Our Not-so-Sunny Caribbean Cruise
Cruise Day 1 – Embarkation Day
We had an uneventful travel day and slept well, had breakfast and then headed to the cruise ship. We boarded Navigator of the Seas around noon and wandered through the ship and found lunch at Windjammer Café (the buffet). After lunch, our rooms were ready. The girls particularly love the little couches and the window overlooking the Royal Promenade. Adjoining rooms is working out nicely.
As soon as possible, the girls had us all in swimsuits and we were at the pool. The girls made a friend almost immediately and Dan and I enjoyed some lounging time with our books.
We were just going to explore more of the ship when we found ourselves directed to our muster station for the mandatory drill. We chatted with a family who were there with over 130 other family members for a nephew’s bar mitzvah.
Next was sail away party on the pool deck and the girls did a little dancing, but were still feeling shy. Then, we got cleaned up and dressed for dinner, registered the girls for Adventure Ocean, the kids club, and did some more exploring before heading into dinner. Alex quite liked the whole experience and even tried a watermelon gazpacho. Laura found it painful and was happy to leave at the earliest opportunity.
After dinner we had the fun of watching the sail away parade from the window in our room. Definitely off to a great start!
Cruise Day 2 – Day at Sea
Everyone enjoyed sleeping in and apparently a benefit of an inside cabin is having no clue if it is morning or night.
Lazing by the pool, reading, and relaxing were the main attractions for the day. I took the girls and their new buddy to play mini golf. Then, mid afternoon, we went to the ice rink and watched a really fun ice dancing show. Quite amazing that they can do that on a moving ship in the Caribbean!
We napped and relaxed in the room. Laura and I even played some cards and watched people going by all dressed up for dinner. Turns out our rooms are great for people watching.
That night was formal night so after feeding the girls and getting them checked into kids club, Dan and I got gussied up and headed down for photos and dinner. Our tablemates are from South Africa and he’s been on a campaign to convince us to visit. This night we were told they have good SCUBA so Dan is itching to get off the ship and do some internet exploring.
Dan and I even managed to stay up and go to the late show which was a lot of broadway numbers. Pretty good. Amazingly, the girls were still going strong in kids club and were rather irritated that we’d come to collect them. However, we needed to get to bed so that we could get up for our beach day in Labadee.
Cruise Day 3 – Labadee, Haiti
When we woke up, we were docked in Labadee, Haiti, Royal Caribbean’s private beach. One catch – it was overcast, gray, and raining! However, we’d booked an hour at the aquapark and so we were just hoping the water would be warm.
The cruise line has done a beautiful job creating a beach resort area with everything you could want. The aqua park was great fun, although apparently Dan and I are way out of shape and need to work those upper body muscles. I never did manage to climb one of the blow up ice berg things. The girls loved it and we bounced and teeter tottered, climbed (or attempted to), and swam for an hour. And amazingly the weather looked to be clearing.
The cruise had a wonderful BBQ spread out for us and we had lunch and then walked on the beach when the rain returned. We figured we were already wet, we’d just go for a walk and explore. Seemed like the more we walked, the more it rained.
We returned to the ship, warmed up in the hot tub, and then had a lazy afternoon reading and relaxing.
The girls were pretty tired after all the late nights and the water play so they elected to snuggle in their room and watch a movie while Dan and I went to the show and dinner. Every time we checked on them, they’d just gotten more snuggly and made adjustments for more comfort. They’d even gotten pizza from the café.
Dan and I thoroughly enjoyed the show which was Bill Pinkney’s Original Drifters! They were fantastic and had people dancing in the aisles. It really made up for the rain for me.
Another lovely dinner in the dining room and then we all watched the 70’s Disco Street Party from our windows.
Cruise Day 4 – Ocho Rios, Jamaica
This morning we woke up once again to rain! This isn’t quite working out for us the way we’d hoped. We’d booked a dolphin encounter so off we went again hoping the water would be warm – it was!
The dolphins were amazing. We had a full half hour in the water and got to pet Betta, go for a ride, kiss her, dance with her, and watch her do tricks, often just inches from us. So cool! It was surprising how soft she was.
Once out of the water, torrential rain had us rather chilly and miserable so we collected our things, our photos and DVD (yes, we were total suckers and bought the lot!) and headed back to the ship. Somehow we couldn’t imagine hiking in that weather which was the next planned event. On top of that Alex had come down with a cold and wasn’t feeling great.
Back on board we went to Johnny Rockets for lunch and enjoyed watching the wait staff dance and listening to fun music while we ate. Then, we went to see Polar Express in the screening room.
The girls once again, elected to stay in the room with movies, food, and books while we went to the evening show and dinner. All in all a good day even though we were missing sunshine.
Cruise Day 5 – At Sea
We all slept in again but woke once more to rain. Boo hiss! After breakfast, we decided to check out the bingo and Dan won with G56!! Since we bought bingo cards we also got some free pulls on a special slot machine and while we didn’t win the $5000, we did win a key chain and t-shirt.
After bingo, we caught a glimpse of sunshine and decided to hit the pool deck. After about 45 minutes of lounging and reading in the sun, the rain returned again and we headed back indoors. We had lunch and then we played mini golf during another rain break.
We’ve been relaxing in the room and Laura and I had another rousing round of pinochle – she won by one point!
Alex plans to come to dinner with us tonight and Laura is going to kids club because she wants to see a counselor get slimed. She’s been looking forward to it all week.
So, we’ll post this and check weather in Orlando for tomorrow so that we can get packed up and ready for the next phase of our adventure. We’re really hoping for some sunshine!
We had an uneventful travel day and slept well, had breakfast and then headed to the cruise ship. We boarded Navigator of the Seas around noon and wandered through the ship and found lunch at Windjammer Café (the buffet). After lunch, our rooms were ready. The girls particularly love the little couches and the window overlooking the Royal Promenade. Adjoining rooms is working out nicely.
As soon as possible, the girls had us all in swimsuits and we were at the pool. The girls made a friend almost immediately and Dan and I enjoyed some lounging time with our books.
We were just going to explore more of the ship when we found ourselves directed to our muster station for the mandatory drill. We chatted with a family who were there with over 130 other family members for a nephew’s bar mitzvah.
Next was sail away party on the pool deck and the girls did a little dancing, but were still feeling shy. Then, we got cleaned up and dressed for dinner, registered the girls for Adventure Ocean, the kids club, and did some more exploring before heading into dinner. Alex quite liked the whole experience and even tried a watermelon gazpacho. Laura found it painful and was happy to leave at the earliest opportunity.
After dinner we had the fun of watching the sail away parade from the window in our room. Definitely off to a great start!
Cruise Day 2 – Day at Sea
Everyone enjoyed sleeping in and apparently a benefit of an inside cabin is having no clue if it is morning or night.
Lazing by the pool, reading, and relaxing were the main attractions for the day. I took the girls and their new buddy to play mini golf. Then, mid afternoon, we went to the ice rink and watched a really fun ice dancing show. Quite amazing that they can do that on a moving ship in the Caribbean!
We napped and relaxed in the room. Laura and I even played some cards and watched people going by all dressed up for dinner. Turns out our rooms are great for people watching.
That night was formal night so after feeding the girls and getting them checked into kids club, Dan and I got gussied up and headed down for photos and dinner. Our tablemates are from South Africa and he’s been on a campaign to convince us to visit. This night we were told they have good SCUBA so Dan is itching to get off the ship and do some internet exploring.
Dan and I even managed to stay up and go to the late show which was a lot of broadway numbers. Pretty good. Amazingly, the girls were still going strong in kids club and were rather irritated that we’d come to collect them. However, we needed to get to bed so that we could get up for our beach day in Labadee.
Cruise Day 3 – Labadee, Haiti
When we woke up, we were docked in Labadee, Haiti, Royal Caribbean’s private beach. One catch – it was overcast, gray, and raining! However, we’d booked an hour at the aquapark and so we were just hoping the water would be warm.
The cruise line has done a beautiful job creating a beach resort area with everything you could want. The aqua park was great fun, although apparently Dan and I are way out of shape and need to work those upper body muscles. I never did manage to climb one of the blow up ice berg things. The girls loved it and we bounced and teeter tottered, climbed (or attempted to), and swam for an hour. And amazingly the weather looked to be clearing.
The cruise had a wonderful BBQ spread out for us and we had lunch and then walked on the beach when the rain returned. We figured we were already wet, we’d just go for a walk and explore. Seemed like the more we walked, the more it rained.
We returned to the ship, warmed up in the hot tub, and then had a lazy afternoon reading and relaxing.
The girls were pretty tired after all the late nights and the water play so they elected to snuggle in their room and watch a movie while Dan and I went to the show and dinner. Every time we checked on them, they’d just gotten more snuggly and made adjustments for more comfort. They’d even gotten pizza from the café.
Dan and I thoroughly enjoyed the show which was Bill Pinkney’s Original Drifters! They were fantastic and had people dancing in the aisles. It really made up for the rain for me.
Another lovely dinner in the dining room and then we all watched the 70’s Disco Street Party from our windows.
Cruise Day 4 – Ocho Rios, Jamaica
This morning we woke up once again to rain! This isn’t quite working out for us the way we’d hoped. We’d booked a dolphin encounter so off we went again hoping the water would be warm – it was!
The dolphins were amazing. We had a full half hour in the water and got to pet Betta, go for a ride, kiss her, dance with her, and watch her do tricks, often just inches from us. So cool! It was surprising how soft she was.
Once out of the water, torrential rain had us rather chilly and miserable so we collected our things, our photos and DVD (yes, we were total suckers and bought the lot!) and headed back to the ship. Somehow we couldn’t imagine hiking in that weather which was the next planned event. On top of that Alex had come down with a cold and wasn’t feeling great.
Back on board we went to Johnny Rockets for lunch and enjoyed watching the wait staff dance and listening to fun music while we ate. Then, we went to see Polar Express in the screening room.
The girls once again, elected to stay in the room with movies, food, and books while we went to the evening show and dinner. All in all a good day even though we were missing sunshine.
Cruise Day 5 – At Sea
We all slept in again but woke once more to rain. Boo hiss! After breakfast, we decided to check out the bingo and Dan won with G56!! Since we bought bingo cards we also got some free pulls on a special slot machine and while we didn’t win the $5000, we did win a key chain and t-shirt.
After bingo, we caught a glimpse of sunshine and decided to hit the pool deck. After about 45 minutes of lounging and reading in the sun, the rain returned again and we headed back indoors. We had lunch and then we played mini golf during another rain break.
We’ve been relaxing in the room and Laura and I had another rousing round of pinochle – she won by one point!
Alex plans to come to dinner with us tonight and Laura is going to kids club because she wants to see a counselor get slimed. She’s been looking forward to it all week.
So, we’ll post this and check weather in Orlando for tomorrow so that we can get packed up and ready for the next phase of our adventure. We’re really hoping for some sunshine!
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