Caribbean Cruise-Aug 2016

Early this year, Ma invited the whole family on a Royal Caribbean cruise! Our embarkation day finally arrived on July 31st as we all gathered in Fort Lauderdale. Our ship was the Allure of the Seas, until recently the largest ship in the oceans (just recently overtaken by a newer Royal Caribbean boat). Our embarkation process was quite smooth. We had our sea pass cards and were in our rooms in no time.

Our ports are Labadee, Haiti (a private RC beach); Falmouth, Jamaica; and Cozumel Mexico. In between we would have 3 ocean days to explore the giant ship of 6000 people with 2 Flow Rider surf simulators (for boogie boarding and stand up surfing), a zip line (over the Boardwalk), 3 or 4 pools plus a kiddie pool area and an adult only area, many dining rooms, a 24 hour buffet, an outdoor diving theatre, rock walls, a shopping arcade, a garden like open air mall, and a Boardwalk with a carousel. I racked up almost 69K steps making my way around the ship during our 7 days.

We all had rooms with a balcony, which was really nice so we could see how fast the boat was sailing and had nice views of the ports when we docked. The cousins enjoyed a lot of time together, everyone ate a lot of great food and enjoyed wonderful service, and the adults played several trivia games, danced a bit in one of the clubs, enjoyed a few shows and spent a lot of time in the pool. On our last full day, Julie and I got up the nerve to do the zip line! It was a little terrifying, but by the time you realize what was going on, it was over.

On shore, we had some great beach and bbq time in Haiti. The kids went on the water slide but reported it was not up to snuff. A couple of them stepped on a sea urchin, managed to get the spines out though. (I learned in Jamaica that the spines will come out on their own, but if you try and poke at it, it burrows deeper into your skin.)

I went snorkeling on a great excursion in Jamaica with a super fun and friendly crew who took us to fabulous Montego Bay where we swam with schools of sargeant major fish and they showed us a sea urchin (female, no spines), and then took us to a mangrove forest with nesting pelicans (high in the trees), moon jellies, sea cucumbers and other critters. We ate jamaican meat patties (haven't had one since high school!), drank rum punch and danced to reggae music.

In Cozumel, we did an excursion to a small Mayan settlement. Our wonderful guide Nacho explained all of the particulars really well. I accidentally stepped in an ant colony and proceeded to get bit by a whole bunch of angry ants (but no mosquitoes!). We did a little scenic drive around part of the island that had no development, which was remarkable. Lunch was at a private beach/water park called Playa Mia. We had some so-so Mexican food and a margarita under a giant tent there while the kids played on the small water slide (better than the Haiti slide, apparently).

There are some curious things about cruise ships and one of my favourites was the towel animals, which our room attendant left in our rooms every other day. They were also very particular about hygiene providing Purell dispensers at the entrances to all of the food venues. And there was a lot of rah-rah type stuff at the end to celebrate the chefs in the kitchen and the wait staff (after seeing this documentary about food service on our sister ship, Oasis of the Seas, I can see why they might need to be acknowleded-it's hard work!). It felt like what I imagine summer camp must be like. We didn't have WiFi and so were completely cut off from all information for a whole week. The cruise did broadcast the Olympics opening ceremony somewhere, and I heard there was sports in some of the bars. Julie, D and I participated in the 'flash mob' classes and were in a real 'flash mob' on our last sea day! It was super fun and the teacher was great!

Because this boat was so large, there was the possibility of lines for almost everything. We managed to time our breakfast and dinner to beat the rush (mostly 8a every morning and 6p every evening). It was nice to have the same staff serving you through the week. They remembered our drink orders, Julie was able to buy a bottle of wine and drink from it all week. On the last day, it was quite the long process to pick up our luggage, snake our way through a perfunctory customs check and get a taxi to either the airport (D's family) or to a hotel (Mei's family and Ma and I). After lunch at Mei's hotel and a brief respite, Ma and I headed for the airport home.

Here is a link to some of the photos I took.