Freedom from the Polar Vortex... The GDF family sails RCCL

[dvccamper 32]

Okay, I will try to comment more :)

The color of that water is incredible! Stingray City looks fun, but they kind of freak me out ever since Steve Irwin died.

Funny you should include a picture of the Navigator, we took a cruise on it about 3 years ago. We had a stop in Cozumel and did the dolphin swim there, what an unbelievable time we had. We are hopefully going to do a family cruise next year for our 25th and am still weighing the RCCL 7 day vs a 5 day on the Disney Wonder. Needless to say I am loving this trip report!

Nice to see all the great memories you are making for Z.

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

Finally getting caught up after missing a page or two. Too many comments so I'll just say I'm enjoying all the pics. 

 

Yay for catching up! Thanks for sticking with me. 

 

We had a nice large ocean view room when we cruised. I could get used to a balcony though.

We also ordered room service each morning, but usually just pastries, coffee and juice.

The guys would head to the Windjammer a bit later for a more filling breakfast, but the small breakfast worked for getting something into the girls before they went to the kids club.

 

The balcony was really nice, especially because it gave us a place to hang out when Z went to bed. 

 

By the end of the cruise, I was so full that I was just ordering fruit and pastries, but Z insisted on "meat candy" and eggs every day. 

 

Looks like fun. The water is one of the things that sticks out in my mind from our cruise. So pretty.

 

The water is so pretty it looks fake! 

 

That water color is spectacular.  I'd love to stay in a place on the water somewhere with water that color....like Bora Bora. 

 

For the price the new Poly DVC villas should pump some of that water in, don't you think? 

 

Okay, I will try to comment more :)

The color of that water is incredible! Stingray City looks fun, but they kind of freak me out ever since Steve Irwin died.

Funny you should include a picture of the Navigator, we took a cruise on it about 3 years ago. We had a stop in Cozumel and did the dolphin swim there, what an unbelievable time we had. We are hopefully going to do a family cruise next year for our 25th and am still weighing the RCCL 7 day vs a 5 day on the Disney Wonder. Needless to say I am loving this trip report!

Nice to see all the great memories you are making for Z.

 

Thanks for commenting!

 

Jason was also freaked out by the Steve Irwin incident. These rays are kind of like dogs though. They aren't freaked out by people like the one that killed Irwin. And they're a lot smaller. 

 

My mom really wants to swim with dolphins when we go for Thanksgiving 2015. We're thinking about doing it in Cozumel because there's always a chance you miss Grand Cayman due to rough seas. Glad you had a positive experience there. That's good to know. 

 

As far as choosing your cruise, that's a hard choice, but I bet you'll have fun on either! 

[DaveInTN 3,247]

 

For the price the new Poly DVC villas should pump some of that water in, don't you think? 

 

 

I had the same thought.  The lagoon looks like a dirty old lake....they need to do something to make it look more tropical. 

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

I'm assuming they come because they're fed. Honestly, our driver wasn't that great. Other people had been before and got to feed them, etc. 

 

For many years the offshore fishermen cleaned their day's catch and threw the entrails overboard at the sand bars.  So the sting rays learned to swim toward the boats for food.  

 

If you ever go back to Grand Cayman (or for any other fiends who visit there), check out Nativway Tours.  I have their contact info if anyone needs it.  We have used them twice.  They are very reliable and much cheaper than the RCCL guides.  Nativway will get you there earlier (when it's less crowded).  They spend lots of time with you and do provide food and show you how to feed the stingrays.  They will then take you to Coral Gardens, the turtle farm, Hell, or wherever else you want to go.

[fowlandfishmommy 10]

Just wanted you to know I'm so far behind on this report but I'm loving it!  I hate to skim so I'm just reading when I have a chance, which isn't often! I think we'll try Royal Caribbean next.  We have some friends that just moved to Haiti.  I wonder if they could come to Labadee for the day.

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

The only time I've had a chance to be near stingrays was at Sea World, I tried to feed them, but they were so aggressive coming to you and splashed a lot. Killed a camera hanging around my neck

[Live4FW 30]

Guilty as charged!  Just wanted to post to say how much I am enjoying your trip report.  I have only cruised DCL but find this RCL cruise to be very impressive.  I may have been convinced to try them next time.  Doesn't look like it will be anytime soon but we just keep coming to the realization that we can't afford DCL.

 

Keep it coming.

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

I had the same thought.  The lagoon looks like a dirty old lake....they need to do something to make it look more tropical. 

 

Yeah, if I'm paying that kind of money, I want the water under me to look like the Grand Cayman pictures. Of course, I bet the fireworks viewing is pretty sweet. But still....

 

For many years the offshore fishermen cleaned their day's catch and threw the entrails overboard at the sand bars.  So the sting rays learned to swim toward the boats for food.  

 

If you ever go back to Grand Cayman (or for any other fiends who visit there), check out Nativway Tours.  I have their contact info if anyone needs it.  We have used them twice.  They are very reliable and much cheaper than the RCCL guides.  Nativway will get you there earlier (when it's less crowded).  They spend lots of time with you and do provide food and show you how to feed the stingrays.  They will then take you to Coral Gardens, the turtle farm, Hell, or wherever else you want to go.

 

That makes sense! We actually are going back to Grand Cayman during our Thanksgiving 2005 cruise, but I think we're just going to go to 7 Mile Beach. I like seeing different things. The water was so rough that there's no way I could talk Z into doing that again. 

 

Just wanted you to know I'm so far behind on this report but I'm loving it!  I hate to skim so I'm just reading when I have a chance, which isn't often! I think we'll try Royal Caribbean next.  We have some friends that just moved to Haiti.  I wonder if they could come to Labadee for the day.

 

That's OK if you're behind! Thanks for reading along. As far as your friends coming, Royal is VERY restrictive about who they let in. They only allow locals that are employed by them and a select group of screened vendors that sell in the market. Unfortunately, I don't think it would be possible to see your friends. 

 

The only time I've had a chance to be near stingrays was at Sea World, I tried to feed them, but they were so aggressive coming to you and splashed a lot. Killed a camera hanging around my neck

 

That's a bummer. These were friendly but not aggressive. Dead cameras are no fun. I'm sure you can tell from the shots that I was using my waterproof one. 

 

Guilty as charged!  Just wanted to post to say how much I am enjoying your trip report.  I have only cruised DCL but find this RCL cruise to be very impressive.  I may have been convinced to try them next time.  Doesn't look like it will be anytime soon but we just keep coming to the realization that we can't afford DCL.

 

Keep it coming.

 

Hey, thanks for posting! You know who the MOST guilty person is? My husband. He's been reading this whole report and hasn't said a thing. Maybe I can guilt him in to posting. 

 

I really want to try DCL, but it's hard when I could do a week long cruise on Royal and a week at the Fort for the cost of a 7 night cruise on Disney. That's what we keep coming back to. But I will do a 4 night at some point. I know DCL is awesome, and I have to see it for myself. 

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

Thursday, April 3rd continued

 

I’ve been informed by Jason that he’s caught up, and I need to post an update. Thanks for reading along, honey! You’re in IT, so maybe one of these days you’ll figure out how to post.  :rofl2:

 

I forgot to share this shot that shows how windy it was in Grand Cayman when we got off the ship.

 

Nice hair, Kelly.

 

 

When we left off, we had just almost drowned swam with sting rays. Now we’re back at Dolphin Discovery to play with some dolphins. Because of Z’s age, we did the dolphin encounter, not swim. Basically you stand on a platform in the water and you get to kiss a dolphin, have them kiss you, and dance with them. Then they do some tricks. We had to hold him because it was still over his head.

 

We always make Jason do things first. Real men kiss dolphins.

 

 

This picture melts my heart!

 

 

I got smooches.

 

 

 

What you can’t tell in the dancing pictures is that the dolphin started “singing” when you grabbed his fins. It was funny and loud!

 

 

Further proof that I will post pictures where I look like a total idiot

 

 

For some reason, we don’t have a picture of Jason’s dancing. He probably paid them off not to include it.

 

dolphin moonwalk

 

 

Afterwards we were kind of rushed out because the excursion was running late. Really late. It was a good thing we were on a ship excursion because we would have been left.

 

My horrible attempt to take pictures in the bus on the way back

 

 

 

We were escorted to a tender that was waiting on us.

 

 

Yay! They really didn’t leave us!

 

 

Here’s a picture of an empty tender boat for those curious about what they look like.

 

 

I can’t get over the color of the water.

 

 

There’s the Sunshine, formally the Destiny again

 

 

Another awesome hair shot! Why didn’t I put on my hat? Anyway, you can see both the Navigator and Carnival Sunshine behind us. You can also see Z's souvenir, Luna the dolphin.  

 

 

We had a fun day in Grand Cayman! It was time to get Z a nap. That night was formal night, and Jason and I had plans for stay out a bit later than usual, so we could see The Quest, an adults only scavenger hunt game that would NEVER be on a Disney ship.

 

Formal night and The Quest in the next update! 

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Great update, Kelly!

 

I love Quest!  Although it's more fun on the small ships when everyone on the team gets to participate instead of just passing items to the team captains.  Hope you got some great pictures!

[DaveInTN 3,247]

 

That makes sense! We actually are going back to Grand Cayman during our Thanksgiving 2005 cruise,  

 

You are REALLY confused about what year it is, aren't you? 

 

:rofl3:

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

Apparently, I can't type. Or is it autocorrecting?!?!

[dvccamper 32]

That picture of the dolphin kissing Z is the best! When my youngest graduated fifth grade a couple of years ago we submitted a very similar picture of her for the slide show, which got a lot of oohs and aahs. So save that picture!

[BigTom 76]

Never thought about Haiti being so pretty, all you see on news are slums and starving children.

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

Caught up again.

Love the pics with the rays and dolphins!

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

That picture of the dolphin kissing Z is the best! When my youngest graduated fifth grade a couple of years ago we submitted a very similar picture of her for the slide show, which got a lot of oohs and aahs. So save that picture!

 

That's a great idea. Pictures truly are my favorite souvenirs. 

 

Never thought about Haiti being so pretty, all you see on news are slums and starving children.

 

I know we saw very little, but what we saw was very pretty. It's a shame that can't use the natural beauty of the country to develop a larger tourism industry. Hopefully some day they can. 

 

Caught up again.

Love the pics with the rays and dolphins!

 

Glad you caught up! How did the baseball trip go, anyway? 

[YodaGirl 13]

I never knew what the tender boats were called. All I knew was that we needed to be back on one in time or we'd be left in a foreign country. Cool to know what they are.

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

Glad you caught up! How did the baseball trip go, anyway?

He had a game last week and he win 5-3.

He was 1-1 and walked three times. He scored three runs.

He also made a couple nice plays in the infield and pitched one inning (no hits-no runs-2 strikeouts)

Our latest getaway was just a trip 3.5 hours north to hang at the cabin, in the woods, etc.

[Beckers 1,136]

Okay, I will try to comment more :)

The color of that water is incredible! Stingray City looks fun, but they kind of freak me out ever since Steve Irwin died.

Nice to see all the great memories you are making for Z.

All of this.

I know Steve was doing something stupid but you couldn't pay me to get in the water with them. I am a chicken.

[Northerngirl--Lori 5]

Loving your trip report! I have never been on a cruise. I need to change that. The water is Beautiful!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

I know Steve was doing something stupid but you couldn't pay me to get in the water with them. I am a chicken.

 

Being in the water with them is perfectly safe as long as you shuffle your feet and don't step down on one of them at the wrong place.  The rays are like puppies.  They love to play with people.  They will swim between your legs and brush up against you to get attention.

[Duane 152]

Sister Kelly, I come before you for I have sinned... I have been reading but not commenting... Please forgive me...

Since I am partially brain dead, but I could have sworn that when we went to the Cayman's several years ago on DCL, the ship pulled up to the dock and tenders were not used.... but I could have been wrong Were there other ships that were allowed to dock?

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

Ok. Caught up. Again.

Lots to comment on.

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

It's great that Z enjoyed hanging out at the Adventurers Club. Allowing y'all to have some adult time.

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

Z scores a older pirate wench.

Jason your raising right. lol.