the officer noticed that our address was on Schofield and he used to be stationed here. That’s the second time we have a super friendly prior service customs officer.
It was so nice to be on the cruise and away from the kids for a while. Definitely the vacation that John and I needed.
Now it’s your turn to do something nice for yourself! Enter the giveaway below to win some goodies for the summer. Sunglasses and a Stitch Fix are the perfect prize if you plan on cruising or going away this summer!
Happy Tuesday! Today I have teamed up with a few fellow bloggers to giveaway a gift card for “Sunglasses” and “Stitch Fix” ($250 value). Summer is here and who wouldn’t love a new pair of shades and outfit?! You can enter below in the rafflecopter, GOOD LUCK!!! 
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