In July (I know, I am a little behind with my bloggin' duties) we had the opportunity to take a family vacation with Danny's side of the fam-bam. We took a Carnival cruise that had 4 ports of call in the Caribbean! It was a great experience filled with tons of great sights, memories and experiences. Here are just a few of the highlights. Note: I did bring my nice DSLR...but, unfortunately, due to the nature of our excursions...The majority of these pics were taken with my "little" digital camera.
Here's the whole gang at the Embassey Suites in Miami. We are getting ready to head over the port to board the ship! Yay for self-timers!
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Of course... as my traveling luck would have it...This is what the weather did as we set sail out of Miami! Although it rained just about everyday on the cruise - there was only a few times it actually affected us. Those times I took it upon myself to do a little dance in the rain. Why not?
GRAND CAYMAN:
In Grand Cayman, we chose to swim with Dolphins...It was by far the most amazing thing I've ever experienced. They are beautiful creatures and I wanted to take one home, however, something told me I wouldn't have fit him in my carry on!
Sunrise as we arrived in port
ISLA ROATAN:
My favorite port was Isla Roatan, Honduras...It was absolutely breathtaking and we couldn't have asked for better weather. We spent the day on the beach at Mahogany Bay.
BELIZE:
This was my least favorite port; simply because the poverty we witnessed was so heartbreaking. We chose to do an Air Boat Ride and Belize City bus tour. The tour portion of this trip was an emotional experience for me. I felt like an intruder riding on a bus through what these people consider their homes. Trust me, what we would toss out with our weekly recycling, these people would consider digs at the Hilton. Although it was an informational tour for me, I was literally brought to tears as we drove "through" the lives of these people. Some of them would smile and wave, others literally barked at us. I had a gut-wrenching feeling on the bus, "Who the hell am I to hop off my giant fancy cruise ship and pay more than what these people make in a year for a city tour as if they are a sideshow?!?" I am not naive to the fact that there is poverty all over the world... I guess I just wasn't expecting to witness it in this environment from a bus.
COZUMEL, MEXICO:
Cozumel was our last port of call. We did a little shopping in town before we headed out to a beach club. We got in a good few hours of swimming and sun before the biggest rainstorm I've ever experienced rolled in. We didn't make it back to the ship before we were literally running through water that was shin-deep in only a matter of minutes.
