Cruise 2014: Highlights from Roatán

Our final and most relaxing stop. 

Of all the ports we stopped at, this one felt the most relaxed and least commercialized. The lady at the Rotary International booth was incredibly kind and helpfully directed me to the nice man with the soap cart who also acted as the local postal service. Those were my favourite two people. 

After a bit of souvenir shopping, we rode the chairlift to the beach where we spent the rest of the day. It was still a little cold and wet out but the boys played and played until it was time to head back to the ship. This was probably their favourite port of the entire trip.

Cruise 2014: Highlights from Belize

Belize was my bravest stop. 

Of all the ports, this was the only one that offered an adventure excursion that the boys could participate in - snorkelling.

I had never done it, and the boys have never done it so I was just crossing my fingers and hoping for the best. The beginning was a bit of a struggle but eventually, one of the guides came to my rescue and gave the boys something else to cling on to. From that point on, it was great. Cold, but great and the boys did a fantastic job for their first time.

We spent a bit of time on that gorgeous island before going back to the ship to change and refuel, and then we were back out again - this time to Belize City. By then, we were all a little tired so we wandered out to the post office to write and mail our postcards, then returned to the ship again.

Cruise 2014: Highlights from Cozumel

Our stop in Cozumel was supposed to be a quick cultural lesson at the Mayan Ruins followed by time at the beach. I knew it wouldn't be super in-depth but at least it would be an introduction. Unfortunately, it didn't pan out and our excursion was cancelled. It was probably for the best because it was pretty windy and wet that day - not ideal conditions for hiking over ruins with two boys.

We ended up walking up one side of the main street to do a bit of shopping instead. We didn't see any colourful market stalls but instead we found a big shiny outdoor shopping complex. This was a little harder for the boys because even if we're buying things for them, shopping and waiting around isn't all that fun. They stuck it out and didn't complain at all, even when I made them walk all the way back out a second time just to take an Instax photo.

Cruise 2014: Highlights from Grand Cayman

Grand Cayman was our first port of call. For each destination, it would have been easy enough to just go to the beach and set the boys free for a couple hours but I wanted them to gain something from this trip. It's hard when cruise excursions aren't really designed for cultural enrichment but I had to try.

For our first port, we signed up for a day trip around the island to Pedro St. James (a historic building), Hell and Seven Mile Beach. I figure anything that ended with some time at the beach would be fine with the boys. And I was right - they put with the bus ride, walking around the grounds of Pedro St. James (it was very small anyway), a surprise stop at the rum cake factory which they were not pleased about, and a quick stop in Hell to mail out postcards.

We eventually arrived at the beach and though it was crowded, the boys played happily until the ominous clouds overhead finally burst and poured rain down on us. We wrapped the boys in towels, hopped back onto the bus and little Caleb fell asleep on the way back to the ship.