We’re back from our cruise! Some highlights:
Days spent plying warm Caribbean waters in this glorious vessel: 6
On a scale of 10, degree of wigged out I was as I jumped off a boat onto a sand bar, among hundreds of stingrays, 30 minutes off the coast of Grand Cayman: 8/10.
Time it took me to warm up to these sea creatures: 5 minutes
Kisses given to a non family member: 1. To a stingray no less. It gave a great back massage, what can I say?
Alleged years of good luck coming to me from that stingray kiss: 7
Problems getting thru customs: 0. The agent seemed to think the Caveman was military.
Casualties on Dunn’s River Falls: 2. 1 broken ankle, 1 broken arm. Thankfully not ours, but ouchie!
Cuts and scrapes on said falls: Seemingly infinite.
% larger Dunn’s River Falls is IRL than it appears in tourists pics: 75.
Height of the climb: 600 Ft.
Minutes it took us to scale the falls: 90.
Average SPF worn: 40
Shark sightings: Too many for comfort.
Items I forgot to pack: 3. Sunblock, water shoes, flip flops. Doh.
Non-running activities I wore a running skirt for (besides eating and shopping): 4+. Climbing the falls in Jamaica, pool coverup, ping pong championship, pool volleyball game cheerleading, basketball.
Best cruise ship send off by an island: Jamaica
Best desserts: Tie between Passion Fruit Cheesecake and made-to-order Marshmallow Ice Cream.
Traditional runs done: 0. I’ll share my barely better than nothing (BBTN) cruise ship workout tomorrow.
Number of cute towel animals bearing chocolates: 5
Weight gained: TBD. Can’t will myself to the scale. Trust me it won’t be pretty.
Number of ship staff I wanted to smuggle into the US in my luggage: 4. cabin butler, pool butler, waiter and busboy.
Number of smelly yet beautiful conch shells jammed into the luggage instead: 1
Pounds of Jamaican coffee beans that made it home with us: 3
Books read: 3. Hunger Games Trilogy. Boom.
Have you ever cruised? I have but this was the first time with kids.
Profoot Insoles Winner!
Travel Spot please email me: teamarcia at gmail dot com to claim your prize.
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Awesome vacation! I love cruises – and slipped on the same waterfall. When I went swimming with stingrays I sliced my foot open on the anchor and all the stingrays bombarded me bc of the blood… you look like you had a great experience!!
Congrats to the winner – and glad you had an awesome time!
Sounds like a great time. Minus the falls…falls. Glad you guys were not hurt.
Hubbs votes yes for a cruise but I vote no. Too much open water and not enough trees. We will see who wins in time.
Sounds like a wonderful time! Aren’t Running Skirts just THE perfect vacation garment? Love it!
I love, love cruises. Always thought they would be stupid until I went on one and had a blast. You are brave to do it with kiddos!
Sounds like a great trip! Glad you all had a good time.
I have never been on a cruise. I would love to but the hubs won’t. He calls it a floating germ infestation. Whatever.
Glad you had a great time. And I love sting rays! Well, the ones without the stingers anyway. 🙂
I would LOVE to go on a cruise. I’ve only been on a ship once before and that was going from Ireland to France and the waters were so rough. It was horrible. On the other hand your cruise looks like so much fun! I wonder how many people pee in the water when they get near the sting rays?
Sounds like a blast! The falls look like a lot of fun, hard to believe how long it took to climb them.
I would love to go on a cruise but I have a feeling it would have to be sans children since the little one LOVES water and it would be a huge safety issue!
I’ve been to that same Stingray Sand Bar, but it was the year before what’s his name got ‘stingrayed’, so I was not uneasy one bit about joining them in the water!! Still my best kiss ever!
That Dunn’s River Falls looks awesome!!
Is it a dreadful thing that of all the gorgeous photos in there the one of the ice cream was the most longing-inspiring for me?
You are so brave! I saw a (baby) sting ray when we were in florida last year, and i was so scared i almost dropped my camera in the water and made a huge scene, even though it was more afraid of me. had i known they were good luck though, i might have let him get closer!
Fun! Fun! Fun! We have taken two small cruises – fewer than 100 people – and they were my favorite vacations. Love any trip that involves water, though, so I think I could be in a row boat and be happy. Well, as long as there was a waiter 🙂
Sounds and looks like a great time! Very cool you got to swim with and touch stingrays!
Yay! It sounds like you had an AMAZING time! I have never taken a cruise. It must have been such a nice treat for the kids.
Looks like you guys had a wonderful time! Beautiful pictures!
I have tried more than once to subscribe to your blog with no success. Any help?
It looks like you had an amazing time!! We went on a cruise for our honeymoon and I definitely want to go on another one.
Sounds like so much fun (never been on a cruise, just ferries:))
I would have tried to bring back 20 lbs of coffee!! 🙂
Looks like a fantastic trip, Marcia! What a way to beat the winter blahs. Can’t believe you kissed a manta. haha.
Welcome back! My husband spent a service year in Jamaica, and I visited toward the end to tour the country, and did Dunn River falls, too. Didn’t see or touch the sting rays, how cool! I love that you wore your running skirt for so many different activities, I wouldn’t have thought of it as a beach cover up! You were missed in the blog world. 🙂
It sounds so nice! I haven’t cruised with the kids, yet, just one years ago w/ Mr. Z. I’ll bet it’s a great way to go with them. I’ve also always wanted to do Dunn’s River, but had no idea it was that big (and dangerous!).
Hope your readjustment to real life goes smoothly.
Very fun! I can’t believe you were stung by a Sting Ray! Now I am scared for Key West. I saw a Sting Ray once. I’ll have to share that story with you sometime.
Now, is it bad that when you mentioned wearing a running skirt, I was all, “Oh, what one!?” I love a good running skirt!
That looks like a great vacation. Except for the sting ray.
I am so excited that I won! I am off to email you now!
Wow, what a fantastic vacation! Will you adopt me? I wanna go wherever you travel next time!! 🙂 Welcome home and congrats on only a 1.2 wt gain. I gained that and I worked my ass off…I should just give up and go on a cruise and eat crap all day!
Looks like you had a successful cruise! Congrats!
Sounds like a cruise I did about 10 years ago, as far as ports and activities go.
Love the pictures – looks like you had a lot of fun!