We decided to go on a cruise over Christmas. Blair was going to be able to take time off (which is a rarity), and we wanted to enjoy it. We wanted to visit his parents in New Zealand, but the cost was astronomical. We thought about UT, but just picturing the hassle of driving cross-country with presents, or trying to haul everything by plane and airfare x 5, we decided that didn't sound so great. On the other hand, we live close to New Orleans where cruise ships leave from, and we started investigating, and found an awesome ship, and couldn't pass it up! So glad it worked out, because we are on the countdown of our months in MS (probably moving in the summer) and don't think we'd get this chance again of it being so convenient.
The cruise was called their 7 day "Exotic Western Caribbean," and made stops in Honduras, Belize, and Mexico.
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| The Carnival Sunshine |
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| Great view, and the kids always loved the buffet where they could pick whatever they wanted to eat. |
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| The main pool. There was an adults pool up a level, and a whole waterpark on the front of the boat too. |
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| Awww, finally a vacation |
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| relaxing time |
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| It's amazing how many beds they can fit in these small rooms. There was another roll-out bed under the main bed. |
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| 24 hour soft serve ice cream |
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| Blair's favorite fast food- Guy's Burger Joint, along with a 24 hour pizza place |
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| They had some fun shows for families. This was "Hasbro the Game Show," and here they were throwing basketballs into a huge Connect 4 game. They also had comedians doing shows each night, or "Playlist Productions," which were more broadway-type shows. I loved that this boat was focused on families, so the entertainment was clean. |
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| Food, food and more food. Prime rib this night. |
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| Lobster tail and jumbo shrimp |
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| calories |
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| One of the shows. Notice we don't have the kids with us a lot of the time? Camp Carnival was going on all day for age groups, and we could drop them off whenever we wanted, it was great! All included in the price. |
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| Picking Claire up one night, and she was all smiles |
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| Claire LOVED the towel creations. She would usually tell me to get a picture, and then she would hug the animal until it was destroyed. |
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| Trying out Carnival waterworks |
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| Mind boggling that they have 3 full size watersides on the top of a cruise ship. |
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| And the 1st day it opened, there was a line just like a real watermark ;) |
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| the boys checking out the view |
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| Ropes course on the ship |
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| Xander running across like a daredevil |
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| Will and Blair more careful |
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| foosball |
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| playing pool |
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| They had a Christmas program, and this part was put on by the kids in their groups |
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| reading a story |
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| after the program |
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| Santa visited the boat |
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| elephant! |
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| Easy way to do Christmas- cash for souvenirs |
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| Christmas morning room service |
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| 1st stop: Roatan, Honduras |
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| Visiting an iguana farm |
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| doesn't this little guy look like he's smiling? |
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| Next up: monkeys |
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| birds |
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| They call these things "rabbits" in Honduras, but I just don't get it. They look like large rats. |
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| Awesome beach: West End |
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| 3 little cuties |
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| another fancy dinner |
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| outdoor movie |
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| a watermelon carving on Christmas |
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| an eskimo? |
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Next stop: Belize City, Belize
I guess they can't pull right up to it because it's too shallow, so they anchor the cruiseship out in the ocean, and you have to take a boat tender back and forth. |
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| Just Xander and I came out to walk around Belize. We walked around the street shops, and explored a little. Blair stayed on the boat with a sick kiddo. Our plans that day were supposed to be zip-lining, and cave-tubing, but sickness changed our plans. |
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| Xander begged me for a coconut, and I told him he wouldn't like it. I was right. |
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| He still tried to enjoy it, but just had such high hopes, and it disappointed. |
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| mini golf |
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| Claire playing with little dolls from Belize |
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| A family dinner. Xander ordered steak off the adult menu, because he could. |
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| frog |
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| One of Claire's favorite places to play |
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| swimming |
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| bunny |
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| Snorkeling in Cozumel, Mexico. I was sick this day, so I missed out. I told Blair to be sure to get a picture, so here is the one and only picture. They went on a glass-bottom boat, and had beautiful waters, but Blair didn't think that maybe I would have wanted to see those types of things... |
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back to New Orleans
Cruise over, and it still feels like we're rocking back and forth a few days later. Sickness ended up hitting every member of our family for a day. It was quick, and always involved vomiting at least. Christmas was sickness-free, and the 1st day or so, but then we each took a turn, with Blair catching it the very last night, and Xander after we were home for a couple of days. All in all, at least 6 out of 7 days were fun for each of us, and some of the other days were modified, but how can we complain too much. I'm glad we did it, and the kids had a complete blast, and want to go back. |
