Day 4

We were anxious to see Grand Cayman, as we were told it wasn't as "rough" as Jamaica.

Our meeting time was 8:30, so we opted for room service, thinking it would save us some time in the morning.  It was quite possibly the grossest room service I've had.  The eggs were super runny, the danish all had some sort of liquor in it, the bacon was fatty, and we think the ham might have gotten LaVor sick (thankfully, I gave him my piece!).

Before tasting anything - still smiling.

The worry wart I am, I was nervous about the tender boats that would take us to land.  I took 2 pills that morning, just to be safe.

Our bus was waiting for us at the port, so we hopped on and went straight to our other boat that would take us to Stingray City.  What an adventure that was!  We waited on the 2nd boat for close to 45 minutes, hoping 2 more buses of people would come.  But they never did.  Finally, the captain agreed to leave and we made the 20 minute ride out to the sandbar.  Once there, the anchor was supposedly placed and about half the boat got into the water.  All of a sudden, we're going around in circles and WHAM!  We hit another boat.  I'm freaking out, naturally, and the boat is bouncing like crazy.  Finally, after about another 15 minutes, two anchors were put in and we were somewhat stable.  I was hesitant to get into the water but I knew I'd regret it if I didn't.  I did opt to not touch the stingrays, though.  They were much bigger than I was expecting and I considered the one that brushed against my leg a "touch".

I'm not a fan of water but I did love how warm and clear it was.

The dark blue water is where the sandbar ends.  We were told it was a 6,000 ft. drop.  Yikes!

With all of the hiccups in our trek out there, we were only given about 15 minutes in the water.  I remember hearing we were supposed to have about an hour.  Believe you me, the ship is going to hear about this.

Our excursion also included a trip to Tiki Beach but we were both tired and so we headed back to the ship where I knew I'd get a lunch that I'd enjoy.

You can't see it here but I got roasted by the sun!

LaVor opted to stay in the room for the rest of the day so I enjoyed some time napping on the deck and our balcony, I caught a quick show in the theater, enjoyed some dinner and captured the sunset.

Day 3

We woke up Monday morning, already in Falmouth, Jamaica.  It was so nice to finally see land!

I figured all of Jamaica would look like this, but I was so wrong.

We quickly ate breakfast and made our way off the ship, to then sit on our bus while the last family was rounded up.

We were planning on getting wet, hence the "no bangs" look.

Our tour guide was named Anita and the driver was Sid.  Anita was a sweet lady that gave us a lot of good tips, especially when it came to people trying to sell us stuff.  Everyone was shocked as to how pushy they were!  Strategically, when we were leaving Dunn's River Falls, you had to walk through the crowded vendor area to reach the exit.  LaVor was constantly referred to as the "bearded man" and was offered some herbal refreshment...if you know what I mean. 

I don't know what I was expecting Jamaica to be like but I was surprised.  Lots of tiny shacks, many homes half built (which we later found out was, they don't get loans to build their homes, they just build as they have the money), lots of goats, cows, and horses along the road, they drive on the wrong side of the road, people pass each other like it's going out of business.

We think the larger homes might have been plantation owners?

Lots of bright colors!

Divide those numbers by 20 and you roughly get the equivalent in U.S. dollars.

Kill 2 birds with 1 stone.

I never got used to seeing cars on the right side.

Goats, goats, and more goats.

Our first stop was at Dolphin Cove, where we waited around for a while, before we got our 10 minutes with the dolphin.

The men in the "Shark Show".  Although they speak English in Jamaica, I didn't understand a word they said.

Better them than me.

This shark was especially fond of his trainer.

We enjoyed the brief time we had with our dolphin!  It danced, clapped, sang Lady Gaga, kissed people (not me!), and let us rub its tummy.  Since LaVor and I were in the water at the same time, that experience wasn't documented on camera (unless we wanted to pay an outrageous fee).

A dolphin.  Not even sure if it was ours.

We were told we'd be getting a great lunch with our package.  I don't know what standards they were basing that on, but I decided to stick with a few bites of salad and 5 hush puppies, with a glass of Sprite.

He ate most of everything.

I did not.

We then traveled across the road to Dunn's River Falls, where we held hands with complete strangers as we climbed 900 feet in rushing water.  Again, no pictures of that since our camera isn't waterproof.

Everyone was pooped on the way back to the ship.  I try to avoid sleeping in public areas because I tend to have my mouth wide open.  So I took pictures instead.

No editing involved.  Love the crystal clear water!

Home sweet home.

Well isn't that a hoot!

It felt good to get back on the ship, take a shower and get into some dry clothes.  I don't remember too much about dinner that night, except that we sat next to another couple that had a 2 year old girl, so it was fun to talk about all the crazy things our kids are doing.

After dinner, there was a dance party out by the pool that I would have loved to participate in, but my partner in crime is not a dancer.  So we watched.

This was only the beginning.

When drunk people started grinding on us, we decided to call it a night.

Peace out, Jamaica.

Day 2

Our second day on the cruise was a day at sea, which gave us a chance to become a little more familiar with the ship.

I remember LaVor waking up around 8 and telling me what time it was but I ignored him completely and went right back to sleep.  I woke up a few more times, thinking to myself, "I'm hungry", but still never got up.  Finally, at 11, we decided we should get out of bed so our day wasn't completely wasted.  We got our swimsuits on and headed onto the deck where we faced, what felt like, hurricane winds.  We stayed out about 15 minutes before we decided to head back into safety.

I didn't even bother doing my hair that day which turned out to be a good thing.

Since we woke up so late, breakfast was out of the picture and we jumped right into lunch.  While eating, we both noticed a familiar face, our cousin Derek, or a guy that just really looked like him.

We almost said, "Derek!" at the same time.

Our drink of choice - a Shirley Temple

Not planning on sticking with the "greasy" look.

The night started off early, with a group photo with all of the Achievers, followed by another cocktail hour and ending with the award ceremony. 

Always throwing in a silly face.

There was no way we were going to pay $20 for a "professional" photo when ours was free.

Getting his award with the Founder of RDO, CEO of RDO, and Vice President of Vermeer Pacific.  All very nice people!

Once again, we enjoyed a great dinner, which we shared with another Achiever and his 18 year old son.  The conversation consisted of a lot of hunting, so I spent my time people watching.

The night wouldn't have been complete without a shot of the moon.

Day 1

We got into Miami on Friday night, where we enjoyed a mingling session with the other Achievers.  I finally got to meet a lot of people I've only heard about for 6 years, and was surprised as to how off I was by what they looked like in my mind.  Turns out Marshall is not a 60+ year old man but a young guy that lives close to Vicki and Tamra from Real Housewives of OC!

Saturday morning, we woke up and made it down to breakfast at 9:00, as the schedule noted.  We also happened to be one of the last couples to breakfast and I learned quickly that we needed to be early for the rest of the trip, not just on time.

At the breakfast, we enjoyed an array of delicious treats but also the talent of a band, who happened to have a lead singer that looked like Huey Lewis.

When we were done, we headed outside of the hotel, where they had a lagoon that supposedly had manatees living it in it.

Lookin' good, my man!

Didn't see a manatee, just a lizard.

The wind was out of control, which threw me off because it was still hot outside.

After walking around for a little bit and getting a chance to call The Lime, we packed our bags and headed onto the bus which took us to our port.

LaVor laughed at me when I took this picture but with so many episodes of "Cops" and "First 48" filmed here, I felt like I had to!

Remember my post about not wearing motorcycle helmets?  It blows my mind!

The view of our ship from down below.

Waiting to get checked into the ship.  The lady that helped us was a real grouch about her pens.

We made it on the ship and immediately went to our room to check things out.  LaVor helped me out with my fear of getting seasick and made sure we had a balcony.

Checking out Miami.

I don't know why I always feel the need to pose for pictures.  Cheesy.

While we were still in the U.S., LaVor finalized a few things while I went buck wild with the self portraits in the mirror.

The director from our group suggested getting something to eat as soon as we got on the ship, to help with any motion sickness.  We never deny someone when they tell us to eat!

I was a frequent visitor to the ice cream station, which is why my jeans hardly fit this morning.

Soon enough, we noticed things moving and put two and two together; we were setting sail.

I believe there were 4 ships total, that left at the same time.

Do you see that huge mass of people on the beach?!  It was nuts!

Since I take a long time getting ready, we had a little free time between taking off and when I had to be back at the room to make myself look cute.  We had a cocktail hour around 7 (which isn't so fun for us) and then enjoyed our first dinner cruise experience.  We took full advantage of being able to order as many food items as we wanted (I might have ordered 4 desserts but didn't finish all of them!) and left the table stuffed to the brim.

The night was still young (not really...we were pooped) so we went back to the cocktail lounge to watch some dancing.

They were pulling people out of the audience to dance with them.  Thankfully, I was not one of them.

This guy was a hoot to watch.

In the elevator, heading back to our room.

Once we got back to our room, LaVor stepped outside to take some shots of the moon, which ended up being a nightly thing.

Our first day at sea was a success; we didn't get sick!  We had to eventually hit the sack, as we had an excursion waiting for us, bright and early the next morning.