Our new life...: Winter Cruise 2013

I will start off by saying that this cruise was nothing like the other cruises we have been on simply because we had our kiddos with us (and I was pregnant). We got the opportunity with Steven's business to go on a free cruise (kids included).. so of course we jumped on that offer and convinced a few other family members to join us. We knew going in that it wasn't going to be the same easy, carefree cruise that we are used to but we were excited to see what it would be like with kids on the boat and once again.. it was free!
We flew out a day early to make sure that we would get on the boat (all the winter storms!), and stayed at the hotel we stayed at in January. Our flight to Miami was part disaster, part okay. For some reason Delta decided to switch our seats around and I was by myself for all the flights.. and I mean myself, and Aubree on my lap. The first flight was a disaster.. she wouldn't nap, wanted to get down all the time, was super tired and grumpy. It was terrible. The second flight from ATL to MIA was much better.. she slept for an hr and then happily sat on peoples laps the rest of the time.
Korbin had been super excited about the planes and the big boat for months now and I think was pretty much in heaven most of the trip. He did excellent.. had no accidents and was happy to do anything. He enjoyed the entertainment but we weren't able to watch many of them because Aubree didn't like how loud it was. Korbin loved the slides and swimming, all the food and ice cream, and the fact that a bunch of his favorite people were on the trip with us. He also only made it to Camp Carnival one day and had a blast but wanted to stay with the group for the rest of the time, which was okay because he really did great the whole time. Another thing to note about Korb on this trip is he LOVED to take pictures.. or get his picture taken. He would find random spots on the island and the boat and stop and make me take a picture of him. It was pretty adorable.. he also loved the towel animals each night.
Aubree wasn't old enough to go to Camp Carnival since you had to be 2yrs old so she was with us the whole trip. We had A LOT of help from Grandma Sylvia and Aunt Meggie to walk around with Bree. Im pretty sure we would have died if they weren't there to help. Aubree loved walking around, pushing the elevator buttons and standing right in the door of the elevator. She also enjoyed the ice cream and any food she could eat. She was a hit on the boat and almost everyone knew who she was.. she would often stop where people were singing and would just dance. She did great at dinner and naps and decent at bed time..she just struggled because she had a mind of her own and wanted to go explore all the time. She was sick the first two days and was teething but still managed to do okay.
On our trip we went to Cozumel, Costa Maya, Honduras, and Grand Cayman. We didn't do any excursions because there were few options for pregos and kids as young as ours. Cozumel was our first stop and we just kind of walked around the shops at the port. It is quite ghetto there so we were happy to just shop and be done.. unfortunately my dads suitcase got ruined on the way to the boat and so I had to go with my mother to the middle of town to buy a new Mexican version of a suitcase. It was scary but fun to go see their city.
Costa Maya was the second port and one of my favorites mostly because we just ran in the rain. When we got off the boat it was pouring more then I have ever seen, we were planning to go to a beach but clearly that wasn't going to happen so right by the port were a bunch of shops and such, so we just ran around in the rain. The kids absolutely loved it. We were the only ones to go out in the rain so we had quite the audience with the people hiding in the stores for shelter. When we finally got back on the boat I found out that my camera got ruined (from the rain).. so I had to spend the rest of the trip using my phone and other people to take pictures.
Honduras (Roatan Island) was my favorite place. It was beautiful. We decided to adventure out and walk to a beach.. we had no idea how far it was or really, much about it. It turned out to be maybe a mile away.. there was a nice path to walk to the beach and we went over a bridge, there were lots of cute shops along the way and a nature walk. We also got to see some dolphins. The beach was super crowded but there was plenty of lounge chairs for everyone. We spent a good amount of time there swimming in the ocean, playing Frisbee, and building sand castles. This is also the beach that my mother got bit by a fish.. a serious fish.. we actually didn't believe her until the next day when there was a round red mark on her neck, just like the shape of a fishes mouth. It was quite hilarious.
Grand Cayman was our last stop. Randy (my father in law) had "needed a cheap watch" this whole trip so he thought maybe the last day he could get one. He saw on the map of a store he thought would have one so we walked all around the city looking for this one stinkin shop. We finally found it and we quickly realized that it was about 2 blocks right of where we started from (we went left!). Needless to say, he didn't find a watch there, but we saw the island pretty well and Korbin had fun stopping at every Black Beard pirate he saw. We also went shopping there and bought a few cute items.
One thing I didn't mention was that our room was a balcony room.. we hadn't ever stayed in a room besides the inside rooms so this was quite the change. As much as we liked the extra space and the balcony we both decided we liked our inside staterooms where it can get pitch black, and where there weren't smokers next to you. Every time we went out on our balcony our neighbor would come out and smoke and blare his music.
Overall, the trip really was great! It will give us unforgettable memories to talk about, remember, and laugh about. It was nice having my kids with us because I didn't miss them, get home sick, or worry how they were doing. It was awesome having the family join us as well! We got some cute family photos and Im excited to get my canvas family picture framed. I love those cruise pictures!
Sorry for the long post and the many pictures to come!