Magic 2012

We had so much fun on our cruise!! It was all so amazing ... from the moment we first saw the boat to the moment we got back off a week later. Our cruise went to Cozumel Mexico, Cayman Islands, and Montego bay, Jamaica. We feel so blessed to be able to go on this great vacation together and know that Liliana is safe and sound.

First the cruise ship its self is amazing! There is so much to do. Lots of hot tubs, pools, comedy shows, different entertainment shows every night, great food, buffets, dance clubs, casino, shops, piano bars, karaoke,outside movies, and so so much more. Every single day there was lots of things going on and you always had a list of things to do that day when we were on the boat. I think we had four days at sea and every single day was a blast. We layed in the sun, went on the water slides, eat whenever we wanted, went to different shows and so on. Needless to say the ship was no disappointment and the days at sea where almost just as fun as the days we ported! Our cruise ship had over 4,000 people on board plus the 1500 staff members. And yeah sometimes there were lines but by no means did it feel like that many people. Also we were so impressed with all the staff. They are all so nice and are from all over different parts of the world. It is truely incredible how many people we met and talked to that were from places and cultures that are so different then ours.

Mexico- When we ported they told us that other cruise ships were also porting at the same time as us so that there were aprox. 12,000 tourist in Cozumel. CRAZY!! Carnival owns the port in Cozumel that we ported at so it was very Americanized and there was tons of shops. Luckily almost all the prizes were in pesos and dollars so it wasn't too confusing. And all the people we talked to spoke English as well. So we did most of our shopping there in Cozumel. Then we ran into another couple from our group and decided that we wanted to split a cap and go find the beach! Luckily she spoke Spanish as well as English because she is from Guatemala. We felt a little safer being with her and she was able to negotiate a good price with the cap driver. They first took us to some more shopping off of the main drag so the prices were a little cheaper, which was great. Then they took us the the Mayan Ruins, they were pretty amazing and we got to see a lot of huge lizards that would almost jump out of the jungle in front of the walk way.. lol. Then they took us to a beautiful public beach. Again there were shops there, but what was really cool is there way a restaurant and pools right on the sand. The water was beautiful and it felt so good to be in the water after doing all that walking at the ruins. There was also tons of tables and even beach chairs to lay on. It was great! Then after that we headed back. One of the best parts of getting taken to all these spots was the drive to them.We went threw down town, main villages, and so on. It was so so hot and humid there everyone was sitting outside there house. Tons of women breast feeding outside of these tiny tiny houses with little kids running around them bare foot. I loved the drive, getting to see the culture of Cozumel. We spend a huge part of the day spending time at all the stops and we were worn out! It felt good to get back on the ship and hit up the buffet!


Cayman Islands- We ported and had no idea what we were going to do. We walked into a shopping area and were looking at this booth that had things to do on the island. The lady at the booth said I have a bus leaving now... so we jumped on : ) They took us on a tour of the island and our tour guide had a strong Jamaican accent and he was hilarious!! He told us so much about the Island and there history it was great. He explained that they are under England's rule. It was a beautiful Island and everything was clean and new. Very orderly, they do drive on the wrong side of the road tho : ) but in Mexico it was like a free for all when it came to driving but in the Cayman Islands it seemed so much more structured. He said it was a very safe Island with not much crime and that the police officers don't even have firearms. It is such a small Island but they have the most banks in the world. I think that's where all the wealthy people have their "off shore accounts" : ) Anyways he took us to  HELL... and back luckily. Its a huge joke there but it is a town on the Island and they have this little bitty shop next to the coolest rocks I have ever seen! They look like lava rocks... it used to be under the water because the sea level used to be a lot higher. Pretty interesting... everyone on the ship would ask you did you go to hell? lol it was kinda strange but funny. Then he took us to the famous place where they make their rum and rum cake. Its supposed to be amazing they actually soak the cake in rum not just bake the rum into the cake. Then we went to some beautiful public beaches. There was a man on the side of the beach selling these beautiful marble turtles.. we got one there. Then we headed back. It was so great to learn so much about the Island and to be taken around almost the whole thing.

Jamaica- We had booked to do an excursion threw carnival with some other people in our group before we got on the cruise. But since we didn't leave for our excursion until around eleven we got off the boat early and hit some shops before. Right when you got off the boat there were some locals selling stuff and they were fun. That's where I did my first bartering ... they were pretty easy but still I am proud of myself.  I am glad we booked the zip-line in Jamaica because on the boat they were going over things to do at each stop and when they got to Jamaica they warned everyone to be very careful and to make sure they trusted the person that was taking them some where. Anyways I had been looking forward to the zip line the entire trip. Most of the pictures I have of Jamaica are taken from the bus that took us up to the zip line. Our bus driver was of coarse Jamaican and was just as funny as our one in the Cayman Islands. We got to see a lot of the Island. Most of it was run down and it was amazing how and what they can live on. When we got to the excursion we all went to the bathroom first. There was a Jamaican women in there and every time after someone went she had to poor a bucket of water in the toilet just to get it to flush and then for the sink they just had a faucet then poured into a bucket. It was the only bathroom I had been in like that. Then we went and got buckled up in our harness and got all our equipment on. They also gave us a little crash course on how to do it... make your self slow down and so on. Then they lead us into the jungle... it was so beautiful. We even took a truck up higher to do one of the zip lines. There were about six total and they were all so much fun. The last one was the longest and you were so high up. The jungle looked so amazing and we even went over water. It truly was breathtaking. Our tour guides were hilarious their names were Gussy and Kim Impossible they had me laughing and smiling the entire time. My cheeks where seriously soar from all the laughter. After the zip line we headed back to the ship. It took almost the entire day and we were beat!! So much fun.

The last two days were just at sea as we headed home. We missed our little Lili and were excited to get to see her! We hung out in the sun and in the pool and it was hot hot hot!! Not to mention the humidity was 95% ! But we loved it and we enjoyed our time on the ship.