We had the opportunity to go on a cruise this summer. We had booked the cruise back in 2021 when cruises were shut down so we got a decent deal. This was the first cruise for the kids and I and Craig hadn't been on one for almost 20 years, so to say we were excited would be the understatement of the year. Craig's parents booked the cruise too. Right after school ended we flew out to Houston on Saturday June 4th. Brian picked us up from the airport and let us crash at their place for the night. Sunday morning we took an Uber to the port in Galveston. The port was crazy busy but Royal Caribbean was very well organized and we made it through fairly quickly. Since we couldn't get into our room yet we headed straight for the buffet. After filling our bellies we headed out to the pools and swam until Stan and Diane got onto the ship. The first 2 days were spent on the ship exploring, eating, swimming, playing miniature golf, drinking pina colada's and just spending time together. We also went rock climbing or tried to. You had to be at least 6 years old to rock climb so we prepped McKay to say he was six. We wait in line we make it past the first set of people to get our shoes and harness and then wait in line again. Brooklyn and I start to climb and then the worker is getting McKay hooked up and asks McKay how old he is and he automatically answers that he is 5. He was so upset, but there was no saving it at that point.
Day 3: We woke up in Costa Maya Mexico. Luckily we just had a beach day planned, because I woke up in the middle of the night not feeling well. I think I got a flu bug. We took a bus to the beach and played for a few hours in the warm ocean water. We headed back to the ship and got ready for dinner. After dinner we headed to the ice show. It was amazing what they could do on such a tiny ice rink.
Day 4: We had arrived in Honduras. Once we got off at the pier we got on to a bus that took us first to a Rum shop and then to a cacao factory. We then finally made it to our final destination to get on to a glass bottom semi-submarine. The 2nd largest reef is just off the coast of Honduras and Belize and since McKay wasn't old enough to do the snorkeling, we decided this would be the next best way to get to see the reef and also Diane would be able to come with us. We saw a lot of different colored fish, a sting ray, beautiful reef and even some scuba divers. That evening we just came back and grabbed some dinner and hung out on the ship, the kids went and hung out at the kids area for a while, which they absolutely loved and McKay was always asking to go play there.
Day 5: We were woken up in the middle of the night with McKay throwing up. Luckily he kept it on his bed and didn't throw up over the edge of his bed onto Craig and I. We threw all his bedding out in the hall and had housekeeping bring us new bedding. We all eventually got back to sleep, only to have him wake throw up a little more a few hours later. At this point our alarm is going to go off soon, because we are needing to be ready to get off the ship by 6:30am. We don't know if McKay is sick or just ate too much the night before. We wake him up and get him ready hoping we will all be able to get off the ship in Belize to go zip lining and cave tubing. But you could tell he wasn't feeling great. So McKay and I said goodbye to Craig, Brooklyn and Stan and headed back to our room. McKay and I then went back to bed for a couple of hours. When we woke up at 9:00am he was like a different kid. He was back to his normal self. We were careful with what he ate, but he wanted to go swim and play. Craig and Brooklyn and Stan had a ton of fun. Brooklyn had so much fun that she even fell asleep on the bus ride back. By the time they got back on the ship McKay was acting like nothing had even happened. We went to dinner, where McKay managed to fall asleep yet again. We ended up having to go to the buffet after dinner so that McKay could finally eat some dinner, because he literally slept all the way through dinner. Everyone went to bed early that night and we all had our fingers crossed that McKay wasn't going to puke again.
Day 6: We woke up in Cozumel. Everyone seemed to be feeling back to their normal selves and no one else seemed to be getting sick. Everyone slept through the night without any more puke. For day 6 we had a dolphin experience set up. McKay wasn't old enough to swim with the dolphins, but I think it was actually better this way. We ended up getting about 40 minutes with the dolphins and got to play with them and have them do tricks. It really was quite amazing. After the dolphins we ate lunch and then headed to the market. We all choose out a few things and spent all the cash we brought. We then caught a bus back to the pier and headed to the ship. After dinner that night we headed to a show with the dancers and singers. They really were quite amazing.
Day 7: We spent the whole day on the ship. I finally made it back to the gym. I missed 3 days since I wasn't feeling well and if you know me, you know that is a big deal especially since I was in the middle of training for a triathlon. The kids played at the play area. We swam and ate as much as possible trying to soak up the last little bit of our vacation. We got everything packed up that evening before bed and got our bags set out in the hallway.
We got up and ate breakfast on Sunday and then got off the ship. We collected our bags and then grabbed a taxi back to Brian's house. Our flights had been pushed back so we had some time to kill and Brian was actually flying back to Boise with us after a health scare while we were on the cruise. His family was already there waiting for him. We then took an Uber to the airport where our flight then kept getting delayed. Luckily we had a direct flight and eventually made it back to Boise. It was good to be back in our own beds and Craig had to head back to work the next day. So it was back to real life real quick. We had a wonderful time and we will definitely do a cruise again, but maybe not until the kids are old enough to have a room of their own. Craig got annoyed with me whining about not having enough storage in our room. The small bathroom was fine and the sleeping arrangements were fine, but having to live out of my suitcase the whole time kinda bugged me. But I loved not having to cook or clean up for a whole week. I also loved how much my kids loved it. It was a full week of complete family time and really that is the best part. The food was amazing. We ate steak and salmon and escargot (yes the kids ate snails and loved them) and desserts to good to mention. We drank pina coladas and strawberry daiquiris (virgin of course) to our hearts content. The kids ate ice cream cones as often as possible. It really was a fantastic week and something we will never forget.
