Western Caribbean Cruise 2016
In December, Ian graduated from the University of Utah with his bachelors in operations management. We decided that after four years of non-stop school we needed to celebrate and do something fun. So we booked a trip to Tampa and set sail for 8 days on an incredible cruise with Royal Caribbean to the Western Caribbean.
Day 1: Because I am a little obsessed with getting the best deal possible, we drove six hours from Salt Lake City to Las Vegas because tickets to Orlando were $500 dollars cheaper. That being said, we had a great day in Vegas walking around and getting a quick bite to eat before our red eye flight left.
Day 2: We arrived in Orlando around 7:30 AM and had to catch a public transit bus from the airport to the Amtrak train in Orlando that would take us to Tampa where the cruise port was. All of this for the sake of saving a few hundred bucks!! It was worth it, but it made for an extremely long day of travel. Not to mention, I think I wore Ian out.
Once we got to the port we got on the cruise ship and went immediately to the nearest buffet where we ate until we were so tired that we were "forced" to take a nap. We unpacked and slept until the ship left the port.
Day 3: This day was a full day at sea. We soaked up the sun, ate food, ate more food, took naps (yes, more than one), played some trivia, had way too much soft serve ice cream and enjoyed the entertainment on the ship. It was nice to have a day to recover after all the travel we did.
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| Our Stateroom |
Day 4: Around 2:00 AM a code was called on the cruise ship. It woke us up, but we really didn't think anything about it and went back to bed. We woke up that morning expecting to be in Honduras and we found out that they had to turn the cruise ship around and take it to the nearest medical facility in Cozumel. They got the passenger the medical attention they needed in Cozumel and they cleared us to get off the ship, so our day was spent in Cozumel instead of Honduras. We were pretty sad that we didn't get to see Honduras. We were really looking forward to our Snuba excursion. But we didn't let it ruin our trip. We went shopping in downtown Cozumel and Ian used his Spanish to find us a great place to have lunch. Lunch in Cozumel was probably the highlight of Ian's trip! It was so good.
Day 5: We made to to Belize!!! After our detour to Cozumel, the cruise continued on as was originally planned. We had booked our excursion in Belize weeks before and were so excited for this port. We got to go on the dark night cave tubing adventure! We took an hour and half bus ride from the port up to the jungles of Belize where we hiked through huge caves up to a launch spot where we got in inter tubes on the river and went through even more caves! It was so fun and we would definitely do it again.
Day 6: Because we weren't able to do our shore excursion in Honduras, we used our refund and booked a sail and snorkel excursion in Costa Maya. We got on a catamaran and went out to a reef and did some amazing snorkeling. Our guide was really great and even took our GoPro through a sweet cave that was too deep for us to dive through. It was nice to just be out on the ocean and explore! The water here is so blue it's unreal.
Day 7: Welcome back to Cozumel! We had another day in Cozumel and so we made it a beach day. We went to an all inclusive beach that had so many fun activities like water slides, a wipe out adventure and kayaks. We just had a blast playing and soaking up the sun.
Day 8: Our last day was a full day at sea. It was nice to nap, eat and just enjoy all of the activities on the ship.
One of the top highlights of our trip was meeting John and Deb. Have you ever met those people in life that instantly make you want to be friends forever? Well that's Deb and John. Serious the most genuine, kind, giving people you will ever meet. Despite the age difference, Deb and John are and will continue to be our dearest friends. Ian and I always say that when we grow up, we want to be like John and Debs. I still talk to Deb at least once a week!
We met John and Deb at trivia and became instant friends. We would meet up every evening at 5:00 pm for trivia, then would head see the show at the theater followed by dinner at 8:00 pm. John and Deb invited us to sit at their table every night and we couldn't say no. They are the kind of people that you meet and you feel like you've known each other for years. They are genuine, down to earth people that truly enjoy life and live each moment with such vigor. I've said it before and I will say it again, when we grow up, we want to be just like John and Deb!! Hopefully soon we can make it to Europe and visit them!
Day 9: We were sad that the cruise was over but we were excited to get back to our new home! We woke up, ate breakfast and got off the ship. We headed to the Greyhound bus station where we caught the bus back to Orlando. We got on another bus that took us to the airport and then we waited 6 hours for our flight to take off back to Las Vegas. I was okay with the layover because it gave me six hours to catch up on the last three episodes of the Bachelor that I missed while we were gone! We got to Las Vegas around 9:00 pm, checked in at the Westgate hotel and had Subway for dinner because everything was closed. We were so exhausted from a full day of travel that we called it a night and went to bed. zzzzzzzzzz.
Day 10: My sister-in-law recommended that we try Hash House A Go Go in Las Vegas. Best recommendation EVER. If you ever find yourself in Vegas, you have to go. Their portions are outrageously huge and so tasty! Please, do me a favor and go. Now!
To say we had a blast is a serious understatement. I am so grateful that we can travel and do fun things together while it's just the two of us. Until our next trip, adios!
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